INDIAN BANKING RADAR (IBR) - IBPS PO MAINS INTELLIGENCE MOCK

🔥 PLATINUM SERIES 2.0 | VOL. 178

📅 24 SEPTEMBER 2026 | THURSDAY

🎯 TARGET EXAMS

IBPS PO | SBI PO | IBPS RRB | RBI | NABARD

⚡ 20 QUESTIONS | 20 MARKS | 15–18 MINUTES

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🔥 TODAY'S INTELLIGENCE FOCUS

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💧 RBI — Liquidity Management & OMO

🏦 VRRR — Temporary Liquidity Absorption

📊 G-Secs — Yield & Price Relationship

💱 Forex — Open Position & Market Risk

🛡️ Internal Controls — Maker-Checker & Exceptions

🔐 Digital Banking — Fraud Risk & Authentication

🏦 DICGC — Insurance Calculation & Set-Off

👥 PMJDY — Financial Inclusion Architecture

💼 JanSamarth — Data-Driven Credit Processing

🌾 KCC — Digital Agricultural Credit

📢 Customer Grievance — Risk Signals

⚖️ Regulatory Compliance — Applicability & Control Testing

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🔥 SECTION A — INTELLIGENCE TEST

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Q1. RBI conducts an OMO sale of Government securities at a time when the banking system has substantial surplus liquidity. What is the most direct monetary effect of the operation:

A. RBI purchases securities and injects durable liquidity

B. Banks receive additional reserves without consideration

C. Liquidity is absorbed as purchasers pay RBI for the securities

D. Currency circulation necessarily increases

E. Banks' deposit liabilities automatically disappear

Q2. A bank has excess funds for only a few days and expects its liquidity requirement to normalise shortly. Which RBI operation is conceptually more suited to temporary absorption of such liquidity:

A. VRRR

B. OMO sale

C. OMO purchase

D. Capital infusion

E. CRR reduction

Q3. RBI's September 2026 OMO programme involves sales of Government securities in multiple tranches. If a bank purchases securities directly in such an operation, which combination best describes the immediate effect:

A. Bank securities decrease and RBI reserves increase

B. Bank liquidity increases and Government securities decrease

C. Bank capital automatically increases

D. Bank deposits automatically increase

E. Bank liquidity decreases while its Government-securities holdings increase

Q4. The market price of an existing fixed-rate Government security falls while its yield rises. Which explanation is most appropriate, other things remaining equal:

A. Falling yield automatically increases the market price

B. Higher required yield can reduce the present market price of the existing security

C. Bond price and yield always move in the same direction

D. The change can occur only because of credit default

E. Government securities have no interest-rate sensitivity

Q5. A treasury desk holds a sizeable portfolio of fixed-rate securities. Market interest rates rise sharply and the portfolio's market value declines. Which risk is most directly illustrated:

A. Settlement risk

B. Strategic risk

C. Reputational risk

D. Interest-rate-related market risk

E. Money-laundering risk

Q6. A bank has an unhedged net USD receivable. The rupee appreciates significantly against the US dollar before the receivable is realised. What is the most direct concern:

A. The rupee value of the receivable may decline

B. The bank's CRR requirement automatically increases

C. DICGC coverage on deposits is reduced

D. The borrower's KCC limit is cancelled

E. The bank's deposit insurance premium becomes zero

Q7. A branch's maker is able to initiate and approve the same high-value transaction without independent verification. Which control principle is most clearly weakened:

A. Segregation of duties

B. Deposit insurance

C. Interest-rate transmission

D. Financial inclusion

E. Credit guarantee coverage

Q8. Internal audit identifies that a branch has technically documented an exception-approval process, but exceptions are repeatedly approved without recording reasons. What is the most appropriate conclusion:

A. Documentation is unnecessary where the transaction is profitable

B. The control is effective because an approval exists

C. The exception automatically becomes a normal transaction

D. The absence of customer complaints proves compliance

E. The control framework has an execution and audit-trail weakness

Q9. A customer receives a fraudulent call from someone claiming to be a bank official and discloses an OTP. Which risk mechanism is most directly involved:

A. Interest-rate transmission

B. Social engineering

C. Sovereign default

D. Basis risk

E. Reinvestment risk

Q10. A customer reports an unauthorised digital transaction within a short time of discovering it. Which action should form part of an effective first-line response:

A. Wait for the next statutory audit

B. Close the complaint without investigation

C. Ask the customer to obtain a court order first

D. Record the complaint and initiate appropriate transaction-level controls and investigation

E. Treat the transaction as authorised merely because authentication occurred

Q11. A depositor has ₹4,80,000 principal and ₹15,000 accrued interest in eligible deposits in the same right and capacity at one insured bank. Assuming no other relevant deposits or set-off, what amount is within the DICGC insurance ceiling:

A. ₹4,95,000

B. ₹4,80,000

C. ₹5,00,000 plus interest

D. ₹4,80,000 only

E. The entire balance without a ceiling

Q12. A customer maintains ₹3 lakh in a savings account and ₹3 lakh in a fixed deposit in two different branches of the same insured bank, both in the same right and capacity. For DICGC purposes, which treatment is correct:

A. Each branch receives a separate ₹5 lakh limit

B. Only the savings account is considered

C. The balances are aggregated and the applicable ceiling is ₹5 lakh

D. Only the fixed deposit is considered

E. The deposits are treated as separate because their products differ

Q13. A depositor has ₹4 lakh in Bank A and ₹4 lakh in Bank B, both in the same capacity. How is DICGC coverage generally determined:

A. The ₹8 lakh is aggregated and only ₹5 lakh is insured

B. Only the first bank's deposit is insured

C. Both deposits become uninsured because the depositor exceeds ₹5 lakh

D. The two deposits are treated as one relationship

E. The insurance limit is applied separately to deposits in each insured bank

Q14. A PMJDY account is opened by an otherwise unbanked individual. Which combination best reflects the architecture of the scheme:

A. Only a savings account with compulsory minimum balance

B. Basic banking access with links to remittance, credit, insurance, pension and DBT

C. A specialised account restricted to Government employees

D. A securities-investment account with mandatory G-Sec holdings

E. A loan account without deposit facilities

Q15. A lender receives a digitally generated eligibility result through JanSamarth for a Government-linked credit scheme. Which action remains necessary before sanction:

A. Treat the eligibility result as the final sanction

B. Waive KYC because the information is digital

C. Ignore repayment capacity where a subsidy is involved

D. Conduct the applicable credit appraisal and verification under the lender's requirements

E. Disburse immediately because portal eligibility creates a repayment guarantee

Q16. JanSamarth integrates authenticated information from multiple sources. From a lender's perspective, the strongest operational advantage is:

A. Better data-supported verification and more efficient processing

B. Elimination of all credit risk

C. Automatic approval of every eligible applicant

D. Elimination of all documentation in every loan

E. Replacement of the lender's accountability by the portal

Q17. A farmer's KCC application is supported by digitally verified land and identity information, but the bank identifies weak repayment capacity. What should the bank do:

A. Sanction because digital verification overrides appraisal

B. Reject all KCC applications with weak repayment capacity automatically

C. Complete prudent credit assessment despite the availability of digital data

D. Treat the loan as guaranteed by the Government

E. Ignore repayment capacity because agricultural loans are priority-sector loans

Q18. A branch receives an RBI circular that appears relevant to one product, but the circular contains several applicability conditions. What should the compliance team do first:

A. Implement every provision across all products

B. Wait until an inspection identifies the applicable provisions

C. Follow competitor banks' interpretation

D. Ask customers which provisions they prefer

E. Determine the circular's scope, applicability and affected processes before implementation

Q19. A bank maps a new regulatory requirement against existing SOPs, identifies control gaps, assigns owners and introduces periodic testing. Which stage of compliance management is best represented:

A. Customer acquisition

B. Regulatory implementation and control monitoring

C. Liquidity injection

D. Credit substitution

E. Deposit mobilisation

Q20. A bank notices repeated complaints, transaction reversals and unusual failure patterns in one digital product. Which response demonstrates the strongest risk-based approach:

A. Suppress complaint numbers to avoid reputational impact

B. Wait until financial loss becomes material

C. Transfer responsibility entirely to customers

D. Analyse the pattern, identify root causes and strengthen preventive and detective controls

E. Close the product permanently without analysing the underlying cause

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🗝️ ANSWER KEY

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Q1.C

Q2.A

Q3.E

Q4.B

Q5.D

Q6.A

Q7.A

Q8.E

Q9.B

Q10.D

Q11.A

Q12.C

Q13.E

Q14.B

Q15.D

Q16.A

Q17.C

Q18.E

Q19.B

Q20.D

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🧠 IBR QUICK REVISION

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💧 1. OMO — LIQUIDITY EFFECT

OMO PURCHASE

RBI buys Government securities

↓

Money moves to the banking system

↓

LIQUIDITY INJECTION

OMO SALE

RBI sells Government securities

↓

Banks/investors pay RBI

↓

LIQUIDITY ABSORPTION

RBI announced ₹1 lakh crore of OMO sales in September 2026 in three tranches of ₹50,000 crore, ₹25,000 crore and ₹25,000 crore; the final tranche is scheduled for 28 September.

🎯 EXAM TRAP:

OMO SALE ≠ OMO PURCHASE

🏦 2. VRRR

VRRR = Variable Rate Reverse Repo

Used by RBI to absorb surplus liquidity for a specified period.

🎯 MEMORY CODE:

REVERSE REPO → BANKS PARK FUNDS WITH RBI → LIQUIDITY ABSORPTION

Recent RBI operations have included overnight VRRR auctions to absorb surplus banking-system liquidity.

📈 3. BOND PRICE–YIELD RELATIONSHIP

Generally:

YIELD ↑ → BOND PRICE ↓

YIELD ↓ → BOND PRICE ↑

🎯 EXAM TRAP:

For existing fixed-rate bonds, price and yield generally move in opposite directions.

💱 4. FOREIGN-EXCHANGE RISK

If a bank has an unhedged foreign-currency position, exchange-rate movements can affect its rupee value.

OPEN POSITION

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EXCHANGE-RATE MOVEMENT

↓

POTENTIAL MARKET GAIN / LOSS

🎯 EXAM TRAP:

FX exposure is an important component of market risk.

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📊 SCORE GUIDE

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🔥 18–20 → ELITE MAINS ZONE

🟢 16–17 → EXAM READY

🟡 13–15 → GOOD — REVISE WEAK AREAS

🟠 10–12 → NEEDS CONCEPT REVISION

🔴 BELOW 10 → REBUILD CORE CONCEPTS

🎯 IBR TARGET: 18+

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