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FEBRUARY 27TH, 2013

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[Study-plan] SBI PO General Awareness (GA), Computer, Marketing, Economy Topicwise preparation
strategy, free studymaterial
General Awareness: SSC-CGL vs SBI-PO
SBI Priority order: ECM approach
Economy for SBI PO
Economy: Theory
Economy: Current
#1: India Yearbook
#2: Economic Survey 2012-13
#3: Magazines
#4: Newspapers
Computers
Marketing
Misc.GK
Data interpretation
English
Appendix #1: download links
Appendix #2: List of questions from previous exams
Q. Economy: Theory
Q. Economy: Government related
Q. Economy: RBI related
Q. Economy: World Economy
Q. Computer: Database related
Q. Computer: Internet Related
Q. Computer MS Office/softwares
Q. Computer OS, Software, Basic
Q. Marketing
Q. Yearbook
Q. Misc.GK, Sports, books, PIN

In the earlier article, we saw the approach for SBI PO: Reasoning (High level) click me.
Now the next topic: General Awareness + computer + marketing. + truckload of free study material.
Since many of you, are simultaneously giving SSC + SBI, so first lets check the difference between

General Awareness: SSC-CGL vs SBI-PO

SSC-CGL

SBI-PO

History, science, polity, geography

essential.

Not asked.

Marketing not asked

Avg.11 questions.

Computer barely 2-3 questions

Avg.13 questions

Economy : mostly based on theory.

Avg 14 Qs.(including current affairs). Difficulty level bit of economy Qs. higher than
SSCs.

SBI Priority order: ECM approach

1. In the SSC-CGL studyplan, we saw that priority order was SSC (Static > Science > Crap) click me
2. Similarly for SBI PO, the priority order is ECM =Economy > Computer > Marketing. Following table should clear the doubt
TOPIC

2010A* 2010N 2011A

Economy

14

16

13

Computer

13

14

13

Marketing

12

11

12

International

Misc.GK(persons in news, books, sports, awards etc.) 4

Yearbook

50

50

50

*A means associated banks. N = normal regular PO exam. As you can see, out of total 50 questions, more than 30 are coming from
ECM only. And in 2010 and 2011s exams, the sectional cutoff for General Awareness was at max 11 marks.

Even in older papers, questions revolve around more or less ^these same topics. Although Internal marks breakup may differ per year.
Now lets check approach for individual topics:

Economy for SBI PO

Internal breakup looks like this:
Economy

2010A 2010N 2011A

Theory

Government related

RBI related

world economy/ International 2

Subtotal: Economy

16

13

14

To get better idea on nature of questions, go to the appendix of this article.

For exam-oriented preparation of SBI PO, I classify Economy into following two subtopics
1. Theory
2. Current Affairs
a. Government related (GDP, fiscal policy, taxation, planning Commission etc.)
b. RBI related (repo, reverse repo, priority sector, NBFC, etc. and the banking and finance concepts) + other regulators like
SEBI, IRDA
c. World Economy (EU, USA, recession reasons etc.)
From outside, and to a new player, Economy looks very boring and vast subject for competitive exams. But thats because youre
reading the wrong material and preparing in wrong direction. Know that 1) you dont have to mug up all numbers 2) you dont have to

tick all questions. What youve to prepare for Economy-MCQs is:

1. Understanding the Terms (not the verbatim definitions but working understanding of what does Repo/Reverse repo, fiscal
policy, monetary policy etc. do?)
2. Understanding the cause and effect between terms (for example what will happen to inflation if repo rate is increased or
decreased? if IIP is low then what is the cause behind it? If WPI is high then what is the cause behind it?)
3. Salient features/functions of some organization / scheme (like RBI, NABARD, Banking Ombudsman, QFI, granting new Bank
licences etc.)
4. Only the important numbers. like What is the latest FDI limit in insurance, aviation, multi-brand retail, single-brand retail etc. Tax
to GDP, targets of 12th Five year plan, Highest WPI, lowest IIP last year etc. (youll find most of them in Economic Survey.)

Economy: Theory
Without getting grip over theory, you cannot digest current affairs. So preparation must start with theory.
1. NCERT Class 11
2. NIOS Economy Material.
3. NIOS Marketing Material.
All them them available for free, download links given in appendix of this article.
NIOS_Marketing file also includes some important content on banking-finance. Refer Chap.9 Banking services
itll give you the idea on types of bank accounts, discounting bills, types of advances etc. terms. So youd be able to handle
MCQs associated with them.
NCERT Class 12 (Micro-Macro economy) would be boring and not much useful for the purpose of SBI. So you may ignore it.
Also read the economy articles on mrunal.org/economy

Economy: Current
The Current affairs on economy, rests on four pillars

#1: India Yearbook

1. if youre preparing for UPSC as well, youd have India 2013 or India 2012 Yearbook. Do selective study of economy related
Chapters from it. (List of topics, chapters and page numbers already given in separate article click me)
2. if youre not preparing for UPSC, then there is absolutely no need to specifically get India yearbook for the written exam of
SBI. However use the India 2011 (free PDF given in Appendix). From that, prepare the specific topics as per above link (page
numbers will be different, some topics may not be there.) Note: some information may be outdated in India 2011 but the basics of
finance ministry, functions of its departments, functions of RBI, SEBI etc. remains one and same).

#2: Economic Survey 2012-13

Economic survey is a document released by Government, just before budget.
It gives you overall idea on how economy performed last year and what should be done for future.
it is goldmine for current affairs related questions of Economy.
Whatever (jholaachhap) magazines/books/material comes in the market during March-April flood period, theyre basically
copypaste job from Economic survey data + Yearbook + Newspapers. So better use the original, unpolluted version.
Besides, if youre only preparing for SBI (meaning you dont have India 2013/12) then you must to go through Economic Survey
to fillup the gaps.
Economic Survey was released today (February-27-2013). Free download links given in the appendix of this article.
While it looks very bulky and boring, but you dont have to prepare every-line and word from it
Ill soon release a specific reading plan for Economic survey. Then you prepare the survey accordingly. But first, I gotta read the
whole survey myself so itd take some time hahaha.

#3: Magazines
By magazines, I mean competitive magazines like Pratiyogita Darpan, Civil Service times, Chronicle, Wizard etc. Any one is fine.
Basically youve to do is following
1. Go to local library (if youre already buying these magazines for last 6-8-12 months, then no need to go to local library).
Pratiyogita Darpan also gives free access to online magazine. But it doesnt work well on slow speed internet, + they dont allow
you to save PDF = not very convenient.
2. Concentrate on the only first 20-25 pages of every months issue. Here they give you brief on national, international, sciencetech, economy, +person in news/book/awards misc.GK. so you note down any important information that is worthy for MCQs.
(without getting into minor details.) Remaining pages are filler pages: toppers interviews, recycled articles on polity, IR etc. not
very important for SBI. (+time is less, so you cant afford to read the whole magazine.)
3. For SBI PO, you need to concentrate on Economy, International, Misc GK from Magazines only. You may ignore the sciencetech part. (if youre not preparing for UPSC / State PSC or SSC simultaneously.)

4. You can also refer monthly current affairs on competitionmaster.com (if you dont have any paper magazines, cant goto library).

#4: Newspapers
If you are already reading English newspapers that is very good.
If youre not reading English newspapers, then start reading them from tomorrow itself. (either @home, office, library or internet).
Why ? because SBI also has 1) descriptive English paper, 2) Group discussion (GD) and 3) Personal Interview (PI): and for all
three of them you need fodder material to cite. Newspaper-columns provide you plenty of fodder material on any topic: pros
cons of FDI, women empowerment, lokpal, inflation, freedom of speech, social networking sites.and so on.
But the novice players live in a myth that Just 10-15 days before GDPI, I will buy some readymade book and become expert
in all topics. Sorry thats not gonna happen. If you want to perform decently in GDPI, youve to read English newspaper on
daily basis. (same rule for CAT/MBA/IIM.)
+ Newspaper also helps you improve vocabulary.
Even in newspaper, not everything is important for exams. So how to read newspaper from exam point of view, already
explained: click me.
This pretty much concludes economy portion. Now moving to next item.

Computers
The internal breakup for Computers is given in following table
Computer subtopic

2010A 2010N 2011A

Database Management 3

Hardware

Internet/Networking

Ms-Office

OS/Software Basics

Subtotal:Computer

13

14

13

If you already have some book for Computer (from Kiran, Arihant, BSC, GKP etc), thats well and good. Read, revise it multiple
times.
If you dont have any book on computer then no need to specifically purchase a book because.
NIOS (National open school) runs various courses on Computer/IT/Web-design/Software programming and provides free PDF
files.
However many of those PDFs deal with advanced use of C++ commands, Foxpro, HTML or javascript codes etc. such things
are useless from exam point of view.
So, Ive compiled the important and exam-relevant chapters from various courses of NIOS. Free download links in appendix of
this article. (please note: some chapters would overlap but content and coverage is still quite good.)
After that use any mock papers/ old papers.

Marketing
Last topic in the ECM trinity (Economy, Computer and Marketing).
Here you have to know the definition of certain important terms and concepts (call, lead, convert, 7p, 4p,
segmentation, channels, personal selling, marketing mix etc).
Most of the MCQs are directly asked from those terms, in some cases youve to combine the definition with
common sense and youre done.
Ive included the NIOS_Marketing material at the bottom of article. While it is a good read, but it doesnt
cover all the important marketing terms for the exam, so it has to be supplemented by some book.
For marketing, there are plenty of books in the market: Arihant, Kiran, BSC. If you already have one, well and
good, use it.
If you dont have any, I would suggest go for Arihants Book on Marketing
Read all the theory and solve all the mock questions.

Misc.GK
Internal breakup looks like this
subtopic

2010A 2010N 2011A

book-author

PIN

Sports

Subtotal: Misc.GK 4

Just go through this list for 2012-13

http://mrunal.org/2013/02/misc-gk-persons-in-news-2012-13-sports-books-awards-for-ssc-cgl-sbi-po-upsc-csat.html
Take ^it as your foundation for your Misc.GK. Then use whatever magazines/ competitionmaster.com to fill-up more data as per
your time and mood.
Now Last two topics: International affairs + Yearbook
1. International
affairs

Use the pillar #3 (magazines +/- competitionmaster.com) and #4 (newspaper) for this.
No need to cover it in detail, just pay attention to organizations, their full forms, places where summits were
held, any keyterms/ leaders associated etc. Most of the MCQs are not very deep or difficult. So cost:benefit
=quite good.

2. Yearbook
(Government
schemes etc.)

Economic Survey + magazines. Just need to know basic.

So far covered: Reasoning (High level) + General Awareness (+Marketing + computer)

Article on remaining topics (DI + English) will be published soon. (but not before the studyplan for Economy survey).
In the mean time, here is brief overview
Data interpretation
NCERT class 11 Statistics Chapter #3, 4 and 5. Click me for free download
Technique to do Long division and ugly percentages quickly: click me to learn
Trachtenberg system for quick multiplication (especially for 5 and 9). Lot of articles on internet. Start with wiki
DI doesnt have much theory (except a few things in pie chart, averages etc.) so practice is what matters.
For practice, If youve old papers or some mock paperset, use it. Otherwise, go for Kiran Prakashans
Practice Workbook for SBI PO
Kirans Practice Workbook also has mock papersets On all topics of SBI :DI,GA,computer,marketing,Englist
objective, English Descriptive too) + previous 14 solved papers of previous SBI exams= tonnes of practice.
English
1. Grammar book. If you dont have one, use SP Bakshi (Arihant).
2. For descriptive, same Kiran Prakashans Practice Workbook for SBI PO, for getting writing practice for the
descriptive papers.
Anyways, ^this is just overview, detailed article on English + DI later.

Appendix #1: download link for SBI PO Free Study material

Just go to following link, click on file names and downloads will start.
https://files.secureserver.net/0fRMgNldNnW6J1
Above link contains zip files for
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

NCERT Economy class 11

NIOS Economy basics
Economic Survey 2012-13
India 2011 Yearbook
NIOS Computer material for SBI PO
NIOS Marketing material for SBI PO

Please note: some files are in .7z format because .zip format was not compressing them enough. For example zip of Economic survey
was around 19MB bu 7z file is only 13 MB. So use this free program called 7-Zip to open such .7z files: Click me to download 7Zip by the way 7zip can also open normal .zip and .RAR files.
To enjoy the PDF files inside, use Foxit PDF reader. It is free, allows many features like copying text, highlighting lines etc. Click me to

download Foxit PDF reader.

Appendix #2: List of questions from previous exams

List of questions from last three exams, to give you an idea on what type of information you should be looking / skipping while
studying.

Q. Economy: Theory
Topping texts: meaning

2010A

FCRA

2010A

NPA

2010A

Terms associated with spanking

2010A

Special Drawing rights

2010N

NBFC full form

2010N

Preferred foreign currency

2010N

Disinvestment meaning

2010N

Supply-side bottlenecks in inflation 2010N

Indexes for measuring inflation

2010N

NBFC example

2010N

Measuring food inflation

2011A

Full form of FINO

2011A

items on which subsidy is given

2011A

LAF full form

2011A

SLR meaning

2011A

Q. Economy: Government related

challenges to Indian economy

2010A

Tendulkar poverty line

2010A

11th five year plan targets

2010A

industrial policy

2010A

highlights of budget

2010N

3G auction Ministry

2010N

fiscal consolidation

2010N

pricing of fertilisers

2010N

inflation and petroleum

2011A

Bhagyam oilfields

2011A

land acquisition

2011A

Bamboo as liberated item

2011A

GDP set by planning commission 2011A

Q. Economy: RBI related

electronic cheque

2010A

local area banks

2010A

financial inclusion target

2010A

priority sector lending certificate

2010A

RBI capital account convertibility

2010N

QIB

2010N

physical settlement of derivatives

2010N

base lending rate increase

2011A

review of bad debts in priority sector 2011A

Q. Economy: World Economy

World Bank report on rural development 2010A
Indo US financial partnership

2010A

yuan policy

2010N

European Union deficit reduction

2010N

BPPIC company

2011A

Q. Computer: Database/Programming related

compiler or converter

2010A

database

2010A

DBMS

2010A

database administrator

2010N

field text

2010N

information system

2010N

design control

2010N

data mining

2010N

storing data in many places 2010N

processing cycle

2010N

system unit function

2011A

system software function

2011A

Q. Computer: Hardware related

WebCam

2010A

network adapter

2010N

chip system

2011A

notebook

2011A

circuit board

2011A

billionth of a second 2011A

Q. Computer: Internet Related

HTTP

2010A

server

2010A

firewall

2010A

TCP/IP

2010A

HTML

2010A

LAN

2010A

Internet

2010N

server

2010N

client/server 2010N
IP address

2010N

chat group

2011A

antispam

2011A

hyperlink

2011A

FTP

2011A

Q. Computer MS Office/softwares
presentation slights

2010N

Microsoft messenger function 2011A

Q. Computer OS, Software, Basic

JPG,PNG

2010A

start menu

2010A

fragmentation

2010A

batch files

2010N

embedded operating system 2011A

Java applets

2011A

Q. Marketing
aim of marketing

2010A

aggressive marketing

2010A

efficient marketing requirements

2010A

modern marketing style

2010A

call

2010A

lead generation

2010A

conversion

2010A

salesperson performance

2010A

marketing research

2010A

value-added services

2010A

customisation

2010A

e-marketing

2010A

7P

2010N

home loan canvassing

2010N

CRM

2010N

growth strategy

2010N

SME

2010N

blue Ocean strategy

2010N

Bancassurance

2010N

monopoly company and marketing 2010N

Cross selling: functions of

2010N

Cross selling: does not help in

2010N

SME loan target group

2010N

online marketing

2011A

customisation

2011A

market-driven strategy: challange

2011A

effective selling skills

2011A

generation of Leeds

2011A

market plant function

2011A

marketing channel

2011A

social marketing

2011A

service marketing

2011A

Market driven strategy includes

2011A

innovation

2011A

canvassing of personal loans

2011A

Q. Yearbook
government initiatives for agriculture 2010A
NREGAs new name

2010A

cryogenic engine

2010A

rural infrastructure scheme

2010N

satellite launch

2011A

River cleanup project

2011A

scheme of rural ministry

2011A

Q. Misc.GK, Sports, books, PIN

EU President

201 0A

Asia cup hockey (female) champion

201 0A

book: the discov ery of India

201 0A

name of book written by V S Naipaul

201 0A

CK Naidu

201 0N

IBN Indian of the y ear

201 0N

Miss world 2009

201 0N

Dav is cup winner nation

201 0N

Chairman of 1 3th Finance commission

201 0N

Coach of Indian cricket team

201 1 A

Kanistha Dhankhar

201 1 A

K Balachar

201 1 A

Goodluck Jonathan

201 1 A

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179 comments to [Study-plan] SBI PO General Awareness (GA), Computer, Marketing, Economy
Topicwise preparation strategy, free studymaterial

Older Comments

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Shanmukha priya
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Sir,
This website is really awesome and extremely helpful. It gave me many great points regarding SBI PO.. Thank you so much for all the info..

Prateek
Reply to this comment
sir
marketing & computer notes r available on Mrunal.org for Sbi PO-Exam

Sameer Jain
Reply to this comment
Thanks a ton

Bijal Chhadva
Reply to this comment
Please ignore my comment. I got it. I was looking at the folder thinking of it as another PDF file. Sorry. Please excuse me.

n dixit
Reply to this comment
it is really a nice place to get all the required materials free

anmol
Reply to this comment
what would be an ideal score .any advice.

ramesh
Reply to this comment
hii sir, wat could be cut of marks for sbi po

Gokila
Reply to this comment
This is one fab site.Everything organised well and explained in detail.Kuddos mrunal!!!

SATHISH
Reply to this comment
hi Mrunal
today attended SBI po exam. whatever u mentioned is same wen i gone through the question paper.
hatsoff and thank u. keep ur service

Vikas Gahlot
Reply to this comment
Regarding SBI Exam
Hello Everyone!

Just want to know if there is any way wherein we can discuss in a constructive manner about the SBI PO exam. As I have witnessed a very
negative sort of impression which casts a shadow over the whole examination process itself.
Is there any other forum, where we can discuss the same?

Mrunal
Reply to this comment
Pagalguy.com has huge thread and membergroup for SBI/IBPS PO exams.

sonu
Reply to this comment
any idea abt cut off for sbi po 2013 ??????

manjur pinjari
Reply to this comment
sir,sbi po 2013 k acut off kya ho sakta hai..

gayathri
Reply to this comment
I appeared for sbi p.o. am not sure whether i will clear it , am cmng under general category..can u please tell me when will the IBPS 2013
P.O will take place i came to know that last year it took place in may. i am waiting for the announcement. also when will sbi clerical exam gng
to conduct this year? will it come after sbi po written results?

Sheetal
Reply to this comment
Sir, plz do let me know cut off marks for gen categry for SBI PO 2013 also website whr i will get the answer key of sbi po

vineeta
Reply to this comment
Is the study plan for the generel awareness for ibps po the same as sbi po or different.??

sweta
Reply to this comment
i filled form of ibps po 2012 but i didnt gave exam so this time i fill form for ibps 2013 will it be counted as an attmept or not please if anyone
know regarding this please post comment and help me .

Sandeep singh
Reply to this comment
if u have not given exam then it will NOTTT counted as attemptso relax

Hussain
Reply to this comment
guys..
results are out.
I dint make it :(
all the best for others..

nidhi
Reply to this comment
i failed to clear sbi po hope i get pass in sbi clerk 2013 feeling depressed but i have to move on because i have to give rbi assistant exam in
july so dnt have time to think on my failure it makes me feel restless and hopeless .congrats to those who passed and better luck next time to
those who failed like me.everyone say there is always a second chance when will i get that chance waitnig for it to come desperately.

shilpa
Reply to this comment

heyyyy i got selected for the 2nd phase of sbi-po recruitment.

tanmoy
Reply to this comment
congrats, how many questions did u attain??

shilpa
Reply to this comment
hi
around 130-140 as i remember, they didnt put the marks list yet

Nuno
Reply to this comment
Shilpa if u dnt mind answering may i knw if u belong to general category.jst for estimating the cut off.

shilpa
yes im from gen category

shilpa
and by the way, i have attempted more than 140 but was sure to get atleast 130-140 marks for 200 and yes my descriptive
was good i felt

Sandeep singh
Reply to this comment
congrats Shilpa:)
mera nahi hua:(

shilpa
Reply to this comment
thank you and dont worry try ur best for sbh po notification that is to come by this month end
all the best yaar

teja
Reply to this comment
how to know our roll number to check result. Shilpa did u get mail/sms confirming?

shilpa
Reply to this comment
hi
i havent yet got mail or sms, we can download the call letter from 18th onwards

ravi
Reply to this comment
got thru

tanmoy
Reply to this comment
congrats , how many did u attain

vikas
Reply to this comment
sir if admit card of sbi po is lost, but registration number is there then how to get back the roll no. kindly help

123
Reply to this comment
are successful candidates getting sms/mail, pls reply

Abhishek
Reply to this comment
Cleared SBI PO tier 1.

Bhan Sharma
Reply to this comment
Managed to get through phase 1!!
Thanks Mrunal

Srviya
Reply to this comment
Sir!
Cleared the SBI P.O! How to prepare for GD and P.I? My Interview date schedules on the first week of July.

mayank
Reply to this comment
sir
I have cleared sbi po tier 1can u plz provide me a proper study plan for gd/pi prep.

Tarique
Reply to this comment
I hav cleared written for SBI PO as well as NBH Asst. Manager.
I wud like u guys to suggest which one to take up considering dat my prep for civils do not get affected much.
As in which will b less hectic nd involve no travelling.

Girish kumar
Reply to this comment
Dear Mrunal Sir,
please provide some suggestion and analysis for SSC[Prashar Bharati-Engineering Assistant-2013] examination which is going to be held
on 21th july. my Branch is IT, I have no clue about what they are going to ask in the Mains paper that is subjective type.
please help sir , thank you.

mahesh
Reply to this comment
can any one please tell from where to prepare GENERAL AWARENESS for IBPS PO??
atleast tell name of books or certain website..lot of data is available on internet but whom to trust..really frustrated..

Gauraw
Reply to this comment
This is very awesome site

Esha
Reply to this comment
Sir, Kindly share the study plan or some guidelines for IBPS PO/MT exam.
Thank You

Regards,
Esha

JATIN
Reply to this comment
Hi Mrunal Sir,
I would like to ask you that why not you include RELEVANT DATA REGARDING bank IBPS PO EXAM IN MRUNAL.ORG

Older Comments