Genesis-January 2014 Issue II

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve
The Genesis
January 2014-Issue-II
Big Stories
TenyearsofManmohanSinghsrule:Amixedlegacy
Current Affairs
India
World
17
Sports
19
Business&Economy
21
DataMine:India:Majoreventsof2013
15
Cyberbuzz
25
Science&Technology
26
People
Faces:ChetanBhagat
16
BusinessBiography:MarissaMayer
24
10 years of Singh: 3
Manmohan
Singhs
press
conference, his only his third
in his close to decade-long
tenure as Prime Minister,
came when the ruling UPA
coalition is at its lowest point,
battered
by
a
slowing
economy, beset by scams and
scandals, and coming
Knowledge Corners
BookReview:ReimaginingIndiabyMcKinsey
27
GD:Gangulysresignationisappropriate
28
Crossword
29
Sudoku
29
Doyouremember?
30
CorporateKnowledgeQuiz
35
PointCounterpoint
48
GSLV-Soaring success 26
The GSLV-D5, powered by an
indigenous cryogenic engine,
effortlessly put the 1,982-kg
GSAT-14
communication
satellite into a perfect orbit
after 17 minutes of flight
following its launch from the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre
at Sriharikota in
Ahmedabad CO & Centre: 101, Suyojan Towers, Nr. Hotel President, Off. C.G. Road, Ph: 079 2646 4053 / 2642 0509
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Mumbai (4): Vashi: 022-65652221; Andheri (E): 022-65567788; Andheri (W): 022-65568888; Borivali: 022-65354535
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Surat: UL/45-48, Pooja Abhishek, Opp S.P.B. College, Athwa Lines, Ph: 0261 - 313 4418
Bhopal: RMJ Educational Services, 174, Modi Complex, M P Nagar Zone II, Bhopal 462011; Ph: 0755 - 4009501
Jaipur: 302, Ganga Heights, Opp. Apex Mall, Lal Kothi, Tonk Road, Jaipur, Ph: 01414044315
Kanpur: 117/L/248 Naveen Nagar, Near Neer Ksheer Chouraha, Kakadeo, Kanpur 208025; Ph: 8808017100, 8808011100
Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.
Samuel Johnson
www.endeavorcareers.com
THE GENESIS
Ten years of Manmohan Singhs rule: A mixed legacy
Manmohan Singhs press conference, his only his third in his close to decade-long tenure as
Prime Minister, came when the ruling UPA coalition is at its lowest point, battered by a slowing
economy, beset by scams and scandals, and coming off humiliating defeats in Assembly
elections in four states
Lows
Manmohan Singhs image declines as UPA-II

embroiled in scam after scam - PM lambasted as silent
PM.
Coal scam, 2G telecom scam, taking alongwith it
several Union ministers.
Rail minister Pawan Bansal and Law minister Ashwani
Kumar, both considered close to Manmohan Singh,
forced to resign undermining PMs clout in the Cabinet.
Declining value of the rupee instills fear of economic
collapse.
Galloping food inflation and price rise and failure of the
government to arrest it.
Rahul Gandhi as Congress Vice President trashes
Cabinets ordinance on tainted netas as nonsense,
undermining PMs authority. Government retracts
ordinance.
Congress politically decimated in last four assembly
polls largely attributed to UPAs poor performance.
A report card titled 10 Years of Progress and Growth
that highlights achievements of the UPA government was
released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a press
conference in New Delhi on January 3, 2014.
Here is a look at the issues raised by Singh in his
interaction with the media and a report card of his ten
years as Prime Minister:
The highs and lows of PM Manmohan Singhs political
career:
Highs
Manmohan Singh steered the Indo-US civil nuclear

energy deal amidst stiff opposition from the Left parties
even risking the UPA-I government.
Rights based laws enacted - Right to Information, Right
to Education, MNREGA Employment Guarantee
scheme.
Economic boom: India recorded over 9% GDP growth
in first four years of UPA.
UPA-II came to power with Manmohan Singh as
Congress PM.
Food bill and Lok Pal acts passed.
FDI in multi-brand retail despite Trinamool Congress
walking out of coalition in 2012.
Economy
The Prime Minister drew satisfaction from the point that
Indias economy grew faster on average during his time in
office than ever before in recorded history.
As finance minister 22 years ago, Singh deftly ushered in
reforms of a state-shackled economy that helped launch
years of rapid growth. The past decade has seen a decisive
change in the economic landscape of the country. Six
years of high growth, which helped fuel a record spending
spree on social sector schemes, have seen a dramatic and
real reduction in poverty.
Indias average economic growth rose to 7.7 per cent in
the 10-year (2004-05 to 2013-14) regime of the UPA
government despite two global slowdowns in this period.
Growth recorded in the previous decade was 6.2 per cent.
Agriculture growth rate has been rising consistently and
the sector expanded by 2.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent
during the 10th and 11th Five Year Plans, respectively.
Rural wages have tripled in the last year and thus
improving the purchasing power of majority of people in
villages.
The countrys GDP at the current price has increased
almost three times to Rs 100.28 lakh crore during the last
nine years from Rs 32.42 lakh crore in 2004-05.
THE GENESIS
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Per capita inccome has riseen almost threee-fold duringg the
period. The per capita income has gone up
u to Rs 68,7447 in
2012 from Rs
R 24,143 in 2004. Per capita
c
incomee has
increased at an annual average
a
of neearly 20 per cent
during the lasst nine years, well above thhe consumer price
p
index during the same periood.
Singh arguedd that at leastt some of thee problems which
w
cost the Conggress heavily in the just-concluded elections,
notably inflaation, are ennmeshed in global econoomic
circumstancess no nationall government could have fully
addressed. But
B he failedd to mention that it wass the
international environment that also faccilitated the rapid
r
growth of UP
PAs first term
m. Critics saay Singh faileed in
his own speccial field of expertise.
e
Hee lost his zeal for
reforms as hee watched thee Congress president impoosing
schemes thatt the exchequuer could harrdly bear. It was

difficult to believe that Siingh was the same man ass the
finance minisster in the earlly 1990s and the
t prime minnister
under the first UPA governnment.
UPAs seconnd term has been
b
a periodd when econoomic
growth has been
b
reducedd to the slow
west in a deccade,
inflation has been higherr than in anyy other five--year
period since 1991 if nott earlier, thatt Indias exteernal
account was dangerously in deficit forr a while andd the
country thereefore in danger of a ratingg downgrade, and
finally that the
t
fiscal sittuation is basically not under
u
control. The UPA
U
failed too build on the cushion provvided
push
by five yearrs of record growth to aggressively
a
through criticcal reforms, especially
e
on subsidies. Annd it
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4
faileed to react quuickly when the global tid
de turned andd
wheen the growth momentum began to falter.
Unrrepentant ovver corruptiion

Thee Prime Minisster said he iss concerned that his legacyy
threeatens to be washed
w
over byy a rising tidee of corruptionn
scan
ndals. Howevver, glaringly evident was his refusal too
ackn
nowledge the UPAs singular moral culp
pability for thee
meg
ga-scandals innvolving spectrum allocattion and coaal
blocck allotments.
When asked abouut the scams thhat took placee on his watchh,
he went
w
on to maake the indefeensible argum
ment that beingg
eleccted a secondd time absolvved the Uniteed Progressivee
Alliiance (UPA) from its rresponsibility to face thee
corrruption chargees. He offeredd the argumen
nt that both thee
specctrum and cooal mine scanndals belongeed to the firsst

government of thhe UPA; the ppeople had vo
oted after thatt,
and rewarded thhe UPA withh a fresh mandate. Singhh
forg
gets that the relevant
r
reports of the Co
omptroller andd
Aud
ditor General on 2G Scam
m and coal scaam came afteer
the 2009 electionns.
Coalition dharrma is nott a convin
ncing enoughh
justiification for lack of decisive action
n. The Primee
Min
nister himselff had demonnstrated during
g the nucleaar
deall that decisivee action by a leader can overcome
o
suchh
com
mpulsions. Hiss complacentt recounting of the UPAs
achiievements woore thin in the face of the cleear dodging of
o
acco
ountability inn this regard. The political costs of thee
UPA
As continuingg state of deniial are bound to
t be high.
Jan
nuary 2014-IIssue-II
THE GEN
NESIS
Rahul as Prime Ministerial candidate
5
Singh claimed that UPAs re-election for the second term
showed that the voters absolved his government of
corruption allegations in the first term. According to an
editorial in the Business Standard he failed to apply the
same logic to BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate. In
asserting that someone who had presided over the
incidents of 2002 could not or should not be prime
minister, he seemed to forget that Modi had thrice won
the mandate of the people of Gujarat after that pogrom.
Indeed, Modi did better than the Congress by winning
thumping majorities.
If sins of commission and omission were washed away by
such electoral mandates, then surely the washing had been
done by Gujarats voters far more than the national
electorate had done for the UPA.
In Sonias shadow
The highlight of his press conference was the declaration

that will open the way for the Congress to name party
vice-president Rahul Gandhi its prime ministerial
candidate who he said, had outstanding credentials for
the job, adding that he had earlier requested him to join
the government. Top Congress leaders have gone on
record in recent days asserting that Rahuls nomination
will make of mar Congresss prospects in the forthcoming
Lok Sabha polls. The Prime Minister has clearly
concurred. Earlier, some within the Congress had argued
that it would be inappropriate to name Rahul as the
partys candidate when Singh was at the helm; the Prime
Minister has now cleared the decks.
Brickbats for Modi

The generally soft-spoken Prime Minister also had
unusually strong words of criticism for the man Rahul
will be taking on Bharatiya Janata Partys prime
ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi. Pointing to Modis
stewardship of Gujarat during the 2002 communal
pogrom, the PM said it would be disastrous for India to
have him as Prime Minister a frontal attack of the kind
many within the Congress had long waited for him to
mount.
Singhs two terms as prime minister will never be free

from the shadow of the Congress President. The
impression endures that she was always looking over his
shoulder. Through this unnatural division of power and
responsibility, the credibility of the UPA fell as if into a
bottomless pit. Singh watched as a man more sinned
against than sinning. The context could become an alibi
for his miserable showing as a prime minister in his
second term. But it will never provide a full answer as to
why Singh as Prime Minister Singh did not assert himself
more, and why, in his second term, he allowed his loyalty
to an individual to override his responsibility to the job he
held.
The ascent & the descent

The prime minister believes that history will judge him
better than the way contemporaries have done. Singh
came to the top job ten years ago with a tremendous
amount of goodwill behind him because of his integrity
and because of his achievements as a finance minister
under P.V. Narasimha Rao. That first term was an
important one, marked as it was by the Indo-US nuclear
deal. It was the momentum of the first term that brought
the United Progressive Alliance to power for a second
term. And since then it was downhill all the way. The
prime minister lost his decision-making capacity; his
government became embroiled in sordid corruption cases.
His goodwill plummeted and he gave the impression that
he was a prisoner of circumstances. The growing
impression was that he had given up on running the
country.
THE GENESIS
Current Affairs: India

NSSO survey on amenities
The NSSO released the key indicators of drinking water,

sanitation, hygiene and housing condition in India on
December 24, generated from the data collected in its
69th round survey during July 2012 to December 2012.
Housing is a basic necessity of human well-being. Along
with the need for a shelter, other facilities in the microenvironment of housing, e.g. type of dwelling unit,
drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, etc., constitute vital
components of overall quality of life of the population.
The objective of the survey on Drinking water,
sanitation, hygiene and housing condition was to collect
information on the different aspects of living conditions
of Indian population necessary for decent and healthy
living, and also to develop suitable indicators to assess
the situation.
Some salient findings of the survey are as follows:
Among rural households, 85.8 percent had sufficient
drinking water and for urban India the corresponding
figure was 89.6 percent.
Percentage of households who got drinking water
facilities within premises was 46.1 percent in rural
India and 76.8 percent in urban India.
About 62.3 percent of rural households and 16.7
percent of urban households did not have any bathroom
facility.
59.4 percent and 8.8 percent households in rural India
and urban India respectively had no latrine facilities.
Among the households having latrine facilities, 31.9
percent and 63.9 percent households in rural India and
urban India respectively had access to its exclusive use.
80.0 percent of rural households and 97.9 percent of
urban households had electricity for domestic use.

urban households lived in a house with pucca structure
whereas 24.6 percent of rural households and 5.0
percent of urban households lived in a house with semipucca structure during 2012.
26.3 percent and 47.1 percent households in rural India
and urban India respectively had dwelling units with
good ventilation.
urban households had improved drainage facility in
the environment of their dwelling units.
In rural India 32.0 percent households had some
garbage disposal arrangement, whereas in urban areas
the corresponding figure was 75.8 percent.
Only 10.8 percent of urban dwelling units were situated
in slum.
While the survey reveals improvements in availability of
basic facilities such as sanitation and drinking water in
urban India, rural India is still a disaster. Almost 60 per
cent of rural households had no access to a latrine at all.
This is a reminder of the sustained failure of the Indian
state to make rural sanitation a priority. The health
outcomes of this alone are disastrous. Open defecation in
an area contaminates the water supply and causes
diseases. This can lead to the symptoms of malnutrition,
including stunting, as well as loss of work and the
corresponding fall into destitution. Much has been
achieved, but more remains to be done.
NSSO survey on urban slums

The National Sample
Survey Office (NSSO),
Ministry of Statistics and
Programme
Implementation
on
December 24, 2013
released
the
key
indicators of urban slums
in India, generated from
the data collected in its
69th round survey during
July 2012 to December
2012. The last survey on
slums was conducted as part of the 65th round of NSS
(July 2008- June 2009).
Slums are part of urban environment and they are
identified by the presence of features of living conditions
THE GENESIS

that are undesirable viz. overcrowding, lack of hygiene
and sanitation, inadequacy of drinking water, and poor
construction, etc. Any compact settlement with a
collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary
nature, crowded together, usually with inadequate
sanitary and drinking water facilities in unhygienic
conditions, provided at least 20 households lived there,
was considered a slum for the survey.
Some of the salient findings of the survey are as follows:
Maharashtra, with an estimated 7723 slums, accounted
for about 23% of all slums in urban India, followed by
Andhra Pradesh, accounting for 13.5%, and West
Bengal, which had a share of about 12%.
An estimated 8.8 million households lived in urban
slums
38% of slum households of urban India were estimated
to be living in Maharashtra, and 18% in Andhra
Pradesh
The average slum size was estimated at 263
households.
44% of slums were located on private land.
In 60% of all slums, the majority of houses had pucca
structures.
71% of all slums had tap as major source of drinking
water
Only 6.5% of all slums had no electricity
In about 66% of all slums, the road within the slum
used by the dwellers as main thoroughfare was a pucca
road.
About 31% of all slums had no drainage facility
27% of all slums had no garbage disposal arrangement
In an estimated 32% of all slums, the approach road to
the slum usually remained waterlogged due to rainfall
The survey reveals improvements in availability of basic
facilities such as sanitation and drinking water in slums.
The implications of this fact are considerable. It indicates
that governments - at central, state and even local levels are beginning to see the importance of those who live in
slum areas as more than just areas for electioneering.
Clearly, they are important voters now - indeed, the Aam
Aadmi Partys strong showing in Delhi elections recently
was partly due to its success in reaching out to
aspirational residents of slums, according to several
observers.
The government must build on this success and take it
further - see slums, or former slums, as areas of
aspiration, entrepreneurship and innovation that must be
7
given facilities and support structures, rather than as
eyesores to be removed.
Judicial Appointments Bill

The government on December 27 decided to grant
constitutional status to a proposed commission for
appointment and transfer of judges to the higher
judiciary, to ensure
that its composition
cannot be altered
through
ordinary
legislation.
The
Judicial
Appointments Commission Bill defines the establishment
of the proposed body to recommend appointment and
transfer of judges of the Supreme Court and the high
courts. Law Minister Kapil Sibal said that the bill with
official amendments will be tabled in the Lok Sabha now.
While a constitutional amendment bill requires two-third
majority for passage in a House, a normal legislation just
needs a simple majority.
The chief justice of India (CJI) will be the head of the
Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC). The JAC will
consist of the law minister, two of the senior most judges
of the Supreme Court, the law secretary and two persons
of eminence to be selected by the Prime Minister, the CJI
and leaders of the Opposition in both Houses of
Parliament. This structure of membership guarantees that
the JAC would have within it enough checks and
balances.
The appointment of judges of the Supreme Court should
not, in an ideal world, be subject to any kind of
controversy. But in India, where things are far removed
from the ideal, there is controversy about the issue.
Article 124 of the Constitution states that every Judge of
the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President
after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme
Court and of the High Courts as the President may deem
necessary. The judiciary took this to mean that judges
would appoint judges without any interference from
either the executive or the legislature. This situation was
questioned in 1998 by the then president of India, K.R.
Narayanan. There has thus been an ongoing attempt to
find a different method of appointing judges. The
outcome is the JAC which the cabinet instituted and has
now decided to make into a constitutional body. Once this
happens, there will be greater openness in the way judges
are appointed and much less criticism of the judiciary
being a self-appointing body.
THE GENESIS
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AgustaW
Westland
d deal cancelled
8
A CAG
C
report inn August 20133 had said thaat the ministryy
had
d initially stipuulated that thee helicopters should
s
be ablee
to fly
f to an altituude of 6,000 m
metres (19,68
85 feet), whichh
meaant that AgustaWestland coould not com
mpete since thee
AW
W101 was certtified to fly onnly to 4,572 metres
m
(15,0000
feett).
Indiia took deliveery of three of the helicoptters before thee
deal stalled but thhe Defence M
Ministry spokeesman said thee
fatee of those aircrraft was unceertain.
India cancellled its $770 million heliicopter deal with

Italian defennce group Finnmeccanicas AgustaWesttland
unit over whaat it termed a breach of inttegrity, but aggreed
to take part inn an arbitrationn process.
The Governm
ment of India has terminateed with immeddiate
effect the agreement
a
thhat was siggned with M/S.
M
AugustaWesttland Internaational Ltd (AWIL) on 08
February, 20010 for thee supply off 12 VVIP//VIP
helicopters on
o grounds of
o breach of the Pre-conntract
Integrity Pactt and the agreeement by AW
WIL, the Deffence
Ministry said in a statemennt on January 1.
1
India froze paayments for thhe 12 AW1011 helicopters after
Finmeccanicaas then chieef executive was arrestedd in
February 20113 for allegeddly paying briibes to securee the
deal.
Finmeccanicaa said the company would
w
defendd its
position. It invoked the arbitration, which wouldd be
conducted inn India undeer the Indiann Arbitration and
Conciliation Act
A of 1996.
India in Octoober 2013 hadd issued a finnal show caause
notice to AgustaWestlan
A
nd seeking to
t terminate the
contract.
Indias defencce deals with foreign supplliers have beenn hit
by a number of corruptionn allegations over the past two
decades but thhis was the firrst cancellatioon of a major deal.
d
Paying or acccepting of brribes is prohiibited by deffence
procurement rules. The govvernment cann cancel a conntract
if an integrityy pact in the rules
r
is violatted, and the seller
s
has to forfeit any security money
m
it depoosited as a biddder.
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Thee AgustaWesttland case raaises difficult questions onn

how
w best to adddress a probblem that haas dogged thee
cou
untry for decaddes. India hass now blacklissted at least 155
firm
ms on corrupption-related charges, in the process
delaaying criticaal acquisitioons. From artillery too
elecctronics, conntract after ccontract has come undeer
susp
picion, makiing officialss wary of expeditiouslyy
proccessing even legitimate pprojects. In this
t
case, thee
tech
hnical qualitiees of the AW
W101 are not in doubt: thee
heliicopter won thhe approval off not just the Air Force, buut
also
o the Special Protection G
Group. The eq
quipment now
w
bein
ng used by thee Prime Minisster is obsolesccent.
In 2012, the Naresh
N
Chanddra Committee on defencee
refo
orms had sugggested alternnative measu
ures to punishh
firm
ms indicted foor corruption, including harsh
h
financiaal
pen
nalties. The goovernment, thhough, has nott shown muchh
inteerest in trying out these alteernatives. Norr has it movedd
to streamline
s
thee defence procurement procedure, whichh
wou
uld allow for alternatives tto be rapidly selected whenn
onee vendor is hit by scandal.
An
ndhra Re
eorganisa
ation Billl
Thee governor off the existing Andhra Prad
desh state willl
serv
ve as governoor of both succcessor states for
f a period too
be determined by
b the presiddent, proposes the bill foor
form
mation of Tellangana, and will have sp
pecial law andd
ordeer powers in Hyderabad.
H
Thee Andhra Pradesh Reorgannisation Bill 2013
2
provides
thatt the governorr will have sppecial responssibility for thee
secu
urity of life, liberty and property of all
a those whoo
resiide in Hyderaabad, which w
will be a comm
mon capital of
o
both
h the state for 10 years.
Thee 63-page bill was tabled inn Andhra Prad
desh Assemblyy
in Hyderabad
H
att the end of December 2013
2
after thee
pressident referred it under Arrticle 3 of thee constitutionn,
seek
king the assem
mblys opinionn by Jan 23, 2014.
2
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
Telangana, comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad,

will be the 29th state in India.
operational hubs for Greyhounds at such locations as the

successor States may by order notify.
The governor, who will be assisted by two advisors to be

appointed by the central government, will have the
The Greyhound and OCTOPUS (anti-terror wing of the

police) forces of the existing state shall be distributed
between the successor states after seeking options from
the personnel.
The existing high court located in Hyderabad will be the
common high court for both the states till a separate high
court is constituted for Andhra Pradesh.
In an attempt to allay the apprehension of students from
Seemandhra who come to Hyderabad for higher
education, the bill proposes that the existing admission
quotas in all government or private, aided or unaided,
institutions of higher, technical and medical education
should continue along with the existing common
admission process for 10 years.
Sexual harassment act in effect

responsibility with regard to matters such as law and
order, internal security and security of vital installations,
and management and allocation of government buildings
in the common capital area.
By mooting the ideas of common capital and powers to
the governor with regard to law and order in Hyderabad,
the central government has tried to allay the
apprehensions of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal
Andhra) people living in Hyderabad.
Andhra Pradesh will have a new capital after 10 years.
An expert committee will be constituted within 45 days
from the enactment of the bill, to study various
alternatives and make recommendations regarding the
new capital.
The bill proposes that central government will assist the
successor states to raise additional police forces.
The training centre of Greyhounds, the elite anti-Maoist
police force, in Hyderabad will serve as a common centre
for both the state for 10 years. After the expiry of this
period, it will become the training centre for Telangana.
The central government will assist Andhra Pradesh to set
up a similar state-of the-art training centre.
The central government will also provide financial
assistance to the successor states in setting up new
The law to check sexual harassment at work place which

prescribes strict punishment, including termination of
service, for the guilty and similar
penalties in case of a frivolous
complaint has come into effect
from December 2013, said
Women and Child Development
Minister Krishna Tirath in the
Lok
Sabha.
The
Sexual
Harassment of Women at
Workplace
(Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 makes it mandatory
for all offices with 10 or more employees to have an
internal complaints committee to address grievances in a
stipulated time or face penalty.
Sexual harassment cases at workplace, including against
domestic help, will have to be disposed of by in-house
complaint committees within 90 days failing which a
penalty will be imposed and repeated non-compliance of
the provisions of the law can even lead to cancellation of
licence or registration of the organisation.
Sexual harassment at work place may lead to termination
of service of the accused, withholding of promotions and
increments, and payment of reasonable compensation to
the complainant. According to the rules, if allegations
against the accused turn out to be false and after inquiry,
are found to be made with a malicious intent, the
complainant may face similar penal provisions as listed
for the accused.
THE GENESIS
10
Current Affairs: India Briefs

Bureaucrats set to face trial in Adarsh scam: Making a major U-turn, the Maharashtra Cabinet
has decided to accept the recommendations of a judicial commissions report on the Adarsh Housing
Society scam, albeit partially, two weeks after rejecting it. However, the Cabinet gave clean chits to
the politicians indicted in the report. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on January 2 said, though the
report had charged four former chief ministers of the state Ashok Chavan, Late Vilasrao
Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Shivajirao Nilangekar Patil of giving political patronage to
the project, no criminality could be established, so no action was required, against them. The State
Cabinet had on December 20 rejected the 670-page report given by a two-member judicial
commission headed by retired Justice J. A. Patil. The Cabinet also decided to initiate cancellation of flat allocation done
in 22 benami transactions.
Bharat Rang Mahotsav organised: The Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the annual theatre festival
organised by the National School of Drama (NSD), is back with its 16th edition and will showcase 71
plays from 17 Indian states and 6 countries. The festival was organised in New Delhi from January 4 to
19, 2014. This year we are aiming at reviving the identity of Indian theatre. We want quality over big
names, said Ratan Thiyam, Chairperson, NSD. As a parallel festival, Bharat Rang Mahotsav, for the
first time travelled to North East with six plays. Three international plays from Israel, Japan and Sri
Lanka and three Indian plays were performed in Imphal and Guwahati from January 9-16.
Justice Ganguly resigns as West Bengal Rights Panel Chief: Bowing to growing pressure
following allegations of sexual assault levelled against him by a law intern, Justice (retd) A K
Ganguly on January 6, 2014 stepped down from the post of chairman of the West Bengal Human
Rights Commission. The intern has alleged that Ganguly sexually harassed her at a five star hotel in
Delhi in December 2012. A three-member panel of apex court judges probing the allegations had
earlier indicted Ganguly of unwelcome behaviour. Known as an upright judge during his 18-year
tenure with various high courts and then the Supreme Court, Ganguly had given a number of
landmark verdicts including the cancellation of 122 2G licences granted by then telecom minister A.
Raja in 2008 due to financial irregularities.
CCTVs, GPS in public transport for womens safety: Stepping up measures for
womens safety across the nation, the government on January 2 approved a Rs 1,405crore project to track and monitor public transport and provide alarm buttons for alerting
authorities in 53 cities with more than a million in population. The project involves
setting up of closed circuit television (CCTVs) and using global positioning system
(GPS) to ensure safety and security of women and girls in distress. This is the first
project to be approved since setting up of the Nirbhaya Fund for women safety.
Government approves 58 new medical colleges: The government on January 2 cleared a
proposal to set up 58 new medical colleges in states with central assistance as well as upgradation of
district hospitals. This will lead to the creation of 5,800 more MBBS seats. At present, there are a
total of 381 medical colleges in the country with 49,918 MBBS seats registered with the Medical
Council of India, the apex medical regulator. The step is aimed at providing more doctors and
increasing the doctor-patient ratio which is currently low.
Shah Commission indicts Odisha for illegal mining: There was large scale illegal mining in Odisha from 200811, during which the government machinery collapsed and looked ineffective and helpless,
the Justice M B Shah Commission said on January 3. Expressing lack of confidence in state
police for carrying out a fair investigation, the Commission has recommended that all cases
pertaining to such mining be handed over to the CBI. In its 5-volume report, the Commission
has asked the state government to recover over Rs 59,203 crore from miners for unlawful
extraction of iron and manganese ores as early as possible.
THE GENESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
111
Lokpal Billl gets Presiidents asseent: The mucch-awaited Lookpal Bill haas got the asssent from
President Praanab Mukherjeee. The Bill was
w passed by the Rajya Saabha on Decem
mber 17 and bby the Lok
Sabha on Deecember 18. The
T movemennt for a Lokppal bill got stteam after thee agitation lauunched by
veteran sociaal activist Annna Hazare. The
T proposed anti-graft law
w provides foor a Lokpal oor national
ombudsman to
t investigate corruption chharges against public functio
onaries.
Govt.s caleendar showccases achievvements: Thee governments calendar foor 2014 with tthe theme Bhharat Nirman,
aim
med at spreadding the message of the flaagship program
mmes was lau
unched by thee
UP
PA in New Delhi
D
on Deceember 31. Thee theme of thhe calendar, brought
b
out byy
Diirectorate of Advertising
A
an
nd Visual Pubblicity (DAVP
P) is Bharat NirmanN
Sabkaa
hittt, Sabka Haq. Each month
h showcases an
a achievemennt of the UPA
A. The Januaryy
moonth displays the RTI Act while Februuary month sshows a pictu
ure of womenn
woorkers getting work from th
he governmennts Mahatma Gandhi Ruraal Employmennt
Guuarantee Act (MGNREGA)
(
) scheme. Praadhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana is thee
theme of Octoober while Noovember montth throws lighht on Direct Beenefits Transffer Scheme (D
DBT).
Indian Histtory Congreess condem

mns ASIs Unnao
U
treasu
ure hunt: The
T Indian H
History
Congress (IH
HC), which orgganised its 74th session orgganised at the Ravenshaw University,
U
Cuuttack
from Decembber 28 to 30, 2013, expresssed indignatiion over the Daundia
D
Khedda treasure huunt in
Unnao districct of Uttar Praadesh in Septeember 2013 and
a alleged th
hat instead of preserving the rich
archaeologicaal marvels off the country, the Archaeological Surveey of India (A
ASI) is engagged in
abusing it. The IHC has called for an enquiry to ideentify the perssons responsibble for makingg ASI
complicit in the
t gold hunt, and to determ
mine the amouunt of taxpayerrs money losst in it. On thee basis
of dreams off a local seer that about 10000 tonnes off gold was bu
uried under thhe palace of a 19th
century king, the ASI had launched
l
a diggging operatioon.
W
World
Zoroaastrian Cong
gress organ
nised in Mu
umbai: The four-day 10thh
World Zoroastrrian Congresss on the theeme Nurturinng Growth and
a
Affirmingg
Ideentity was organised
o
in Mumbai
M
from
m December 227 to 30. Inaaugurating thee
event, Presidennt Mukherjeee President expressed
e
cooncern over the decliningg
poopulation of the
t communitty that has produced
p
legeends like JRD
D Tata, Hom
mi
Bhhabha and Fieeld Marshal Sam
S
Manekshaaw. Zoroastrianism, which
h was once thee
relligion of milllions in pre-IIslamic Persiaa, now has leess than 140,000 followers
woorldwide and 1/3rd of this number
n
is ageed over 60. Thhe Centre laun
nched the Jiyoo
Parsi program
mme in 2013 to address this issue.
DEFENCE NEWS: Defence Minisster A.K. Anntony commisssioned the Indian

I
Coast Guard ship
Abheek in Kochi, Keralla on Decembber 31. Defennce Ministry on Decembeer 23 cleared procurement
proposals woorth over Rs 16,000 crore inncluding that of the Israelii Barak missilles, whose acqquisition was
on hold for the last five years due too a CBI probe in an alleg
ged bribery caase. The Straategic Forces
r
capabiliity of over 30000 kms from
Command (SFC), test-firedd the long rannge Agni 3 miissile with a range
Wheelers Islaand, off the Odisha
O
coast in
i New Delhii on Decembeer 23. The Inddian Army innaugurated an
ultra-modern war centre too train jawanss with the hellp of computeers in variouss war situationns across the
world at Arm
mys Strike Onne core headqquarters in Maathura on Deccember 22.
Mateernal mortaality ratio co

omes down to
t 178: With the maternal mortality ratioo
(MM
MR) numbeer of women who
w die of preegnancy-relatted causes perr 1,00,000 livee
birthss coming down
d
to 178, India
I
is inchinng forward to m
meet its globaal commitmennt
to redduce the ratioo to 109 by year 2015. The
T latest MM
MR figures for
fo 2010-20122,
releassed by the Registrar-Generaal of India on December 200 suggest that the MMR hadd
comee down to 1788 from 212, an
n annual decliine of 5.7 perr cent. While Kerala
K
has thee
lowesst MMR at 66 as against 81
8 in 2007-20009 Sample R
Registration Survey
S
figuress,
Assam tops thhe list in absolute numbers with 328 deatths per 1,00,00
00 live births.
www.endea
avorcareers..com
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
12
EAG states have shown improvements on MMR: The eight Empowered Action
Group (EAG) States, which traditionally had very bad health indicators, have shown
remarkable achievements on maternal mortality ratio (MMR). Among these, Rajasthan has
shown an annual decline of 16 per cent, with its figures falling from 318 to 255.
Bihar/Jharkhand stands at 219 from 261, while 292 women still die in Uttar Pradesh from
pregnancy-related deaths for every 1,00,000 live births. This figure is 230 in Madhya
Pradesh/Chhattisgarh as against 269 in the 2007-09 survey. The Centre has launched
several schemes under the NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) for improving
reproductive and child health, including Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram, free transportation and focusing on
adolescent health.
Exams for state civil services officers for promotion to IAS: State civil services
officers will now have to face a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) written test and
interview for their promotion to the three All India Services. Till now, the selection of state
services officers into the three All India Services (IAS, IPS and IFoS) was being done on the
basis of review of their seniority and Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs). A final merit list
shall be prepared taking into account all the marks obtained in four components written
examination, length of service, assessment of ACR and interview by all the candidates in
the zone of consideration, said the new rules released on December 24, 2013.
Congress ruled states to enact new Lokayukta legislation: Congress-ruled states will enact
Lokayukta legislations on the lines of the Centres Lokpal by February-end, a resolve aimed at
positioning the party strongly in the fight against corruption ahead of elections. It marks a significant
step in erecting anti-graft framework in states where, unlike the Centre, there has been no pressure
like the Anna Hazare agitation to force the hand of local governments. At a meeting with chief
ministers called by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to discuss the issue of corruption on
December 27, all state heads agreed to bring the Lokayukta legislation mirroring Lokpal bill by
February 28. While the Lokpal bill passed by Parliament gives one year to states to bring their
Lokayukta legislation, it leaves the states free to decide on the nature of the ombudsman they want to have. Congress is
in power in Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Karnataka, AP, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra,
Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala and Meghalaya.
PM lays foundation stone of Punjab cancer hospital: Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh on December 30, 2013 laid the foundation stone of the Rs. 450-crore Homi Bhabha
Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Mullanpur of Mohali district in Punjab that will
be run on the lines of Mumbais Tata Memorial Hospital. In Haryanas Jhajjar district, the
PM laid the foundation stone of National Cancer Institute on January 3. Also at Jhajjar,
Singh laid the foundation stone of the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership
where research would be conducted on study and use of various aspects of atomic energy.
Indigenous cervical cancer screening device launched: India on December 23 launched its
first indigenously developed device for screening and early detection of cervical cancer, which kills
over 74,000 women in the country every year. Launching the low-cost AV-Magnivisualiser device
developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Union Minister of Health and Family
Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad said it will help in early detection of cervical cancer among adolescent
girls and women, thus helping in save many lives.
CVC-led system to check corruption goes online: An information sharing system developed by the
Central Vigilance Commission to ensure global cooperation in checking black money and initiating anticorruption measures has gone online in December 2013. The Information Sharing and Analysis Against
Corruption (ISAAC), a knowledge management system, will facilitate exchange of information about
anti-corruption organisations, systems, procedures, practices and experiences among member
organisations across the world. It will also help in dealing effectively with transnational crimes and
check illegal proceedings or black money.
THE GENESIS
13
Chairs to be set up in varsities after Nobel laureates: The government has announced
creation of chairs in the name of Nobel laureates in universities in the country to inspire the
younger generation excel in their area of work. The chairs will be named after Rabindranath
Tagore, C V Raman, Hargobind Khorana, Mother Teresa, C Chandrasekhar, Amartya Sen and
V Ramakrishnan, said HRD Minister M. M. Pallam said at the diamond jubilee celebration of
UGC in New Delhi on December 28, 2013. The Chairman of the UGC, Dr. Ved Prakash, said
the Commission is taking several steps to ease the constraints caused by the paucity of quality
faculty by engaging Recharge Programs and appointing contractual faculty. In other events, the
37th Indian Social Science Congress-2013 was organised at the Aligarh Muslim University in
Aligarh from December 27 to 31.
AAP wins floor test in Delhi State Assembly: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) passed the
floor test on a confidence motion in the Delhi State Assembly on January 2. Arvind Kejriwal
took oath as Chief Minister in New Delhi on December 28, promising a corruption-free
government and new style of governance without arrogance of power. A former revenue service
official, 45-year-old Kejriwal, who broke from Anna Hazares campaign for Lokpal and helped
AAP make a stunning debut in electoral politics winning 28 of the 70 seats, took the oath of
office and secrecy at a public ceremony in the historic Ramlila Maidan, the fast venue of the
anti-graft campaigners more than two years ago. Along with Kejriwal, six others took oath as
ministers administered by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.
Tharoor is PETAs person of the year: Union Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor has
been chosen as the Person of the Year by animal rights campaigner PETA (People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals) for initiating steps for animal protection. Tharoor used the power and
prestige of his office to advocate for the protection of animals, a PETA release said in
Thiruvananthapuram on December 27. Tharoors efforts to help animals included writing a letter to
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urging him to implement non-animal methods of teaching in
medical courses.
German mathematician presented Indian Mathematics award: The
SASTRA-Ramanujan Award 2013 was presented to Peter Scholze, 25, from
Mathematics Institute, University of Bonn, Germany, at the Srinivasa Ramanujan Centre
of the Shanmugha Arts Science Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA)
University, at Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu on December 22. The award was given to
him for his path-breaking contribution that lies at the interface of arithmetic algebraic
geometry and the theory of automorphic forms, and especially in the area of Galois
Representation, said a citation. The prize aimed at recognising exceptional talent in
mathematics is given to mathematicians below 32 years.
OTHER AWARDS: Mammen Mathew, Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama, was conferred with
the Lokmanya Tilak National Award for Excellence in Journalism, instituted by Kesari-Mahratta Trust,
in Pune on January 4. President Pranab Mukherjee gave the first Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award
for excellence in Bengali literature to poets Nirendranth Chakravarty and Sankha Ghosh for the years
2012 and 2013 respectively in Kolkata on January 11.
Environment Minister Natarajan resigns: Minister of State with independent charge of
Environment and Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan resigned from the Union Council of Ministers on
December 21. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily will hold additional charge
of the Environment Ministry. The resignation triggered speculation whether her exit was related to
the party work or due to reported complaints from industry that her ministry was holding up
environmental clearances to projects. The view gained further ground when Rahul Gandhi shared
the industrys concerns at a FICCI meet.
THE GENESIS
14
Bimal Gurung takes oath as GTA chief: Setting aside separate statehood demand in
Darjeeling, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supremo Bimal Gurung on December 26 took oath
as the new Chief Executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), from where he
had resigned in July 2013. The GJM had been agitating for a Gorkhaland state carved out of West
Bengal following the Centres decision to create Telangana. But police crackdown on its
supporters and dissent among the people of the hills over regular shutdowns called by Gurung
forced the Morcha to backout from the stir.
Moolam Thirunal is new head of Travancore royal family: Moolam Thirunal Rama
Varma, nephew of late Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma who passed away in December at the
age of 91, was installed as the new head of the Travancore royal family and the custodian of the Sree
Padmanabha Swami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram on January 3. Known as Sreepadmanabha
Dasas, the royal family and Padmanabha Swamy temple were in news with the discovery of
jewellery worth crores of rupees in the temple vaults in 2011.
New DGs appointed at NSG, CISF: Senior IPS officer J. N. Choudhury was appointed as
Director General of National Security Guard (NSG) while Arvind Ranjan took over as the DG of
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The NSG has specific tasks of undertaking special
counter-terror and counter-hijack operations. The CISF guards vital government installations
including airports and nuclear and aerospace facilities in the country. In Manipur, former Union
Home Secretary V K Duggal was sworn in as the new governor in Imphal on December 31 in the
presence of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
Captain Gopinath joins Aam Aadmi Party: Exemplifying growing political activism of top
professionals and corporate figures, Captain Gopinath, who pioneered the low-cost airline business in
the country, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Bangalore on January 3. Stating that he had
always been politically active, Gopinath, who founded companies like Air Deccan, Deccan Charters
and Deccan 360, reminded that he had contested and lost 2009 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent
candidate.
Yuvraj to spread cancer awareness in schools: India discard Yuvraj Singh is organising a cancer
awareness programme for school children across the country through his initiative YouWeCan. The
campaign by the left-handed batsman, who himself had recovered from cancer in 2012 to play for the
country again, would cover over 2,000 schools across 26 towns and cities. YouWeCan is an initiative of
the Yuvraj Singh Foundation (YSF) in association with Khelnama, a community for sports lovers.
Farooq Sheikh passes away: Veteran actor Farooq Sheikh, best known for his memorable
performances in films like Garm Hawa, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Chashme Buddoor, Umrao Jaan
and Bazaar, passed away in Dubai on December 28, 2013 at the age of 65. Born in Amroli in
Vadodara, Sheikh was trained as a lawyer but took to acting after failing to relate to his profession in
law. Theatre was something that he was already doing in college. Sheikh made his debut in Bollywood
with M S Sathyus 1973 Partition drama Garm Hawa where he played the youngest son of Balraj
Sahni. The movie is considered to be a pioneer of a new wave of Hindi art cinema. There was no looking back for Sheikh
after that as he created a space for himself in active parallel cinema world of that time with his nuanced performances.
Obituaries: Urdu journalist Ishrat Ali Siddiqui passed in Lucknow on January 2 at the age of
94. Senior leader of the CPI (M) and former Left Front Minister Sailen Sarkar (73) passed
away in Malda district on December 31. T.C. Narendran, internationally known insect
taxonomist and recipient of the E.K. Janaki Ammal National Award of the Ministry of
Environment and Forests passed away in Kozhikode on December 31 at the age of 69.
Renowned Kannada poet, writer and researcher G S Shivarudrappa, 87, recipient of the
Central Sahitya Akademi award, died in Bangalore on December 23. Veteran journalist and
former editor of The Statesman Pran Chopra passed away on December 22 at the age of 92.
THE GENESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
155
RECEN
NT BOOKS: Indias Risee as a Space Power by UR Rao; Business Czarinas by
b S.N. Charyy;
Betweenn the Lines by
b Kuldip Nayyar; Teasing Questions Exploring Diisconnects in Contemporaryy
India byy M. Hamid Ansari;
A
The Mouse
M
Merchaant Money in Ancient India by Arshiaa Sattar; How
w
to Make Enemies and Offend People by G. Sam
mpath; Afternnoon Girl M
My Khushwan
nt Memoir byy
Amrindeer Bajaj; Sahhir Ludhianvi The Peo
oples Poet by
b Akshay M
Manwani; I Swallowed
S
thee
MoonThhe Poetry of Gulzar by Saba
S
Mahmo
ood Bashir; A
Another Mans Wife by Manjul Bajajj;
Homeless on Google Earth by Muukul Kesavan
Paks objectioons over Indiaas project on Kishenganga dismissed: In
n a major relieef for India, Thhe Haguebased Internaational Court of
o Arbitration has rejected Pakistans
P
objjections by uppholding Indiaas right to
divert water from
f
the Kishhenganga River (Neelum River
R
in Pakistan) for poweer generation in Jammu
and Kashmir. The court agreed the 330 mw
m project inn Jammu and Kashmir
K
is a run-of-river
r
pllant within
the definitionn of the Indus Waters Treatty. It also acceepted Pakistan
ns demand foor uninterrupteed flow of
water.
Thee Good Road out of Osscar race: Gyan

G
Correas Gujarati film
m The Good Road, whichh
was chosen as Inddias entry foor the Best Foreign
F
Languuage Film ovver popular tiitles like Thee
Luncchbox, Ship of Theseus and
a Bhaag Miilkha Bhaag, is out of the bbest foreign film
fi Oscar racee
after it failed to qualify
q
in the Academys latest
l
short off nine films rreleased in Lo
os Angeles onn
Deceember 21.
DGMOs off India & Pakistan meet

m : The Directors
D
Gen
neral of Milittary Operatioons
(DGMOs) of India and Pakkistan met on the Pakistan side
s of the Waagah Border on
o December 224.
Lt. General Vinod
V
Bhatia, DGMO whoo led a five-m
member delegaation and mett his counterppart
Maj Gen Am
mir Riaz, DGM
MO, Pakistan Army,
A
said thhat they decideed to ensure ceasefire
c
and rreenergize the existing
e
mechanisms. The year
y 2013 saw
w the worst vio
olations of thaat ceasefire.
K
Khobragade
returns: Dipplomat Devyanni Khobragadde flew back to New Delhi on January 100
affter a deal beetween the US
U and India in which shhe was indictted but grantted diplomaticc
im
mmunity from visa fraud chharges. India, meanwhile, expelled
e
an Am
merican diplo
omat of similaar
raank from Delhhi, in a sign off lingering bittterness betweeen the two coountries. Her return becamee
im
mminent after India rejectedd Americas request
r
to waiive Khobragaades immunitty, after whichh
shhe was askedd to exit the country. Kho
obragade wass on January 7 granted full
fu diplomaticc
im
mmunity after India transfeerred her to th
he Permanent Mission of Inndia to the United
U
Nationss.
Thhe diplomat now
n no longer enjoys immu
unity and that an arrest warrrant might be issued againsst
her if she landds in the US on
o a personal visit.
v
India, Mald
dives sign 3 MoU during President Yameens visit
v : India annd the Maldivves agreed
to amicably resolve all differences,
d
inncluding over cancellation of Indian com
mpany GMRss contract
to run Male International
I
A
Airport,
as Preesident Abdullla Yameen heeld talks with PM Manmohhan Singh
and the two sides inked thrree MoUs in New
N Delhi onn January 2. Th
he three MoU
Us inked were on health
cooperation, for
f extending manpower requirement of the Indira Gan
ndhi Memoriaal Hospital in Maldives
and one on allotment of ploot of land in New
N Delhi to the
t High Com
mmission of Maldives.
M
Indiaa signs laboour pact wiith Saudi Arabia

A
: Indiaa has signed the Agreemeent on Labouur
Coopeeration for Doomestic Serviice Workers Recruitment
R
w Saudi Araabia that will cover about a
with
quarteer of the 28 lakh Indian expatriates
e
wo
orking there. The agreemeent inked in New
N
Delhi onn
Januaary 2 by Overrseas Indian Affairs
A
Ministter Vayalar Ravi
R
and Sauddi Arabian Laabour Ministeer
Adel bin Mohamm
med Fakeih inn New Delhi regulates conttractual relatioons between employers
e
andd
domestic workers, ensures autheenticity and im
mplementatioon of the empployment conttract, promises
actionn against recruuitment agenccies violating laws and seeeks to establissh a mechaniism to providee
24-hour assisttance to domeestic workers.
www.endea
avorcareers..com
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
16
Faces
Chetan Bhagat: The revolution man
His light-hearted fiction set in urban India in easy to understand language may not have
received critical acclaim but have brought enormous fame to the author.
Whether you have read his books or ignored them,

chances are, you must have bought one. The New York
Times calls him the the biggest selling English language
novelist in Indias history.
Chetans very first novel Five Point Someone took
him to the heights of fame and popularity. The book
depicted the story of an IIT student who considers
himself to be below average than all the other
students in IIT. Today he is author of five
blockbuster novels Five Point Someone (2004),
One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of
My Life (2008), 2 States (2009) and Revolution 2020
(2011) and a non-fiction book. What Young India
Wants (2012) is the only non-fiction book authored by
him. The book is a compilation of his speeches and essays
on various topics ranging from society, politics and the
youth. The book revolves around Bhagats thoughts and
innovations on how to improve the Indian economy
through social reforms. Bhagat also writes op-ed columns
for newspapers, including the The Times of India and
Dainik Bhaskar, focusing on youth, career and issues
based on national development
Bhagats books have been adapted into successful films
as well. 3 Idiots adapted from the novel Five Point
Someone-What not to do at IIT while Hello is based
on the book One night @ The Call Center. Kai Po
Che based on the book The 3 Mistakes of My Life. His
2 States is also being turned into a Bollywood Drama
film directed by Abhishek Varman. The film, scheduled
for release in 2014, stars Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in
lead roles and is being produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and
Karan Johar.
Chetan Bhagat (born 1974) graduated in Mechanical
Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
Delhi in 1995 and completed his MBA from the Indian
Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad in 1998.
Chetan then went to Hong Kong along with his family
and worked as an investment banker with Goldman
Sachs. He quit his international investment banking career
in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing.
With almost five million books sold since his first
paperback blockbuster came out, almost everyone owns a
copy of at least one of Bhagats five bestsellers. So what

makes Chetan so popular?
He might not be a literary critics favourite
author, but Bhagat has made India sit up and
notice him. What more, Bhagat has made India
read. His fan base is so large it overwhelms the
haters by the sheer size of numbers. Critics call
his books devoid of any literary merit but sales
figures reveal they are popular. Simple things
are making his books work, and work well.
Light, believable plotlines, fairly surmountable problems,
underdog heroes and girls-next-door make up almost
every Chetan Bhagat book.
There is, of course, the question of pricing. Books are
more expensive than ever before, and the more beautiful,
hard bound wonders are nearly unaffordable for most
students and youngsters. Choosing which books to read is
no longer only a question of choice and preference, but
also a financial consideration. And then we have Chetan
Bhagats books available at an easy Rs. 95, much lower
than most paperbacks lining the shelves. While this
cannot be quoted as the only reason for his success, it
definitely encourages sales, allowing even the non-readers
to pick up a copy without thinking twice.
Some critics accuse Bhagats books of having almost
identical characters and elementary plotlines. Every book
is basically a love story. The romantic plotlines have
definitely worked for him so far. At the same time, he
also weaves in contemporary urban issues in each of his
books, touching upon the problems of coaching institutes,
call centres, student suicides, corruption and misplaced
ambition. His books deal with urban cities and urban
issues; inter-caste marriages, parental pressures, career
choices. In each of his books, theres the almost certain
possibility of the reader finding at least one character to
relate to.
The language too is familiar and you wont need a
dictionary by your side while reading Bhagats books.
Before authors like Chetan Bhagat, English fiction was
rendered unapproachable to a majority of people. Now,
even the non-readers dont mind an occasional quick read,
and if a book can get even the non-readers reading, it
must be doing something right.
THE GENESIS
17
Current Affairs: World Briefs

Japan PM Abe visits Yasukuni war shrine: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went to the
controversial Yasukuni war shrine near Tokyo on December 26, in a move certain to roil troubled
relations with Japans Asian neighbours. The visit came exactly one year after he took power and is
expected to further inflame already-tense relations with China and South Korea, both of which are
embroiled in territorial disputes with Japan. The shrine is the believed repository of around 2.5
million souls of Japans war dead, most of them common soldiers, but also including several highlevel officials executed for war crimes after World War II, who were enshrined in the 1970s. South
Korea and China see it as a symbol of Tokyos unrepentance and say it represents a misguided view
of its warmongering past.
Latvia becomes 18th member of eurozone: Latvia on January 1 became the 18th member of the eurozone. Valdis
Dombrovskis, Latvias acting prime minister, said it was an opportunity for the countrys
economic development as a member of the worlds second largest currency. Tens of thousands of
Latvians gathered at a square in capital Riga to celebrate the New Year and the adoption of the
euro. The euro and Latvias national currency lat have been simultaneously in circulation for two
weeks, and the lat will cease to be legal tender Jan 15. Latvia is the second Baltic Sea country to
adopt the euro, following Estonia in 2011. The eurozone, officially called the euro area, is an
economic and monetary union (EMU) of 18 European Union (EU) member states that have
adopted the euro () as their common currency. The eurozone currently consists of Austria,
Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
Five new nations join UNSC as members: Five new countries joined the UN Security
Council (UNSC) as non-permanent members starting from the January 1 while Jordan on
January 2 assumed the rotating presidency of the Council for January 2014. Chad, Chile,
Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria have begun their two-year term, replacing Azerbaijan,
Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo. Prince Zeid Raad Zedi Al-Hussein, the
permanent representative of Jordan to the UN, took over the rotating council presidency
from Gerard Araud, the French UN ambassador who held the council presidency for the
month of December in 2013. The monthly UNSC Presidency rotates among council
members in the English alphabetical order of their names.
Obama signs bipartisan budget deal, annual defence bill: President Barack Obama on
December 26 signed a compromise budget that reduces the risk of another government shutdown.
The two-year US budget agreement, negotiated by Congress, and the National Defense
Authorization Act for fiscal 2104 were among seven pieces of legislation signed by Obama. The
US Senate passed the budget deal on December 18 to ease automatic spending cuts and reduce the
risk of a government shutdown. The budget accord set federal government spending levels for two
years. It ended, at least for the time being, three years of bitter bipartisan warfare over spending,
taxes and Obamas healthcare law that twice brought the nation to the brink of defaulting on its debt.
China loans Pakistan USD 6.5 billion for nuclear plants: China has
agreed to grant Pakistan USD 6.5 billion for two nuclear power plants being
constructed in Karachi as part of efforts to deepen bilateral civil nuclear
cooperation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, during a special cabinet meeting
held in Islamabad on January 1 said China was providing a concessionary
loan for creating a generation capacity of 2,117 megawatts. Chinas nuclear
trade and cooperation with Pakistan has caused significant concern in India
and the West who believe the new plants will free Pakistans older reactors
to produce uranium for weapons.
THE GENESIS
18
Rajaonarimampianina wins Madagascar election: Former finance minister Hery

Rajaonarimampianina has won Madagascars first presidential election since a coup in 2009 but his
closest rival said the vote was rigged, raising concerns the island could remain mired in political
turmoil. The electoral commission said on January 3 that Rajaonarimampianina, the candidate
backed by outgoing president Andry Rajoelina, who spearheaded the coup nearly five years ago,
won 53.5% of the vote on 20 December. He beat Jean Louis Robinson, who ended up with 46.5%
and has demanded a recount.
Chinas 1st aircraft carrier completes sea trials: Chinas first aircraft carrier has
successfully completed a series of tests and training programmes in the South China
Sea. The newly-commissioned Liaoning returned to its homeport in north China on
January 2. The Liaoning is Chinas lone aircraft carrier in operation. It was refitted
based on an unfinished carrier of the former Soviet Union. The news comes amidst
mounting rising tensions over Beijings territorial claims in the region, with China and
Japan squaring off over a chain of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. In
November 2013, China declared air defence rights over much of the sea. Besides,
China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea.
Israel successfully tests missile defence system: Israel says it has carried out another
successful test of its advanced missile defence system designed to intercept long-range
missiles. The Defence Ministry said in a statement that the test conducted on January 3, 2014
is a major milestone in the development of the Arrow 3. It is designed to strike targets
outside the atmosphere, intercepting missiles closer to their launch sites. It is part of a
multilayered system Israel is developing to protect itself from a range of missile threats, from
short-range rockets in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon to longer-range threats from Iran. It is
being jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing of US.
Americas first marijuana stores open in Colorado: Americas first retail stores
selling marijuana open for business in Denver, Colorado on January 1, putting the
western state in the vanguard of the countrys evolving attitudes on legalising the drug.
State officials anticipate that marijuana sales will generate some USD 67 million in
annual tax revenue. It will also have an impact in that marijuana sales will be brought out
of the shadows and the black market.
South Sudan government agrees to end hostilities: South Sudans government has agreed to end hostilities,
regional leaders said at the end of a crisis summit, raising hopes for a potential
breakthrough in efforts to cease violence that has displaced more than 120,000 people
in the worlds newest country. East African leaders meeting in Kenya under a bloc
called IGAD said in a statement in Nairobi on December 27, 2013 that they welcomed
the commitment by (South Sudans government) to an immediate cessation of
hostilities. But former Vice President Riek Machar, the political rival of President
Salva Kiir, who is accused of orchestrating a failed coup, was not represented at the summit.
Russias Kalashnikov, designer of AK-47, dies: Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of fabled
AK-47 automatic rifle, died on December 24 at the age of 94. He designed a weapon that became
synonymous with killing on a sometimes indiscriminate scale but was seen in the Soviet Union as a
national hero and symbol of Moscows proud military past. AK-47s name stands for
Kalashnikovs Automatic and the year it was designed, 1947. More than 100 million Kalashnikov
rifles have been sold worldwide and they are wielded by fighters in such far-flung conflict zones as
Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. But their inventor, a World War II veteran, has barely profited
financially from them and lived modestly in Izhevsk, an industrial town 1,300 kilometres east of
Moscow.
THE GENESIS
19
Current Affairs: Sports

R. Ashwin wins Polly Umrigar Award: Former India Captain Kapil Dev was honoured
with the C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award by the BCCI at its seventh annual awards
ceremony on January 11. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was bestowed with the Polly
Umrigar Award for being the best international cricketer in 2013-13 season during which he
claimed 43 wickets, inclusive of four 5WI and one 10WM, and scored 263 runs, inclusive of two
50s from 8 Tests, besides grabbing 24 wickets from 18 ODIs, and three wickets from four T20
Internationals. The Polly Umrigar Award comprises a trophy and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh.
Abhishek Nayar wins Lala Amarnath Award: Mumbais Abhishek Nayar received the
BCCIs Lala Amarnath Award, for being the best all-rounder in the 2012-13 edition of the Ranji
Trophy. He scored 966 runs at 96.6, inclusive of three centuries and eight fifties, and 19 wickets at
22.8, inclusive of one 5WI, from eleven matches, in the tournament. The award comprises a trophy
and a cheque for Rs 250,000. The Mumbai Cricket Association collected the trophy for the Best
Overall Performance in the 2012-13 Season. The various teams representing the MCA won the
Ranji Trophy, the Under-25 C K Nayudu Trophy, the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, the
Womens Under-19 Inter-State tournament, and finished 2nd in the Under-19 Cooch Behar
Trophy.
Rohit Sharma gets Dilip Sardesai Award: Rohit Sharma received BCCIs Dilip Sardesai
Award, for being Indias best cricketer in the recent home Test series against the West Indies. He
scored hundreds in both Tests, and accumulated an aggregate of 288 runs. The award comprises a
trophy and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh. Other awardees: Madhavrao Scindia Award for highest scorer in
Ranji Trophy 2012-13: Jiwanjot Singh Chouhan (Punjab) - Trophy and cheque for Rs 2.5 lakh.
Madhavrao Scindia Award for highest wicket taker in Ranji Trophy 2012-13: Ishwar Pandey (MP) Trophy and cheque for Rs 2.5 lakh.
New Zealands Anderson hits fastest ODI century: New Zealand all-rounder Corey
Anderson cracked the fastest century in one-day international history at Queenstown, New
Zealand on January 1, reaching three figures in just 36 deliveries against the West Indies. The
previous record was held by Shahid Afridi, who took 37 balls to reach his ton playing for
Pakistan against Sri Lanka in 1996. Anderson, who finished the New Zealand innings
unbeaten on 131, hit 14 sixes in his whirlwind assault, the 3rd highest number of sixes in an
ODI innings after Rohit Sharma (16) and Shane Watson (15).
South Africa beat India by 10 wickets, clinch series 1-0: South Africa defeated India by 10
wickets in the second cricket Test to clinch the two-match series 1-0, in Durban on December 30. Brief
Scores: India: 334 and 223 all out in 86 overs. South Africa: 500 and 59 for 0 in 11.4 overs. Dale Steyn
was Man of the match while AB de Villiers was Man of the Series. The first Test played at the New
Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg had ended in a draw on December 22.
Kallis retires from Test cricket: South Africas Jacques Kallis retired from Test
Cricket at the end of the home series with India at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban on
December 30. Ever since turning out for the Proteas in 1995, Kallis, 38, has done enough
to be billed as being equal to Sir Garfield Sobers, crickets finest all-rounder. Kallis made
13,289 runs in 166 Tests at an average of 54.47 with 45 centuries and 58 fifties. In terms
of runs he ended third behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) and Ricky Ponting (13,378)
while in terms of centuries has 45 with only Tendulkar (51) being ahead of him. Kallis
scored 115 in his final innings, becoming the first to end his career with a century among
those players who have played more than 100 Test matches. He also took 292 wickets
and 200 catches in his test career.
THE GENESIS
20
Zaheer enters 300-wicket club in Tests: 35-year-old Zaheer Khan became the fourth Indian
bowler to claim 300 wickets in Test cricket on December 22, 2013 when he dismissed Jacques
Kallis on the fifth and final day of the opening cricket Test against South Africa in Johannesburg at
the Wanderers Stadium. The left-arm pacer joined Kapil Dev (434), Anil Kumble (619) and
Harbhajan Singh (413) in the elite list. Plagued by injuries and lack of form, Zaheer lost his place in
the national team for most part this year but he worked hard on his fitness and bowling and regained
his position in the squad. Zaheer used to generate 140 plus kmph pace early in his career. As his
speed came down over the years, he added more teeth to his bowling by adding reverse swing to his
arsenal. Zaheer was the highest wicket-taker for India in the 2011 World Cup.
Swann calls time on England career: England spinner Graeme Swann, 34,
announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket with immediate effect in
Melbourne on December 22, 2013. Swann, who took 255 wickets in 60 Tests in just five
years and is sixth on the list of Test wicket-takers for England, said defeat in the third test
of the Ashes series at Perth had cemented his decision to call it a day. The off-spinner had
been under pressure to keep his place in the squad after taking just seven wickets at an
average of 80.00 in the three Tests in Australia.
Simpson, Hockley to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame: Former Australia
captain Bob Simpson and ex-New Zealand women cricketer Debbie Hockley were inducted
into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in a special function held in Sydney on January 2. Hockley
became the fourth female player and second cricketer from NZ after Richard Hadlee to be
inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Simpson will overall become the 72nd male and
20th from in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
India win Under19 Asia Cup Cricket: India Under-19 took home yet another
piece of silverware, this time claiming the Asia Cup by beating arch-rivals Pakistan
Under-19 by 40 runs in a high-scoring final in Sharjah on January 4. Centuries by Man
of the Match Vijay Zol and Sanju Samson powered India to 314 and Pakistan, in their
reply, failed to keep with the asking rate. SCORES: India Under-19 314 for 8 in 50 overs
(Zol 100, Samson 100) beat Pakistan Under-19 274 for 9 (Kamran Ghulam 102, Aslam
87*) by 40 runs. Kamran Ghulam (Pakistan) was the Player of the series. Sami Aslam
(Pakistan) was Batsman of the series while Karamat Ali (Pakistan) was Bowler of the
series.
France win Hopman Cup tennis: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga guided France to the
Hopman Cup title at the Perth Arena on January 5. France won the mixed-teams
event for the first time, beating Poland 2-1. In the first match, Tsonga beat
Grzegorz Panfil 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the mens singles before Agnieszka Radwanska
levelled the tie with a 6-3 6-7 (9-7) 6-2 win over Alize Cornet. Tsonga and Cornet
then won the mixed doubles 6-0 6-2 seal the title for France. Meanwhile at Abu
Dhabi, Serbias Novak Djokovic won his 3rd straight World Tennis Championship
title with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Spaniard David Ferrer on December 28.
OTHER SPORTS: Soccer giants Bayern Munich topped a memorable 2013
season by lifting the Club World Cup after beating Moroccan champions Raja
Casablanca 2-0 in Marrakech on December 22. Grandmaster and former world
junior champion Abhijeet Gupta won the Al-Ain Classic International Open Chess
tournament that concluded at Al Ain, UAE on December 29. Anirban Lahiri took
top honours at the Rs. 1.35 crore McLeod Russel Tour Championship at the Royal
Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Kolkata in December 29.
THE GENESIS
21
Current Affairs: Economy

RBI cautions users of virtual currencies
framework for recourse to customer problems / disputes /
charge backs etc.
There is no underlying or backing of any asset for VCs.
As such, their value seems to be a matter of speculation.
Huge volatility in the value of VCs has been noticed in
the recent past. Thus, the users are exposed to potential
losses on account of such volatility in value.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on December 24

cautioned the users, holders and traders of Virtual
currencies (VCs), including Bitcoins, about the potential
financial, operational, legal, customer protection and
security related risks that they are exposing themselves
to.
The Reserve Bank has mentioned that it has been looking
at the developments relating to certain electronic records
claimed to be Decentralised Digital Currency or
Virtual Currency (VCs), such as, Bitcoins, litecoins,
bbqcoins, dogecoins etc., their usage or trading in the
country and the various media reports in this regard.
The creation, trading or usage of VCs including Bitcoins,
as a medium for payment are not authorised by any
central bank or monetary authority. No regulatory
approvals, registration or authorisation is stated to have
been obtained by the entities concerned for carrying on
such activities. As such, they may pose several risks to
their users.
VCs being in digital form are stored in digital/electronic
media that are called electronic wallets. Therefore, they
are prone to losses arising out of hacking, loss of
password, compromise of access credentials, malware
attack etc. Since they are not created by or traded through
any authorised central registry or agency, the loss of the
e-wallet could result in the permanent loss of the VCs
held in them.
Payments by VCs, such as Bitcoins, take place on a peerto-peer basis without an authorised central agency which
regulates such payments. As such, there is no established
VCs, such as Bitcoins, are being traded on exchange

platforms set up in various jurisdictions whose legal
status is also unclear. Hence, the traders of VCs on such
platforms are exposed to legal as well as financial risks.
There have been several media reports of the usage of
VCs, including Bitcoins, for illicit and illegal activities in
several jurisdictions. The absence of information of
counterparties in such peer-to-peer anonymous/
pseudonymous systems could subject the users to
unintentional breaches of anti-money laundering and
combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws.
While authorities and experts are becoming worried about
its potential money laundering risks, concerns have also
been raised about this new phenomenon snowballing into
an e-ponzi or an electronic version of investor fraud,
given the growing promotion of Bitcoin as investments
without any enabling regulations for them.
Pressure has increased on regulatory and enforcement
agencies in India after latest moves by other economies
on this front. The fact remains that regulators are
scrambling for ways to regulate this entire gamut of
digital currency, as it is a totally new concept in India and
even the jurisdiction is not clear as yet on who should
regulate them.
While the US has declared that all prevailing money
laundering laws would apply to Bitcoins, China has asked
its banks and other financial institutions not to deal in
Bitcoins and the public has been asked to do so at their
own risk.
At the same time, the experts are also raising concerns
about cyber security issues, given the huge scope of
money laundering and other illegal activities through use
of an unregulated digital currency concept.
THE GENESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
Fruits, vegetable
v
es out off APMC Act
A
222
IP
PO gradin
ng made
e volunta
ary
Mak
king it easierr for compannies to raise funds
f
throughh
gen
nuine equity or debt offfers, the Securities
S
andd
Excchange Boardd of India (SEBI) on December
D
244
unv
veiled a slew
w of measurees to bring to book thosee
runn
ning illegal money-pooling
m
g schemes and
d indulging inn
otheer fraudulent activities.
a
Witth regard to raaising funds tthrough Initiaal Public Offeer
(IPO
O) of equity shares, SEBI bboard approveed the proposaal
to make
m
the IPO grading systeem voluntary as against thee
currrent provisionn of being manndatory. The move
m
is part of
o
the regulators efffort to boost tthe dormant primary
p
markeet
and
d reduce the reeliance on ratinng agencies, who
w have beenn
und
der scanner gllobally for theeir role in ov
verall financiaal
secttor.
The Congresss-ruled states are pulling out

o vegetabless and
fruits from the
t list of faarm produce traded underr the
stifling APM
MC or mandi act, opening up trade in these
t
critical items with the hope of keeping their prices under
u
check prior too next years Lok
L Sabha eleections.
The Agricullture Producee Marketing Committee Act
(APMC), or mandi act, forces
f
farmerrs to sell onlly at
designated mandis
m
(markkets) to a small cliquee of
registered traaders. This reestricts farm trade to a mere
m
5,000 traderrs all over the country and shuts out
supermarkets from buyingg directly from the farmerrs at
spot market raates.
At a meeting of chief miniisters of statess run by the party
p
on Decemberr 27, the Conggress decided to
t partially am
mend
the APMC Act
A by takingg vegetables and
a fruits offf the
APMC list.
The APMC Act was meeant to proteect farmers from
f
exploitation, and to cut ouut the middlem
man but ended up
creating a complicated
c
supply chainn which bennefits
neither farmeers nor consum
mers. The only beneficiaryy are
the traders (m
middlemen) att the mandis. Traders holdiing a
licence to tradde at mandis form a cartel with considerrable
control over prices
p
that theey use to pad their own proofits.
This cartel caan be broken only if farmeers are alloweed to
sign contracts with end-ussers like big retail chains that
will compenssate them prooperly. This would
w
also make
m
vegetables annd fruits far chheaper for the consumer.
www.endea
avorcareers..com
To ensure greateer efficacy in exercise of itss new powerss,

SEB
BIs board cleared
c
new norms for itts search andd
seizzure operations, settlemennt proceeding
gs, refund too
inveestors and crackdown on illicit money-pooling
m
g
scheemes. The neew norms seeek to ensure that sufficiennt
safeeguards are puut in place to aavoid any missuse of its new
w
pow
wers and the required
r
privaacy is granted
d to concernedd
entiities.
MC
CX board
d asks FT
TIL to cu
ut stake
Thee board of the Multi Com
mmodity Exch
hange of Indiaa
Ltd (MCX) on December
D
266 asked prom
moter Financiaal
Tecchnologies Inddia Ltd (FTIL)) to reduce itss stake to 2 peer
cent 2 per cent orr below from 26 per cent within
w
a periodd
of one
o month, inn accordance with the reg
gulator FMCs
ordeer.
Earlier, the Forw
ward Marketss Commission
n (FMC) hadd
issu
ued an order declaring
d
FTIL
L and its Chieff Jignesh Shahh
unfi
fit to run any exchange,
e
inccluding the MC
CX, followingg
a Rs
R 5,500 croore payment crisis at gro
oup companyy
Nattional Spot Exxchange Ltd ((NSEL). The regulator alsoo
charged Shah wiith being the highest beneeficiary of thee
frau
ud perpetratedd at NSEL.
Thee NSEL, whhich is prom
moted by FTIL, has beenn
defaaulting on payments
p
to 13,000 inveestors. It was
plun
nged into thee payment criisis after halting trading inn
com
mmodities from
m August 1 onn a governmen
nt directive.
Shaah founded MCX in Novem
mber 2003 and
d then went onn
to set
s up a stockk exchange inn 2013. He iss currently thee
Chaairman of FTIL, which ownns and runs NS
SEL.
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
233
Economy
y Briefs
e
deb
bt at US$ 400.3 billion in end-Seeptember 2013: At enddIndias external
Septemberr 2013, Indias total extern
nal debt stock stood at US$$ 400.3 billion
n, governmennt
data reveaaled on Januaary 1. Long-teerm debt was US$ 305.5 bbillion while the short-term
m
debt was US$ 94.8 billlion. Compon
nent-wise, thee share of com
mmercial borrrowings stoodd
highest at 32.3% of totaal external deb
bt, followed by
b NRI deposits (18.8%) an
nd multilateraal
debt (13.11%). Governm
ment (Sovereig
gn) external debt
d
stood at U
US$ 77.3 billiion, (19.3% of
o
total exterrnal debt) at end-Sept
e
2013
3. The share of
o US dollar ddenominated debt
d
continuedd
to be the highest
h
in external debt sto
ock at 60.7% at
a end-Sept 20013, followed
d by the Indiann
rupee (20.9%), SDR (7..6%), Japanese yen (5.7%), and euro (3.22%).
Aadhaar Card to servee as identityy & addresss proof for PAN: The Inncome Tax D
Department wiill now acceppt
Aadhaar Cardd as a proof of
o identity andd address for issuance
i
of Peermanent Acccount Numberr (PAN). The Central Boardd
of Direct Taxxes (CBDT) on
o December 26 issued a notification
n
ex
xpanding the list
l of docum
ments admissib
ble as proof of
o
identity and address
a
by inncluding Aadhhaar Card. Aaadhaar is a 12
2-digit individdual identificaation number issued by thee
Unique Identiification Authhority of Indiaa (UIDAI) on behalf of the Government.. Recently, thee RBI had alsso notified thaat
Aadhaar Cardd is a valid prooof for openinng of a bank acccount under the Know Your Customer ((KYC) schem
me.
Non-subsidiised LPG pinches conssumers moree: The price of

o non-subsiddised liquefiedd petroleum gas
g (LPG) waas
increased by Rs 220 a unitt on January 3.
3 This has moore than doub
bled its gap wiith subsidisedd cylinders. A consumer cann
buy a maximuum of nine cyylinders in a financial
fi
year at
a subsidised rates. The price of a subsiddised cylinder now stands at
a
Rs 414 a unit while the pricce of a non-suubsidised cylinnder is Rs 1,24
41 in Delhi.
New Land Acquisition

A
Act comes into
i
force: The
T new Land
d Acquisition Act,
A enacted bby Parliamentt in 2013 camee
into force froom January 1.. It will replacce a 120-yearr-old legislatio
on. The historic Act will aaim to provide just and faiir
compensationn to farmers. It was passeed during thee Monsoon Session of Parrliament and received Preesident Pranabb
Mukherjees assent on September
S
27. The Right to Fair Com
mpensation and
a
Transpareency in Land
d Acquisitionn,
Rehabilitationn and Resettleement Act stiipulates manddatory consentt of at least 700 per cent of affected peoplee for acquiringg
land for publiic-private parttnership projeccts, and 80 peer cent for acquiring land foor private com
mpanies.
RBI reportt seeks overhaul of finaancial bench

hmarking methods
m
: RB
BI has suggestted an overhaaul of existingg
financial benchmarks, inclluding steps to
t strengthen the quality, methodology
m
and governannce frameworrk. It has alsoo
called for givving RBI the authority to determine thee policy for benchmarks
b
a issuing binding directiions to all thee
and
agencies invoolved in the benchmark-setting process. These suggesstions are madde in a Draft report of the committee onn
financial benchmarks releeased on Januuary 3. The RBI
R had set up
p a committeee under its E
Executive Direector P Vijayaa
Bhaskar in Juune 2013 with a mandate to study the various issues rellating to finanncial benchmaarks and to sub
bmit the reporrt
by Decemberr 31. The panel was set up in the afterm
math of revelattions that sevveral key globbal benchmark
k rates like thee
LIBOR, EUR
RIBOR of Euroopean Union, TIBOR of Tookyo, etc weree rigged by leaading market operators.
Tariff valuee of importeed gold, silveer cut: The goovernment redduced import tariff value off gold and silvver to $392 peer
10g and $6388 a kg, respecttively on Januuary 2. Import tariff value iss the base pricce at which cuustoms duty is determined too
prevent underr-invoicing. The
T tariff valuue on imported gold earlierr stood at $3998 per 10g, while on silverr at $643 a kgg.
India, the worrlds largest consumer
c
of gold,
g
importedd 393.68 tonnees of the preciious metal duuring April-Sep
ptember 20133.
The governm
ment has taken several steps to reduce goldd imports, inccluding hike inn custom dutiees.
Forex reserrves rise by $204.9 mn in week end

ding Dec 27
7: Foreign excchange reservves rose in thee week endingg
December 277 by $ 204.9 million
m
to $ 2995.71 billion, said the RBI data released on January 3. Foreign currrency assets, a
key componeent of reserves rose were $268.63
$
billioon while Gold
d reserves werre $ 20.60 billlion. The Special Drawingg
Rights (SDRs) were $ 4.446 billion while Indias Reeserve Positio
on with the Innternational M
Monetary Fun
nd was $ 2.011
billion.
www.endea
avorcareers..com
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
24
Business Biography
Marissa Mayer: Tech diva
Mayer led the development of Googles most successful products for more than 10 years and
was appointed CEO of Yahoo in 2012, at the age of 37.
Marissa Mayer, born on May 30, 1975, in Wausau,

Wisconsin, was appointed CEO of
Yahoo in 2012. Prior to joining
Yahoo, she spent 13 years at Google,
where her work in production
development largely contributed to
the sites unique look and feel. At the
time of Mayers Yahoo appointment,
she was one of only 20 female CEOs
in charge of a Fortune 500 company.
Born in Wausau, Wisconsin, on May
30, 1975, Marissa Ann Mayer has
described her early years as a smalltown childhood, complete with ballet
lessons, ice skating, Brownies and
debate team competitions. The
daughter of an engineer and an art teacher, Mayer
demonstrated an early affinity for math and science.
While at Wausau West High, she worked at a local
grocery store, where she memorized the prices for
hundreds of items in order to streamline the checkout
process.
Although she grew up thinking she would be a doctor,
while at Stanford University, Mayer developed a passion
for computers and went on to earn both a Bachelor of
Science degree in symbolic systems and an Master of
Science degree in computer science with a specialization
in artificial intelligence. During her studies, Mayer taught
undergraduate courses in computer programming, earning
two teaching awards for her contribution to undergraduate
education. But it was perhaps her research internships at
Stanford University and the Union Bank of Switzerlands
research lab in Zurich that helped her net 14 job offers
fresh out of grad school.
Mayers 14th job offer came from Google founders Larry
Page and Sergey Brin, who quizzed her on artificial
intelligence while sitting at a ping-pong table that the
company used for conferences. In 1999, Google wasnt
yet an Internet search giant. In fact, the company had only
19 employees. Upon accepting an offer to lead Googles
user interface and Web server teams, Mayer became the
companys 20th employee and its first female engineer.
Her tenure at Google involved work on some of the

companys most recognizable and
successful products, including Google
Maps, Google Earth, Street View,
Google News and Gmail. Known as a
fashionista with an eye for design,
Mayer is widely credited for the
unique look and feel that has come to
characterize the Google experience.
For example, she was responsible for
approving each doodle (the custom
logos commemorating holidays and
events) appearing on the Google home
page.
Mayer spent more than a decade at
Google accumulating accolades for her
work ethic, eye for detail and vision. In a 2008 interview,
however, she seemed to be looking ahead to her next act.
I helped build Google, Mayer said, but I dont like to
rest on [my] laurels. I think the most interesting thing is
what happens next.
What happened next for Mayer captured tremendous
interest both in Silicon Valley and around the world. In
July 2012, she was appointed president and CEO of
Yahoo, a company besieged by declining stock prices,
layoffs and slowing ad revenue. Tasked with coursecorrecting the company, Mayer is the fifth CEO hired by
Yahoo in the past five years.
In September of 2013, Mayer was ranked number one by
Fortune magazine in its annual 40 Under 40 list of
business leaders. She is also one of only 20 women
running a Fortune 500 company. As a female technology
CEO, Mayer follows in the footsteps of former HewlettPackard CEO Carly Fiorina and former eBay CEO Meg
Whitman. And many believe that she just may have what
it takes to turn Yahoo around. Soon after taking the top
job, Mayer launched a major overhaul of Flickr, the sites
photo-sharing service, followed by a home-page redesign
and a string of acquisitions, including $1.1 billion for
blogging platform Tumblr and $30 million for storyshortener Summly. Her target is to modernize the pioneer
portal with 700 million monthly users.
THE GENESIS
25
Cyber buzz
ISPs can favour high-paying surfers
Those opposed to the courts decision warned that the

courts decision would be a major threat to innovation,
free speech and the internet as we know it. They fear
this ruling will consolidate ISPs powerful role as arbiters
of culture and speech.
The FCC said it would consider appealing. Chairman
Tom Wheeler said: We will consider all available
options, including those for appeal, to ensure that these
networks on which the internet depends continue to
provide a free and open platform for innovation and
expressions.
A US federal appeals court has rejected rules intended to

prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from prioritising
certain types of content.
Google to acquire Nest Labs
Net neutrality is the principle that ISPs should not block

web traffic for customers who pay less to give faster
speeds to those who pay more.
The US Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
adopted the rules in 2010. They were challenged by ISP
Verizon, which claimed the FCC was overstepping its
legal authority. The court agreed.
Supporters of net neutrality said the ruling was a major
threat to how people use the internet.
The rules were designed to ensure that small or start-up
organisations had as much chance of reaching an online
audience as a large, established company.
But broadband providers argue that some traffic-heavy
sites - for example, YouTube or Netflix - put a strain on
their infrastructure. They say they should be able to
charge such content providers so that users who pay more
can get faster access to those sites than other customers.
As a consequence, companies who did not pay would find
that access to their services could be slower for
customers.
Verizon had said in September 2013 that if it were not for
net neutrality rules they would be looking at different
pricing models.
In a statement released after the ruling Verizon said that
the courts decision will allow more room for innovation,
and consumers will have more choices to determine for
themselves how they access and experience the internet.
Google has announced plans to buy thermostat maker

Nest Labs for $3.2bn, continuing a string of recent
acquisitions. California-based Nest Labs was founded by
two former Apple executives.
It produces a thermostat capable of learning user
behaviour and working out whether a building is
occupied or not, using temperature, humidity, activity and
light sensors.
The firm will continue to be run by chief executive Tony
Fadell and maintain its own distinct identity.
Fadell was head of Apples music division until he left
the firm in 2008.
He is known as the father of the iPod for his work on
the first 18 generations of Apples music player and was
also involved in the hardware design of the original
iPhone.
Googles purchase of Nest Labs follows its acquisition of
military robot-maker Boston Dynamics last month and of
human-gesture recognition start-up Flutter in October.
The biggest deal in Googles history to date was its
acquisition of mobile phone firm Motorola Mobility for
$12.5bn in August 2011.
THE GENESIS
26
Science & Technology

GSLV-D5 launch places India in elite league
in an explosive chemical reaction, imparting thrust as it
creates water.
For over 20 years, the cryogenic technology was denied
to India by Russia under pressure from the US. The
January 5 launch defies that denial regime and marks the
coming of age of Indias indigenous space technology.
Now, India seeks to attract foreign satellite launches due
to its competitive cost. I am proud to say that ISRO has
done it, ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced.
The GSLV program had suffered twin back-to-back
failures three years ago and its last launch was aborted
minutes before lift-off. On August 19, 2013, a major
mishap was averted and the launch of the GSLV was
aborted 74 minutes before lift-off after ISRO scientists
found that about 750 kilograms of highly inflammable
and explosive fuel had leaked out in the second stage.
ISRO has announced that GSLV will be the launch
vehicle for Indias next moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, in
2016.
Just the beginning

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLVD5), powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine,
effortlessly put the 1,982-kg GSAT-14 communication
satellite into a perfect orbit after 17 minutes of flight
following its launch from the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on January 5.
The Rs. 350-crore mission marks Indias entry into the
multi-billion dollar commercial launcher market on a
fully indigenous large rocket. The precision of the
cryogenic upper stage was such that it put the GSAT-14
into an orbit with a perigee of 179 km, against the target
of 180 km, and the apogee achieved was off by a mere 50
km for a target of 36,000 km.
Cryogenic engines, using liquid hydrogen and oxygen as
fuel, are crucial for putting large payloads into space. The
missions success means India now has the ability to put
satellites weighing more than two tonnes in orbit, joining
the elite club of the U.S., Russia, France, Japan and China
who have mastered this perilous technology of using
cryogenic propellants -- liquid oxygen at minus 183
degrees Celsius and liquid hydrogen at minus 253
degrees Celsius. The mixture of the two elements results
The successful launch is a remarkable breakthrough for

ISRO which can now launch heavier satellites of up to
2,500 kilogrammes (GSAT-14 weighed 1,980 kg).
Cryogenic engines, using liquid hydrogen and oxygen as
fuel, are crucial for putting large payloads into space.
Before this, Indias technological capability was limited
to polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs). The PSLVs
have the capacity for launching only smaller payloads,
typically below one tonne, and used for remote sensing,
experimental and navigational purposes.
Experts say ISRO must rapidly build on this success and
scale up quickly. The commercial market revolves around
the launch of satellites weighing 4,000 kg plus. The
GSLV-D5 cannot service those needs. Until ISRO
succeeds in developing cryogenic engines with more
thrust, it will remain a fringe player in the commercial
market and Indias own heavy satellites will continue to
depend on external launches.
ISRO has stayed behind the curve in meeting market
demand; to become anything other than a niche player, it
must speed its movement up the technological ladder.
THE GENESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
277
Book Rev
view
Reimagin
ning India
a by McK
Kinsey
The greate
est contribu
ution of this book lies
s in its bringing togeth
her captain
ns of industtry, leading
g
economists
s and think
kers who sh
hall play a more
m
than active
a
role in shaping Indias futture
India books - ones that seek to decoode India andd its

dynamiccs, and predicct its
future trajectory -hhave
been in trend for a while
w
now,
with
e
every
conceivaable
exxpert
writing on
o it. Well, noow a
consultaant, a major gllobal
name suuch as McKinnsey,
has justt released a book
b
which brings togeether
leading thinkers from
f
around the world to
explore the challennges
m importantt and
and opportunities faced byy one of the most
least understoood nations onn earth.
With about 70
7 authors conntributing to this tome, maaybe
some answers emerge, thoough opinion is bound to have
h
been varied annd uneven.
The book is divided intoo six chapterrs - re-imaginning,
politics & policy,
p
busineess & technoology, challennges,
culture and soft
s
power annd India in thhe world. Expperts
from diverse fields, both Indian
I
and othherwise, pen their
t
thoughts, esssentially to point out thatt while India has
potential, its undoing is more
m
a result of
o internal chooices
than external forces.
In their foreeword, McK
Kinseys Adil Zainulbhai and
Noshir Kaka briefly presennt the structurre of the bookk and
lay out the terms
t
of the debate - what is Indias true
potential and what can bee done to unloock it. While this
isnt a blackk and white growth pathh, the resounnding
echoes are off those who are encouraged and optim
mistic
about what thhey sense to be
b in a way Inndias destinyy - to
take its place at the top tabble in the comiity of nations.. But
weave their optimism
o
witth caution, foor they have seen
much go wronng, inexplicabbly.
Microsofts Bill
B Gates, takiing off from his
h involvement in
the anti poliio campaign, is struck by Indias hiddden
strength - thee rich, the poowerful and the
t poor worrking
towards a common
c
goaal. Indias Mukesh
M
Ambbani,
chairman, RIIL, recollectss the past strruggles and feels
f
India is pootentially poiised for anoother, even more
m
stupendous leeap on its uppward trajectoory. Sunil Bharti
www.endea
avorcareers..com
Mitttal feels wee are at the dawn of a data drivenn

civiilisation, but when we leverage this opportunityy
rem
mains to be seeen. Googless Eric Schmid
dt writes it is
hard
d not to be opptimistic aboutt the next ten years. But hee
goees to add: If Indias leeaders invest in the righht
infrrastructure andd embrace thee transparency
y and openness
of the
t internet. Vinod Khossla is optimisstic about thee
pow
wer of ideas thhat could help India leapfrog
g.
Man
ny questions remain. In hhis recent bo
ook, Breakouut
Nattions, Morgann Stanleys R
Ruchir Sharmaa had pointedd
out forcefully thhat the India ggrowth story could splutteer
and
d halt. Here tooo he writes, ...as the poorrest of the bigg
emeerging markeets, with a pper capita in
ncome of jusst
$1,5
500, India is hardly
h
overacchieving; it is always easieer
to grow
g
fast from
m a low base. Social scien
ntist Ashutoshh
Varrshney, while acknowledginng that region
nal diversity noo
long
ger posed an existential thhreat to Indiaa, is uncertainn
wheether the erasuure of diversitty is a way to build nationaal
streength and unitty. Author Annand Girdharridas discusses
the nature of whaat the Indian ddream might lo
ook like.
Autthor Ed Luce cautions, .... youthful mu
ultitudes, oftenn
celeebrated as Inddias demogrraphic dividen
nd, will needd
jobss. And if suufficient form
mal sector jobs cannot bee
creaated, they willl still need inccome. It is nott impossible too
imaagine Indias demographicc dividend tu
urning into a
nigh
htmare.
Som
me are profouund in what tthey see as challenges
c
andd
opp
portunities. While
W
political voices are largely absentt,
possibly fortunattely, most of w
what is being pointed out as
shortcomings heere can larggely be attriibuted to thee
poliitical actions, or lack of theem. They will decide, till thee
restt of Indians decide
d
otherw
wise. We need
d their voicess.
Thee absence of those
t
not in fa
favour of the private
p
sectorrled way of econoomic growth iis more perplexing. In theiir
abseence, the debaate remains inncomplete.
Indiias challengees are huge. As CISCO chairman
c
Johnn
Chaambers points out, India wiill need to buiild 900 millionn
sq mt
m of new urbban residentiall space in lesss than 20 yearrs
to accommodate
a
the migratingg millions. Mahindra
M
groupp
CM
MD Anand Mahindra perhaaps put it mo
ost succinctlyy.
Fo
or better or worse,
w
India is where the future will bee
mad
de. Lets get it
i right. Welll, just about an
ny stakeholdeer
invo
olved in Indiaa needs to heedd that now.
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
28
Group Discussion
Justice Gangulys resignation is appropriate
FOR
AGAINST
Justice (retd.) A.K. Ganguly has done the right thing by

resigning from his position as chairperson of the West
Bengal Human Rights Commission. Although belated, his
resignation will help preserve the dignity of his office,
which was seriously undermined after he was accused by
a law intern of making improper sexual advances. It will
also protect the dignity of the Supreme Court, of which he
was a respected judge for some years.
Innocent till proven guilty is one of the pillars of

Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence and, thereby, of the Indian
legal system. Yet in the matter of the former Supreme
Court judge, Ashok Ganguly, the man is being treated as
if he is guilty even before formal charges against him
have been framed.
After a three-member committee of the Supreme Court

said it was of the considered view that the interns
statement prima facie disclosed unwelcome verbal/nonverbal conduct of sexual nature on his part, the
honourable thing for him to do must have been to stay
away from public office. His continuance in office had
become untenable, and resignation was the only rational
course of action.
The West Bengal Chief Minister wrote to the President
demanding action against him, Members of Parliament
asked for his resignation, and excerpts from the interns
affidavit were made public, but none of this had a
chastening effect on him. Ganguly chose to stay on in
office and insinuated that there was a political conspiracy
to tarnish his image. Ultimately, the Union Cabinets
decision approving the terms of a Presidential Reference
to the Supreme Court, preparatory to his formal removal
from office, got him to quit.
By instituting an inquiry as soon as the allegation
surfaced and by disclosing the panels findings, the
Supreme Court showed welcome sensitivity and
transparency in its functioning. While routine legal
processes may be required for determining guilt or
innocence, or for removing someone from office, the
preservation of institutional integrity must be achieved
through quick decisions based on moral principles.
The judiciary must set higher standards for itself and not
seem to take shelter behind protracted probes; nor should
it give the impression that it is letting matters drift when it
comes to dealing with its own members.
The lawyer who accused Ganguly of misconduct has
ensured that it is possible to pursue and ensure
accountability, regardless of the status and position of
those facing such charges.
An allegation is not a proof of guilt. Ganguly quit

following an intense campaign to make him resign or to
have him removed from his position. There are some
allegations existing against him; no formal charges have
been filed, no cases have been registered. Ganguly said
that he put in his papers to preserve his dignity against the
hostile attitude of the state government. The latter has
been proceeding on the assumption that Ganguly is guilty
even before anything has been proved against him. His
innocence has not been assumed but his guilt. This is
contrary to the philosophical premise on which the rule of
law is based in India.
Under the circumstances, it would not be an exaggeration
to suggest that Ganguly has been at the receiving end of a
vendetta. What is equally important is that there have
been so few voices raised to say that Ganguly has
practically being declared to be guilty without a proper
trial. The three-judge committee set up by the Supreme
Court pronounced a view on the matter without hearing
Gangulys version of the incident.
What is distinctly odd is that police/legal processes have
not been initiated in the matter: there is no first
information report, there is no investigation and,
therefore, no case. All that exists is a letter, followed by
outpourings in a blog.
Gangulys role as a judge and the chairman of the
WBHRC was commendable. He was both an alert and an
independent chairman. Some of his verdicts and
observations did not show up either the Central or the
state government in a very good light. Within the political
class there has been a growing sense of alarm at the
activism displayed by the judiciary. It is possible that
Ganguly was made a convenient target by politicians to
hit back at the judiciary. His resignation and the
tarnishing of his image silence one more source of dissent
and independence.
THE GENESIS
Mind Games: Crossword
29
(Answers on page 33)
ACROSS
2. Ex-coach of Indian cricket team (4, 7)
7. Lady ___: Prince Charles wife, alas no more? (5)
8. An ant met me anagram? (5)
9. Percussion instrument (7)
13. Popular tourist destination in SE Asia (9)
15. Tropical plants - plaster me anagram? (4.5)
18. Persuaded or induced (5)
20. They may be enjoying a dip in the pool? (7)
21. Lucknow is the capital of this Pradesh (5)
22. Ex-England captain Alec _(7)
25. Sexually loving (7)
27. Watered down (7)
28. Persian monarch, __the Great (5)
32. Make-believe or imitate (5)
35. Becomes septic, rots or stagnates (7)
40. City near New York (7)
41. News (7)
42. Open to view (5)
43. Friendly or agreeable (7)
44. Contest or event (5)
ACROSS
45. Exalting or glorifying; raising (9)
49. Current Minister of External Affairs (1,1,7)
53. Slow____: dont expect them to move speedily (7)
ACROSS
54. Curtsied, yielded or conceded (5)
55. Approaches or comes closer (5)
56. Where those tents are or were pitched, in a way? (7, 4)
DOWN
1. __Raikkonen: 2007 F1 World Champion (4)
2. Israels
Strip (4)
3. Belgian river (4)
4. Hard drive interface (4)
5. A small-tailed amphibian like a salamander or eft (4)
6. ____ Sampras: tennis champion form the US? (4)
9. _____ National Park: where tourists can see the tiger in UP.? (7)
10. One-piece garment (7)
11. Pertaining to or having the shape of a ball? (7)
12. An ___ ___ cast: what a movie with very many big names acting
in it has? (3.4)
23. Nintendo gaming console (3)
24. More uncouth or boorish (5)
26. J&Ks ___ Mohd. Sayeed (5)
29. ___ Lanka (3)
30. Royal city in Karnataka (6)
DOWN
31. A small addition to a big house or building added at a later
date (6)
32. Sensed or touched (4)
33. Pertain to Mohammeds religion (7)
34. Panamanian soldier and dictator till December 1989 (7)
35. Restore to freshness of appearance (7)
36. Takes off ones clothes and runs in public (7)
37. Type of mild Dutch cheese (4)
38. Slang word for steal (6)
39. Respiratory disorder (6)
46. Spoils for a pirate, perhaps (4)
47. Current types (2-2)
48. Exploding sun (4)
50. Sounds like a cat (4)
51. Last Days of Pompeii role (4)
52. Not one, in old English? (4)
Mind Games: Sudoku
(Answers on page No: 33)
SUDOKU I
SUDOKU II
THE GENESIS
30
Do you remember?
1. The Lokpal will consist of a chairperson and a
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
maximum of eight members. What proportion of these

shall be judicial members (25%/50%/75%/No such
condition)?
The Lokpal will consist of a chairperson and a
maximum of eight members. What proportion of these
shall be from among SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and
women (25%/50%/75%/No such condition)?
The 5-member Selection Committee of Lokpal will not
have which of these Prime Minister/Lok Sabha
Speaker/Rajya Sabha Speaker/Leader of the opposition
in the Lok Sabha/Chief Justice of India?
What does the abbreviation CEMILAC stand for, in
context of LCA Tejas that received operation
clearance recently?
Which MNC is supplying the engines used in LCA
Tejas that received operation clearance recently?
LCA Tejas received operation clearance recently.
What is the indigenous engine, still at the development
stage, named?
LCA Tejas received initial operation clearance
recently. It will be known as (Tejas Mark I/Tejas Jet
I/Tejas IAF 1/Tejas Hawk I):
LCA Tejas received initial operation clearance
recently. What will it be known as after receiving final
operational clearance?
Who named Indias Light Combat Aircraft as Tejas?
Which is the ruling party in Bangladesh and which is
the largest opposition party led by Khaleda Zia?
Awami League & Bangladesh National Party (BNP)
Where did Nandan Nilekani work before founding
Infosys with Narayan Murthy?
Aam Admi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and his six
Cabinet colleagues were administered the oath of
office by Delhi Lieutenant-Governor _____ on
December 28.
Who was sworn in as Chief Minister of Mizoram on
December 14?
Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as Chief Minister of
Madhya Pradesh for the _______ (2nd/3rd/4th/5th)
consecutive time in Bhopal on December 14.
Which is the only party other than BJP and Congress
to win seats in recent MP Assembly elections?
Vasundhara Raje sworn in as Chief Minister of
Rajasthan on December 13. Who is the Governor?
Who took over as new Chairman, Chiefs of Staff
Committee on December 31, 2013 (Ranjit
Sinha/Admiral Sushil Kumar/Air Marshal Arup
Raha/General Bikram Singh)?
(Answers on page No: 34)
18. Who took over as the Vice-Chief of Army Staff on
December 31, 2013?

19. Which Minister in Manmohan Singh Cabinet died on
December 15?
20. Addition charge of which portfolio was given to Road
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
Transport & Highways Minister Oscar Fernandes in

December 2013?
Which party was recently joined by ex-Union Home
Secretary R. K. Singh who had retired in June 2013?
Which post was held by Devyani Khobragade before
she was transferred to Indias Permanent Mission at
the United Nations?
Which dynasty ruled Mysore from 1399 to 1950
(Chola/Pandya/Zamorin/Wodeyar)?
Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma passed away on
December 16. He was the head of royal family in
which
princely
state
(Cochin/Kozhikode/Travancore/Malabar)?
Aniruddha Bahal is a well-known journalist associated
with which portal in news recently for a sting
operation that caught 11 MPs willing to issue letters of
recommendation to promote a fictitious foreign
company for a fee ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 50
lakh?
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got recognised as a state
party and reserved symbol of broom in Delhi by the
Election Commission recently. The recognition is
given to a party that has won at least _____ %
(3/4/5/6) of valid votes polled in the previous
assembly election.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got recognised as a state
party and reserved symbol of broom in Delhi by the
Election Commission recently. The recognition is
given to a party that has won at least _____ %
(3/4/5/6) seats in the assembly election.
In pursuit of Truth A film directed by award
winning filmmaker Zafar Hai is on which
government organisation (Lokpal/CVC/CAG/CBI)?
The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry
and ______ (Times Now/Prasar Bharati/Star
TV/NDTV) have decided to launch 50 educational
channels on DTH by May 1, 2014.
Who has launched an In-Residence programme for
writers and artists to stay at his/her residence for a
month recently (Prime Minister/President/SC Chief
Justice/Lok Sabha Speaker)?
Which aircraft was retired from the Indian Air Force in
a ceremony held at Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal
in December (Mirage2000/Jaguar/MiG21/Chetak)?
THE GENESIS

32. Which
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
Cabinet Minister (Kapil Sibal/Shashi

Tharoor/Salman Khursheed/Oscar Fernandes) has
written the lyrics of the music album Braveheart
brought out by Dr. Zakir Hussain Memorial Trust
recently?
Which state observed its Liberation Day on December
19, 2013?
What is the township in Singapore in news for rioting
by Indian workers on December 20 called?
Which African country was plunged into a civil war
because of fighting between Dinka and Nuer tribes
(Togo/Guinea/Central
African
Republic/South
Sudan)?
Which country and India have raised the currency
swap arrangement limit to $50 billion recently?
Abbreviation JIMEX stands for:
Conakry is the capital of which African nation
African
Republic/South
Sudan)?
Which African country released Indian Merchant Navy
Captain Sunil James recently, after five months of
imprisonment on charges of aiding pirates
African
Republic/South
Sudan)?
Mridula Garg was selected for this years Sahitya
Akademi Award recently. She is a well-known
(Poet/Novelist/Playwright/Dancer)
Javed Akthar was selected for this years Sahitya
Akademi Award for his compilation of 55 Urdu poems
titled (Watan/Lava/Chirag/Aman)?
Name the Nobel Chemistry Prize winner among the 25
recipients of the NDTV Living Legend awards in New
Delhi on December 14?
Syed
Haider
Raza
is
a
well-known
(painter/poet/playwright/sculptor):
Anish
Kapoor
is
a
well-known
(painter/poet/playwright/sculptor):
S. S. Badrinath was among the 25 recipients of the
NDTV Living Legend awards in New Delhi on
December 14. Which well-known philanthropic
healthcare institution was founded by him?
Yusuf
K.
Hamied
is
associated
with
(Wockhardt/Lupin/Cipla/Hamdard):
Which state won the award for Best Governance at
the India Today State of the States Awards recently?
Which are the three Maharashtra ex-CMs named in
Adarsh scam report by a 2-member commission
headed by retired high court judge J. A. Patil?
Whose killing in August 2013 prompted the passage of
Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human
Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori
31
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
Practices and Black Magic Bill, commonly known as

the Anti-Superstition Bill, recently?
Pussy Riot punk band was recently released from
prison in (USA/Iran/Russia/Spain):
What is the cut in US Federal Reserves bond buying
program
from
January
2014
known
as
(Shredding/Tapering/Rollback/Calibrating?
Which nation was elected as a non-permanent member
of the UN Security Council UNSC) for a 2-year term
recently, filling a seat that Saudi Arabia had declined
to accept?
Which is the first country in the world to legalise
production and sale of marijuana recently?
Which missiles were deployed by Russia on its
borders with NATO-member countries recently
(Iskander/Invar/Topol/ Semyorka)?
Rossiya
Segodnya
is
the
new
_____
(defence/news/tourism/film production) agency set up
by the Russian government recently.
Who is the President of Ukraine?
Which UN agency is in charge of updating the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
of Humanity?
Which of these well-known embroidery patterns
(Zardozi/Kalamkari/Jamdani/Cashmere) is native to
Bangladesh?
Washoku is a cooking method native to
(China/Japan/Korea/Thailand):
Sankirtana
is
a
folk
dance
native
to
(Manipur/Meghalaya/Arunachal Pradesh/Nagaland):
France has sent its Army to restore order in which
former
colony
African
Republic/South Sudan)?
Asian students topped rankings in all subjects in the
PISA Test conducted by the Paris-based Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
in 65 countries recently. Abbreviation PISA stands for
Program for_______:
Chinas yuan eclipsed the euro as the second-most
used currency in trade finance, global transaction
services organisation SWIFT said in December 2013.
SWIFT is an abbreviated form of:
China launched its first lunar rover mission named
Jade _____ (Dragon/Rabbit/Tiger/Eagle) recently.
Which Central American country restricted its 50-year
ban on car imports recently?
United Nations _________Day was observed on
December 10, 2013.
The United Nations has designated October 31 as the
World _ (Cities/Transportation/Urbanisation/Villages)
Day from 2014.
THE GENESIS

68. World
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
_____
(Spanish/French/Chinese/English/
Arabic) Language Day was observed by UNESCO on
December 18, 2013.
Who was elected new President of Chile recently?
Chile
is
worlds
top
exporter
of
(silver/zinc/copper/platinum):
Helmut Kohl and Konrad Adenauer were well-known
German (scientists/politicians/actors/economists):
Which beauty pageant was won by Venezuelas Alyz
Henrich recently (Miss Universe/Miss World/Miss
Earth/Miss Americas)?
Who was named Time Person of the Year recently?
Which European country has new President every year
(Switzerland/Albania/Cyprus/Iceland)?
Jeh Johnson has been appointed as the new head of
DHS by the Obama administration recently. DHS is:
Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, Biram Dah Abeid of
Mauritania, Hiljmnijeta Apuk of Kosovo, Liisa
Kauppinen of Finland, Khadija Ryadi of Morocco and
Mexicos Constitutional Court were recently named
winners of 2013 ______ (EU/US/UN/Amnesty
International) Human Rights Prize, which is conferred
every five years.
Which BJP leader was honoured with the Order of
Friendship by the Russian President recently?
Lokesh Chandra, Director of the International
Academy of Indian Culture, was awarded the _____
(Chekov/Tolstoy/Chopin/Pushkin) Medal by the
Russian President recently.
Peter OToole, Audrey Totter and Joan Fontaine
achieved fame as (actors/singers/cartoonists/authors):
Who was best known as undercover agent Brian
OConnor in the Fast and Furious action movies?
Who was selected for the 2013 Col C K Nayudu
Lifetime Achievement award by the BCCI recently?
Which two former Australian and Pakistani cricketers
were inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame recently?
Who was named as the winner of the Sir Garfield
Sobers trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year recently?
Who was named ICC Test Cricketer of the Year
recently?
Who was named ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year
recently?
Who was named ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year?
Australia won the Test series with England recently
after losing the previous ____ (1/2/3/4) Ashes series.
Who won the ICC Intercontinental Cup recently?
Who broke Sachin Tendulkars record of most
unbeaten centuries in tests recently?
Which West Indian bowler was suspended for suspect
bowling action recently?
32
91. Who equalled Brian Laras record of making most
runs in an over in test matches recently?

92. Who was named the 2013 AIFF Player of the Year by
the All India Football Federation (AIFF) recently?

93. Who won the Club World Cup in the final played in
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
Morocco recently (Liverpool/Bayern Munich/Inter

Milan/Barcelona)?
Shiva Keshavan, Nadeem Iqbal, Hira Lal and
Himanshu Thakur will represent India in which sports
event in 2014?
Jesse
Owens
achieved
fame
as
a
(footballer/swimmer/athlete/wrestler):
Lee
Chong
Wei
of
______
(Malaysia/Thailand/China/Taiwan) won the Mens
Singles event at the ending BWF (Badminton World
Federation) World Superseries Finals in Kuala
Lumpur recently.
Who won the Hero Junior Mens Hockey World Cup
organised in New Delhi recently?
Who won the London Chess Classic recently?
Which state hosted the 2013 Admirals Cup yachting
regatta recently?
2013 Force India driver Adrian Sutil has switched to
which team for 2014 Formula 1 Season?
Who has joined Nico Hulkenberg at Force India for
the 2014 Formula 1 Season?
Who (Tata/L&T/AV Birla/IDFC) withdrew its
application for banking license recently?
The new stricter insider trading norms launched by
SEBI recently are based on the report of a committee
headed by:
Which of these (Repo rate/Cash Reserve Ratio/Bank
Rate/None) was changed by the RBI in its MidQuarter Monetary Policy Review on December 18?
Natural gas pricing in 2014 will be done on the basis
of ______ (Chidambaram/Subbarao/Jalan/Rangarajan)
formula.
The government recently allowed Mukesh Ambanipromoted Reliance Industries to increase the price of
natural gas sold by (25%/50%/75%/100%) ___ from
April 1, 2014.
Invest India is a joint venture between DIPP
and____
(FICCI/CII/ASSOCHAM/PHDCCI)
to
promote foreign investment in India.
What is the fund being set up by the government for
promoting grassroots innovations coupled with social
and economic returns named?
Who was imposed a fine of 17.7 billion rupees by the
Competition Commission of India (CCI) for abusing
its dominant position and imposing unfair conditions
in fuel supply agreements with customers recently?
THE GENESIS
33
110. The government has launched PA&PFMS for better
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
monitoring of central plan schemes recently. M in

PA&PFMS
stands
for
(Management/Monitoring/Median/Mentoring):
Which regulator (SEBI/RBI/CCI/FMC) has directed
commodity exchanges to register their warehouses
with WDRA by March 2014?
Which
government-owned
energy
company
(NTPC/PGCIL/NPCIL/ONGC) was in news for
follow-on-public offer (FPO) in December 2013?
The government approved a scheme of 6,600 crore
rupees interest free loans to mills in which agri-sector
(jute/coir/cotton/sugar)?
India held ______ USD (60/40/80/100) billion worth
US government securities by the end of October 2013
while China remained the largest holder with USD
1.30 trillion.
December 14, 2013 was observed as the National
________ Day.
The software BOSS released by the government is:
The Institute for Human Development (IHD) released
the India Labour and Employment Report 2014
recently. IHD is based in:
Which
industry
chamber
(CII/ASSOCHAM/FICCI/PHDCCI) organised the 9th
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
International Corporate Governance Summit on

December 20?
Where was the 28th Indian Engineering Congress
organised by the Institution of Engineers (India) in
December 2013?
Which
industry
chamber
(CII/ASSOCHAM/FICCI/PHDCCI) organised the
Global PSE Summit in collaboration with Department
of Public Enterprises (DIPP) in December 2013?
Who was appointed new Chairman of the National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) recently?
Who was appointed new MD & CEO of IFCI Ltd
recently?
Who was appointed new Chairman of India
Infrastructure Finance Corporation recently?
Who was appointed the new Asia-Pacific head of
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),
making him the first Indian to hold the prestigious
position, recently?
Who are the co-authors of Driven: Memoirs of a Civil
Servant Turned Entrepreneur?
Which cosmetics brand was founded by Graham
Wulff?
Who was the first Indian actress to model for Lux?
Mind Games: Answers

CROSSWORD
SUDOKU I
SUDOKU II
THE GENESIS
34
Do you remember? Answers

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
50%
50%
Rajya Sabha Speaker
Centre
for
Military
Airworthiness and Certification
General Electric (GE)
Kaveri
Tejas Mark I
Tejas Mark II
Former Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee
Awami League & Bangladesh
National Party (BNP)
Patni Computer Systems
Najib Jung
Pu Lalthanhawla
3rd
BSP
Margaret Alva
General Bikram Singh
Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag
Sis Ram Ola
Labour and Employment
BJP
Deputy Consul General
Wodeyar
Travancore
Cobrapost
6%
3%
CBI
Prasar Bharati
President
MiG21
Salman Khursheed
Goa
Little India
South Sudan
Japan
Japan-India Maritime Exercise
Guinea
Togo
Novelist
Lava
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
painter
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
sculptor
Sankara Nathralaya
Cipla
Andhra Pradesh
Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushil
Kumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan
Narendra Dabholkar
Russia
Tapering
Jordan
Uruguay
Iskander
News
Viktor Yanukovych
UNESCO
Jamdani
Japan
Manipur
Central African Republic
International
Student
Assessment
Society for Worldwide Interbank
Financial
Telecommunications
Rabbit
Cuba
Human Rights
Cities
Arabic
Michelle Bachelet
copper
politicians
Miss Earth
Pope Francis
Switzerland
Department
of
Homeland
Security
UN
Murli Manohar Joshi
Pushkin
actors
Paul Walker
Kapil Dev
Adam Gilchrist and Waqar
Younis
Michael Clarke
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
Michael Clarke
Kumar Sangakkara
Cheteshwar Pujara
3
Ireland
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Shane Shillingford
George Bailey
Sunil Chhetri
Bayern Munich
Winter Olympic Games
athlete
Malaysia
Germany
Hikaru Nakamura
Kerala
Sauber
Sergio Perez
Tata
N. K. Sodhi
None
Rangarajan
100%
FICCI
India Inclusive Innovation Fund
Coal India Ltd
Management
FMC
PGCIL (Power Grid Corporation
of India Ltd)
Sugar
60
Energy Conservation
Bharat
Operating
System
Solutions
Delhi
CII
Chennai
CII
Harsh Kumar Bhanwala
Malay Mukherjee
Santosh Nayar
Arun Mishra
Jagdish Khattar & Suveen Sinha
Oil of Olay
Leela Chitnis
Gross National Happiness (GNH), first proposed by King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan
in 1972, is being considered by international organisations, economists and business leaders as an
alternative to GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
THE GENESIS
35
Corporate Knowledge Quiz

Directions for Qs. 1 50: Choose the correct answer from the four options (Answers on page No: 38)
1. Which Indian tyre companys proposed $2.5 billion

acquisition of U.S.-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. was
terminated in December 2013?
a) Apollo Tyres
b) JK Tyres
c) CEAT
d) MRF
2. Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of which wellknown author?
a) JK Rowling
b) Stieg Larsson
c) John Grisham
d) Sydney Sheldon
3. Which public sector bank appointed V. Kannan as its
new CMD from January 1, 2014?
a) Canara Bank
b) Vijaya Bank
c) Syndicate Bank
d) Union Bank of India
4. Chocolate brand was founded by Surbaya Bhat who
passed away in January 2014?
a) Melody
b) Nutrine
c) Campco
d) Parry
5. Which is the most liveable city in India on the
Liveability Index 2013 released by the Institute for
Competitiveness in January 2014?
a) Panaji
b) Delhi
c) Chennai
d) Mumbai
6. Which of the following ushered in 2014 with more
than half a million fireworks spectacle, breaking the
Guinness world record for the largest such display ever,
on January 1, 2014?
a) Dubai
b) London
c) Sharjah
d) Kuwait City
7. Which petroleum sector companys first commercial
power project started production on December 31, 2013?
a) IOC
b) ONGC
c) HPCL
d) BPCL
8. Which of the following appointed former Walmart
India MD & CEO Raj Jain as its CEO in January 2014?
a) Reliance Retail
b) Future Group
c) Bharti Retail
d) Shoppers Stop
9. Which of the following launched the RS 7 Sportback,
priced at Rs 1.28 crore in India in January 2014?
a) Fiat
b) Audi
c) Ford
d) Toyota
10. Which is the first general insurance company to

launch all-women branch in India in January 2014?
a) Reliance General Insurance
b) Future Generali India Insurance
c) ICICI Lombard General Insurance
d) Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
11. Which of the following appointed Shankar
Venkateswaran as Chief of its Sustainability Group in
January 2014?
a) Tata
b) AV Birla
c) Vedanta
d) Reliance
12. Which brand signed Ranbir Kapoor as its brand
ambassador in January 2014?
a) Lays
b) Kurkure
c) Bingo
d) Cheetos
13. Which of the following has launched Stay New
ownership plan that offers consumers 18-month EMI
scheme as well as an option to upgrade to newer models?
a) LG
b) Samsung
c) Karbonn
d) Micromax
14. Manoj Vaish was appointed as the CEO of which of
the following stock exchanges in January 2014?
a) BSE
b) NSE
c) MCX
d) ASE
15. Who among the following ex-Infosys employees was
in news for joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in
January 2014?
a) V. Balakrishnan
b) TV Mohandas Pai
c) Nandan Nilekani
d) Phaneesh Murthy
16. Which Indian infrastructure company sold off its
stake in Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (ISG) airport in
December 2013?
a) GVK
b) GMR
c) L&T
d) Gammon
17. Which of the following has discontinued its mobile
phone file sharing apps Bump and Flock in Jan 2014?
a) Apple
b) Yahoo!
c) Google
d) Microsoft
18. Which of the following became 100% owner of US
automobile company Chrysler in January 2014?
THE GENESIS

a) Fiat
c) Toyota
36
a) Pizza Hut
c) McDonalds
b) Ford
d) Hyundai
b) Starbucks
d) Dominos Pizza
19. Which of the following has launched a service called

HomeChat that allows users to send SMS to household
appliances and instruct tasks?
a) LG
b) Philips
c) Samsung
d) Panasonic
28. Which is the most expensive retail destination with a

monthly rental of Rs 1,250/sq ft a month according to
Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) in December 2013?
a) Khan Market, Delhi
b) Linking Road, Mumbai
c) Nariman Point, Mumbaid) Connaught Place, Delhi
20. Which of the following was established by at

Bangalore by the Government under the Ministry of
Defence in 1954 to meet the specialised electronic needs
of the Indian defence services?
a) EIL
b) BEL
c) ECIL
d) BHEL
29. Which Indian IT company has acquired Opus Capital

Markets Consultants for $75 million in December 2013?
a) TCS
b) Wipro
c) Infosys
d) Cognizant
21. Which sectors Export Promotion Council (EPC) is

headed by A. Sakthivel?
a) Apparel
b) Engineering
c) Pharmaceuticals
d) Gem and Jewellery
22. Which government-owned financial services
company appointed V. P. Baligar as its new Chairman
and Managing Director in January 2014?
a) LIC
b) NABARD
c) SIDBI
d) HUDCO
23. Toni & Guy is a professional hair products brand
owned by:
a) LOreal
b) Unilever
c) Revlon
d) Proctor & Gamble
24. Which of the following is being sued by the Authors
Guild for scanning and digitizing millions of books
without copyright holders permission?
a) Microsoft
b) Amazon
c) Google
d) Facebook
25. Who developed Big Brother, the format on which
Indias Bigg Boss reality TV show is based?
a) CBS
b) Sky TV
c) Endemol
d) Bertelsmann
26. Which of the following has launched as mobile
application for womens safety called Guardian in
December 2013?
a) TCS
b) Google
c) Microsoft
d) Facebook
27. Which MNC has approached the London Court of
International Arbitration to settle its dispute with Indian
JV partner Vikram Bakshi in January 2013?
30. Which of the following launched commercial version

of Indias low-cost Aakash tablet computer UbiSlate
7Ci in UK in December 2013?
a) Wipro
b) Milagrow
c) Karbonn
d) DataWind
31. Where was BookMark a brand new initiative to
develop and promote the Indian publishing industry
launched in January 2014?
a) Times Literary Carnival
b) Jaipur Literature Festival
c) Kolkata Literature Festival
d) Mumbai Literature Festival
32. Which of the following runs the cafe & dining chain
Au Bon Pain in India?
a) Future Group
b) AV Birla Group
c) Jubilant Foodworks
d) RP Sanjeev Goenka Group
33. What is Club Samsung launched by Samsung?
a) Retail stores
b) Facebook Page
c) Customer loyalty scheme
d) Digital entertainment store
34. Who was signed as brand ambassador by QMobile,
the largest selling mobile phone brand in Pakistan, in
December 2013?
a) Saina Nehwal
b) Anushka Sharma
c) Kareena Kapoor
d) Katrina Kaif
35. Which of the following has launched the mRupee
mobile wallet service?
a) Bharti Airtel
b) Idea Cellular
c) Tata Teleservices
d) Reliance Communications
36. Which of the following has acquired the schemes of
Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund India in December 2013?
THE GENESIS

a) UTI MF
c) Reliance MF
37
44. Mango Sip is mango drink brand marketed by:
a) Dabur
b) Parle Agro
c) CavinKare
d) Manpasand
b) HDFC MF
d) Birla Sun Life MF
37. Which of the following has launched Z1000 and

Ninja 1000 motorcycles in India?
a) Kawasaki
b) Yamaha
c) Ducati
d) Harley Davidson
38. Which countrys Parliament recently passed a new tax
on web advertising, called Google tax, which will
require Internet companies to sell advertisements from
locally- registered companies, instead of from units based
in havens such as Ireland, Luxembourg and Bermuda?
a) UK
b) USA
c) Italy
d) Germany
39. Who among the following is the co-founder of
Twitter?
a) Biz Stone
b) Tom Anderson
c) Chris DeWolfe
c) Geoffrey Arden
40. Which of the following was in news recently for its
Joy of Gifting advertising campaign?
a) Titan
b) HMT
c) Timex
d) Maxima
41. Which of the following launched the 2014 Index of
Economic Freedom in partnership with the Heritage
Foundation in January 2014?
a) Time
b) Forbes
c) The Economist
d) Wall Street Journal
42. What was Business Standard Motoring renamed as in
January 2014?
a) Car World
b) Speed World
c) Motoring World
d) Automobile World
43. Which of the following has introduced Tab Banking,
a mobile application that offers consumers an easy
alternative to the otherwise tedious process of opening a
new bank account?
a) Axis Bank
b) Yes Bank
c) ICICI Bank
d) HDFC Bank
45. Which of the following is in news for its Thank You,

Mom advertising campaign?
a) P&G
b) Johnson & Johnson
c) GSK
d) Unilever
46. Which of the following has launched an advertising
campaign titled Live to tell the Tale showcasing
products designed to help adventurers survive the harsh
outdoors?
a) Nike
b) Adidas
c) Reebok
d) Woodland
47. Which of the following was in news for its interactive
digital campaign, called Best Fitness Friend (BFF), in
which consumers receive a daily morning wakeup call
from brand ambassador Nargis Fakhri?
a) Nike
b) Adidas
c) Reebok
d) Woodland
48. Which of the following has launched the second
edition of Brain Hunt - Challenge your Imagination a
nation-wide contest to stimulate and encourage the
imagination of young minds?
a) Amar Ujala
b) Dainik Jagran
c) Dainik Bhaskar
d) Rajasthan Patrika
49. Which of the following has launched a new series 7
Race Course Road presented by well-known author and
columnist Chetan Bhagat from January 2014?
a) Aaj Tak
b) ABP News
c) Times Now
d) CNNIBN
50. Which of the following has launched a contest for
independent software vendors (ISVs) and technology
start-ups in India to create over 100 applications (apps)
and solutions for businesses and governments in the next
six months?
a) TCS
b) Google
c) Microsoft
d) Facebook
Bank without locks: Indias first lock-free bank branch was opened by UCO Bank at Shani
Shinganapur in Maharashtra. The village which takes its name from the god Shani is known for the
trust its people repose in the god. The peoples belief in the power of their divine protector is so
strong that most houses in the village have no doors and those that do, dont lock them. UCO seems to
be banking on the same faith.
THE GENESIS
38
General Knowledge Quiz: Answer Key

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
Corporate Knowledge quiz: Detailed Answers

Answer 1: Cooper Tire terminates $2.5 billion sale to Apollo Tyres: U.S.-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. on
December 30, 2013 said it was terminating a
proposed $2.5 billion sale to Apollo Tyres
Ltd. Cooper Tire said it was walking away
after being informed by the Indian tyre maker
that financing was no longer available for a
takeover. Cooper added it would pursue legal
steps to protect the company. Apollo
responded by saying it was disappointed
that Cooper had prematurely ended the
agreement, and that it would pursue legal
remedies of its own.
The dispute is likely to focus on whether either company is liable to pay a break-up fee. Under the deal terms, Apollo
would have been liable to pay a $112.5 million fee, while Cooper could be held responsible for break-up fee of $50
million. Expectations the deal would unravel rose after a court in Delaware in November ruled the Indian tyre maker had
not breached its obligations, delivering a setback to Coopers attempt to compel Apollo to close the deal.
Apollo has blamed Cooper for its difficulties in securing financing for the deal. At the heart of the dispute has been
Apollos failure to reach contract agreements with unions at Cooper plants in Ohio and Texas as mandated by a U.S.
arbitrator in September. At the same time, Chengshan Group, Coopers partner in China, has opposed any merger with
Apollo, filing a lawsuit against the U.S. tyremaker to dissolve their joint venture. Apollo has said these two developments
were not expected at the time of the deal, but Cooper maintains the issues are a result of the merger and says Apollo was
aware of the risks.
Answer 2: Lawyer fined for exposing Rowling as author of crime novel: The lawyer who leaked that Harry
Potter creator JK Rowling was the author of a crime novel penned
under a pseudonym was slapped with a 1,000 pounds fine and a
written rebuke in January 2014 for breaking confidentiality rules.
The Cuckoos Calling was published under the pseudonym
Robert Galbraith but later it emerged that Rowling was the author
of the popular novel. Rowling, 48, was left dismayed and
distressed after Christopher Gossage leaked her name as the
author of her novel. The Cuckoos Calling, about a war veteran
turned private investigator called Cormoran Strike, had sold 1,500
copies before it was leaked that Rowling was its author. Within
hours, the novel rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazons sales list. The book was published by Sphere, part of the
Little, Brown Book Group, which published her foray into writing novels for adults, The Casual Vacancy.
THE GENESIS
39
Answer 3: V. Kannan takes over as CMD of Vijaya Bank: V. Kannan on January 1,

2014 assumed charge as Chairman & Managing Director of Bangalore-based public sector
Vijaya Bank. The Bank was founded on 23rd October 1931 by late Shri A.B. Shetty and other
enterprising farmers in Mangalore, Karnataka. The objective of the founders was essentially to
promote banking habit, thrift and entrepreneurship among the farming community of Dakshina
Kannada district in Karnataka State. The bank became a scheduled bank in 1958. Vijaya Bank
was nationalised in April 1980. The bank has built a network of 1500 branches, 48 Extension
Counters and 1500 ATMs, that span all 28 states and 4 union territories in the country..
Answer 4: Campco founder Subraya Bhat dead: Varanashi Subraya Bhat, 86, founder of
the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, died in
Dakshina Kannada district on December 27, 2013. Bhat was instrumental in bringing stability
into the market when the arecanut market crashed drastically in 1972. This provided a new
lifeline to farmers in the region. He organised farmers of Karnataka and Kerala to form a
cooperative that was registered on July 11, 1973. Through Campco, Subraya Bhat made efforts
to bring down difference in consuming and selling markets, and made efforts to bring down the
menace of middle men in the industry. This led to the revival of the arecanut market. Bhat was
also instrumental in starting a chocolate factory in cooperative sector in 1984 when there was no
buyer for the cocoa grown as an intercrop in arecanut plantations.
Answer 5: Mumbai tops Liveability Index 2013: Mumbai has emerged as the most liveable city in India followed
by Chennai and Hyderabad on the Liveability Index 2013 released by the Institute for Competitiveness, India on January
2, 2014. The fourth issue of Liveability index has unveiled the list of 50 livable Indian cities studied by the Institute for
Competitiveness every year.
The index is based on a framework, which is an evolved adaptation
of the world-renowned diamond model of Michael E Porter, a
Bishop William Lawrence Professor at Harvard University. The
model is based on eight core pillars that are demographic,
education, health and medical standards, safety, housing option,
socio-cultural-natural environment, economic environment, and
planned environment.
According to liveability index, a city is livable when it directly
offers favourable living environment to its citizenry and indirectly
benefits as well as attracts the visitors. Here, the favourable
environment includes various measurable factors such as, strong infrastructure setup, presence of quality education and
health institutions, safety of its citizenry, planned environment, proficient governance, job o etc. The bottom five cities
on the liveability index 2013 are Agra, Raipur, Asansol, Kanpur and Patna, signifying that they are the least liveable
cities among the selected 50 Indian cities and need to take timely action in order to become prosperous in the future.
Answer 6: Dubai 2014 fireworks display breaks Guinness world record: Dubai has ushered in 2014 with
more than half a million fireworks spectacle, breaking the world record for the largest
such display ever, Guinness World records said in Dubai on January 1, 2014. The
display lasted around six minutes, with Guinness adjudicators on hand to confirm that
a new record had been set. Covering a distance of over 94km of the citys seafront,
the display incorporated some of Dubais top landmarks, including Palm Jumeirah,
World Islands, the Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab, Guinness said. Organisers had
been aiming to beat a record set in 2012 during a display to mark Kuwaits golden
jubilee anniversary which saw a total of 77,282 fireworks launched. The scale of this
record attempt is truly impressive and will ensure all eyes are on Dubai, Alistair
Richards, Global President of Guinness World Records, said.
THE GENESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
400
Answer 7:
7 ONGCs 1st power plant
p
starts generation: State-owned ONGCs firsst
commerciaal power project in the cou
untry started commercial
c
prroduction on December 311,
2013 in Tripura,
T
six months
m
after President
P
Praanab Mukherjee dedicated the 726 MW
W
capacity faacility to the nation.
n
ONGC
C Tripura Pow
wer Company ((OTPC) is a sp
pecial purposee
vehicle (SP
PV) promotedd by ONGC, Infrastructure
I
Leasing and F
Financial Serv
vices (IL&FS)
and Tripurra governmennt, created in 2004
2
for execcution of the 726.6 MW co
ombined cyclee
gas-based thermal poweer project (usin
ng both waterr and natural ggas) at Palatan
na, 60 km from
m
the state caapital Agartala, in southern
n Tripura.
Answer 8: Bharti
B
Retaiil ropes in Raj
R Jain as CEO:
C
Bharti Retail on Jannuary 3, 2014
announced apppointments of
o former headd of Walmartt India Raj Jaain as its CEO
O and Pankaj
Madan, anothher senior exxecutive of erstwhile joinnt venture Bharti
B
Walmaart, as Chief
Financial Offficer. Jain, who
w
left Waalmart India in June 2013, will report to Bharti
Enterprises Vice
V
Chairmaan and Mannaging Directtor Rajan Bh
harti Mittal. Before this
appointment, Jain was Preesident of Waalmart India and
a also held the position of
o Managing
Director & CEO
C
of Bhartti Walmart Pvvt Ltd for ovver six years. In October 2013,
2
Bharti
Enterprises and
a Walmart had announced they weree parting way
ys to operate retail stores
independentlyy in India, ennding their siix-year-old paartnership. Su
ubsequently, the
t US retail
major boughtt out its Indiann partner in their cash-and-ccarry JV Bharrti Walmart, which
w
runs 20
wholesale stoores under thee Best Price Modern
M
Wholeesale brand in
n India. At thee time of the
break up, Jainn was roped inn as an advisorr by the Bhartti Group.
Answer 9: Audi launchess RS 7 Sporrtback at R

Rs 1.3 crore: Luxury carrmakker Audi on January
J
7, 201
14 its productt range in the country by in
ntroducing thee
RS 7 Sportback, priced at Rs 1.28 crore, exx-showroom M
Mumbai. The company soldd
the first new car to
t Bollywood
d actor Salmann Khan. Audi also became the
t first luxuryy
car--maker in the country to crross sales of 10,000
1
units iin a year. In 2013,
2
it sold a
recoord 10,002 unnits, up 11 per cent from 9,0003 units in 20012. The Germ
man car-makeer
sellss 12 models inn the country now, includinng the popularr Q3 and A4 seedans.
Answer 10: Bajaj Alliaanz unveils all-women

a
o
office:
Bajaj Allianz Geneeral Insurance has set an am
mbitious targeet
of recruiting around 15,0000 women agents across toop 30 cities. At
A
present, the company
c
has 150 women agents
a
out of an
a agency forrce
of 9,000. Thee insurance coompany opened an all-woomen branch in
Pune on Jannuary 3, 20144 and this branch
b
will be
b aggressiveely
recruiting woomen agentss. This brancch will havee only wom
men
employees and
a
will reecruit and train womenn agents an
nd
intermediaries. Bajaj Alliannz is the first insurer to com
me up with su
uch
an initiative and this is also
a
an indusstry-first. The branch startted
operations wiith a team of five women employees annd have recruiited 10 womeen agents andd plans to incrrease it to 1000
agents in the next
n three to six
s months.
Answer 11:
1 S Venkaateswaran ap
ppointed Ch
hief Tata sustainability Group: Tataa
Sons on January
J
2, 2014 announced
d appointmennt of Shankar Venkateswarran as Chief of driving grroup level iniitiatives in thee
Tata Sustaainability Grooup with the responsibility
r
sustainabillity space, andd guiding Tatta Sons and thhe group comppanies on susttainability andd
CSR initiaatives. Venkaateswaran willl report directly to Mukunnd Rajan, Member - Groupp
Executive Council, Braand Custodiaan and Chief Ethics Officcer, Tata Son
ns, a companyy
statement said in Mumbai.
M
Before joininng Tata Soons, Shankarr was withh
PricewaterrhouseCooperrs (PwC) Indiia as Director - Sustainabillity. A mechaanical engineeer
from IIT Madras
M
and an
a MBA from
m IIM Calcuttaa, he has overr 31 years of experience of
o
working in thhe corporate & developmentt sectors.
www.endea
avorcareers..com
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
Endeavor Careers
C
Drream End
deavor Achieve
411
An
nswer 12: Ranbir
R
to en
ndorse Lays: Beveragess and foods major
m
PepsiCoo
Inddia is extendinng its associaation with Bollywood actorr Ranbir Kap
poor, who willl
now
w also endorsee the company
ys snack brannd Lays. Rannbir, who has been
b
the brandd
ambbassador of sooft drink Pepssi since 2008, will feature iin a brand new
w campaign of
o
Layys, PepsiCo India
I
said in a statement inn New Delhi on January 2,
2 2014. Whilee
Rannbir becomes the face of th
he new campaaign, actor Saiif Ali Khan will
w continue too
enddorse Lays. PepsiCo
P
India had launched the Lays braand in India in
n 1995 and haas
emerged as one
o of the com
mpanys top brands
b
in the country.
c
Aparrt from internaational flavouurs, the compaany also offerrs
local Indian flavours
f
in thee product range.
Answer 13:: Samsung launches S

Stay New plan
p
to upgrrade: Electroonics major
Samsung on December 311, 2013 launchhed its Stay New ownersship plan for its flagship
Galaxy devices, which willl offer consum
mers 18-montth EMI schem
me as well as an
a option to
upgrade to neewer models. Stay New em
mpowers the customer
c
to own
o a Galaxy smartphone
of choice andd upgrade the same in futuure, Samsung said in a stattement. The smartphones
s
covered undeer the Stay Neew programm
me are Galaxy Note 3, Galaaxy Note 2, Samsung S4,
Samsung S4 Mini, Samsunng S3, Galaxy Tab 3 and Galaxy Tab 10.1.
1
Customeers can buy
any of these smartphones
s
t
through
particcipating bankss (HDFC Ban
nk, ICICI Bannk, Citibank
and Standard Chartered) crredit card and avail the Sam
msungs 18-mo
onth EMI schheme. The Stayy New plan will
w continue inn
stores across the country frrom January 1 until March 31,
3 2014.
Answer 14: Manoj Vaiish appointeed MD & CEO

C
of MCX
X: The bankeers-dominatedd selection com
mmittee of thee
Muulti-Commodiity Exchange (MCX) on Jaanuary 2, 20114 elected Maanoj Vaish as the managingg
dirrector and chieef executive officer
o
of the bourse,
b
under regulatory glaare following troubles at thee
proomoter groupp. MCX has recommended
d to the Forw
ward Marketss Commission
n (FMC) thaat
Maanoj Vaish bee made the maanaging directtor and chief executive
e
(CE
EO) for three years
y
from thee
datte of joiningg. Vaish takkes charge att a crucial juuncture whenn investors confidence inn
com
mmodity tradding is shattereed. Besides th
he NSEL scam
m, the commoddity transactio
on tax imposedd
byy the Governm
ment in July laast year shrun
nk trading vollumes on the exchanges. In
n a bid to ringg
fennce MCX froom the scam at
a NSEL, thee commodity market regulaator FMC has replaced thee
enttire MCX boaard with eminnent independ
dent directors and stakeholdders nomineees. Satyanandaa
Mishra, a retired IAS officeer, heads the exchange
e
as itts Chairman.
Answer 15:: Ex-Infosyys CFO V. Balakrishnaan joins Aa

am Aadmi Party: The Arvind
Kejriwal-led Aam
A Aadmi Partys
P
(AAP)) spectacular debut
d
in the Delhi
D
electionss has not onlyy buoyed
the confidencce of the partyys cadre but also
a of corporrate leaders, who
w are liningg up to join thhe party.
On January 1,
1 2014, form
mer chief finanncial officer and
a board meember of Infoosys, V Balakkrishnan
(Bala) announnced his decission to join thhe party. He could
c
even co
ontest an electtion on an AP
PP ticket
from Karnataaka, if the partty decides so. Bala joins thee likes of Adarsh Shastri, thhe grandson off former
prime ministeer Lal Bahaduur Shastri, whoo resigned from
m his cushy jo
ob in Apple too join AAP.
Answer 16: GMR divvests stake in Istanbull airport: Bangalore-bas

B
sed infrastruccture major GMR
G
said onn
Decem
mber 30, 20113 it had sign
ned an agreeement with M
Malaysian Airrports Holdingg
Berhaad (MAHB) too divest its 40
0 per cent equuity stake in tthe Istanbul Sabiha
S
Gokcenn
(ISG) airport and in
i LGM Tourrism, which operates
o
servicces at the forrmer, for 2255
millioon (Rs 1,910 crore).
c
The Airport
A
is locaated on the Annatolian side of Istanbul. It
I
hosts 58 carriers, covering 125 destinations.
d
T consortium
The
m of Limak Holding,
H
GMR
R
Groupp and MAHB was selected as the preferrred bidder forr upgrading an
nd maintainingg
the airrport in July 2007.
2
The airp
ports new terrminal was coompleted and commissionedd
in October 2009. LGM
L
Tourism
m undertakes the
t operation of non-aero services
s
at thee
airport such as
a hotel, food & beverages, and lounge. GMRs
G
equity investment att ISG is 71.66 million.
www.endea
avorcareers..com
Jan
THE GEN
NESIS
42
Answer 17: Google shuts down mobile file sharing apps Bump & Flock:
Bump and Flock, the file sharing apps Google acquired in 2012, were shut down by
the end of December 2013 and set for removal from Google Play and the App Store
on January 31, 2014. Bump let users tap phones together to share contacts and other
files. It enjoyed high download rates, but failed to monetize successfully as other
easy, mobile-friendly ways to share information were developed, most notably
Apples AirDrop for iOS 7. Flock is a collaborative photo-sharing app Bump
Technologies released in 2012.
Answer 18: Fiat strikes $4.35 billion deal to buy rest of Chrysler: Italian carmaker Fiat SpA struck a $4.35
billion deal to gain full control of Chrysler Group LLC, ending more than a
year of tense talks that have obstructed Chief Executive Sergio Marchionnes
efforts to combine the two automakers resources. The agreement, announced
on January 1, 2013, cements Marchionnes reputation as the industrys
consummate dealmaker about a decade after he took the helm of Fiat as a car
business newcomer. But it remains to be seen whether a merger will be
enough to cut Fiats losses in Europe. Marchionnes plan to shore up Fiat
depends on the ability to share technology, cash and dealer networks with
Chrysler, the No. 3 U.S. automaker. Fiat will acquire the 41.46 percent stake in Chrysler it did not already own from a
retiree healthcare trust affiliated with the United Auto Workers union.
Answer 19: Now, SMS daily tasks to your appliances with new LG app: LG
Electronics has partnered with free messaging app to create a service that allows users
to send SMS to LG compatible appliances and instruct tasks. The service, dubbed
HomeChat, relies on Natural Language Processing (NLP) to send the text messages and
works on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Nokia Asha, and Windows Phone devices as well
as OS X and Windows computers. Users can also communicate with a single appliance,
as needed, for example, asking Hom-Bot Square, When did you last clean? and the
device would tell how long its been since the user last ran the vacuum.
Answer 20: S. K. Sharma takes charge as BEL CMD: Navaratna Defence PSU Bharat
Electronics Limited (BEL) on January 1, 2014 said S K Sharma has taken charge as the
Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of the company. Sharma, who joined BEL in 1978, has
served in various capacities at BELs Bangalore, Ghaziabad and Hyderabad Units, the company
said in a release in Bangalore. He was responsible for the successful execution of large landmobile Electronic Warfare projects and induction of advanced Naval ESM (electronic support
measures) systems for the armed forces, it added. BEL was established at Bangalore by the
Government under the Ministry of Defence in 1954 to meet the specialised electronic needs of
the Indian defence services. Over the years, it has grown into a multi-product, multi-technology, multi-unit company
servicing the needs of customers in diverse fields in India and abroad.
Answer 21: Sakthivel is chairman of apparel skill development body: Apex garments
industry body Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A. Sakthivel was on January
1, 2014 appointed the first chairman of NSDCs apparel, made-ups and home furnishing sector
skill council. The Sector Skill Council (SSC) is mandated to develop a skills repository, standards,
evaluation criterion and accreditation system for creating employability in the vital sector, which
employs over 12 million. The body was set up as per the mandate of National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC), a public-private partnership. The SSC would have representation from
apparel, knitwear, SME, hosiery, fashion design, home furnishing, academia and domestic apparel
industry. The main task of the SSC would be to undertake skill gap study, set up national
occupational standards, assessment and certification framework development, accreditation
framework development, training and labour market information system.
THE GENESIS
43
Answer 22: Baligar appointed HUDCO CMD: Senior IAS officers V. P. Baligar and
Satyanarayan Mohanty have been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of HUDCO and
Director General of Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals (DGS&D) respectively, a release
issued by Ministry of Personnel said in New Delhi on January 1, 2014. The Housing and Urban
Development Corporation (HUDCO) was established in 1970 as a sectoral institution for
comprehensively dealing with the problems of growing housing shortages, rising number of slums
and for fulfilling the pressing needs of the economically weaker section of the society was one of the
significant steps in the series of initiatives taken by Government.
Answer 23: Audrey Hepburns beehive hairdo listed as most iconic hairstyle: Audrey
Hepburns beehive hairdo, which gained popularity in classic romantic film Breakfast at Tiffanys,
has been named as the most iconic hairstyles by a hairdressing company Toni and Guy, a Unilever
brand, featured Elvis Presleys jet black quiff on the second position, followed by Bob Marleys
dreadlocks, the Daily Express reported in London on December 31, 2013. The fourth position was
taken by Jennifer Annistons Rachel haircut in the hit series F.R.I.E.N.D.S., while Amy
Winehouses beehive hairdo completed the top 5 memorable hairdos.
Answer 24: Authors Guild to fight Google Books copyright suit ruling: The
trade association for authors has appealed to a U.S. judges decision to dismiss its lawsuit
against Goggle for scanning and digitizing millions of books without copyright holders
permission on December 31, 2013. The Authors Guild has alleged that Googles scanning
and digitizing of all or portions of books and publishing them on the Web in its Google
Print Library Project was a massive copyright infringement. These texts are searchable
on Google Books where the Web giant is also able to sell advertisements.
Answer 25: Gauhar Khan wins Bigg Boss7: Model-turned-actress Gauhar Khan won
the seventh season of reality show Bigg Boss, pipping co-contestant Tanishaa Mukherjee in
Mumbai on December 28, 2013. Gauhar, who won Rs 50 lakh in cash and a trophy, stayed in
the house for 104 days. Bigg Boss follows the Big Brother format, which was first developed
by Endemol in the Netherlands. Endemol was founded in 1994 by a merger of television
production companies owned by Joop van den Ende and John de Mol, the name deriving from
the combination of their surnames.
Answer 26: Microsoft launches Guardian for womens safety: Microsoft India on December 26, 2013 said it
has introduced Guardian, a new safety application (app), available exclusively for Windows
phone users in India. Guardian enables users to switch on a track me feature in the app that
lets friends and family track them in real time using Microsoft Windows Azure cloud
services and Bing Map APIs. Guardian users can call for help through an SOS alert button
and also connect to security agencies, police and hospitals easily via this app in times of
distress. To use Guardian effectively, users need to add the names of friends, family members
and security groups to the settings and in an emergency situation, the app can be used to alert
them, via the SOS button. Guardian can help security authorities and medical teams track the user.
Answer 27: Exercised our right by opting for UK arbitration McDonalds: US food major McDonalds on
December 18, 2013 told the Company Law Board (CLB) that it has exercised its right by
approaching the London Court of International Arbitration to settle its dispute with Indian JV
partner Vikram Bakshi. The CLB was hearing a petition filed by Vikram Bakshi challenging his
removal as the Managing Director of the joint venture. On November 28, McDonalds had
terminated its joint venture agreement with Bakshi by sending a notice and had simultaneously
moved to the London Court of International Arbitration. Incorporated in June 1995, Connaught
Plaza Restaurants Ltd (CPRL) is an equal joint venture between McDonalds Corporation and
Vikram Bakshi and it has been running fast food outlets in North and East India.
THE GENESIS
44
Answer 28: Mumbais Linking Road is Indias most expensive retail spot JLL: Mumbais Linking Road
and Delhis Connaught Place have emerged as the topmost expensive
retail destinations across India, according to a recent report by Jones Lang
Lasalle (JLL) on December 10, 2013. According to the JLL retail index
report on Asia Pacific, Linking Road recorded rents of $ 1,548 per sqm a
year, while Connaught Place recorded $ 1,444 per sqm a year for the third
quarter of this year. However, a recent report by another international
consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield had put Khan Market in Delhi as
the most expensive retail location with a monthly rental of Rs 1,250/sq ft
a month. While Mumbais Linking Road (Rs 750/sq ft a month) had
emerged as the second most expensive retail location followed by Connaught Place and South Extension for the second
quarter this year.
Answer 29: Wipro to acquire Opus Capital Markets Consultants: Azim Premji-promoted
Wipro, Indias third largest information technology services company, December 2, 2013 signed an
agreement to buy Opus Capital Markets Consultants for $75 million (Rs 467 crore). Founded in 2005
and headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois, US, Opus provides risk management solutions to the
mortgage industry in that country. It has 490 employees, including 315 loan underwriters, spread
across five cities in the US.
Answer 30: Datawind launches commercial version of Aakash in UK: A commercial
version of Indias low-cost Aakash 2 tablet computer was launched in Britain at a cost of 30 pounds
on December 16. The UbiSlate 7Ci, made by UK-based Datawind, is based on Aakash 2, which is
mainly used by students in India and was designed to provide cheap internet access to help improve
education. Analysts said British customers buying the tablet and comparing it with others on the
market may be disappointed. The 7 inch Android tablet has Wi-Fi connectivity, 512MB of RAM, a
microUSB connection and 4GB of storage. When the Aakash was launched in India in 2011 it was
dubbed the worlds cheapest touch-screen tablet and was aimed at schools and colleges. The first
version was not well received by critics, but an upgraded version, the Aakash 2, fared better. Suneet
Singh Tuli, who founded Datawind, said getting online was all about affordability.
Answer 31: Jaipur to debut publishing event BookMark: Home to an annual literature jamboree, Jaipur is now
set to host a brand new initiative to develop and promote the Indian publishing industry.
Beginning January 16, the Pink city is bringing together publishers, agents, rights holders
and literary content producers from across the world at the inaugural initiative the Jaipur
Book Mark. The three-day event is born of huge interest shown by the international
publishing industry in the Jaipur Literature Festival and is scheduled to run in parallel to the
main Jaipur Literature Festival at the Narain Niwas Palace, organisers said in a statement in
New Delhi on December 24, 2013. Jaipur BookMark 2014 has tied up with Norway as the
official country partner with supported from NORLA, (Norwegian Fiction and Non-Fiction
Abroad). NORLA is a government-funded, non-commercial foundation which promotes Norwegian literature to other
countries.
Answer 32: Spencers to expand Au Bon Pain chain: The RP Sanjiv Goenka group,
continuing to expand in the retail space, is targeting to invest Rs 70 crore over the next 12
months in spreading cafe and dining chain Au Bon Pain in India. Our primary focus for the
next 12 months is to have a total of 70-72 stores across Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. The
expansion will see investment of around Rs 70 crore, Group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said in
Kolkata on December 23, 2013. Au Bon Pain started as small urban cafe in USA in 1978 and
now has expanded to 385 outlets worldwide. The cafe chain was brought into India by
Goenka and the first store was opened in Bangalore in 2009.
THE GENESIS
45
Answer 33: Samsung launches dual-SIM Galaxy Grand-2: South Korean mobile handset-maker Samsung on
December 23, 2013 launched its latest offering Galaxy Grand 2 in a price range of
Rs 22,990 to Rs 24,990. The dual-SIM smartphone runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
and is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It also features a 5.25-inch HD
TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. Samsung has also introduced a
single destination - Club Samsung - for its Indian infotainment content. The Club
Samsung digital entertainment store features 4 lakh songs, 5,000 movies, 500 gigs and
live TV with over 90 channels all optimised for high-quality display on Samsung devices.
Answer 34: Kareena Kapoor to endorse Pak mobile brand QMobile:

Bollywoods Kareena Kapoor is all set to star in Pakistans most expensive
mobile ad by a leading handset company in Islamabad. The 33-year-old actress,
who is the brand ambassador of the company, has been signed up by QMobile,
the largest selling mobile phone brand in Pakistan, in December 2013.
Answer 35: Tatas to expand mobile wallet service: The Tata

group has given up its plans to start a bank but Group Company Tata
Teleservices on December 28, 2013 unveiled plans to expand
coverage of its mobile payments retail service. The company
obtained the licence for its mRupee mobile wallet service from the
RBI and started a pilot project in 2011. Mobi Wallet Payments
Systems is the fully owned subsidiary of Tata Teleservices that runs
mRupee in Mumbai. Unlike Airtel Money and Vodafones mpaisa, mRupee is not limited by the operator. A user with
any networks connection can use mRupee.
Answer 36: Morgan Stanley sells India MF assets to HDFC MF: HDFC Mutual Fund, the countrys largest
asset management company, on December 24, 2013 said it has acquired the schemes of
Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund India. The acquisition HDFC Mutuals first in over a
decade will add Rs 3,290 crore to its assets under management (AUM) of Rs 1.03 lakh
crore. The MF sector has assets of about Rs 8 lakh crore. Morgan Stanley launched its
Indian MF business in 1994, the first foreign fund to set up operations here. Its equity
scheme, Morgan Stanley Growth Fund (MSGF), was a hit among investors, who expected
the foreign fund house to manage the product differently from the dominant UTI. Morgan
Stanley is the second foreign AMC, after Fidelity, in many years to shut its Indian MF business. Fidelity sold its Indias
business to L&T MF in March last year.
Answer 37: Kawasaki India launches Z1000, Ninja 1000 at Rs 12.5 lakh: India
Kawasaki Motors (IKM) on December 23, 2013 launched two motorcycles in India,
Z1000 and Ninja 1000 at Rs 12.5 lakh ex-showroom Pune and Delhi. The bikes are
imported in as direct imports, Completely Built Units or CBU models from Japan. Both
the models will initially be available in Pune and a new Kawasaki dealership in Delhi.
Answer 38: Italys House approves Google tax: Italys Parliament on December 23, 2013 passed a new tax on
web advertising, called Google tax, which will require Internet companies to sell ads from
locally- registered companies, instead of from units based in havens such as Ireland,
Luxembourg and Bermuda. The tax has stirred controversy, with some lawyers saying it
probably violates European Union laws regarding non-discrimination over commercial activity
and could be subject to legal challenges. In July, at the request of the Group of 20 nations, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development proposed a blueprint to fight
strategies used by companies such as Google Inc, Apple Inc and Yahoo! Inc to shift taxable
profits into havens. Italy is the first major European government to pass legislation to combat the problem of moving
corporate taxable earnings into havens.
THE GENESIS
46
Answer 39: Twitter co-founder Biz Stone launches Jelly: One of the creators of Twitter
Inc unveiled a new mobile service called Jelly in January 2014. The smartphone app seeks to
improve the way people search for and find information, by querying people instead of Internet
search engines. Everyone is mobile, everyone is connected. So if you have a question, theres
somebody out there that knows the answer, said Biz Stone, CEO and cofounder of Jelly. Stone
was among the team that, in 2006, created Twitter. He left Twitter in June 2011. Among the
backers of the new company are Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams, venture
capital investor Reid Hoffman, as well as U2 frontman Bono and former US Vice-President Al Gore.
Answer 40: Titan launches Joy of Gifting campaign: Titan, the iconic watch brand, has
been synonymous with gifting. Echoing the familiar tune, Titan has made a comeback into the
minds of consumers with a new campaign from December 24, 2013 that redefines the Joy of
Gifting. The television commercial has been conceptualised by Ogilvy India and showcases a
playful and warm situation set in a college classroom. What initially appears to be routine
mischief in an otherwise regular lecture turns into a heartening group effort by the students to
thank their teacher. A rendition of Titans classic signature melody is recreated by the students by
thumping on desks, classroom stationery and their own voices. While the teacher looks on, a
student walks up to him and hands him a book. After flipping the pages, he finds a Titan watch embedded within the
pages.
Answer 41: India 120th on Economic Freedom Index: The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom was launched by
think-tank Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal on January 14, 2014.
The index evaluates countries in four broad areas: rule of law; regulatory efficiency;
limited government; and open markets. Asias financial capital Hong Kong
maintained its title as the worlds freest economy for the twentieth consecutive year.
Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada were placed in second
through sixth place respectively. The worlds most-improved country is Burma,
thanks to improvements in its investment, business and labour freedom scores.
Finally, and not surprisingly, the hermit kingdom, North Korea has retained its
position as the least free economy. Despite its much-touted economic reforms, India continues to languish near the
bottom of the table in ease of doing business and is ranked 120th globally
Answer 42: Business Standard Motoring renamed Motoring World: Business

Standard Motoring, the auto magazine acquired by Delhi Press in April, 2013, has been
rebranded as Motoring World. Starting January 2014, Delhi Press-owned BS Motoring
has been rebranded as Motoring World. For the record, the magazine was formally
acquired by Delhi Press on April 16, 2013 from Business Standard after 18 years of its
association with the paper. The change in the name is a part of repositioning done by the
group for the magazine. Delhi Press was established in 1939 and today publishes 36
magazines in 10 languages, including The Caravan, Womans Era, Grihshobha,
Champak, and Saras Salil.
Answer 43: ICICI Bank launches Tab Banking for opening accounts: ICICI Bank has developed a mobile
banking strategy that offers consumers an easy alternative to the otherwise
tedious process of opening a new bank account: Tab Banking. This allows a
potential customer the convenience of opening a new bank account from the
comfort of his/her home or office. Heres how: Using a tablet equipped with
mobile connectivity, the banks executive comes over and fills out the
required information, clicks a picture of the customer, and takes the relevant
KYC (Know Your Customer) documents, thereby doing away with the need for the customer to visit a physical branch.
A TVC, released on January 3, 2014, informs consumers about this service.
THE GENESIS
47
Answer 44: Sunny Deol to endorse Mango Sip: Vadodara-based Manpasand Beverages on
January 13, 2014 said it has signed up Hindi film actor Sunny Deol as the brand ambassador for its
flagship brand Mango Sip. Its flagship brand Mango Sip was established by first generation
entrepreneur Dhirendra Singh. Manpasand feels that the Hindi film action star with a strong fan
following amongst the urban and rural masses gels well with Manpasands Mango Sip brand which
has a strong presence amongst the masses across the country.
Answer 45: P&G launches Thank You Mom campaign: P&G has launched its new instalment of the Thank
You, Mom campaign on January 5, 2014. Conceptualised by advertising agency
Wieden + Kennedy, the commercial is released as a sequel for Februarys Sochi
Winter Olympics. The campaign titled Pick Them Back Up portrays the stories of
four moms of athletes from around the world, and shows their journey to achieve their
dreams and the important role moms play along the way. P&G owns brands such as
Ambi Pur, Ariel, Duracell, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers,
Pantene, Tide, Vicks and Whisper, among others.
Answer 46: Woodland launches Live to tell the Tale: Woodland, the Canadaheadquartered outdoor wear brand from Aero Group, on January 15, 2014 launched a
campaign to promote its new range of survival gear churned out by what it calls its
innovation lab. Titled Live to tell the Tale, a self-explanatory name, the campaign showcases items designed to help
adventurers survive the harsh outdoors.
Answer 47: Reebok launches Best Fitness Friend: Have you been avoiding your
morning workouts because you have no one to wake you up and accompany you?
Reebok India has launched an interactive digital campaign, called Best Fitness Friend
(BFF) featuring actor Nargis Fakhri, to fill this vacuum on December 27, 2013. As a
part of Reeboks BFF campaign, every consumer who registers online (http://reebokbestfitnessfriend.com/) receives a
daily morning wakeup call from Fakhri, who then helps them plan their daily workout, diets and fitness regimen.
Answer 48: Dainik Bhaskar launches second edition of Brain Hunt:
Dainik Bhaskar Group on December 19, 2013 launched the second edition of Brain
Hunt - Challenge your Imagination. Brain Hunt is a nation-wide initiative of the
Bhaskar Champs Club and the Dainik Bhaskar Group to stimulate and encourage the
imagination of young minds.
Answer 49: ABP News launches 7 Race Course Road: ABP News has launched a
new series 7 Race Course Road, which seeks to project Indias future. To be presented by
well-known author and columnist Chetan Bhagat, the series premiered on January 11, 2014.
7 RCR will present a picture of how India will appear in the near future. Today, the
biggest question before the country is that who will form the government and who will take
on the mantle of Prime Minister after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections? In such a scenario, 7
RCR will profile all those who could become contenders for this position.
Answer 50: Microsoft to create over 100 commercial apps in 6 months: Microsoft on
December 19, 2013 launched a contest for independent software vendors (ISVs) and technology
start-ups in India to create over 100 applications (apps) and solutions for businesses and
governments in the next six months. The contest, Code for Honour, is supported by a panel of
organisations including the National Informatics Centre (NIC), IT-ITeS industry body
NASSCOM, TiE, Nokia, Nokia App Campus, Intel and BarrierBreak. Launching the contest,
Microsoft Corporation (India) Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said that the ISVs and start-ups
can develop apps and solutions in four broad categories on enterprise apps and solutions (HR,
Finance, Marketing and Sales), micro, small and medium enterprise apps and solutions,
government enablement and citizen services.
THE GENESIS
48
Point-Counterpoint
Shinde prevented the Delhi Police from
interrogating a businessman in connection
with an IPL match-fixing case. Agencies
suspect this man of having links with
Dawood.
R. K. Singh, ex-Home Secretary who
recently joined the BJP, saying the Home
Minister shielded a businessman close to
Indias most wanted man Dawood Ibrahim.
His charges are extremely serious and if he

kept quiet then he is guilty also of not
fulfilling his assigned responsibility.
We had heard of income, sales and excise

taxes but for the first time, we heard about
a Jayanthi tax in Delhi without which
nothing was moving.
It is a targeted personal attack. I totally

deny what he says. It is completely baseless.
There are major green violations in Gujarat.
Narendra Modi, CM, Gujarat, alleging

that no file was cleared at the office of
recently resigned Union Environment
Minister Jayanti Natarajans office without
greasing of palms
Jayanthi Natarajan, saying she was

targeted by Modi since as the environment
minister she had stoutly opposed destruction
of environment in Gujarat
Many people I spoke to have asked me

what Nandan (Nilekani) has done for
Bangalore. While Nandan has done
(unique identity number) Aadhaar, I dont
know what he has done for Bangalore.
(Its) not worth it to react. As Indira Gandhi

told Natwar Singh: In politics you need a
thick skin.
T. V. Mohandas Pai, ex-Infosys CFO &

VP of the Bangalore Political Action
Committee, on Nandan Nilekanis wish to
contest LS polls from Bangalore seat
Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder &

Chairman, UIDAI, responding to Pai
Dont agree with the decision of the

Maharashtra cabinet; it should be
reconsidered. There is no question of
protecting anyone.
If Shri Gandhi feels so strongly on the

Adarsh issue, the guilty must be prosecuted
and certainly not be the countrys Home
Minister.
Arun Jaitley, BJP, referring to
Sushilkumar Shinde who has been faulted
for his decisions as Maharashtra Chief
Minister by the inquiry into the Adarsh scam
Rahul Gandhi, Congress VicePresident, on Maharashtra governments

rejection of Adarsh scam report
Digvijay Singh, Congress, rubbishing the

allegations made by former home secretary
R K Singh, who recently joined the BJP,
against home minister Sushilkumar Shinde
One of the big industrialists of our

country helped make a deal between
Arvind Kejriwal and some senior Congress
leaders at a big hotel in Delhi.
It is sad to note that a senior leader like

Gadkari is talking nonsense. If he is making
claims, then he should also give evidence.
Nitin Gadkari, BJP, alleging that a deal

was brokered between AAP and Congress
by an industrialist to stop BJP at any cost
from coming to power in Delhi
Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Admi Party

(AAP) leader & Delhi CM
I understand that a politicians visit or a

ministers visit to the shrine is a matter of
his or her personal belief.
Their hands are covered with the blood of

the victimized peoples. They are fascists.
They are the Nazis of Asia.
Fumio Kishida, Foreign Minister, Japan,

on Chinas anger at PM Shinzo Abes visit
to Yasukuni shrine that honours Japanese
martyrs of World War II
Qin Gang, Chinese Foreign Ministry

spokesman, calling those revered by the
Japanese at Yasukuni as war criminals
THE GENESIS

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