Credit Card:

A credit card allows you to borrow money from your bank to make your purchases, whether you’re buying a burger or a round-trip ticket to France. As long as you pay back the money you borrowed within the “grace period” of 25-30 days, you don’t have to pay extra. If you don’t pay it back in that time period, you’ll have to pay interest — a percentage of the money you owe the bank — on top of what you borrowed.
Interest payments and fees:
Credit card companies make money in three ways:
Interchange fees, or fees charged to the merchant every time you use your credit card
Interest payments, from when you don’t pay off your debt in full
Fees, like late payment or annual fees
You don’t have to worry about that first one. Interchange fees are a problem for merchants. Instead, concern yourself with interest payments and fees.

One words substitution: 

1.       Able to use the left hand and right hand equally well - Ambidextrous 

2.      A man who hates marriage - Misogamist

3.      A person who enters without any invitation - Intruder

4.      The words with opposite meanings used together - Oxymoron

5.      A person leaving his native country to settle in another - Emigrant

6.      One who compiles a dictionary - Lexicographer

7.      Too much official formality - Red tapism

8.     One who devotes his life to the welfare and the interests of other people - Altruist

9.      A person who opposes another - Antagonist

10.  A person who does not want to see the realities of life and tries to escape - Escapist

Current Affairs (Daily Dose):

1.Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia.

2.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched Make in India conference in Sydney and asked Australian businesses to be the part of India's growth story.

3.India’s first indigenous composites sonar dome, a ship’s underwater eyes and ears, was today flagged off by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar from here to be delivered to Mazgaon docks in Mumbai.

4.The government permitted 100% FDI in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing with a view to attract more foreign investors.

5.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement that it has cancelled registration of 22 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) including Amazan Capital and Mascot Commerce.

6.Asia's biggest telescope has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. The telescope has been located at a height of 2,500 metres at Devasthal in Nainital district. The site was chosen for getting a clear view of the sky. The telescope has mirror of 3.6 m diameter.

7.Dr. Najma Heptulla, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched innovative entrepreneurship and skill development programme of Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS)– through leading national/ international experts in different skill sets in New Delhi. She also inaugurated online two training centres of Beauty & Wellness Sector, one in Okhla and another in Daryaganj area.

8.J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched two major Digital initiatives to provide easy access to health services to the public: GIS-enabled HMIS application and the self-printing of e-CGHS cards, in New Delhi.

9.State-run Vijaya Bank said the government has approved a capital infusion of Rs 220 crore in lieu of preferential allotment of shares.

10.Kachhabali village in Bhim tehsil of Rajsamand district has become the 1st in the state to vote to close down its lone liquor shop.

11.Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) has announced Jitendra Jagota as the new Chairman in its new Executive Committee at the General Body Meeting held in New Delhi.

12.The Oscar winning US actress Patty Duke has passed away recently. She was 69 year old. She won Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker in 1963. Her cause of death was sepsis from a ruptured intestine.

13.Indian Test Captain Virat Kohli kept his Performance at the top helped his side into the semifinals of the World Twenty20 after defeating Australia. He has replaced Aaron Finch as the number one batsman in the latest ICC T20 rankings. Number-one ranked India will go head to head with third- ranked West Indies in Mumbai , while in the first semi-final in Delhi while second-ranked New Zealand will square-off against fifth-ranked England.

63rd National Film Awards: Complete list of winners:

Best Film: Baahubali
Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani)
Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (Piku)
Best Actress: Kangana Ranaut (Tanu Weds Manu Returns)
Best Hindi Film: Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film Of A Director: Neeraj Ghaywan (Masaan)
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Best Choreography: Remo D’Souza (Deewani Mastani song in Bajirao Mastani)
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Nanak Shah Fakir
Best Malayalam Film: Pathemari
Best Film on Social Issue: Niranayakam
Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal
Best Children’s Film: Duronto
Best Tamil Film: Visaaranai
Best Telugu Film: Kanche
Best Sanskrit Film: Priyamanasam
Best Kannada Film: Thithi
Best Punjabi Film: Chauthi Koot
Best Konkani Film: Enemy
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Best Choreography: Remo D’Souza (Deewani Mastani song in Bajirao Mastani)
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Nanak Shah Fakir
Best Malayalam Film: Pathemari
Best Film on Social Issue: Niranayakam
Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal
Best Children’s Film: Duronto
Best Tamil Film: Visaaranai
Best Telugu Film: Kanche
Best Sanskrit Film: Priyamanasam
Best Kannada Film: Thithi
Best Punjabi Film: Chauthi Koot
Best Konkani Film: Enemy 

Current in News:

1.Australia’s Shane Watson on 24 March announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the 2016 World Twenty20 Tournament. Watson retired from test cricket in September 2015 and since then he didn’t play any One Day Internationals also. He debuted for the Australian cricket team in 2002, playing his first One Day International against South Africa. He debuted in the test cricket on 2 January 2005 against Pakistan at Sydney, Australia. He batted in 109 innings of 59 test matches and scored 3731 runs of which 176 was his highest score. He also bowled in 93 innings of those matches and took 75 wickets. In ODIs, he scored 5718 runs from 190 matches with an average of 40.55. He also took 168 wickets with 31.79 average. In T20 Internationals, he played 52 matches so far and accumulated 1315. His highest score is 124 (not out). He also holds the record of highest ODI batting average of all Australian opening batsmen who have scored over 1000 runs.

2.According to Akamai’s ‘State of the Internet’ report released on 24 March, South Korea has the fastest average connection speed in the world at 26.7 Mbps. Sweden occupies the second spot with an average speed of 19.1 Mbps followed by Norway at 18.8 Mbps. India stands at 114th position with an average internet speed of 2.8 Mbps.  India’s neighbour China ranks 89th with average speed of 4.1Mbps.

3.India has overtaken China in terms of direct equity allocation by US investors.The data released by US Treasury shows India makes up 1.8% of US foreign equity holdings as on December 2015 as against 1.6% of China. US investors direct investment in Indian equities has risen from $7 billion in September 2013 to $12 billion in December 2015. During the same period US investors’ direct investment in Chinese equities has declined from $12.8 billion to $11.1 billion. However, India’s overexposure within the EM basket has gradually declined in 2015.

4.With an aim to find new enemy properties, the government has launched a survey in five states, including Delhi, for identification of movable and immovable assets once held by people who migrated to Pakistan. The survey work has started in five states — Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi — for identification of new enemy properties.

5.Mehbooba Mufti is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Her party, the PDP, formally elected her its chief ministerial candidate at a meeting on March 24. Ms Mufti’s father, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, died in January as Chief Minister of a coalition government that included the BJP. After his death Jammu and Kashmir has been under Governor’s Rule since January 8.

6.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been named among the world’s 50 greatest leaders by Fortune magazine. He is sole leader from India in the list and has been placed at 42nd position. 2016 edition is Fortune magazine’s third annual ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list and it has been topped by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list of Fortune Magazine features men and women from across the globe from the fields of government, business, arts and the philanthropy who are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same. The list was released on 25 March 2016.

7.Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 25 March announced that it successfully commissioned a 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Telangana. The unit was commissioned at the upcoming 2×600 MW Singareni Thermal Power Project (TPP) located at Jaipur in Adilabad district of Telangana. The 1200 MW Jaipur Power Plant is being developed by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). With the commissioning of this unit, SCCL has now successfully diversified into the power generation business.

8.Andhra Pradesh government inaugurated India’s first river linking project viz. Pattiseema lift irrigation project connecting Godavari River with Krishna River from the ongoing Polavaram Multi-purpose Irrigation Project. The project has been completed in a record time of one year by the Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL). The project has capactiry to lift 80 tmc (trillion metric cubic feet) of flood water from Godavari River in a span of 110 days during the flooding season between July and October.

Current Affairs (Daily Dose):

1.Govt to infuse Rs. 5,050 crore in PSU banks soon. Likely contenders for the fresh round of infusion include Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, UCO Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Vijaya Bank and United Bank of India.

2.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to script history by launching a record number of 22 satellites in a single mission in May 2016.

3.The Haryana Assembly on 29 Mar 2016 passed the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016 to provide reservation for Jats and four other communities in government jobs and education.

4.India ranks third among countries with high number of financial Trojan infections, where cyber criminals defraud customers of online banking services.

5.Media and communications agency Maxus India on 29 Mar 2016 said it has bagged the media duties for online classifieds platform OLX following a multi-agency pitch.

6.Pallavi Fauzdar from Agra became the first woman solo biker in the Limca Book of Records to reach the tip of Mana pass in Uttarakhand, arguably the world’s highest motorable mountain pass.

7.American poet and novelist Jim Harrison, best known for his collection of three novellas Legends Of The Fall, passed away on 26 March.

8.The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched India’s first indigenous rotavirus vaccine named Rotavac to combat infant mortality due to diarrhoea. It was launched by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda as part of country’s ambitious Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). The vaccine is being introduced initially in four States Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh (first to launch it) and Odisha. The vaccine is administered orally to infants in three dose course at ages of six, ten and fourteen weeks.

9. China has launched its first cybersecurity public organisation aimed at better safeguarding national cybersecurity and guiding internet companies in perform their duties, the media reported on 26 Mar 2016.

10.Indian-American Nandita Bakshi (57) has been appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank of the West, a subsidiary unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas.

Some Popular Idioms in English:

Adding insult to injury
Or, ‘jale pe namak’! Means to add to a person’s loss or misery.

Back to the drawing board
To start all over again when an initial plan fails.

Ball is in your court
Now it is up to you to decide what you want to do!

Barking up the wrong tree
Looking in the wrong place.

Best of both worlds
Having or wanting to take advantage of two different opportunities.

Bite off more than you can chew
Doing or undertaking to do more than one’s capacity.

Burn the midnight oil
To work/ study late in the night.

Caught between two stools
A situation where one finds needs to choose between two options and has difficulty in deciding.

Costs an arm and a leg
Extremely expensive. ‘The swiss watch would cost me an arm and leg!’

Debit Card:

A debit card is basically a card used for fund transactions. Going by the name plastic cash, bank card and more, you can enjoy electronic access to your savings account in any bank via ATMs. You can deposit and withdraw as per your convenience this way without the hassle of standing in long queues. Same can be utilized for mobile banking and internet banking.

Types of Debit Cards in India
Visa Debit Cards
These debit cards are issued with the bank’s tie-up with VISA payment services providing the Verified by Visa (VbV) platform for online transactions.

Visa Electron Debit Cards
Visa Electron debit cards are very similar to Visa debit cards but these cards do not provide the overdraft feature.

MasterCard Debit Cards
A MasterCard Cirrus Card or a MasterCard Maestro Card gives customers access to their funds worldwide and they can perform online transactions using their bank accounts on the MasterCard SecureCode platform.

Contactless Debit Cards
Customers can make payments with just a tap or wave of their contactless debit cards near PoS terminals, with the cards working on Near Field Technology (NFC) thereby making electronic payments safer.

RuPay Debit Cards
Introduced as a domestic card scheme by the NPCI, RuPay debit cards facilitate online purchases and transactions on the Discover network and ATM transactions under the National Financial Switch network.

Maestro Debit Card
Founded in 1992, Maestro from MasterCard is a premier, international debit card service that has been popularly adopted at over 13 million locations spread across 100+ countries around the world. Maestro, as easily identified by the signature logo on all partner cards, helps the customer gain immediate access to his/her money through a robust, international network of compatible ATMs, POS outlets and online resources.

Current Affairs (Daily Dose):

1.The first direct container MV Harbour-1 Vessel between India and Bangladesh carrying cotton was flagged off from Krishnapatnam of Andhra Pradesh to Chittagong on 28 March.The voyage was started as a part of a coastal shipping agreement to facilitate trade between India and Bangladesh. The trade agreements were earlier signed during the reign of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974 and they were revived back after a period of four decades during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in June 2015.

2.“India’s biggest ever land, naval and homeland security exhibition Defence Expo 2016 began in Goa. The four-day biennial event was inaugurated by the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. This for the first time, the Expo is being held outside the national capital New Delhi. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 28 March unveiled Defence Procurement Policy during the ninth edition ​of Defence Expo India-2016. The 2016 theme is “Rise of Futurism” and its vision is to make India prosperous by establishing world class science and technology base in defence sector.”

3.The Union Government has notified the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016. The Act will provide statutory backing for transfer of subsidies and benefits to eligible people having Aadhaar (UID) number. Aadhaar Act seeks to provide efficient, transparent and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services to individuals residing in India by assigning them unique identity numbers (UID) or Aadhaar number. It will be used for all benefit that will be linked to consolidated fund of India or the expenditure incurred from it. The Act gives statutory for establishment of the Unique Identification Authority of India consisting of a Chairperson (part time or full time) and two Members (part time). Those individuals not having Aadhaar number shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification for delivery of the subsidies, benefits or service.

4.President Pranab Mukherjee has imposed Present’s Rule (State Emergency) in the state of Uttarakhand on 27 March in the wake of constitutional breakdown under Article 356 of Constitution. In this regard, President has signed the proclamation state Emergency based on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet. With this proclamation, Congress Government headed by Chief Minister Harish Rawat ceased to function and the state Assembly has been suspended. Background The constitutional breakdown in state was due rebellion in the ruling Congress Government after its nine rebel MLAs rebelled, bringing government in minority in the state legislature. These 9 rebel MLAs were disqualified by the speaker under the anti-defection law. This disqualification had reduced the strength of the 70-member house to 61. So the final tally of Congress MLAs was 27 and BJP had 28 MLAs.

5.An India-born academician Surya Deva has been appointed as the United Nations (UN) Adviser on Human Rights and Businesses. He was appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as the Asia-Pacific representative of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. Surya Deva is an associate professor at the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie in Business and Human Rights, India-China Constitutional Law, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development.

6.Htin Kyaw (69) sworn in as the first elected civilian (non-military) President of Myanmar after 53 years of military rule. Myanmar’s Army was in power since 1962 coup. He belongs to National League for Democracy (NLD) Party and succeeds Thein Sein, who had stepped down after end of five years of army-backed rule.

7.The Russian Government has approved a deal of ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield from Rosneft. The deal was signed between the OVL and Rosneft in September 2015 and is worth 1.3 billion US dollars. Vankor is Russia’s second biggest oil field with capacity of total 2.5 billion recoverable reserves barrels (or 500 million tonnes).

8.Haryana became the first state in the country to implement the use of injectable contraceptives as a family planning measure. In this regard, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched ‘Project Salamati’ in assistance of Pathfinder International.

9.The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed 11 unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs). With this CBDT has so far entered into 59 bilateral or unilateral APAs. 50 of these agreements have been signed in the current financial year i.e. 2016-17.

10.Renowned playback singer P. Susheela Mohan created a new world record for singing highest number of songs. She has now been recognised by both the Guinness Book of World Records for singing most number of songs in Indian languages. Guinness Book of World Records officially credited her for singing record 17,695 songs (solo, duet and chorus backed songs) in twelve Indian languages.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Housing for All 2022 Scheme Complete Details:

The much awaited Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has been launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that envisages the vision of Housing for All by the year 2022.  The article includes various aspects of the scheme covering the beneficiaries, eligibility and the process for applying under the scheme.

The government of India had earlier launched ‘Housing for All’ scheme, which has now been reformed as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.  The Scheme has been launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 25th June 2015.

The scheme comes with an aim of constructing more than two crore houses across the length and breadth of the nation within a span of next seven years.  This means the scheme which is started in year 2015 would conclude successfully in the year 2022.  The target beneficiaries of the scheme would be poor and people living under EWS and LIG categories in urban establishments of the country.

The PM Awas Yojana would start in the year 2015 and would be spread for implementation till the year 2022 and would be carried out in three sustainable phases:

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Phase 1:  The Phase 1 of PM Awas Yojana would span from April 2015 to March 2017 and a total of 100 cities would see the developmental work started and completed during this phase.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Phase 2:  The Phase 2 of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana would span from April 2017 to March 2019 and during this phase, a total of 200 more cities would be covered and developed.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Phase 3:  The Phase 3 of PMAY would span from April 2019 to March 2022 and during this phase the left over cities would be covered and developed.

The Beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana would target specific groups from the society, which are:

    Women, irrespective of caste and religion
    Economically Weaker Section of Society (EWS)
    Scheduled Tribes (ST)
    Scheduled Casts (SC)

The Government of India would be granting a subsidy to people from these categories so that they buy a home for themselves and their families.  The subsidy amount may range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.30 lakh.

Features of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana aka Housing for All 2022

The features of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana are as following:

The government would provide an interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans availed by the beneficiaries for a period of 15 years from the start of loan.
The houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana would be allotted to preferably the female member of the family. Along with this, preference would be given to the female applicants, in general.  This scheme could well be termed as a pro-women scheme.While allotting ground floors in any housing scheme under the PMAY, preference would be given to differently-abled and older people.The construction of houses under PMAY would be carried out through technology that is eco-friendly.

Interest Rates, EMI Calculation and Subsidy in PM Awas Yojana

The niche of the scheme lies in the fact that the EMI paid by the home owners under the scheme would be reduced significantly.  The current rate of housing loan in India is at 10.50 per cent.  If someone buys a property currently on a loan of Rs 6 lakh for a tenure of 15 years today, he/she would have to pay an EMI of Rs 6,632 per month currently.  However, with 6.5 per cent subsidy under the scheme, the beneficiary would have to pay just Rs 4,050 per month as EMI.  Thus, there is a significant reduction of Rs 2,000 in the EMI itself.

An average of Rs 1 lakh would be granted by the Government of India to all the beneficiaries under the scheme.
Through Credit Lined Subsidy Scheme, a subsidy of 6.5% would be given to each beneficiary belong from EWS and Lower Income Group categories.
A central government assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh would go to every beneficiary for promoting housing stock and thus 35% of the units under the project would be earmarked for the Economically Weaker Section category.In addition to the above, an Rs 1.5 lakh would be provided to all eligible urban poor who want to construct their own house in urban areas or wish to make necessary renovations in their existing houses.

How to Apply for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Housing for All 2022):

The scheme has just been launched and it would not be viable for us to give you all the details on how you can apply for the scheme along with guiding you on the application form.  We would however, soon update our site with necessary details pertaining to the processes of this scheme, once they are published by government of India.