The minimum population required to open a physical bank branch in the Northeast has been reduced to which level?

The correct answer is Mizoram University, Aizawl. Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region and Communications Jyotiraditya M. Scindia inaugurated the conclave there, with Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, State Minister Prof. Lalnilawma, MDoNER Secretary Srinivas Katikithala and NEC Secretary Satinder Kumar Bhalla present. Options B, C and D name real institutions in the Northeast, and Guwahati, Shillong and Itanagar are the kind of regional capitals where such a bankers' meeting could plausibly be held, but none of them hosted this edition. The simplest way to fix the fact is to tie the host state to the figures announced there: Mizoram, where the Bairabi railway line has carried about 15 lakh passengers over 1,100 trips and where literacy has reached its full extent, against an average of 93 per cent for the eight states together. The conclave focused on widening banking access and financial inclusion.

The correct answer is 47 rupees. Mr Scindia used this figure to argue that financial inclusion in the region has not yet turned into economic inclusion: deposits are being collected, but lending lags behind. He asked banks to fix state-wise Credit-Deposit ratio targets, to widen credit for entrepreneurs, farmers, women and micro, small and medium enterprises, and to treat the ratio as standing for credit for development. He also pressed for a Northeast-specific credit-risk framework, since community-based landownership in the region calls for flexible rules on collateral. Options A, B and D, namely 27, 37 and 57 rupees, are near neighbours of the real number and are exactly the sort of figure a candidate may half-remember. Keep it anchored with the growth rate quoted alongside it, which is 9 to 11 per cent a year.

The correct answer is about 40,000 crore rupees. This investment has been grounded across the eight northeastern states following the Rising North East Investors Summit held in May 2025. Mr Scindia placed it beside other signs of change in the region: an airport network that has grown from 9 to 17, the Bairabi railway line in Mizoram carrying close to 15 lakh passengers over 1,100 trips, more than one lakh crore rupees reaching the region each year through the 10 per cent share of Gross Budgetary Support that MDoNER monitors, and about 6 lakh crore rupees in fiscal devolution to the eight states. Options A, B and D are round figures of the same order and are easy to confuse with the real one. Candidates should remember the summit's name and month together with this number, since questions often pair the two.

The correct answer is 9 October 2026. The directions ask convenors of State Level Bankers Committees and Union Territory Level Bankers Committees to share the Scheduled Caste beneficiary information with the Commission regularly and to send an action-taken report to the Department of Financial Services by that date, setting out how far the data is available and what difficulties arise in compiling it. An update on the action taken is separately due within thirty days. Option A is the date on which the Department of Financial Services itself issued the directions to the convenors, not the deadline for their reply. Option C is the date on which the Commission Secretary wrote to the Department of Financial Services, which is where the matter started. Option D does not figure in the directions at all.

The correct answer is the Department of Financial Services. It is the department of the Finance Ministry that deals with banks, insurance and the financial inclusion schemes, and it is the body that issued the directions to convenors of State Level Bankers Committees and their Union Territory counterparts after the National Commission for Scheduled Castes raised the gap. Option B, the Department of Expenditure, handles public expenditure management, financial rules and pay matters, and has no role in directing bankers committees. Option C, the Department of Revenue, looks after direct and indirect taxes through the two Boards under it, again unrelated to this instruction. Option D, the Department of Economic Affairs, deals with macroeconomic policy, the Budget and external assistance. Only the Department of Financial Services has administrative charge of banks and the lending schemes named in the Commission letter.