Quiz--

1. According to monetary policy for 2011-12 announced by RBI, the projection of money supply growth for 2011-12 is placed at _____.

a) 15%
b) 16%
c) 17%
d) 19%

The Correct option is – (b) 16%

2. Which of the following represents the budget estimates for net market borrowings by the Union government during 2011-12?

a) Rs. 343,00 crores
b) Rs. 324,50 crores
c) Rs. 452,60 crores
d) Rs. 574,60 crores

The Correct option is – (a) Rs. 343,00 crores

3. According to the budget estimate of 2011-12, the plan expenditure is estimated at

a) Rs 4,52,347 crore
b) Rs 4,32,527 crore
c) Rs 4,41,547 crore
d) Rs 4,24,567 crore

The Correct option is – (c) Rs 4,41,547 crore

4. What is the code name given to the collective international action under UN authority to protect the Libyan people against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces?

a) Operation Ortsac
b) Operation Trident
c) Operation Swift Strike
d) Operation Odyssey Dawn

The Correct option is –(d) Operation Odyssey Dawn

5. As per the Index of Government Economic Power (IGEP) 2011, released by the Ministry of Finance during Economic Survey 2010-11, what is India’s rank in the
IGEP list of economy of around 112 global countries?

a) 3rd
b) 5th
c) 7th
d) 9th

The Correct option is – (b) 5th

6. Which of the following persons has been awarded with the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize for the year 2011?

a) Binayak sen
b) Larry Ellison
c) Mark Zuckerberg
d) Julian Assange

The Correct option is – (d) Julian Assange

7. What is the name of pilot project recently launched by President Pratibha Patil which aims to empower women in rural areas through telecom services?

a) Indira Awaz
b) Awaz Uthao
c) Sanchar Shakti
d) Soochna Shakti

The Correct option is – (c) Sanchar Shakti

8. Which among the following states retained top slot in the list of The Economic Freedom Rankings of the States of India, 2011, recently released by the Planning
Commission?

a) Kerala
b) Tamil Nadu
c) Maharashtra
d) Andhra Pradesh

The Correct option is – (b) Tamil Nadu

9. India’s first Titanium Sponge plant, with a capacity of 500 tonnes, recently has been inaugurated by Defence Minister AK Antony at which of the following locations?

a) Kollam (Kerala)
b) Dhubri (Assam)
c) Angul (Odisha)
d) Udupi (Karnatka)

The Correct option is – (a) Kollam (Kerala)

10. Recently PSLV-C16 rocket launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from Sriharikota. In context of space research programme, what is the
expansion of term PSLV?

a) Power Satellite Launch Vehicle
b) Plane Satellite Light Vehicle
c) Plane Satellite Launch Vehicle
d) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

The Correct option is – (d) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

General Knowledge--

1) Who is the first President of the United States of America?
-George Washington

2) Who was born on August 15, 1769?
-Napoleon Bonaparte

3) Which city was previously known as Salisbury?
-Harare

4) Who is the author of “A streetcar named desire”?
-Tennessee Williams

5) Which film is in Aramaic and Latin?
-The Passion of the Christ

6) Who won Wimbledon Men’s Singles Championship in 1977?
-Bjorn Borg

7) Who won the Olympic Gold Medal for hockey in 1980?
-India
8)What name was taken by Cardinal Joseph Sarto when he became pope?
-Pius X

9) How many metres is one mile?
-1609.344

10) What are vertebrates that live both under water and on land called?
-Amphibians

10) What does Yugoslavia mean?
-The land of the Southern Slavs

11) Which state of USA was once part of Russia?
-Alaska

12) What did the Greeks call the present day Amu River in Iran?
-Oxus

13) Which language is written in five scripts?
-Konkani

14) Which British monarch in 20th century was not crowned?
-Edward VIII

15) Who was told “Beware the Ides of March.”?
-Julius Caesar

16) Which country’s postal stamps have the name Helvetia?
  -Switzerland

17) Yen is the currency of which country?
-Japan

18) Which is the national flower of Australia?
-Golden Wattle

19) What is the number of squares on a chess board?
 -64

20) Which city was the summer capital of India during British Rule?

-Simla

21) The name of which city was changed to Petrograd and Leningrad?
-St. Petersburg

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion notified 100% FDI in Single-brand Retail

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) ON 10 January 2012 notified the rules allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single-brand retail. Currently 51% FDI is permitted in this segment of retailing which was opened to foreign players almost six years ago.

Removal of the investment cap will help global fashion brands, especially from Italy and France, to venture alone in the growing Indian market.

Shares of retail giants Kishore Biyani-led Future Group firm Pantaloon Retail (India) surged by 10% to an early high of Rs 161.40, while Provogue (India) zoomed up by 14.22% to Rs 28.10 on the BSE following the announcement by the government. In a similar fashion, Koutons Retail gained 12.52%, Shopper's Stop rose by 9.38%, Tata Group retail venture Trent Ltd advanced by 5.50% and Vishal Retail jumped by 4.98%.

The decision to increase FDI in single-brand retail was taken by Cabinet on 24 November 2011 along with the decision to open the gates for overseas investment in multi-brand retail. The government was however forced to put FDI in multi-brand retail on hold in the face of opposition by several political parties, including UPA ally Trinamool Congress.

In respect of proposals involving FDI beyond 51%, the mandatory sourcing of at least 30% would have to be done from the domestic small and cottage industries which have a maximum investment in plant and machinery of USD 1 million (about Rs 5 crore).

Kingfisher submits time-bound plans to DGCA

After a rap from the aviation regulator for neglecting safety issues, Kingfisher Airlines on Monday submitted a detailed response to the DGCA giving time-bound plans to resolve the lapses and discrepancies identified.

As civil aviation minister Ajit Singh asserted that there would be no compromise on aviation safety, Kingfisher officials submitted the airline's response at the headquarters of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) here, but no details were available. A long list of discrepancies and violations by various airlines, including Kingfisher, had come to light in a financial audit carried out by DGCA which directed them to resolve all issues in a time-bound manner.

SIDBI entered into MoU with Indian Overseas Bank to extend assistance to MSMEs

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) entered into a memorandum of understanding with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on 6 January 2012 to extend assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) customers of IOB. The MoU was signed by S. Muhnot, Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI, and M. Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director of IOB.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) received Rs 100 crore from Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), as part of refinancing agreement. SIDBI lined up Rs 2000 crore equity investment in the country's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).

As per the Agreement

SIDBI would initially provide a line of credit worth Rs. 100 crore to IOB for seven years. The amount is to be utilised to provide growth capital to deserving MSMEs for funding their growth requirements towards any bonafide business purpose, including bridging the gap in project funding, working capital margin, intangible expenses.

The assistance to MSMEs could be through a variety of instruments such as subordinate debt, mezzanine/ convertible instruments such as optionally convertible debentures and redeemable preference shares. On a selective basis, IOB would also provide equity funding where business model or exit options would clearly support such investments.

IOB in 2011-12

During 2011-12, the bank disbursed Rs 1983 crore to the sector, which is a growth of 17 per cent compared 2010-11. Total aggregate disbursements stood at around Rs 13822 crore and number of accounts 44871.

IOB recently received an award for its performance in MSME lending during 2010-11 from the President.

Union Government Measures

Union Government had created the Risk Capital Fund for MSMEs within SIDBI and SIDBI in turn, formed a separate business unit, SIDBI Foundation for Risk Capital. The objective was to develop and operationalise appropriate risk capital products for MSMEs of different sizes, constitution and in different industry segments. Apart from direct funding by SIDBI, various delivery channels such as banks and venture capital (VC) funds is to be used for providing risk capital to MSMEs

Indian market loses trillion-dollar tag

After Tuesday's(20-12-2011) sell-off, Indian market has lost one more key title — that of being a trillion dollar market.As the market barometer Sensex plunged to a fresh 52-week low, the total size of the market on Tuesday dipped to Rs 52,60,441 crore, measured in terms of total value of all the listed companies in the country.

With the Indian rupee closing at 52.88 per dollar, India's market capitalisation has fallen below USD 1 trillion in dollar terms.The Indian market had first achieved a trillion-dollar size about four and half years ago on May 28.The market size has been hovering above the trillion- dollar mark for last few days and an eminent miss was averted on Thursday last week, when the RBI managed to reverse the downfall of rupee after a record fall to Rs 54.30 level.

On 31st December 2010, total market capitalisation of BSE was at Rs 72,94,571 crore.

The Indian market had first achieved a trillion-dollar size about four and half years ago on May 28, 2007, but moved out of this coveted league about a year later on July 1, 2008.India again joined this elite club of markets with trillion-dollar valuation about a year later on June 3, 2009.The Indian market was, in fact, seen inching towards the two-trillion dollar mark at least twice in the past -- first in early 2008 and then at the beginning of 2011 with a size as high as USD 1.9 trillion.

However, a sharp plunge in the market this year has led to its valuation falling by close to Rs 20 lakh crore (over USD 500 billion) and currently faces a high risk of losing its trillion-dollar tag.

10 Indian's in Forbes 30

10 Indian's in Forbes 30 Under 30 List of "tomorrow's brightest stars" who are "reinventing the world

From a 29-year-old Goldman Sachs director to a graduate student developing energy conserving sensors, about 10 Indian-origin young turks have been named in a Forbes list of "tomorrow's brightest stars" who are "reinventing the world".

The Forbes' '30 under 30' list profiles about 360young "ultra impressive up-and-comers" that the companies should either "hire today" or would be working for them in the future as they are the young people of today "who matter".

The magazine has selected the young turks from 12diverse fields including energy, finance, media, law, entertainment, science,design and technology.Among the Indian-origin people on the list is 17year old Param Jaggi, a student and inventor at Austin College.An "award-winning high schooler", Jaggi created algae-filled device that fits over a car's tailpipe and turns carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Next is 23-year-old Vivek Nair, Chief Executive of Damascus Fortune, who is developing a technology that transforms industrial carbon emissions into carbon nano tubes.

In the finance sector is featured Vikas Mohindra,Financial Advisor at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The 25-year-old broker gathered $38 million in three years from scratch, including a $5 million retirement savings plan.

Next is Manvir Nijhar, Co-Head of European Equity Derivatives Sales at Citigroup. The 28-year-old London School of Economics graduate left BNP Paribas after a four-year stint to give "Citi's derivatives business a jolt."

Following him is Kunal Shah, a 29-year-old Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. The youngest managing director the global financial giant has ever seen, Shah was promoted at 27 and is the "Cambridge math grad turned rock star emerging markets trader," Forbes writes.

Making a mark in the field of science is29-year-old Raj Krishnan, Chief Executive of Biological Dynamics who is developing blood tests that use electric fields to detect key signals that apatient has cancer from the blood.

At 27, Sidhant Gupta, a graduate student at the University of Washington, is developing new sensors and software for the home that conserve electricity, heat and gas.

Others featured in the list are 24-year-old Nikhil Arora, co-Founder of a business that sells 'grow-your-own- mushroom' kits using1 million lbs of recycled coffee grounds and 27-year-old Maneet Ahuja, a producer at CNBC and a hedge fund expert who has been on Wall Street since shewas 17.

RIM replaces BBX with BlackBerry 10

 

                              RIM has opted to go for BlackBerry 10 (as the official name) for it's new smartphone OS after losing a court battle which, if won, would have seen them keep the BBX monacle.The decision was made after BlackBerry was ordered by the federal courts to remove the title when it was found that software company BASIS was already in possession of the BBX name and had legal right to keep hold of it.

         Since that announcement RIM has now revealed  that it would lose the BBX title and instead go for BlackBerry 10 as the name that would become synonymous with RIM's new Android-compatible OS.