genesis-october 2013 issue ii

Endeavor Careers – Dream … Endeavor… Achieve

www.endeavorcareers.com October 2013-Issue-II THE GENESIS

2

The Genesis October 2013-Issue-II

Big Stories

2013 NOBEL PRIZES 3

Multi Dimensional Index of Backwardness launched 6

Current Affairs

India 8

World 16

Sports 21

Business & Economy 25

Cyber buzz 31

Science & Technology 32

People

Faces: Tom Clancy 20

Business Biography: V. Prem Watsa 24

Knowledge Corners

Recent Books: ‘Gandhi Before India’, ‘Feeding India’ & ‘Solo’ 33

GD: ‚None of the above‛ option in elections 34

Crossword 36

Sudoku 38

Do you remember? 37

Corporate Knowledge Quiz 40

Face-off 52

2013 NOBEL PRIZES: 3

François Englert and Peter W. Higgs have won the Nobel Prize in Physics; Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt & Arieh Warshel in Chemistry; James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman & Thomas …

Faces: Tom Clancy: 20

Tom Clancy is best known for his espionage, military science and technological thrillers …

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“Good sense is at the bottom of everything: virtue, genius, wit, talent and taste.”

– J.J. de Chenier



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2013 NOBEL PRIZES François Englert and Peter W. Higgs have won the Nobel Prize in Physics; Martin Karplus,

Michael Levitt & Arieh Warshel in Chemistry; James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman & Thomas

C. Südhof in Physiology or Medicine; Alice Munro in Literature; the Organization for the

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in Peace and Eugene F. Fama, Lars Peter Hansen & Robert J.

Shiller in Economic Sciences

This year‘s Nobel Prize winners include scientists whose

research has led us closer to

the discovery of the ‗god

particle‘, a writer whose

mastery over the short story

has been acknowledged by

readers as well as critics and

an organisation whose efforts

in ridding the world of

chemicals weapons has been

rewarded.

PHYSICS: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on

October 8, 2013 decided to award the Nobel Prize in

Physics for 2013 jointly to François Englert of Belgium

and Peter W. Higgs of United Kingdom ―for the

theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to

our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic

particles, and which recently was confirmed through the

discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the

ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN‘s Large Hadron

Collider‖

CHEMISTRY: The Royal Swedish Academy of

Sciences on October 9, 2013 decided to award the Nobel

Prize in Chemistry for 2013 jointly to Martin Karplus,

Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel of the US ―for the

development of multiscale models for complex chemical

systems‖.

PHYSIOLOGY/MEDICINE: The Nobel Assembly at

Karolinska Institutet on October 7, 2013 decided to award

the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2013 was

awarded jointly to James E. Rothman, Randy W.

Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof ―for their discoveries

of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport

system in our cells‖.

LITERATURE: The Royal Swedish Academy of

Sciences on October 10, 2013 awarded The Nobel Prize

in Literature 2013 to Alice Munro ―master of the

contemporary short story‖.

PEACE: The Norwegian Nobel Committee on October

11, 2013 decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 is to

be awarded to the Organization for the Prohibition of

Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its extensive efforts to

eliminate chemical weapons.

ECONOMIC SCIENCES: The Royal Swedish

Academy of Sciences on October 14, 2013 decided to

award The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic

Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2013 jointly to

Eugene F. Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert J. Shiller

―for their empirical analysis of asset prices‖.

Here is a look at the 2013 Nobel Prizes in detail:

PHYSICS

François Englert

and Peter W.

Higgs are jointly

awarded the

Nobel Prize in

Physics 2013 for

the theory of

how particles

acquire mass. In

1964, they

proposed the

theory independently of each other (Englert together with

his now deceased colleague Robert Brout). In 2012, their

ideas were confirmed by the discovery of a so called

Higgs particle at the CERN laboratory outside Geneva in

Switzerland.

The awarded theory is a central part of the Standard

Model of particle physics that describes how the world is

constructed. According to the Standard Model,

everything, from flowers and people to stars and planets,

consists of just a few building blocks: matter particles.

These particles are governed by forces mediated by force

particles that make sure everything works as it should.

The entire Standard Model also rests on the existence of a

special kind of particle: the Higgs particle. This particle

originates from an invisible field that fills up all space.

Even when the universe seems empty this field is there.

Without it, we would not exist, because it is from contact



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with the field that particles acquire mass. The theory

proposed by Englert and Higgs describes this process.

On 4 July 2012, at the CERN laboratory for particle

physics, the theory was confirmed by the discovery of a

Higgs particle. CERN‘s particle collider, LHC (Large

Hadron Collider), is probably the largest and the most

complex machine ever constructed by humans. Two

research groups of some 3,000 scientists each, ATLAS

and CMS, managed to extract the Higgs particle from

billions of particle collisions in the LHC.

Even though it is a great achievement to have found the

Higgs particle — the missing piece in the Standard Model

puzzle — the Standard Model is not the final piece in the

cosmic puzzle. One of the reasons for this is that the

Standard Model treats certain particles, neutrinos, as

being virtually massless, whereas recent studies show that

they actually do have mass. Another reason is that the

model only describes visible matter, which only accounts

for one fifth of all matter in the cosmos. To find the

mysterious dark matter is one of the objectives as

scientists continue the chase of unknown particles at

CERN.

Prize amount: SEK 8 million, to be shared equally

between the Laureates.

CHEMISTRY

Chemists used to create models of molecules using plastic

balls and sticks. Today, the modelling is carried out in

computers. In the 1970s, Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt

and Arieh Warshel laid the foundation for the powerful

programs that are used to understand and predict

chemical processes. Computer models mirroring real life

have become crucial for most advances made in

chemistry today.

Chemical reactions occur at lightning speed. In a fraction

of a millisecond, electrons jump from one atomic to the

other. Classical chemistry has a hard time keeping up; it

is virtually impossible to experimentally map every little

step in a chemical process. Aided by the methods now

awarded with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, scientists let

computers unveil chemical processes, such as a catalyst‘s

purification of exhaust fumes or the photosynthesis in

green leaves.

The work of Karplus, Levitt and Warshel is ground-

breaking in that they managed to make Newton‘s

classical physics work side-by-side with the

fundamentally different quantum physics. Previously,

chemists had to choose to use either or. The strength of

classical physics was that calculations were simple and

could be used to model really large molecules. Its

weakness, it offered no way to simulate chemical

reactions. For that purpose, chemists instead had to use

quantum physics. But such calculations required

enormous computing power and could therefore only be

carried out for small molecules.

This year‘s Nobel Laureates in chemistry took the best

from both worlds and devised methods that use both

classical and quantum physics. For instance, in

simulations of how a drug couples to its target protein in

the body, the computer performs quantum theoretical

calculations on those atoms in the target protein that

interact with the drug. The rest of the large protein is

simulated using less demanding classical physics.

Today the computer is just as important a tool for

chemists as the test tube. Simulations are so realistic that

they predict the outcome of traditional experiments.

The Prize amount: SEK 8 million, to be shared equally

between the Laureates.

PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE

The 2013 Nobel Prize honours three scientists who have

solved the mystery of how the cell organizes its transport

system. Each cell is a factory that produces and exports

molecules. For instance, insulin is manufactured and

released into the blood and signalling molecules called

neurotransmitters are sent from one nerve cell to another.



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These molecules are transported around the cell in small

packages called vesicles. The three Nobel Laureates have

discovered the molecular principles that govern how this

cargo is delivered to the right place at the right time in the

cell.

Randy Schekman discovered a set of genes that were

required for vesicle traffic. James Rothman unravelled

protein machinery that allows vesicles to fuse with their

targets to permit transfer of cargo. Thomas Südhof

revealed how signals instruct vesicles to release their

cargo with precision.

Through their discoveries, Rothman, Schekman and

Südhof have revealed the exquisitely precise control

system for the transport and delivery of cellular cargo.

Disturbances in this system have deleterious effects and

contribute to conditions such as neurological diseases,

diabetes, and immunological disorders.

LITERATURE

The Royal Swedish Academy,

called Alice Munro a ―master

of the contemporary short

story‖. The 82-year-old,

whose books include ‗Dear

Life‘ and ‗Dance of the

Happy Shades‘, is only the

13th

woman to win the prize

since its inception in 1901.

‖She has taken an art form,

the short story, which has

tended to come a little bit in

the shadow behind the novel,

and she has cultivated it almost to perfection,‘‘ said the

Swedish Academy while selecting Munro for the eight

million kronor award.

Munro, who began writing in her teenage years,

published her first story, ‗The Dimensions of a Shadow‘,

in 1950. She had been studying English at the University

of Western Ontario at the time.

‗Dance of the Happy Shades‘, published in 1968, was

Munro‘s first collection, and it went on to win Canada‘s

highest literary prize, the Governor General‘s Award.

In 2009, she won the Man Booker International Prize for

her entire body of work - but she downplayed her

achievements.

Often compared to the 19th

century Russian author Anton

Chekhov, she is known for writing about the human spirit

and a regular theme of her work is the dilemma faced by

young girls growing up and coming to terms with living

in a small town.

The Nobel academy praised her ―finely tuned storytelling,

which is characterised by clarity and psychological

realism‖. Most of her short stories take place in her native

southwest Ontario in Canada.

Her writing has brought her several awards. She won The

Commonwealth Writers‘ Prize, the National Book Critics

Circle prize for ‗Hateship, Friendship, Courtship,

Loveship, Marriage‘, and is a three-time winner of the

Governor General‘s prize.

Other notable books include ‗Lives of Girls and Women‘,

‗Who Do You Think You Are‘, ‗The Progress of Love‘

and ‗Runaway‘.

Several of her stories have also been adapted for the

screen, including ‗The Bear Came Over the Mountain‘,

which became ‗Away from Her‘, starring Julie Christie

and Gordon Pinsent. Munro revealed earlier this year that

her latest book, ‗Dear Life‘, published in 2012, would be

her last.

PEACE

Established in 1997, the Organization for the Prohibition

of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is headquartered at The

Hague, Netherlands and has 189

countries as its members.

During World War One, chemical

weapons were used to a

considerable degree. The Geneva

Convention of 1925 prohibited the

use, but not the production or

storage, of chemical weapons.

During World War Two, chemical

means were employed in Hitler‘s

mass exterminations. Chemical

weapons have subsequently been put to use on numerous

occasions by both states and terrorists. In 1992-93 a

convention was drawn up prohibiting also the production

and storage of such weapons. It came into force in 1997.

Since then the OPCW has, through inspections,

destruction and by other means, sought the

implementation of the convention. 189 states have

acceded to the convention to date.



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The OPCW has been working to rid the world of

chemical weapons for the past 16 years. For the most

part, this task has been laborious and unheralded. A staff

of about 500, working from its headquarters at The

Hague, is charged with making sure that the 189

signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention are

abiding by its terms. But it is only in recent weeks,

following the use of chemical weapons in Syria, that the

OPCW has become a household name. It is facing its

biggest challenge ever - to verify and destroy Syria‘s

entire chemical weapons programme by the middle of

next year. The Nobel committee clearly feels it needs all

the support it can get.

ECONOMIC SCIENCES

There is no way to predict the price of stocks and bonds

over the next few days or weeks. But it is quite possible

to foresee the broad course of these prices over longer

periods, such as the next three to five years. These

findings, which might seem both surprising and

contradictory, were made and analyzed by this year‘s

Laureates, Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert

Shiller.

Beginning in the 1960s, Eugene Fama and several

collaborators demonstrated that stock prices are

extremely difficult to predict in the short run, and that

new information is very quickly incorporated into prices.

These findings not only had a profound impact on

subsequent research but also changed market practice.

The emergence of so-called index funds in stock markets

all over the world is a prominent example.

If prices are nearly impossible to predict over days or

weeks, then shouldn‘t they be even harder to predict over

several years? The answer is no, as Robert Shiller

discovered in the early 1980s. He found that stock prices

fluctuate much more than corporate dividends, and that

the ratio of prices to dividends tends to fall when it is

high, and to increase when it is low. This pattern holds

not only for stocks, but also for bonds and other assets.

One approach interprets these findings in terms of the

response by rational investors to uncertainty in prices.

High future returns are then viewed as compensation for

holding risky assets during unusually risky times. Lars

Peter Hansen developed a statistical method that is

particularly well suited to testing rational theories of asset

pricing. Using this method, Hansen and other researchers

have found that modifications of these theories go a long

way toward explaining asset prices.

Another approach focuses on departures from rational

investor behaviour. So-called behavioural finance takes

into account institutional restrictions, such as borrowing

limits, which prevent smart investors from trading against

any mispricing in the market.

The Laureates have laid the foundation for the current

understanding of asset prices. It relies in part on

fluctuations in risk and risk attitudes, and in part on

behavioural biases and market frictions.

About the Nobel Prize

At the age of 17, Swedish Alfred Nobel spoke five

languages fluently. Nobel became an inventor and

businessman, and at the time of his

death on 10 December 1896, he had

355 patents worldwide – one of them

was the patent on dynamite.

Furthermore, he had started 87

companies all over the world.

According to his will, Alfred Nobel‘s

enormous fortune was to be used to

establish prizes to award those who had done their best to

benefit mankind in the fields of physics, chemistry,

medicine, literature and peace. The first Nobel Prizes

were awarded in 1901, five years after Nobel‘s death. In

1969, another prize was added ―The Sveriges Riksbank

Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel‖.

The Nobel Laureates are announced at the beginning of

October each year. A couple of months later, on 10

December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel‘s death, they

receive their prizes from the Swedish King – a Nobel

diploma, a medal, and 10 million Swedish crowns per

prize. All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm,

Sweden, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is

awarded in Oslo, Norway. (When Alfred Nobel was

alive, Norway and Sweden were united under one

monarch, until 1905 when Norway became an

independent kingdom with its own king.)



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Multi Dimensional Index of Backwardness launched The Index is a new way of determining the backwardness of States for the purpose of deciding

how much each State should receive as its share of Central funds

Central fund allocations to individual States are very

often guided by political considerations. It leads to

complaints about discrimination, particularly from

Opposition-ruled States. Given this, it makes eminent

sense to have a non-discretionary formula for determining

resource transfers, which takes into account relative

backwardness even while rewarding performance.

The Report of the Raghuram Rajan Committee for

Evolving a Composite Development Index of States has

been submitted to the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

The Committee had been asked to suggest criteria for

identifying backwardness of States and also to

recommend how the criteria may be used to determine

devolution of funds from the Centre to the States.

The Rajan Committee has come-up with a Multi

dimensional Index of backwardness based on 10 equally-

weighted indicators such as monthly per capita

expenditure, education, health, poverty rate, female

literacy, percentage of SC/ST population and so on. It

said that States that score 0.6 and above on the Index may

be classified as ―Least Developed‖; States that score

below 0.6 and above 0.4 may be classified as ―Less

Developed‖; and States that score below 0.4 may be

classified as ―Relatively Developed‖.

The Finance Minister on September 26 said that the

Committee has proposed a general method for allocating

funds from the Centre to the States based on both a

State‘s development needs as well as its development

performance. The Committee has recommended that

each State may get a fixed basic allocation of 0.3 percent

of overall funds, to which will be added its share

stemming from need and performance to get its overall

share.

Implications

The formula, if accepted, would result in the four

BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar

Pradesh) and three significantly tribal-populated

(Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa) States getting over 60

per cent of the resources transferred by the Centre. This is

as against their existing share of below 40 per cent in

total Central assistance outside of tax devolutions. On the

other hand, the four Southern States plus Maharashtra

will see their combined share fall from nearly a quarter to

roughly 17 per cent. Those supporting the move say that

this is only fair as poorer States have less resource-raising

capacity and hence deserve to be supported more. This

has been opposed by better administered states.

Political compulsions

The report‘s categorisation of states has been viewed by

many as being essentially driven by political

compulsions. In particular, by creating the category ―least

developed‖ and putting Bihar into it, the government

seems to have conceded the Bihar government‘s demand

to be given special treatment. Of course, other states will

also benefit from this, which would help deflect the

criticism that this was merely pandering to Bihar Chief

Minister Nitish Kumar, but the enthusiasm with which

the report was greeted in Patna clearly indicates a

potential political dividend to the Congress party in its

efforts to put together a majority coalition after the 2014

general elections.

Any new method of disbursing funds would be politically

fraught because some States might lose while others gain

Implementing the new formula will require a lot of

political will, which the current regime cannot muster.

The new government after June 2014 is best placed to

examine the implementation of the new

recommendations.



8

Current Affairs: India

7th Pay Commission announced

The government on September 25 announced constitution

of the Seventh Pay Commission to revise salary and

pension for its 80 lakh staff and pensioners. The

recommendations of the new Pay Commission, which

will be constituted shortly, will be implemented from

January 1, 2016.

The setting up of the Commission comes ahead of the

Assembly elections in 5 states including Delhi, Rajasthan

and Madhya Pradesh in November and the general

elections next year.

The government constitutes Pay Commission almost once

in every ten years to revise the pay scales of its

employees and often these are adopted by states after

some modification.

Normally, Central Pay Commissions are announced after

a gap of 10 years. The 6th Pay Commission was set up in

2006 but its recommendations were implemented on the

eve of the 2009 Lok Sabha election. As such, the 7th Pay

Commission should have been constituted in 2016 but

with the UPA‘s image being battered by a spate of

corruption scandals, the date has been advanced by two

years with a view to wooing almost 80 lakh Central

government employees and pensioners (and, of course,

their dependants). The fact that state governments

normally follow the Centre in hiking their employees‘

pay-scales clearly indicates the decision is part of the poll

sops opera being enacted by the UPA to cover a wider

swathe of population.

Indeed, pleasing an eight-million strong vote bank

appears to have taken precedence over the government‘s

commitment towards fiscal consolidation. The

recommendations of the sixth central pay commission

had derailed the fiscal consolidation programme from

2008 onwards, when its recommendations got

implemented. Consequently, the expenditure of both the

central and state governments increased, over a period of

three-four years, by an amount equivalent to almost one

per cent of the country‘s gross domestic product, or GDP.

The government‘s fiscal deficit had made healthy

progress in years prior to that - at four per cent of GDP in

2005-06, 3.3 per cent in 2006-07 and further down to 2.5

per cent in 2007-08. But the fiscal deficit shot up to six

per cent in 2008-09 and one of the reasons was the

implementation of the sixth central pay commission‘s

recommendations of higher pay along with arrears from

that year. So, the announcement that the seventh central

pay commission‘s recommendations could take effect

from 2016 also signals a premature abandonment of the

government‘s fiscal consolidation programme from that

year.

The politically expedient move to announce the

constitution of a new pay commission also skirts the

larger issue of the need to follow compensation policies

that are market-driven and merit-based. A large chunk of

government employees at the middle and lower rung

continues to enjoy salaries and allowances that are much

more than what their counterparts in the private sector

get. There are also questions about the total strength of

government employees. Excess staffing has been the

norm in most government departments.

Under the government set-up, there is tenure security,

retirement packages, housing, advances for purchase of

conveyance, etc. The government takes care of the

employee after the service period by providing him a

pension and medical benefits. All this adds up to a

sizeable package. However, adequate and timely

promotional avenues, based on the merits of the

individual, are lacking; so inefficient or lazy employees

also survive in government service. This is rarely the case

in the private sector where only efficient employees

survive - or at least thrive.

Aadhar not mandatory – SC

The government told the Supreme Court on September 23

that securing Aadhar cards

issued by the Unique

Identification Authority of India

(UIDAI) was optional and it has

not made it mandatory for the

citizens. The apex court was

hearing a batch of pleas against decisions of some states

to make Aadhar cards compulsory for a range of activities

including salary, provident fund disbursals and marriage



9

and property registrations. The court ruled that no person

will be denied welfare benefits, various services and

subsidies for not possessing the Aadhar number and also

asked the government to ensure that the cards were not

issued to illegal migrants as it would legitimise their stay.

The order has come just as the UPA was trying to use the

benefits of Aadhar to its political advantage through the

Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme for cooking gas

subsidies, pensions and scholarships. Under DBT, the

government was building system of transferring welfare

payments directly into Aadhar-linked bank accounts of

beneficiaries.

While the centre claims that Aadhar is enrolment in is

voluntary, some states think differently. In the national

capital, several welfare entitlements have been linked to

Aadhar. The

Delhi

government was

one of the first

states to make

Aadhar card

mandatory to

avail government

services. Not

only this, its

revenue

department had gone a step ahead and made the card

mandatory for getting married, selling or buying

properties or even getting pension and scholarships. But

there have been reports of elderly people being in a state

of panic on being refused monthly pension entitlements

like pension just because they do not have the Aadhar

numbers. States such as Maharashtra and Jharkhand, too,

have made it a must for availing pensions, scholarships

and to even register property.

The government will now have to continue non-Aadhar

based system of providing services alongside those linked

to Aadhar till it makes out a fool-proof case before the

court for making Aadhar mandatory. It will have to

explain the validity of a Planning Commission study that

the Aadhar-based DBS will save Rs. 50,000 crore from

the social sector spending of Rs. 2,00,000 crore annually.

A related question is how the government‘s DBT scheme

would be adopted to either provide an alternative to the

Aadhar or build a system which does away with the need

to link bank accounts to a unique identity. Otherwise, if

the court order finally prevails, the move to make

political capital out of Aadhar could end up a non-starter.

Voters get „NOTA‟ option

In a path-breaking judgement, the Supreme Court on

September 27, 2013 held that voters have a right to reject

all candidates contesting polls in a constituency by

pressing a button for negative vote.

The Election Commission

(EC) will now have to

provide an option for

negative voting in the

Electronic Voting

Machines and ballot

papers.

A bench headed by Chief

Justice P Sathasivam also

directed the EC to

undertake awareness

programmes on the

benefits of negative voting

saying there will be a ―systemic change‖ when people

start to express their disapproval of candidates. The court

also said that making people aware about this option of

―None of the above (NOTA)‖ in electronic voting

machines and ballot papers would enable dissatisfied

voters to turn up to express their view, preventing proxy

voting undertaken by ―unscrupulous elements‖ who

impersonate them.

Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said in New

Delhi on October 4, 2013 that the Election Commission is

taking necessary steps to make available the ‗none of the

above‘ (NOTA) option for voters in the electronic voting

machines. Till now, this option is not available to voters

on ballot papers and EVMs. Voters so far had to register

their option of NOTA in a register under Rule 49-O of the

Conduct of Election Rules, thus compromising secrecy.

Below the name of the last candidate on the EVM, EC

will now provide a button for NOTA option for electors

who do not wish to vote for any of the candidates in the

fray in their constituency. (Also see GD: Page No: 34)



10

Current Affairs: India Briefs

EC announces schedule for Assembly polls: The Election Commission announced the poll

schedule for five assembly polls in five states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi

and Mizoram – on October 4. Elections for Chhattisgarh would be held first and in two phases-on

November 11 and 19. Elections in Madhya Pradesh would be held on November 25. Elections in

Rajasthan would be held on December 1, while elections in Delhi and Mizoram would be held on

December 4. While announcing the polling dates, Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath

declared that the Model Code of Conduct for elections in these five states comes into effect

immediately. The counting of votes for all five states would take place on December 8. No. of

constituencies: Delhi – 70; Chhattisgarh – 90; Madhya Pradesh – 230; Mizoram – 40; Rajasthan – 200.

Telangana gets final seal of approval: The Union Cabinet October 3 decided to go ahead with

creation of Telangana from out of Andhra Pradesh taking the first legal step for forming the 29th

state. The meeting of the Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also decided that

Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years. A Group of Ministers (GoM) has

been set up to work out the modalities. The GoM will go into the issue of a special financial

disbursement that may be required from the central government for the residuary state of Andhra

Pradesh comprising Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, for building its capital and other

developmental needs. The new state will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of

undivided AP. Out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and 294 Assembly seats in AP; Telangana is likely to have 17 Lok Sabha

seats and 119 Assembly seats.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan approved: The government announced the launch of the Rashtriya

Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) on October 3. It is a new centrally sponsored scheme

for higher education which will spread over two plan periods (12th and 13th). It will focus

on higher educational institutions at the state level. A total of 316 state public universities

and 13,024 colleges will be covered under RUSA. The key objectives of RUSA are to

improve access, equity and quality in higher education through planned development of

higher education at the state level. It is proposed to improve the Gross Enrolment Ratio

from 19% at present to 30% by 2020. It will help create new academic institutions, and

expand the existing institutions, that are self-reliant in terms of quality education and

professional management.

Health Ministry launches ads „Child‟ and „dhuan‟ to discourage smoking: Harmful

effects of passive smoking are the focus of the two new pictorial warnings to be launched by the

Health and Family Welfare Ministry on October 1. The two spots, ‗child‘ and ‗dhuan‘ (smoke)

— which have to be used on cigarette packs — are aimed to reinforce the government‘s

emphasis on passive smoking. The ads have been developed by the World Lung Foundation to

warn about the health costs of smoking and second-hand smoke, and of the penalties to be faced

for violating the smoke-free law. ‗Child‘ focuses on the health risks of smoking and passive

smoke, while ‗dhuan‘ models the behaviour expected of business managers, advocates, enforcement officials, smokers

and non-smokers.

Indigenous vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis launched: Health Minister

Ghulam Nabi Azad on October 4 launched the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine

JENVAC in New Delhi and termed it a major step by the country towards achieving

self-reliance in technological innovation. Till now, the vaccine was imported from

China and its availability was an issue. The vaccine has been jointly developed by

scientists of National Institute of Virology, Pune, Indian Council of Medical Research

(ICMR) and Bharat Biotech. Meanwhile the government has approved the setting up

of a Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFILMS) in

Delhi.



11

Programme to address maternal and child under-nutrition approved: The Union Cabinet

on September 24, 2013 approved the proposal for implementation of the multi-sectoral programme to

address the maternal and child under-nutrition in 200 high burden districts in the 12th five-year plan.

The programme‘s objectives are: prevention and reduction in child under-nutrition (underweight

prevalence in children under 3 years of age); and reduction in levels of anemia among young

children, adolescent girls and women.

Avahan India prevented over 6 lakh HIV infections – Lancet: The Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Avahan programme may have prevented over 6 lakh HIV

infections in India over 10 years, according to a report in Lancet Global Health on

September 30. The Avahan India AIDS Initiative was launched in 2003, as a large scale,

targeted intervention prevention programme and was implemented in high-risk states of

Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland.

National Integration Council Meeting organised: The 16th

Meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) was

organised in New Delhi on September 23. The meeting was convened by the government to discuss how to combat

communalism. The role of social media in fanning communal

violence was the focus of many speeches delivered. Referring to the

recent communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh

that left 48 dead, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there were

cases in which fake videos were circulated, causing deeper divides

between communities. The 148-member National Integration

Council is headed by the PM. Union Ministers, Leaders of the

Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories are members of the

NIC. Leaders of national and regional political parties, chairpersons of national commissions, eminent journalists, public

figures and representatives of business and women‘s organisations are also part of NIC.

President approves Land Acquisition Bill: President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Right to Fair

Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and

Resettlement Bill- 2013. The Bill was passed in the recently-concluded Monsoon

Session of Parliament on September 27. The new Bill proposes that farmers and

landowners be paid up to four times the market value for land acquired in rural

areas, and two times the market value in urban areas. The other significant aspect

of the Bill is that the consent of 80 percent of landowners is needed for acquiring

land for private projects and of 70 percent landowners for public-private projects.

Bill to check encroachment of Wakf properties gets President‟s assent: A

bill which seeks to check rampant encroachment of Wakf properties and make them

commercially viable by extending their lease period from merely three years to 30 years

received the Presidential assent on September 24. The Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2013

also makes encroachment on Wakf properties a cognisable and non-bailable offence

and provides for a maximum punishment of two years rigorous imprisonment. It will

also make the Wakf tribunals multi-member and give them additional powers of eviction and appeal.

Supreme Court gets 1st customized pin code: The Department of Posts on September 26 allotted a ‗Customized

Pin Code‘ to the Supreme Court of India. This dedicated Pin Code of the Supreme Court

is ‗110 201‘. Postal Index Number (PIN) or PIN Code is a 6 digit code of Post Office

numbering used by India Post. The PIN was introduced in 1972 in the country. There are

9 PIN regions in the country. The first 8 are geographical regions and the digit 9 is

reserved for the Army Postal Service. The first digit indicates one of the regions. The first

2 digits together indicate the sub region or one of the postal circles. The first 3 digits

together indicate a sorting / revenue district. The last 3 digits refer to the delivery Post

Office.



12

UGC lists norms for tie-ups between Indian and foreign institutions: The University Grants Commission

(UGC) on September 25, 2013 put in public domain the UGC (Promotion and

Maintenance of Standards of Academic Collaborations between Indian and Foreign

Educational Institutes) Regulations 2012 that would allow Indian educational institutions

to enter into collaboration with foreign universities. Indian institutes with a grade not

less than B can enter into collaboration with foreign institutions which should

mandatorily have the highest grade of accreditation in its parent country. The Indian

educational institution shall have accreditation by National Assessment and

Accreditation Council. Technical institutes would not come under the purview of the

regulations while government institutes shall be exempted from accreditation for the purpose of these regulations.

Terrorists kill 12 in Jammu terror attack: Twelve people, including an army

officer, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir when heavily armed terrorists mounted a

brazen attack on a police station and commandeered a truck that barged into an army

camp in Jammu on September 26. The attack began when three heavily armed

militants stormed the Hira Nagar police station, which is barely seven km from the

Pakistan border, in Kathua district of Jammu region, killing four police personnel on

the spot. The militants then travelled around 18 km from Hira Nagar in a stolen truck

on the Pathankot-Jammu highway after which they entered the army officers‘ mess of

Samba Brigade where they fired indiscriminately, killing four army personnel, including a lieutenant colonel and three

other ranks.

Manmohan meets Sharif at the UN: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said

he remained optimistic about the future of the Indo-Pak relationship following his

meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif at the United Nations in New

York on September 29. Singh said he told Sharif that maintaining tranquility along

the Line of Control (LoC) is of utmost concern and importance to both countries to

ensure normal relations. The India-Pakistan relationship has been especially

stressed since August 6, when five Indian soldiers by were ambushed by Pakistani

troops in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, there have been

multiple incidents of ceasefire violation along the LoC and militant attacks in Jammu and Kashmir have also increased.

NAMEXPO 2013 organised in Kochi: India‘s first-ever naval and maritime exposition

and conference, or NAMEXPO 2013, organised in Kochi from September 23 to 27 by the

Cochin Port Trust in partnership with Kerala government, the Indian Navy, Coast Guard as

well as Ministries of MSMEs, Earth Sciences and Shipping. Meanwhile the naval forces of

India and Oman organised their biennial naval exercise ―Naseem Al Bahr‖ 2013 aimed at

improving preparedness for tackling piracy in the Indian Ocean in September-October 2013.

Court asks private channels to share ad-free sports broadcast with Prasar Bharti: The Delhi High Court on

October 3 ruled that private channels owning rights of live television

broadcast of sporting events of national importance must share the

same with national broadcaster Prasar Bharati without any

commercials. The court made the observations while dismissing a

please by ESPN seeking a direction to Prasar Bharati not to insist on

the live signal of international cricket matches of India without any commercial.

Google to create 360-deg online view of 100 Indian monuments: Archaeological

Survey of India and Google India on October 3 joined hands to create 360- degree online

panoramic imagery of 100 ―nationally-important monuments‖ in the country like Taj

Mahal, Humayun‘s Tomb, Khajuraho and the Ajanta and Ellora caves, etc. The Qutub

Minar complex in New Delhi would be the first monument on which an application using

its ‗Street View Trekker‘ technology will be created by Google. The technology has been

used to create ―virtual walkthroughs‖ for sites like Eiffel Tower in France, Grand Canyon



13

in the US, and Mt Fuji in Japan, among others. Google India and Ministry of Culture had earlier partnered on the

creation of virtual walkthroughs for the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and the National Museum in New

Delhi.

Incredible Himalayas campaign launched: To promote the

virgin peaks of Himalayas and attract both domestic and

international tourists during lean summer season, Ministry of

Tourism launched a new campaign titled ‗777 days of Incredible

Indian Himalayas‘ on World Tourism Day in New Delhi on

September 27. The Tourism Minister said the campaign aims to

attract more foreign tourists during the lean summer season, making

the Indian Himalayas a 365-day destination for the travellers. Also

launched were two new promotional films – ‗Greatest Show On Earth‘ and ‗Life Altering Journey on Himalayas‘ – along

with a map of the Himalayas.

India‟s fifth AC double decker train launched in MP: The AC Double Decker

train between Habibganj and Indore, the first ever such train service in the state of

Madhya Pradesh, was flagged off by the Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan

Chowdhury at Habibganj railway station in Bhopal on September 27. This LHB AC

Double Decker is the fifth such train in the country. In addition to this, four other trains

are already running between Jaipur-Delhi, Mumbai- Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore

and Howrah-Dhanbad.

Minority welfare schemes “Seekho aur Kamao” and “Jiyo Parsi” launched:

Two new schemes namely ―Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn)‖ and ―Jiyo Parsi‖ were

launched by the Ministry for Minority Affairs in New Delhi on September 23. ―Seekho

aur Kamao (Learn & Earn)‖ is a project for improving skills of minority trainees by

IL&FS Skill Development Corporation at five locations – Delhi, Kolkata, Shillong,

Barnala and Bengaluru. The Ministry also launched another scheme ―Jiyo Parsi‖ for

containing population decline of Parsis in India. It is a 100% central sector scheme.

Referring to the alarming total fertility rate of Parsis that has gone down below one,

Minorities Affairs Minister K. Rahman Khan said the government was very much

concerned about the declining trend of the Parsi population in the country.

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards announced: The prestigious Shanti Swarup

Bhatnagar Awards for 2013, recognising achievements of young scientists and

engineers, were announced in New Delhi on New Delhi on September 26. The prize is

named after the founder of Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and is

being awarded to eight scientists from seven disciplines. This year‘s awardees are: Dr

Sathees Chukkurumbal Raghavan in Biological Sciences, Dr Yamuna Krishnan in

Chemical Sciences, Dr Bikramjit Basu and Dr Suman Chakraborty in Engineering

Sciences, Dr Eknath Ghate in Mathematical Science, Dr Amol Dighe and Dr Vijay

Balakrishna Shenoy in Physical Sciences. There is no recipient in the category of

Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean & Planetary Sciences.

Raghuram Rajan gets Deutsche Bank award: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor

Raghuram Rajan on September 27, 2013 received the fifth Deutsche Bank prize for Financial

Economics 2013 in Frankfurt, in recognition of his ground-breaking research work which has

influenced financial and economic policies around the world. The academic prize is sponsored by

the Deutsche Bank Donation Fund and carries an endowment of euro 50,000. The Centre for

Financial Studies (CFS) awards the prize bi-annually in partnership with Goethe University

Frankfurt



14

Bunker Roy wins „Clinton Global Citizens Award‟: India environmentalist Bunker Roy

and Pakistan‘s teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai were conferred with this year‘s of the

prestigious ‗Clinton Global Citizens Awards‘ in New York at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual

Meeting on September 26. Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has been providing

solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40 years. As a result of Barefoot‘s work,

one million litres of rainwater have been harvested to provide clean drinking water to over 239,000

school children in more than 1,300 communities worldwide.

Amrita Patel receives Agriculture Leadership Award 2013: Amrita Patel, chairperson, of

Anand-headquartered National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) which markets milk and milk

products under the Mother Dairy brand, was conferred with the Agriculture Leadership Award 2013 for

Lifetime Achievement in Ahmedabad on September 20. Agriculture Leadership Awards, instituted by

Agriculture Today, a national agriculture magazine recognises the leadership roles played by

individuals and institutions which are positively impacting the lives of farmers and rural masses.

Lalu gets five year imprisonment in fodder scam: Rashtriya

Janata Dal (RJD) President and ex- Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad

Yadav has been sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment in the

fodder scam case. The case involves fraudulent withdrawal of Rs. 37.7

crore from the Chaibasa (now in Jharkhand) treasury when Lalu was

heading the RJD government in undivided Bihar in the early 1990s. The

sentence immediately disqualifies him from Parliament and bars him from

elections for 11 years. Special CBI Judge Pravas Kumar Singh also

sentenced another former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, and others

lodged in the case at Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi under the

Prevention of Corruption Act on October 3. The conviction comes 16 years after the charges were framed in the case in

1997.

Rasheed Masood gets 4 years in jail, first MP to lose seat: 67-year-old Rajya Sabha MP

Rasheed Masood of Congress was on October 1 sentenced to four years in jail by a Delhi court in a

corruption case, becoming the first to lose his seat after a recent Supreme Court judgement removed

the immunity for convicted lawmakers. Special CBI Judge J P S Malik handed down the jail term to

Masood after holding him guilty of fraudulently nominating undeserving candidates to MBBS seats

allotted to Tripura in medical colleges across the country from the central pool as Health Minister in

the National Front government of 1990.

Vipassana guru S N Goenka passes away: S N Goenka, the former industrialist who started

and spread Vipassana meditation in India, passed away in Mumbai at the age of 89 on September

29. Born in Burma, Goenka shifted to India in 1969 and started a mediation centre at Igatpuri near

Nashik in 1976. Goenka was awarded Padma Bhushan for social work in 2012. Chief Minister

Prithviraj Chavan said the basic Vipassana course is benefiting students in government schools

across the state and the Maharashtra government has encouraged its employees to do the course.

Recent appointments: The Government appointed Justice Vangala Eswaraiah as the

Chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) on September 19, 2013.

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has re-elected Man Jit Singh of Multi Screen Media,

which runs channels like Sony Entertainment Television and SET Max, among others, as its

President for 2013-2014 at its meeting in Mumbai on September 26. The Indian Newspaper Society

(INS) on September 27 elected Ravindra Kumar, Editor of ‗The Statesman‘ newspaper as its

President for the year 2013-14 at its 74th AGM in Bangalore on September 27. Sanjay Govind

Dhande, former director of IIT Kanpur, was on September 25 appointed as a member of UGC soon

after the removal of activist Yogendra Yadav as a UGC member by the HRD Ministry.



15

Recent Books: ‗The New Bihar: Rekindling Governance & development‘ by Nicholas Stern and N

K Singh; ‗Science and Technology in China: Implications and Lessons for India‘ by

Maharajakrishna Rasgotra; ‗Human Capitalism: How Economic Growth has Made us Smarter - and

More Unequal‘ by Brink Lindsey; ‗Pink Sari Revolution: A Tale of Women and Power in India‘ by

Amana Fontanella-Khan; ‗Beyond Diplomatic Dilemmas‘ by Surendra Kumar; ‗Shooting for a

Century: The India-Pakistan Conundrum‘ by Stephen P. Cohen; ‗Business & Community – The

Story of Corporate Social Responsibility in India‘ by Pushpa Sundar; ‗Underneath The Southern

Cross‘ by Michael Hussey; ‗Apocalypse Pakistan: An Anatomy of ‗the World‘s Most Dangerous

Nation‘ by Francesca Marino and Beniamino Natale; ‗Marriage Material‘ by Sathnam Sanghera

Important Days: National Voluntary Blood Donation day was observed on October 1. Indian Air Force Day was

observed on October 1.

„The Good Road‟ nominated as India‟s entry for Oscars: Gyan Correa‘s

debut Gujarati movie ‗The Good Road‘, a lost-and-found story of a small boy, was on

September 21, 2013 nominated as India‘s official entry at next year‘s Oscars in the

Best Foreign Film category. National award-winning ‗The Good Road‘ saw off strong

competition from films like ‗The Lunchbox‘, ‗Bhaag Milkha Bhaag‘, ‗English

Vinglish‘, Malayalam film ‗Celluloid‘ and Kamal Haasan‘s ‗Vishwaroopam‘. Gautam

Ghosh was Chairman of Oscar selection committee of Film Federation of India. ‗The

Good Road‘ had won the national award for the best Gujarati film.

State government schemes: The ‗Vidyasiri‘ programme that provides a stipend of Rs. 1500

per month for backward class students who chose to reside on their own instead of opting for

hostels was launched by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bangalore on October 1. The

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on October 3 launched the ‗Yuvashree‘ scheme

under which a monthly dole of Rs 1,500 will be provided to the unemployed youth in the state.

Bannerjee also launched a scheme to prevent child marriage titled ‗Kanyashree‘ that provides

financial support to parents for getting their daughters educated till 18 years of age.

Kanhoji Angre Light House to become tourist attraction: The Kanhoji Angre lighthouse off

the Mumbai coast is all set to become a new tourist attraction. This announcement was made in

Mumbai on September 28, 2013. The Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Shipping have drawn up

plans to develop 15 light houses across the country, as places of tourist attractions. In the first phase,

the Kanhoji Angre Light house, named after the famous Maratha Admiral, the light house located at

the Dolphin Nose Point in Visakhapatnam and the one located at the Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)

near Chennai are being developed as pilot projects.

India tops global chart of remittances: India has topped the global chart of

remittances with a whopping USD 71 billion in remittances in 2013, according to a

revised World Bank forecast issued on October 2, 2013. As a percentage of GDP,

the top recipients of remittances, in 2012, were Tajikistan (48 percent), Kyrgyz

Republic (31 percent), Lesotho and Nepal (25 percent each) and Moldova (24

percent). ―These latest estimates show the power of remittances,‖ said Kaushik

Basu, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank. ―For a

country like Tajikistan they constitute half the GDP. For Bangladesh remittances provide vital protection against poverty.

Recent overseas appointments: Ruchira Kamboj was appointed as the next Permanent

Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris, with the rank of Ambassador on September 25. Vijay

Keshav Gokhale was on September 23 appointed as India‘s next Ambassador to Germany. Former

Indian foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai was on October 1 appointed as the next High

Commissioner to Britain.



16

Current Affairs: World Briefs

US government shuts down over failure to pass budget: The vast machinery of the US government began

grinding to a halt on October 1, 2013 after hopes of passing a budget faded in the face of Republican opposition to

President Barack Obama‘s health care law. For the first time in 17 years,

Congress failed to agree on a new budget and refused to extend the current

one. Without the authority to spend money, the executive branch started

the process of suspending the many services the government provides but

essential services, such as social security and Medicare payments, would

continue. The US army would keep operating, even if pay packets are

suspended. But hundreds of thousands of workers at non-essential services,

from Pentagon employees to rangers in national parks, would be told to

take an unpaid holiday. How & Why of shutdown: While Obama‘s

Democratic Party has majority in the upper house (Senate), the lower

house (House of Representatives) is dominated by the opposition

Republican Party. Under the US system, Budget needs to be passed by both houses. The Republicans have called

Obama‘s health care law as wasteful and have made drastic reduction in expenditure under this law as a precondition for

supporting the budget. The Obama administration says the law is essential to provide coverage for the millions of US

citizens now uninsured.

Presidents of U.S. & Iran talk for first time since 1979: The United States and Iran took a historic step toward

ending more than three decades of estrangement on October 4, 2013 when

U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani spoke

by phone and agreed to work on resolving global suspicions that Tehran is

trying to build a nuclear weapon. The last direct conversation between the

leaders of the two countries was in 1979 before the Iranian Revolution

toppled the pro-U.S. Shah. Obama said the long break ―underscores the

deep mistrust between our countries, but it also indicates the prospect of

moving beyond that difficult history.‖ Earlier, at a news conference in New

York, Rouhani linked the U.S. and Iran as ―great nations,‖ a remarkable

reversal from the anti-American rhetoric of his predecessors. Rouhani was in New York to attend the annual U.N.

General Assembly.

UNSC adopts resolution on dismantling Syrian chemical arsenal: The United

Nations Security Council on September 27 voted unanimously to adopt a resolution

aimed at getting rid of Syria‘s chemical weapons. The vote came after the Organization

for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an international chemical watchdog,

agreed on a plan to destroy Syria‘s stockpile by mid-2014. The resolution has two legally

binding demands – Syria abandon its weapons stockpile, and chemical weapons experts

be given unfettered access. The OPCW said it had ―agreed on an accelerated programme

for achieving the complete elimination of Syria‘s chemical weapons by mid-2014‖.

Merkel clinches historic win in German elections: Chancellor Angela

Merkel captured a landslide victory in German elections on September 22 when her

Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) won 41.5% vote

share and 311 seats (a gain of 72 seats over 2009) in the 630-member lower house

of Parliament, the Bundestag. The 59-year-old Merkel resoundingly clinched

another four-year stint at the helm Europe‘s top economy, and looked poised to

form a ―grand coalition‖ with her chief rivals, the SPD. The opposition Social

democratic Party (SPD) won 192 seats. The Left had 64 seats while the Greens got

63 seats. A physicist by training, Merkel is only the third person to win a third term

in Germany after Adenauer and Helmut Kohl.



17

TNA wins landslide in Sri Lanka‟s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) polls: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won a resounding victory in the elections for

Sri Lanka‘s Northern Provincial Council (NPC) election on September 22. An amalgam

of five Tamil political parties, the TNA cornered nearly 80 per cent of the votes to win

30 out of the total 38 seats. TNA‘s margin of victory points to an apparent erosion of

faith that the Tamils might have earlier had in the government that brought the bloody

war to an end.

UN adopts resolution to prevent illicit transfer of small arms: The UN

Security Council on September 26 adopted a resolution, urging cooperation and

information sharing among member states to combat the scourge of small arms and

light weapons. The UN pledged in the resolution that it is determined to continue to

take practical steps to prevent the illicit transfer and misuse of small arms and light

weapons. The resolution also demand that seized, confiscated or surrendered small

arms, light weapons and ammunition be recorded and disposed of in an appropriate manner.

G4 nations call for UNSC reforms: India and other G4 countries, Brazil,

Germany and Japan, all aspiring for permanent membership of the Security Council,

have called for intensifying efforts for urgent UN Security Council reforms ―to

better reflect geopolitical realities of the 21st century‖. In a joint statement issued

after a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G4 nations on the margins of the UN

General Assembly on September 26, 2013, they ―underscored that, almost 70 years

after the creation of the United Nations, reform of the Security Council is long

overdue‖. Currently only five countries – UK, USA, France, China and Russia are

permanent member of UNSC.

Maldives poll panel cancels election: Maldives Elections Commission on September 27, 2013 cancelled the second

round of voting for the presidential election, setting the stage for politically turbulent times for the

Indian Ocean island nation. Earlier the Maldives Supreme Court on September 23 indefinitely

postponed the second round runoff after a candidate, Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhoory Party,

alleged fraud in voting. Ibrahim had finished third in the first round of voting by polling just some

3000 votes less than the second-placed Abdulla Yamin, who got 25.35 percent of the votes. The

pro-India Mohamad Nasheed, who was controversially ousted from power in 2012, obtained

45.45 percent of the votes to win the first round of voting. However, he failed to get a crucial 50

percent mandate that would have negated the need for a second round. Yamin and Nasheed were

scheduled to contest in the second round runoff on September 28.

Egypt bans Muslim Brotherhood: An Egyptian court on September 23 banned

the Muslim Brotherhood and ordered confiscation of its assets. The administrative

court in Cairo gave the ruling after it had been asked to review the Islamist group‘s

status as a non-governmental organisation. The military authorities have launched a

crackdown on the group since ousting President Mohammed Morsi on July 3. The

ruling is a deadly blow to the Islamist group which was already under pressure after

dozens of its senior leaders, including its general guide Mohammed Badie, were detained for inciting violence.

Scores dead in terrorist siege in Nairobi mall: Kenyan President Uhuru

Kenyatta on September 24 said security forces had defeated militants of Somalia-

based al-Shabaab group, holed up in the upscale Westgate shopping complex in

capital Nairobi, after a bruising four-day siege that claimed at least 72 lives. The

militants are said to have targeted Nairobi in retaliation for Kenyan troops‘

participation in multinational action against Islamist terrorists in neighbouring

Somalia.



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IPCC issues climate change warning: Human actions have been the dominant

cause of climate change, leading to the warming up of the atmosphere and oceans,

melting of snow & ice and the rise in the global mean sea level, said a new

assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on

September 27, 2013. The report said predicted temperatures would rise another 0.3

to 4.8 degrees Celsius this century and sea levels would rise between 26 and 82

centimetres by 2100. It also warned of a higher risk for heatwaves, floods and

droughts. The report projects that heatwaves are very likely to occur more frequently and last longer while wet regions

would receive more rainfall, and dry regions less.

IPCC report is an „alarm clock‟ moment: Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC) report‘s release was ―an alarm clock moment for the world‖. IPCC co-chair

Rajendra Pachauri said the report provides important insights into the scientific basis of climate

change. It provides a firm foundation for considerations of the impacts of climate change on human

and natural systems and ways to meet the challenge of climate change. The IPCC report was

prepared by 209 lead authors and 50 review editors from 39 of the 195 member countries and more

than 600 contributing authors from 32 countries.

Quake kills 80 in Pakistan: Eighty people were killed when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake

hit South-Western Pakistan on September 24. With its epicentre 69 km from Awaran in

Balochistan province, the quake struck at 4.29 pm local time at a depth of 23 km. Tremors

were felt in Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and other towns and cities of Sindh province.

Balochistan is Pakistan‘s largest but least populated province. The military has a heavy

presence in the area because it is fighting a long-running separatist Baloch insurgency, and so

its troops were among the first to respond to the crisis.

Cambodian Parliament re-appoints Hun Sen as Premier: Cambodia‘s Parliament on

September 24 approved a new five-year term for Prime Minister Hun Sen following weeks of

political turmoil over his disputed election win. Though the opposition Cambodia National

Rescue Party (CNRP) did not take its seats, King Norodom Sihamoni asked Hun Sen‘s

Cambodian People‘s Party (CPP) to form a new cabinet. The CPP won 68 seats, against 55 for the

CNRP.

Mumbai is 2nd-most honest city in world: Mumbai is the

world‘s second-most honest city, a survey conducted by Reader‘s

Digest magazine has found. A test was carried out wherein ‗lost‘

wallets stuffed with 50 dollars in cash were dropped in cities around

the world. Readers Digest on September 26 said it tested the

honesty of hundreds of people in 16 countries by dropping wallets

and recording how many were returned. In Helsinki, 11 of the 12

wallets dropped around the city were returned, the best result.

Mumbai residents were the second-most-honest people, returning nine while residents in Lisbon were the least honest,

with only one person handing in the wallet

Switzerland leads in global energy ranking: Switzerland and a handful of countries in

Europe led the way in a global ranking today of energy efficiency, access to resources and

environmental sustainability. The report released on September 24 by the World Energy

Council, a London-based group that promotes sustainable power, considered three parameters:

how well they manage their energy supply, how accessible and affordable energy is across the

population, and how much of their power is derived from low-carbon renewables.



19

World Space Week observed: World Space Week 2013 was observed from October 4 to 10,

2013 under the theme: ―Exploring Mars, Discovering Earth‖. While October 4 (1957) marks the

launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus opening the way for space

exploration; October 10 (1967) marks the signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the

Activites of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Spaces.

World Tourism Day observed: September 27 was celebrated as

the World Tourism Day (WTD) on 2013. Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the UN World

Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), said tourism generated $1.07 trillion in revenue

worldwide last year. September 29, 2013 was observed as the World Heart Day. Every

year, heart-related diseases claim 17.3 million lives across the world with addiction to

tobacco, alcohol, obesity, unhealthy lifestyle and food habits being the major causes.

World Rhino Day: September 22 was observed as the World Rhino Day. Despite protective

laws, poaching continues, spurred by a large Oriental market for rhinoceros horn (valued as an

aphrodisiac) and blood. Captive-breeding programs offer the only hope for maintaining some

species until adequate protection can be provided in the wild. There are four rhino bearing

states in India - Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Rhinoceroses have poor

eyesight but acute senses of hearing and smell and despite their bulk they are remarkably agile

and can attain a speed of about 45 kilometres per hour. All but the black rhinoceros are listed

as endangered in the Red Data Book, a compilation published by the International Union for

the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

”Wadjda” is Saudi Arabia‟s first ever entry at Oscars: Saudi Arabia, where

cinemas are banned, is to compete for an Oscar for the first time next year with feminist

film ―Wadjda‖ directed by Haifaa al-Mansour, the country‘s Saudi Arabian Society for

Culture and Arts announced in Riyadh on September 15, 2013. The movie, competing

for the best foreign-language film, tells of a young girl‘s quest to own a bicycle in the

ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom where women are deprived of many rights, among

them driving. Meanwhile Pakistan on September 24 chose ‗Zinda Bhaag‘ as their first

film submission in over 5 decades for Oscar consideration in the ‗Foreign Language

Film Award‘ category at the 86th Academy Awards. The Lahore-set comedy, which is directed by

Farjad Nabi and Meenu Gaur, features Naseeruddin Shah and many Indian technicians.

Malala Yousafzai wins Amnesty award: Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner

Malala Yousafzai and American singer, human rights and social justice activist Harry Belafonte were

presented Amnesty International‘s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2013 in Dublin, Ireland

September 17, 2013. The Award recognises individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause

of human rights through their life and by example. India-born Salil Shetty is the Secretary General of

Amnesty International.

Indian chief priest of Pashupatinath Temple resigns: The Indian chief

priest of Nepal‘s fifth-century Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu submitted his

resignation on September 21, 2013 after 21 years of service for personal reasons.

Mahabaleshwor Bhatta, who hails from Tamil Nadu, had earlier resigned from

the post during the Maoist-led government in 2008, following controversy after

then Prime Minister Prachanda‘s move to replace him and the other Indian

priests with Nepali nationals. However, the decision was withdrawn and Bhatta

was reinstated. It is a centuries-old practice to appoint Indian nationals as priests

at the Pashupatinath Temple



20

Faces

Tom Clancy: Master of the modern-day thriller The author who started off as an insurance agent, was known for writing meticulous thrillers focusing on political intrigue and military tactics and technology

Born in Maryland in

1947, Tom Clancy is

an American author

best known for his

espionage, military

science and

technological

thrillers. Clancy

worked as an

insurance broker

before writing his first

novel, The Hunt for

Red October, in 1984. Ten of Clancy‘s books earned No.

1 rankings on The New York Times‘ best-seller list. More

than 50 million copies of his books have been printed, and

four have been made into movies. Clancy died on October

1, 2013, at age 66.

Early life and „The Hunt for Red October‟

The famed novelist and lifelong military technology buff

was born Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. on April 12, 1947, in

Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Loyola Blakefield, a

Catholic, all-boys‘ school in Towson, Maryland, before

enrolling at Loyola College in Baltimore, where he

studied literature.

Clancy worked as an insurance broker before writing his

first novel, The Hunt for Red October, in 1984. The book,

which told the story of a Russian submarine crew‘s

defection, made The New York Times‘ best-seller list

after President Ronald Reagan openly praised it. Sean

Connery and Alec Baldwin brought the Cold War drama

to life in the big screen in 1990. Clancy‘s crafting of

plausible military scenarios in the novel was so realistic

that, almost immediately after its release, he became a

favorite of the United States military. Some of his books

even became required reading at U.S. military academies.

Clancy dined with presidents; admirals and generals

regularly gave him access to ships, subarines and aircraft;

and Pentagon officials provided him material for

upcoming projects.

Best-seller status continues

Tom Clancy would see 10 of his books earn No. 1

rankings on The New York Times‘ best-seller list during

his lifetime. In addition to The Hunt for Red October, his

published works include Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot

Games (1987), Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), Clear and

Present Danger (1989), The Sum of All Fears (1991),

Without Remorse (1993), Debt of Honor (1994),

Executive Orders (1996) and Rainbow Six (1998). More

than 50 million copies of Clancy‘s books have been

printed, and four have been adapted into major films: The

Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present

Danger and The Sum of All Fears, which debuted on the

big screen in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 2002, respectively.

Other endeavors

In 1996, Clancy founded Red Storm Entertainment to

create and market multimedia computer games based on

his stories. Its first game, Politika, was released in

November 1997. (Red Storm Entertainment was later

purchased by French video game publisher Ubisoft

Entertainment.)

In February 1998, Clancy announced plans to purchase

the Minnesota Vikings at a price of nearly $200 million.

The deal ultimately fell through for undisclosed reasons,

however.

In 1999, Clancy partnered with Chuck Horner, general

and commander of the Desert Storm air offensive, to

write Every Man a Tiger, a real-life account of the Persian

Gulf War from the top commander‘s vantage point.

Later years and legacy

In 2002, Clancy was ranked No. 10 on Forbes‘ ―Celebrity

100‖ list of top income earners for that year.

Clancy died on October 1, 2013, in a Baltimore,

Maryland, hospital. He was 66 years old. At the time of

his death, the author‘s net worth was reported at nearly

$300 million. According to reports, prior to his death,

Clancy was working on a new novel, Command

Authority, which is slated for a December 2013 release.

―Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change

around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities

need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Because the

dream is within you, no one can take it away.‖ – Tom

Clancy



21

Current Affairs: Sports

Mumbai Indians win CLT20

Sachin Tendulkar ended his limited-overs career with a

glittering trophy in hand as Mumbai Indians defeated Rajasthan

Royals (RR) by 33 runs in the final to claim its second

Champions League T20 crown, at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground

in New Delhi on October 6, 2013. Asked to bat first, Mumbai

set an imposing target of 203 and then stopped the Rahul

Dravid-led side at 169. Harbhajan Singh, whose three-wicket

burst — Ajinkya Rahane (65), Stuart Binny (10) and Cooper (4)

— in the 17th over took the game away from RR, was Man of

the Match for his 4 wickets for 32 runs. Score: Mumbai Indians

202 for 6 (Dwayne Smith 44, Glenn Maxwell 37, Pravin Tambe

2-19) beat Rajasthan Royals 169 (Rahane 65, Sanju Samson 60,

Harbhajan 4-32) by 33 runs

With scores of 9, 63*, 48, 59 and 44, the in-form Dwayne

Smith bagged the Man-of-the-Series award. Rahane won the

Golden Bat for scoring the most runs in the tournament (288) while 41-year-old off spinner Tambe bagged the Golden

Wicket for scalping the most wickets, 12.

Semi-final I: Ajinkya Rahane hit a resolute fifty and spinner Pravin Tambe scalped three crucial wickets as Rahul

Dravid led Rajasthan Royals notched up a 14-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first semi-final at the

Sawai Mansingh stadium, Jaipur on October 4. Rajasthan made 159 for eight after they were sent into bat by CSK

skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The hosts then rode on a sensational spell of spin bowling by Player of the Match Pravin

Tambe (3/10) to restrict the Super Kings to 145 for eight. Score: Rajasthan Royals 159 for 8 (Rahane 70, Bravo 3-26)

beat Chennai Super Kings 145 for 8 (Ashwin 46, Tambe 3-10) by 14 runs.

Semi-final II: Rohit Sharma captained Mumbai Indians won the second semi-final when they beat Denesh Ramdin led

Trinidad and Tobago by six wickets at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi on October 5. After restricting T&T to

153, Mumbai chased down the target in 19.1 overs, with Man of the Match Dwayne Smith scoring yet another half-

century. Score: Trinidad & Tobago 153 for 5 (Lewis 62, Ottley 41*) lost to Mumbai Indians 157 for 4 (Smith 59, Narine

3-17) by six wickets

N. Srinivasan re-elected BCCI president: Narayanaswamy Srinivasan, 68, was unanimously re-elected as the

president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for 2013-14 at its 84th

annual

general meeting (AGM) held in Chennai on September 29, 2013. The other office bearers

who were elected at the AGM included Sanjay Patel (honorary secretary), Anurag Thakur

(joint secretary), Anirudh Chaudhry (honorary treasurer), S P Bansal (vice-president - north

zone): Rajeev Shukla (vice-president - central zone) Shivlal Yadav (vice-president - south

zone), Ravi Savant (vice-president - west zone) and Chitrak Mitra (vice-president - east

zone).

Srinivasan will have to wait to take charge as BCCI President: N. Srinivasan will

not assume charge as BCCI President immediately because of a Supreme Court directive that

had restrained him from taking charge if elected. This was in response to a petition by the

Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB). The CAB had asked the court not to allow Srinivasan to contest for the president‘s

post on the ground that his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, who was the team principal of Indian Premier League (IPL)

franchise Chennai Super Kings, was charge-sheeted for betting in the sixth edition of the IPL Twenty20 tournament.

Chennai Super Kings is owned by India Cements, where Srinivasan is the vice-chairman.



22

India Blue beats Delhi, clinches Salve Trophy: Yuvraj Singh-led India Blue

thwarted Virat Kohli-led Delhi‘s powerful batting order to win the NKP Salve

Challenger Trophy in the final played at the Holkar Stadium, Indore on September

29, 2013. Manish Pandey, 62 runs, was the top scorer for India Blue who made 274

runs for 9 wickets in their 50 overs. In reply, Delhi‘s innings folded at 224 in 44.4

overs, falling short by 50 runs, as Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand and Virender

Sehwag succumbed to the seamers in the nascent stage of the chase.. India Blues‘

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was Player of the Match for his four wickets for 39 runs in 9

overs. The 50-ver a side tournament comprised Delhi, India Red and India Blue.

Afghanistan qualifies for Cricket WC 2015: In a fantastic display of grit and

determination, strife-torn Afghanistan on October 4 qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup

after defeating Kenya by seven wickets to finish second in the World Cricket League (WCL)

Championship in Sharjah. Deciding to field first after winning the toss, Afghanistan dismissed

Kenya for 93 in 43.3 overs and then achieved the target in 20.5 overs with seven wickets to

spare. The victory meant Afghanistan became the second non-test playing nation behind WCL

champion Ireland to qualify for the 2015 ICC World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and NZ.

New no-ball rule will comes in effect: The prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club in London released the 5th edition

of the 2000 Code which features some significant changes in cricket rule including

the most high profile change in new `No-ball rule` which comes into effect from on

October 1. According to the new law, from now on if a bowler breaks the wicket

during his delivery stride, it will be called `No Ball`. Other changes to the Laws

include limiting being out `Handled ball` to just the striker as he is playing the ball or

immediately after; any other illegal handling of the ball by either batsman will be

given out as Obstructing the field. The MCC also launched a new set of animations

aimed to help young players, novices and casual fans develop a greater understanding

of the Laws of Cricket especially misunderstood aspects of the Laws including LBW and running out

the non-striker.

Ex-IPL Chairman Lalit Modi banned for life by BCCI: Once a golden boy of Indian cricket,

former IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi has been banned for life by the Board of Control

for Cricket in India (BCCI) from all its activities on charges of serious misconduct and indiscipline. The

ban was announced at the BCCI‘s Special General Meeting (SGM) in Chennai was on September 25.

Sochi Olympics‟ flame lit at Ancient Olympia: The flame for the Sochi 2014 Winter

Olympics was lit on September 29, 2013 at Ancient Olympia in Greece, the birthplace of the

Games in a special ceremony. The event concluded with the start of the torch relay, which is

scheduled to reach Sochi, the Russian city, February 7, 2014 for the opening ceremony of the XXII

Winter Olympic Games. The games will last till Feb 23. Under clear skies using the sun‘s rays and

a parabolic mirror Greek actress Ino Menegaki performing the role of an ancient High Priestess lit

the flame among the ruins of the 2,500-year-old Temple of ancient Greek mythology goddess Hera.

Sandeep Yadav bags India‟s first medal in Greco-Roman wrestling: Indian wrestler

Sandeep Tulsi Yadav scripted history by winning the first ever medal in the Greco Roman category

in 66 kg division as he beat Serbian Makismovic Aleksandar 4-0 to bag the bronze medal on the

concluding day of the World Championships in Budapest on September 22. Indian had earlier won

silver (Amit Kumar Dahiya in the 55kg) and bronze (Bajrang in 60kg) in freestyle category. It was

India‘s best show at a World Championship with a tally of three medals, one silver and two bronze

medals



23

Saina wins Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year award: Olympic bronze medallist

Saina Nehwal was declared Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year while her mentor and India

coach Pulella Gopichand was given the Coach of the Year award for nurturing new crop of talented

young shuttlers. The event was organised by the sports magazine in Gurgaon on October 1 to honour

good performances of the year 2012. The 14 categories in which the awards were presented include

Young Player of the Year award, won by U-19 world cup winning captain Unmukt Chand, while

Athlete of the Year was presented to young India cricketer Virat Kohli. Rahul Dravid and VVS

Laxman were given the Lifetime Achievement Award for their contribution to the sport.

Sushil Kumar is „Gamechanger of the Year‟ at Sports Illustrated awards:

Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won became the first Indian to win back-to-back individual

Olympic medals, was adjudged the ‗Gamechanger of the Year‘ at the Sports Illustrated

awards in Gurgaon on October 1 for bagging a silver medal at London Games. Team of the

Year award was given to India U-19 Cricket Team for winning country‘s third ICC Under-19

World Cup in Australia. Paralympic high jumper H N Girisha‘s silver medal winning effort

at Paralympic last year was awarded ‗Sporting moment of the Year‘. This is the fourth year of the India awards given by

international magazine Sports Illustrated.

China‟s Shiwen wins Women‟s Table Tennis World Cup: Chinese paddler Liu Shiwen

clinched her third women‘s table tennis World Cup after beating teammate Wu Yang in four sets

11-3, 11-7, 11-7, 11-2 at Kobe, Japan on September 23. Meanwhile, Singapore‘s Feng Tianwei

secured the third place after overcoming Hong Kong veteran Jiang Huajun in 11-6, 13-11, 12-10,

11-2.

Hou Yifan regains Women‟s World Chess title: Hou Yifan of China regained the women‘s world

chess championship, winning game 7 in the title-match win against Anna Ushenina of Ukraine in Taizhou,

China on September 20.Yifan, ranked No. 2 in the world, had also won games 1, 3 and 6 — the other

games were all drawn — to complete a 5.5-1.5 triumph, taking just seven out of the scheduled 10 games to

reclaim the crown.

Anand Amritraj appointed Davis Cup non-playing captain: Former Davis Cup player Anand Amritraj was on

September 21 appointed as the non-playing captain of the Davis Cup team by the All India Tennis

Association (AITA). Anand Amritraj and his brothers, Vijay Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, were

among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis. In 1976, the Anand and Vijay

were semifinalists in the Wimbledon men‘s doubles. Anand was part of the Indian team for 1974

Davis Cup, which advanced to the finals of the tournament and then forfeited the championship to

South Africa as the Government of India decided to boycott the match in protest against South

Africa‘s apartheid policies and again reached the final in 1987 losing to Sweden.

Vettel coasts to Italian Grand Prix win: World champion Sebastian Vettel dominated in Monza

on September 8 to win the Italian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver finished ahead of Ferrari‘s Fernando

Alonso.

Boxing legend Ken Norton passes away: Former boxing champion Ken Norton,

considered one of the greatest heavyweights of his era, died in Los Angeles on September 18 at

the age of 70. The fighter was best known for beating Muhammad Ali in 1973. Norton ended

his brilliant career with a record of 42 wins, seven losses, one draw and 33 knockouts. Norton

started boxing during his four year-stint in the United States Marine Corps, which he joined in

1963. In March 1973, Norton shocked the boxing world by winning a split decision over Ali at

the San Diego Sports Arena. He would go on to fight Ali twice more, losing both times.



24

Business Biography

V. Prem Watsa: Bidding for BlackBerry While Watsa is known as a risk averse and highly skilled investor, a strong work ethic and a migrant background have also helped his meteoric rise.

India-born Canadian investor V. Prem Watsa is known to

keep a low profile but the

founder-Chairman & CEO of

Fairfax Financial Holdings

could not avert media

limelight when he launched a

public bid worth $4.7 billion,

through a Fairfax-led

consortium, to revive the

faltering Canadian smartphone

giant, BlackBerry.

Fairfax already owns about 10 per cent of BlackBerry and

its $4.7 billion offer (at $9 a share) is a testament to

Black-Berry‘s strong decline over the last few years. In

2008, when BlackBerry embodied the word smartphone,

the company enjoyed a stock market value of $83 billion.

Career

BlackBerry‘s downfall is in sharp contrast to Watsa‘s

own rags-to-riches fairytale. Born in 1950 in Hyderabad,

Watsa was orphaned as a child. Little else is known about

his formative years. Post schooling, Watsa got into and

graduated in chemical engineering from the Indian

Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Soon after, he

moved to Canada to pursue an MBA and attended the

University of Western Ontario.

Over the last 28 years, Watsa has made a name for

himself. He follows an investing strategy that focuses on

buying companies whose shares are undervalued by the

market but whose potential for growth and profits is

intact.

Along the way, Watsa also has some notable predictions

to his credit. Soon after founding Fairfax in 1985, he

predicted the US stock market crash of 1987, the Japanese

crash in the early 1990s and most recently, the US sub-

prime crisis.

Although Watsa has not been vocal about his India

connection, he has taken an active interest in the Indian

market as well as donated substantially to the IIT-Madras

alumni fund. In 2012, Fairfax bought 77 per cent of

Thomas Cook UK‘s Indian operations. Fairfax also has a

joint venture with ICICI Bank; today ICICI Lombard is

India‘s leading private non-life insurer.

What‟s the motive behind BlackBerry bid?

What Watsa sees in BlackBerry is not exactly clear. Some

allege that Watsa doesn‘t really intend to buy the

company, and announced the bid so close to BlackBerry‘s

dismal forecasts to stem the company‘s shares from

bleeding more than they already have. Over the past few

years, Fairfax has gradually increased its stake in

BlackBerry from 2% to 10%. Watsa has acknowledged

that the company paid an average of $17 for its

BlackBerry shares (now valued below $10). This gives

him an obvious interest in stalling the slide in

BlackBerry‘s shares. The company too, sensing the

opportunity to halt losses and the potential to start an

auction, quickly signed a letter of intent.

Watsa hit back at such allegations, insisting that, ―We

wouldn‘t put our name to such a high profile deal if we

didn‘t feel confident that at the end of the day our

diligence would be fine and we‘d be able to finance it...

Short term these things fluctuate... We never pay too

much attention to the marketplace.‖

Will Watsa succeed?

Still, Watsa needs to gather people to fund his bid, and so

far, not many have been forthcoming. Amidst all this

speculation, it is also unclear how the buyout would be

financed. Banks are reluctant to finance the deal,

considering BlackBerry‘s future prospects in a market

dominated by the likes of Samsung & Apple. But Watsa

will no doubt have much support from the Canadian

government that would rather see its once-prized gem

stay within the country, instead of being controlled by any

of the Chinese companies that may bid, especially given

the government‘s concerns for national security.

It will be interesting to see how the BlackBerry bid plays

out for Watsa. If his personal mantra ―work as hard as

you can, as though everything depended on you‖ is

anything to go by, then Fairfax is sure to have a winner on

its hands. But BlackBerry‘s revival is going to be slow

and possibly painful with many hurdles.‖



25

Current Affairs: Economy

Regulatory reforms panel report

A committee, constituted by the Ministry of Corporate

Affairs, has

recommended a

transparent

mechanism for

appointing heads

of regulatory

authorities. ―The

appointment of

persons to head

regulatory organisations should be attempted in a far

more transparent manner,‖ said the committee headed by

former SEBI chairman M Damodaran on September 17.

The committee was set up for suggesting ways on

reforming regulatory environment for doing business in

India. It was set up in response to a World Bank that

report ranked India 132nd

in 2012 on the ease of doing

business, well below the other BRICS and most of the

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

countries.

The Damodaran-led committee consisted of ITC group

chairman Y.C. Deveshwar, ICICI Bank non-executive

chairman K.V. Kamath, Aditya Birla group chairman

Kumar Mangalam Birla and Mahindra group chairman

Anand Mahindra.

The committee has suggested a raft of measures including

simpler drafting of rules to avoid leaving room for

interpretations and greater autonomy to regulators.

Removing redundant regulations: ―Every

organisation engaged in writing regulations, or supporting

legislation, should have a Regulatory Review Authority

(RRA) to continuously examine the stock of existing

regulations and to weed out those that do not have any

continuing use,‖ the committee said. This was necessary

to have a better sense and understanding of the relevant

context. To facilitate resolution of bilateral commercial

matters, the committee has recommended that the

proposed RRA should institutionalise setting up of a

consent mechanism, where cases having no systemic

impact are dealt with in a summary manner. ―This would

help in dealing with large volume of systemically

unimportant matters,‖ the committee said.

Accountability to parliament: To make top

appointments transparent, the Damodaran Committee has

recommended that heads of regulatory bodies and their

board-level members be made accountable to Parliament.

This is the first time a committee has talked about making

regulatory bodies accountable to Parliament.

Manpower issues: The report says India‘s new

regulatory bodies, which, however, are inadequately

empowered and insufficiently manned. ―The committee is

of the strong view that, before setting up a new regulatory

organisation, adequate thought should go into the need

for such an organisation and the ability to man it

appropriately and vest it with functional autonomy.‖

Selection of heads: Referring to the contentious issue

of appointment, the committee says heads of regulatory

bodies should be appointed in a more transparent manner

than is the case now. The practice of inviting applications

from interested candidates and subjecting them to

interviews by a panel of persons familiar with the

organisation is the surest way to cause loss of public

confidence not only in the process but also in the

organisation. ―The entire process should be transparent

and should replicate the process followed in some

developed countries where the suitability of a candidate is

the subject of informed public discussions before

appointment. To appoint an applicant or a supplicant to

head a regulatory organisation is to ensure the sub-

optimal performance of the organisation and its resultant

loss of credibility.‖

Nuclear plants: No to US demands

The Indian government has ruled out any relaxation in

liability norms for US nuclear industry and stated that

nuclear power projects in the country would be subject to

Indian laws only.

A delegation of India‘s Department of Atomic Energy

(DAE) led by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

chief R K Sinha was in Vienna to attend the International

Atomic Energy Agency‘s 57th

general conference from



26

September 16 to 19. Sinha made a strong pitch for

nuclear energy considering limitations of fossil fuel. The

DAE however, in no uncertain terms told the US industry

delegation that the companies will have to meet the

Indian regulatory requirements.

Many global nuclear reactor supplier companies

including US and Indian companies have raised serious

objections

against

India‘s civil

nuclear

liability law

that has

provision for

huge

penalties on reactor supplier in case of accidents. US

companies have argued that maintenance of security and

safety is the responsibility of the reactor operator and not

the supplier.

More importantly, DAE touched upon the growing

protest against the nuclear energy in India and called

upon the US industry members that they will have to

address ideological opposition in this regard and also

safety related concerns and public awareness.

India‘s Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd has already

entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU)

with Westinghouse to set up six reactors of 1,154 MW

each for proposed nuclear power project at Mithi Virdi in

Gujarat.

Besides, NPC has also inked MoU with GE-Hitachi for

the supply of six reactors of 1,350 MW each for the

proposed nuclear power project at Kovada in Andhra

Pradesh.

Also National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon on

September 20 dismissed reports of attempts to dilute the

liability clause in contracts proposed with US firms.

Menon‘s views assume significance in the context of a

huge controversy over media reports that the government

was trying to dilute the nuclear liability clause in deals

with American nuclear firms for buying reactors during

PM Manmohan Singh‘s forthcoming visit to Washington.

Terming the civil nuclear agreement of 2008 as the

symbol of transformed relationship between India and the

US, Menon said the two sides have resolved all

government-to-government permissions and

understandings required for enabling commercial

negotiations

Rural development report „12-13

Though overall poverty in India is reducing, it is

increasingly

becoming

concentrated

within certain

regions and

among some

social groups,

according to the

―India Rural

Development

Report 2012-13‖

released on September 26. The report was prepared by

IDFC Foundation in collaboration with the Centre for

Economic and Social Studies, IRMA, Anand and the

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research,

Mumbai.

As many as 65% of the rural poor lived in seven states –

Jharkhand, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya

Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – in 2011-12. These states,

along with Rajasthan, also fare worst on education levels,

child and maternal health and penetration of healthcare

services in rural areas. The report also reveals that only

18% of rural households have access to all three basic

services -- drinking water within the premises, sanitation

and electricity -- while 20% have none of these.

The report highlighted the need to develop new strategies

for farm livelihoods. It said income from farm livelihoods

is no longer sufficient for a household, especially for

smaller and marginal farmers who make up 85 percent of

farm holdings. There was a need to encourage new crop

models for them, and revive traditional crops like millets

that suit dry lands.

The report said non-farm income is becoming

increasingly important, with 43 percent of rural families

relying on non-farm employment as their major source of

income. Thus, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has

become more important. It has provided an average of 40-

50 days of employment per year to about 25 percent of all

rural households. The scheme holds considerably greater

potential, which can be unlocked by ensuring that good

quality assets are built, the report found.



27

Economy Briefs

Jet-Etihad deal gets final government approval: The government on October 3 approved

the sale of a 24% stake in Jet Airways to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways for a little over Rs

2,000 crore, marking the end of prolonged rounds of negotiations on the deal between

government agencies and the two airlines. This will be the biggest FDI in the country‘s aviation

sector. On October 1, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had cleared the deal in

its revised form after an assurance that Jet would not give controlling powers to the foreign

carrier. Jet and Etihad would have to take prior government permission for making any changes

in the shareholder agreement, commercial co-operation agreement, and shareholding patterns.

Jet promoter Naresh Goyal will hold 51% stake and Etihad 24% with 25% remaining with the public.

Scheme to sell mini LPG cylinders at petrol pumps launched: A scheme to

sell five-kg cooking gas cylinders in select petrol pumps owned-and-operated by IOC,

BPCL and HPCL was launched by Petroleum Minister Oil Minister Veerappa Moily

in Bangalore on October 5 and will be expanded to other cities in the country. This

facility will help migratory population such as students, IT professionals, BPO

employees and persons with odd duty timings as it would provide them the flexibility

to pick up cylinders and obtain subsequent refills at time of their choice as petrol

stations are open for longer hours.

LPG portability scheme launched: A scheme that will allow customers to change their gas

agencies was launched by Petroleum Minister Oil Minister Veerappa Moily on October 5.

Under the inter-company LPG portability scheme, a consumer can now opt for the distributor of

his choice within a cluster of LPG distributors in the vicinity. Meanwhile petrol price was cut by

Rs 3.05 per litre while diesel prices were raised by 50 paise a litre on September 30. While

petrol price cut has been made possible because of appreciation in rupee value against US dollar,

diesel rates are being hiked as per the practice of increase in rates by small

monthly doses to cover losses.

ADB lowers India‟s growth forecast for 2013-14: The Asian Development Bank (ADB)

lowered India‘s growth forecast for 2013-14 to 4.7% from 6% earlier in its Asian Development

Outlook 2013 released on October 2. Earlier the Prime Minister‘s Economic Advisory Council cut

the growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5.3% from 6.4% projected earlier. The Reserve Bank of

India has also lowered the growth projection for 2013-14 to 5.55.3% from its earlier estimate of

5.75%.

Import duty on gold, silver jewellery hiked to 15%: The government on September 17

increased the import duty on gold and silver jewellery to 15 per cent from 10 per cent. An official

statement said that an import duty differential between jewellery and the primary metal is needed

to protect millions of artisans who depend on the labour-intensive industry after the duty on gold

was increased in stages to 10 per cent on August 13. In the absence of any duty differential, there

was an apprehension that Indian jewellery makers would not be able to compete with cheaper

imports, particularly when majority of the imported jewellery is machine-made as compared to

handmade jewellery in India. Gold jewellery imported during 2012-13 stood at USD 5.04 billion.

Global Skills Summit organised: The sixth Global Skills Summit (GSS) was organised by FICCI in

New Delhi from September 4 to 6, 2013. The annual event was organised by FICCI in collaboration with

Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Labour and Employment and National Skill

Development Corporation (NSDC). New Zealand is the country partner this time for the Summit.

―Industry Leads‖ was the theme of the sixth GSS.



28

Centre announces austerity measures: The Centre has banned government meetings in five-star hotels and air

travel in business class by most officials as part of a now-familiar austerity regimen that hopes to

save some money and send a larger message of pain-sharing action when the economy is not doing

well. ―In the context of the current fiscal situation, there is a need to continue to rationalise

expenditure and optimise available resources,‖ the finance ministry said on September 18. A memo

asked officers, except top officers, to travel economy class on domestic flights and restrict foreign

travel. The memo said that not more than one-third of the budget for any ministry should be spent in

the last quarter and not more than 15 per cent of the budget in March, the last month of the financial year.

CBI looking into NSEL irregularities – Finance Minister: The Forward Markets

Commission (FMC) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) are looking into alleged

irregularities at the commodity exchange National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), Finance Minister

P Chidambaram said on September 26. NSEL, a part of the Jignesh Shah-led Financial

Technologies (FTIL) group, is grappling with a Rs 5,600 crore payment crisis after it had to

suspend trading on July 31 after a government directive. It has defaulted on six consecutive

weekly payments to its investors. NSEL was not a registered or recognised association under the

FMC. Chidambaram said investors who put in money in the exchange knew it was an unregulated

entity.

BSE, IICA to launch CSR Index: Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the Indian Institution of Corporate Affairs

(IICA) have signed an agreement to collaborate on developing a corporate social responsibility

(CSR) index. The proposed CSR Index would assess impact and performance of companies listed

on the BSE in CSR activities. It would also look at the performance of companies in their

mandatory 2% CSR spend as per the new Companies Act as one of the important criterion. ―The

CSR Index will be driver for CSR practices for the corporates and an ideal option for investors to

put their money for responsible investment. Increasingly, more investors are considering CSR as

an important investment theme both globally as well as in domestic markets,‖ BSE Chairman R

Ramadorai said on September 23, 2013.

Unlisted companies allowed listing abroad: The government on September 26

allowed unlisted Indian companies to list on overseas markets without having to be publicly

traded on domestic exchanges. Funds raised abroad may be used for retiring foreign debt or

for overseas operations including acquisitions. However, if the funds raised are not used

abroad, they will have to be remitted to India within 15 days and parked in banks. At

present, Indian companies are not allowed to directly list in overseas markets without prior

or simultaneous listing in Indian markets.

GAAR to come into effect from April 1, 2016: The controversial GAAR provision, which seeks to check tax

avoidance by investors routing their funds through tax havens, will come into effect from

April 1, 2016, a government notification said on September 23. The provision of General Anti

Avoidance Rules (GAAR) will apply to entities availing tax benefit of at least Rs 3 crore. It

will apply to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) that have claimed benefits under any Double

Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).

Investments exempted from GAAR: Investments made by a non-resident by way of

offshore derivative instruments or P-Notes through FIIs, will not be covered by the GAAR

provisions. Investments made before August 30, 2010, will not be scrutinised under GAAR, it

said, adding the provisions will apply to assessees that obtain tax benefits on or after April 1,

2015. The GAAR provisions were introduced in the 2012-13 Budget by then Finance Minister

Pranab Mukherjee to check tax avoidance and were to have come into effect from April 1,

2014. The proposal generated controversy, with investors getting apprehensive about

harassment by tax authorities.



29

RBI directs banks to bear card fraud cost in absence of security features:

The RBI on September 27 said that banks will have to bear the cost of fraudulent card

transaction through point of sales that do not have prescribed security features. ―It has

been decided not to grant any further extension of time. Accordingly, banks not

complying with the requirements shall compensate loss, if any, incurred by the card

holder using card at POS (points of sale) terminals not adhering to the mandated

standards,‖ RBI said in a notification.

RBI bans 0% interest scheme for buying goods: The RBI on September

25 banned zero per cent interest rate scheme for purchase of consumer goods

through credit cards. The central bank has also said that no additional charges

can be levied on payment through debit cards. In the zero per cent EMI

(equated monthly installment) schemes offered on credit card outstandings, the

interest element is often camouflaged and passed on to customer in the form of

processing fee.

RBI tightens norms for lending against jewellery: The Reserve Bank of India has tightened

the screws on gold loan non-banking finance companies to protect borrowers against unfair practices

and check the unbridled growth of such NBFCs. The central bank has mandated that the gold the

NBFCs receive as collateral should be valued transparently and that this valuation should be based

on the average closing price of 22 carat gold in the preceding 30 days, as quoted by the Bombay

Bullion Association (BBA).

Coal mines to be auctioned by bidding: auction policy for private firms: Private companies will soon be able to bid

for coal mining licences for the first time ever through competitive bidding, the government announced on September 24.

The switch to auctions is aimed at bringing more transparency to a sector that has been mired in a corruption scandal over

mining rights potentially worth billions of dollars that hit Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‘s government last year. Coal

mining licences used to be allocated on recommendations of a panel of top bureaucrats across ministries until 2009.

Production in the country is much lower than requirement and user

industries like power have to resort to costlier imported coal.

Coal licenses for cement & steel companies: Competitive bidding

of explored coal blocks will be held for cement and steel companies as

these are deregulated sectors. The winning bidders will get up to two

years for exploration and five years for development of coal blocks. The

new policy also provides for relinquishment of the mining licence without

penalties, if the bidder has met targets.

Coal licenses for power companies: In power sector coal mining

licensees will be selected as per ―tariff-based bidding‖. The company

offering to sell electricity for the lowest tariff will get the mining license. The country relies on coal to fuel more than

half of its power generation, and its failure to mine coal quickly enough to meet fast-growing demand has exacerbated

chronic power shortages. Government-owned Coal India Ltd accounts for around 80

percent of the country‘s output but has missed production targets for years.

OVL blocks equity sale to Chinese firm: ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) has used its pre-

emptive right to block a Chinese company from acquiring a stake in the Brazilian

oilfields. The Brazilian state-owned Petrobras had planned to sell its 35 per cent state in

block BC 10 in the Campos Basin to the Chinese Sinochem group for $1.54 billion. OVL,

which has a 15 per cent stake in BC 10, along with Royal Dutch Shell, which owns 50 per

cent, invoked for the first time the first right of refusal or pre-emption option to buy out

Petrobras‘ share.



30

India ranks 78th

on human capital index – WEF: India has been placed at a low 78th slot on a global Human

Capital Index, which ranks countries on the basis of economic potential of their labour force,

while Switzerland has topped the ranking. The list of 122 countries was released by Geneva-based

World Economic Forum (WEF) on October 1, 2013. While India has scored well on parameters

like workforce and employment, it has fared poorly for health and wellness of its labour force,

WEF said. Low scores on sanitation and hygiene, as also second-to-bottom rank on the health

gender gap indicator are some of the variables driving down the overall ranking for the country.

Among the top-ten, Switzerland is at the top while Yemen has been placed last at 122nd position.

About Human Capital Index: WEF said that its Human Capital Index is a new tool designed to

measure how countries manage human capital endowments and the countries have been ranked on the

basis of the long-term economic potential of their respective labour forces. The list measures

countries on their ability to develop and deploy healthy, educated and able workers through four

distinct pillars -- education, health and wellness, workforce and employment, and enabling

environment. According to the report, a nation‘s human capital endowment - productive skills and

capacities - can be a more important determinant of long-term economic success than virtually any other resource. ―The

key for the future of any country and any institution lies in the skills and talent of its people,‖ WEF Founder and

Executive Chairman, Klaus Schwab, said.

Rs 12,350 crore for National Food Security Mission in 12th Plan: To meet the

growing food demand, government on September 20 approved an allocation of Rs 12,350

crore for boosting foodgrains production by 25 million tonnes under the National Food

Security Mission (NFSM) during the 12th Five Year Plan. The NFSM was launched in

2007-08 with an outlay of Rs 4,882.48 crore for the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) and

succeeded in meeting its objective of raising foodgrains output by 20 million tonnes (MT).

Under the NFSM, rice output would be raised by 10 MT, wheat by 8 MT, pulses by 4 MT

and coarse cereals by 3 MT during the 12th Plan.

India gets „authorizing nation‟ status for IT products: India has been granted status as

‗authorizing nation‘ under the international Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement

(CCRA) to test and certify electronics and IT products with respect to cyber security. The

status of ‗authorizing nation‘ will enable India to test IT and electronics products and issue

certificates, which will be acceptable internationally. The recognition would also enable

investment in setting up infrastructure and labs in public and private sectors in India for testing

Electronics and IT products. So far India was having the status of ‗consuming nation‘ with respect to certification of

electronics and IT products.

Over 100 small airports to come up – PM: More than 100 small airports will be

developed across the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on September 21 while

laying the foundation stone of the Kishangarh airport in Rajasthan. ―The world-famous shrine

of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisty and the temple town of Pushkar are major attractions

for people from across the world. Besides tourism, the airport will also help in development of

industries in the area,‖ Manmohan Singh said.

Crisis drives India to turn to Iran for oil: As its current account deficit widens and

the value of the rupee dwindles, India plans to increase crude oil imports from Iran so as to

save $8.5 billion in foreign exchange. New Delhi, which spent $144.29 billion for oil

imports last fiscal, pays Tehran in rupee, unlike other countries which require payment in

dollars. A proposal to this effect was sent by Petroleum Ministry to the Prime Minister in

September 2013. Yielding to sanctions imposed on Tehran by the U.S. and the European

Union so as to force it to roll back its nuclear programme, India slashed crude imports from Iran by 26.5 per cent during

2012-13, buying just 13.1 million tonnes, against 18.1 million tonnes in 2011-12.



31

Cyber buzz

Google unveils „Hummingbird‟

Google has updated its core algorithm

that controls the answers we get to

queries on its search engine in a bid to

make them work better for longer,

more complex questions.

The update, code-named Hummingbird, is the biggest

change to the underpinnings of the world‘s leading search

engine since early 2010, when Google upgraded its

algorithm to one it called Caffeine. The announcement

was made on the occasion of its 15th

anniversary of

Google‘s founding on September 27.

Most people won‘t notice an overt difference to search

results. But with more people making more complex

queries, especially as they can increasingly speak their

searches into their smartphones, there‘s a need for new

mathematical formulas to handle them.

This update to the algorithm focuses more on ranking

sites for better relevance by tapping further into the

company‘s Knowledge Graph, its encyclopedia of 570

million concepts and relationships among them. (For

example, there‘s a Knowledge Graph ―card,‖ or

information box, for the Eiffel Tower, and Knowledge

Graph knows it‘s a tower, that it has a height, that it‘s in

Paris, etc., so Google can anticipate you might want to

know some of those facts.) Caffeine was more focused on

better indexing and crawling of sites to speed results.

Facebook‟s „editing‟ worries

A new feature allowing Facebook users to edit their status

updates may result in ―stitch-ups‖, experts

have warned. Previously, an update would

have to be deleted and reposted with any

changes, losing any comments or ―likes‖. But

the new capability, introduced to help users

correct spelling and grammatical errors, means

posts can be modified, and their content

changed. Facebook users who liked or interacted with the

original post are not notified of any changes made. The

social networking website explains that the update was

intended to help people address typos or auto-correct

errors. The editing facility comes after Facebook revealed

more than half its users accessed the site on mobile

phones, which are more prone to typing errors. Facebook

has not given any comment on the potential

vulnerabilities of the new feature. The freedom to edit

posts after they have been published raises some real

concerns. A like or a comment made on a previously

static piece of content is now open to misinterpretation - a

fact that many less informed users are unaware of.

Twitter launches emergency alerts

Twitter launched a system for emergency alerts which

can help spread critical information when other lines of

communication are

down. The popular

messaging service

on September 25

said its Twitter Alerts could be useful in natural disasters

or other emergencies when traditional channels may be

overloaded or unavailable. ―We know from our users how

important it is to be able to receive reliable information

during these times,‖ Twitter said in a blog post. ―Twitter

Alerts is a new way to get accurate and important

information when you need it most.‖ Twitter Alerts will

help users get important and accurate information from

credible organisations during emergencies, natural

disasters or moments when other communications

services aren‘t accessible. Users who sign up to receive

an account‘s Twitter Alerts will receive a notification

directly to their phone for tweets marked as alerts from

certain senders.

E-mail policy for govt. employees

The government on September 26 told the Delhi High

Court that a comprehensive e-mail policy will be formed

for official communication for government officers so

that the data is not transferred to a

server outside India. The Centre‘s

lawyer was answering to a court‘s

query about the government‘s stand in

response to a petition. The petitioner

alleged that government officials were

using social networking sites and e-

mail accounts such as gmail, hotmail and yahoo, whose

servers are outside the country, for official

communications instead of using the government server-

national informatics centre (nicnet.in). The petition said

that use of e-mail IDs whose servers are outside the

country and transfer of the country‘s official data is

violative of the Public Records Act. The petition also

sought a direction to ensure safety of the data of 50

million Indian users which was transferred ―to the US and

is being used for commercial gains in violation of the

right to privacy.‖



32

Science & Technology

„Touchscreen‟ reality from Disney

Disney researchers have found a way for people to ―feel‖

the texture

of objects

seen on a

flat

touchscree

n. The

technique

involves

sending

tiny

vibrations

through the display that let people ―feel‖ the shallow

bumps, ridges and edges of an object.

The vibrations fooled fingers into believing they were

touching a textured surface, said the Disney researchers

who added that the vibration-generating algorithm should

be easy to add to existing touchscreen systems.

Developed at Disney‘s research lab in Pittsburgh, USA

the vibrational technique re-creates what happens when a

finger tip passes over a real bump.

―Our brain perceives the 3D bump on a surface mostly

from information that it receives via skin stretching,‖ said

the research group.

To fool the brain into thinking it is touching a real

feature, the vibrations imparted via the screen artificially

stretch the skin on a fingertip so a bump is felt even

though the touchscreen surface is smooth.

The researchers have developed an underlying algorithm

that can be used to generate textures found on a wide

variety of objects.

A video depicting the system in action shows people

feeling apples, jellyfish, pineapples, a fossilised trilobite

as well as the hills and valleys on a map.

The more pronounced the feature, the greater the

vibration is needed to mimic its feel.

The Disney team believes that the vibration system

should be more flexible than existing systems used to

give tactile feedback on touchscreens, which typically

used a library of canned effects.

Shape-shifting metals discovered

A new shape-changing metal crystal is reported in the

journal Nature, by

scientists at

University of

Minnesota. It is the

prototype of a new

family of smart

materials that could

be used in

applications ranging from space vehicles to electronics to

jet engines.

Called a ―martensite‖, the crystal has two different

arrangements of atoms, switching seamlessly between

them. It can change shape tens of thousands of times

when heated and cooled without degrading, unlike

existing technology.

Currently, martensite metals are made of an alloyed

mixture of nickel and titanium. They have the remarkable

ability to ―remember‖ their shape and even after being

bent will return to their original form. For this, they are

called ―shape memory‖ metals.

They have been used in spectacle frames and brassiere

wires, but also in surgery as frameworks for shaping

healing bones, and as ―stents‖ for holding heart arteries

open.

Martensite metals change shape when heated or cooled

through a certain temperature, when the atoms that make

up their structure rearrange themselves in a sudden

transformation. The transformation means that martensite

can be used in smart mechanisms that respond to

temperature change.

Examples include automatic windows-openers in

glasshouses, a means for automatically guiding solar

panels to point at the Sun on the Hubble Space Telescope,

and, very recently, a proposed use in the Boeing 787

Dreamliner to morph the trailing edge of the engine

cowling, making it quieter when it runs hot on take-off.‖

The pitfall of current martensites is that after repeated

shape changes, they build up stresses inside that degrade

them and eventually break them apart. The new alloy,

made of a mixture of zinc, gold and copper, changes back

and forth almost indefinitely with little internal damage,

opening up a new range of applications for these types of

―active materials‖.



33

Recent Books

„Gandhi Before India‟, „Feeding India‟ & „Solo‟

„Gandhi Before India‟

This book by historian and author Ramachandra Guha on

the early formative years of

Mahatma Gandhi, was released

on October 1. The book throws

light on lesser known facts

about the man who went on to

become the Father of the

Nation. In 1893, when

Mohandas Gandhi set sail for

South Africa, he was a 23-year-

old briefless lawyer who had

failed to establish himself in

India. The two decades that he

spent in South Africa were to be the making of the

Mahatma. In this biography, Guha argues that Gandhi‘s

ideas were fundamentally shaped before his return to

India in 1915. ―It was during his years in England and

South Africa that he came to understand the nature of

imperialism and racism; and it was in South Africa that

he forged the philosophy and techniques that would

undermine and ultimately destroy the British Empire,‖

Guha says.

Based on a new material, and archival research in four

continents, the book presents a vivid portrait of Gandhi

and the world he lived in, a world of sharp contrasts

between the coastal culture of Gujarat, High Victorian

London, and colonial South Africa. It explores in rich

detail his experiments with dissident cults such as

Tolstoyans and vegetarians; his friendships with radical

Jews, heterodox Christians, and devout Muslims; his

enmities and rivalries; and his failures as a husband and

father.

The book tells the dramatic, profoundly moving story of

how the Mahatma inspired the devotion of thousands of

followers as he mobilised a cross-class and inter-religious

coalition, pledged to non-violence in their battle against a

brutally racist regime. Guha had previously looked at the

story of modern India in his 2007 book ―India after

Gandhi: The history of the world‘s largest democracy‖

„Feeding India‟

UPA‘s flagship Food Security Act is fine but a law alone

will not address related issues of nutrition, gender

security, new agricultural research and service delivery of

the welfare schemes, said authors of a book released on

September 26. ―Feeding India: Livelihoods, Entitlements

and Capabilities‖, co-authored by Bill Pritchard, Anu

Rammohan, Madhushree Sekher, S. Parasuraman, Chetan

Choithani, says that food security is one of the key global

challenges and lessons from India having a particular

significance worldwide. This is because not only does

India account for 25 percent of

world‘s malnourished people, it

provides a worrying case how rapid

economic growth may not provide

an assumed panacea to food

security. The book explains how

India‘s chronic food security

problem is a function of a distinctive

interaction of economic, political

and environmental processes.

Around 40 percent of the food requirement of the poor

comes from various social safety schemes. The authors

agreed that lack of governance rather than right policies

and funds, was a limiting factor behind the poor impact of

social welfare schemes in India. The book is an outcome

of collaborative research between TISS, the University of

Sydney and the University of Western Australia.

„Solo‟

Flanked by vintage sports cars and glamorous flight

attendants, author William Boyd on September 25

unveiled the new James Bond

novel ―Solo‖ in which he opts for a

1960s settings for 007‘s exploits.

Boyd said the novel, adorned with

a dust cover pierced through with

six ‗bullet holes‘, was the

culmination of a lifelong passion

for the original books about the

dashing British secret agent,

penned by Ian Fleming. ―Solo‖

steps away from the cinema

incarnation of Bond – currently played by the muscular

Daniel Craig – and portrays 007 as a veteran agent sent to

single-handedly stop a civil war in the fictional West

African nation of Zanzarim in 1969. The plot also takes

Bond to Washington, where he discovers a complicated

web of geopolitical intrigue, and to a host of cities around

the world. Boyd is the latest big-name author to take on a

Bond novel. The last two were penned by Sebastian

Faulks (―Devil May Care‖, in 2008) and Jeffery Deaver

(―Carte Blanche‖, in 2011).



34

Group Discussion

“None of the above” option for voters is a significant electoral reform

FOR

The decision by the Supreme Court to allow voters the

option to indicate a preference for none of the candidates

featuring on a ballot paper by clicking on a ―none of the

above‖ (NOTA) button can be seen as a step forward

towards an ever more legitimate and accountable electoral

system.

In a vibrant democracy, the voter must be given an

opportunity to choose ‗none of the above‘ (NOTA)

button, which will indeed compel the political parties to

nominate a sound candidate. According to the Supreme

Court ―Such an option gives the voter the right to express

his disapproval with the kind of candidates that are being

put up by the political parties. When political parties will

realise that a large number of people are expressing their

disapproval with the candidates being put up by them,

gradually there will be a systemic change and the political

parties will be forced to accept the will of the people and

field candidates who are known for their integrity.‖

No candidate should be declared elected if ‗NOTA‘ gets

most votes and a fresh election should be organised.

The ―right to reject‖ political candidates has long been a

desired objective of elements in civil society, and was a

major secondary ambition of the anti-corruption agitation

led by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal.

The ‗NOTA‘ verdict also addresses an inconsistency in

the previous set-up. For a voter, the secrecy of her action

is guaranteed by the Constitution. Currently, if a voter

wishes to reject all the candidates, then she is required to

ask for a form and fill it up. This is not only cumbersome

but also constrains the right to a secret ballot. In urban

areas, secrecy doesn‘t matter but in rural areas it does.

NOTA is surely a better option than the more stringent

‗right to recall‘ practiced in a few small countries such as

Switzerland where citizens can force a parliamentarian to

face recall vote if a minimum percentage of voters‘

support is obtained in a signature campaign. In India, the

right to recall could prove even more counter-productive.

Mustering the minimum support in a signature campaign

to trigger the referendum would not be difficult. But then,

the election calendar which is already fairly packed would

become a day-to-day event: A signature campaign in

some constituency or the other, on top of by-elections on

the death or resignation of candidates, would always be

going on, keeping the Election Commission more than

busy.

AGAINST

The The ‗NOTA‘ judgment is not going to result in any

substantial electoral reform. Also, it will not affect the

selection of candidates by political parties. It is nothing

more than a fashionable suggestion emanating from

armchair intellectuals.

Elections are held to elect the representatives of the

people. The process of NOTA goes contrary to the

electoral process of the country. In the current climate,

where people say all the candidates are tainted, if the

suggestion of NOTA is accepted by all the voters all over

the country, then the result will be that no one will get

elected. It defeats the purpose of holding elections. It may

make democracy impossible to function and we may face

a situation of anarchy.

‗NOTA‘ does not serve any purpose but needlessly

complicates the task of Election Commission. Those not

wanting to vote for any candidate are unlikely to visiting

a polling booth, stand in a queue and then vote NOTA.

They would rather stay at home. Also, even in the current

system, a form can be filled with the returning officer if a

voter wants to put on record that he wishes to vote for no

one. Why then ‗NOTA‘?

The Court believes that the right to vote is meaningless

unless voters are allowed to say they aren‘t enamoured of

any of the candidates in the fray. As a result, their

selection of candidates will reflect more seriousness. This



35

is because voters who do not bestir themselves to vote

would now exercise their franchise, albeit negative.

Impressive though this logic may be, it is not as if we are

going to see a sudden surge of voters coming out in

droves and thronging the voting booths, enamoured by the

new power in their hands. The current voter apathy is not

necessarily out of disillusionment with candidates; it is

also born of laziness. Compulsory voting could be a better

way of improving voter participation in the polling

process.

At present, under the Representation of the People Act,

the returning officer is duty-bound to declare the

candidate who secures the maximum

number of votes as the winner. ‗NOTA‘

is not a candidate. Under the present law

there can be no re-poll. This issue would

have to go back to Parliament.

There are other difficulties that might

also arise. For instance, in Naxalite-

dominated areas people could be forced

to exercise the NOTA option. They

could be coerced into pressing the

NOTA button by those who are

ideologically opposed to democracy.

This is an issue that needs to be carefully debated and

discussed.

There are other complex issues generated by ‗NOTA‘.

How many times will elections be held if NOTA is

always more than the dominant candidate? How long will

the Election Commission keep the model code of conduct

(MCC) in operation? If a candidate is defeated by NOTA,

can he or she contest again?

Studies have shown that voters are paid money before the

election, the sale of liquor increases, etc. Then, in spite of

the election laws, voters are ferried to the polling booth

by political parties. Most often, voters end up voting for

caste or community vote banks. Under such

circumstances, it is naive to believe that voting is based

on ideology, principles or merit of the candidate. ‗NOTA‘

is unlikely to make any difference to the current state of

elections in this country.

A recent study of poll

results of Parliament and

state Assemblies found

that on an average, 70

per cent of all those

elected had more votes

cast against them, than

for them. NOTA will

further worsen voter

cynicism about elections.

‗NOTA‘ is another

instance of the judiciary trespassing into the domain of

the executive. Parliament makes laws and courts to

examine them for their constitutional validity. Both have

to remain within their jurisdictional limit, otherwise, a

conflict arises. If the court starts taking over legislative

work then, it is overreaching its powers.



36

Mind Games: Crossword (Answers on page No: 39)

ACROSS

1. Capital of Rajasthan (6)

4. Akbar‘s grandfather (5)

7 & 47 across: He bagged a 2.4

million dollar contract with the

Kolkata Knight Riders (6.7)

13. Swindle or double-cross

(3,4)

14. Place where there‘s a

spring (3)

15. Withdraw, fall back or

rescind (7)

16. Liver secretion or ill-

temper? (4)

17. Assoc in App Science (3)

18. One of top 16 at

Wimbledon, e.g. (4)

21. Avoid humiliation, preserve

esteem? (4,4)

23. Thick slice of bread (8)

27. Where a trapped person

finds himself? (2, 1, 6)

29. Carnivorous arthropod with

segmented body (9)

31. The passing of a bill into

law (9)

32. The____: on the eve of

should we say? (3, 6)

33. Sad, pitiful or lamentable

(8)

37. An area for graves or tombs

(8)

42. How Mrs Hubbard found

the cupboard (4)

ACROSS

43. Also know as in short? (1, 1, 1)

44. A mark left after an injury has healed? (4)

47. See 7

48. Air Pollution Index (3)

ACROSS

49. Undistinguished descendants of the great (7)

50. Ex-India all-rounder Salim _ (6)

51. Adorn with precious stones (5)

52. Feeling concern or interest about (6)

DOWN

1. Delayed bodily effects due to long journey by plane? (3.3)

2. Sacred painting, mosaic, etc. in an orthodox church (4)

3. Put to use or make use of (7)

5. Alleviate, diminish or ease (7)

6. Collected or piled up (7)

8. Simple and natural? (7)

9. Abound or surround in great numbers (4)

10. More friendly, informally speaking? (6)

11. An excessive accumulation of serous fluid (6)

12. Played quickly (music) (6)

19. Palindromic Indian language (9)

20. Person or thing one particularly dislikes? (4,5)

22. Madras city as it is now called (7)

24. Barred as born a year or two too soon? (7)

DOWN

25. Dried, evaporated or ventilated? (5)

26. Yellow fever bug (5)

28. Frequently (3)

30. In-flight entertainment (3)

34. Pagan (7)

35. Not belonging to us? (6)

36. Travesty (7)

37. A highly poisonous substance (7)

38. Great numbers – or religious ceremonies? (6)

39. Russian empress (7)

40. Implored or beseeched (6)

41. Oh my _feet: my legs are paining a lot? (6)

45. Mid-East VIP (4)

46. Lines or curves satisfying a given geometric condition (4)



37

Do you remember?

(Answers on page No: 39)

1. What will be the equity stake of Tata Sons in the

airline joint venture with Singapore Airlines

announced in September 2013 (33%/49%/51%/74%)?

2. Which airport will be the operational hub of the airline

JV between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines

announced in September 2013

(Delhi/Mumbai/Chennai/Kolkata)?

3. Who will be the two Tata Group nominees in the

three-member board of Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines

joint venture announced in September 2013?

4. India‘s first commercial flight was from ________to

Mumbai on October 15, 1932.

5. Who was the pilot in India‘s first commercial flight on

October 15, 1932 and which was the aircraft used?

6. Which was the only Indian airline to have earned

profit in 2012-13?

7. Punjabi film ‗Qissa‘ won the NETPAC Award for

Best Asian Film at the Toronto International Film

Festival in Sept 2013. Abbreviation NETPAC expands

as:

8. Which was the Best Film award winning film at the

Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) in

September 2013?

9. Which Delhi-based NGO was conferred with the

National Communal Harmony Award by the President

on September 20, 2013?

10. Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskars were presented by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) in New Delhi in

September 2013. Who is the Chairperson of SNA?

11. When was the International Literacy Day observed

recently?

12. Which awards were given by the President of India on

International Literacy Day recently?

13. Which is the highest-ranked Indian institution in the

‗QS World University Rankings‘ released in

September 2013?

14. The first ―Engineers Conclave 2013‖ was organised in

New Delhi on September 17, 2013 jointly by the

Indian National Academy Engineering (INAE) and

______.

15. Who was sacked from the University Grants

Commission (UGC) for being a member of Aam

Aadmi Party (AAP) in September 2013?

16. The Supreme Court has struck down the clause in new

Representation of the People Act that provided MPs

and MLAs immunity from immediate disqualification

upon conviction. Who is the first MP to lose his Rajya

sabha seat in September 2013 after the Court verdict?

17. Which World Heritage Site in Delhi was inaugurated

after the completion of a restoration project aided by

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture in September 2013?

18. Which 10th

century sculpture, stolen from a

Bundelkhand temple in 1980s and returned by France

in 2008, was on display at New Delhi‘s National

Museum recently?

19. What is the full range of Agni-V missile that was test-

fired successfully on September 15, 2013?

20. Who conducted ―Exercise Eklavya‖ in September

2013?

21. What is the first initiative of the Ministry of Women &

Child Welfare under the Nirbhaya Fund for protection

of vulnerable women named?

22. Who is the author of ‗Pandora‘s Daughters‘?

23. The government announced the setting up of an

independent society for ―transforming livelihoods and

lives of rural households, with an emphasis on

women‖ in tribal areas in September 2013. What is the

society named?

24. India‘s refusal to sign which international treaty has

been a stumbling block in civilian nuclear cooperation

with Japan?

25. Where was the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

(SCO) Heads of State Summit organised in September

2013?

26. When was the 19th

International Day for the

Preservation of the Ozone Layer observed recently?

27. International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone

Layer commemorates the signing of the ___Protocol

on the Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

28. The 11th

APPU Congress was organised in New Delhi

in September 2013. APPU stands for:

29. Achim Steiner is the head of which UN agency?

30. Who is the Supreme leader of Iran? Ayatollah Ali

31. Which industrial complex on the North-South Korea

border was opened recently?

32. World‘s highest civilian airport was opened in which

province of China in September 2013?

33. Phiblex was the military exercise organised between

the US and which Asian country in South China Sea in

September 2013?

34. Ben Bernanke is the Chairman of US _________.

35. A recording of whose speeches delivered in 1947 was

handed over by All India Radio to Pakistan in

September 2013?

36. On whose book was the 2003 movie ‗Escape From

Taliban‘ based?



38

37. Who was crowned Miss World in Bali on September

28, 2013?

38. 21-year old Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola of Nigeria was

crowned Miss _______ World in Jakarta on September

19, 2013.

39. 24-year old Nina Davuluri was in news for winning

which beauty contest in Atlantic City, New Jersey on

September 15, 2013?

40. Which UNESCO award was won by India‘s Saakshar

Bharat Mission on International Literacy day recently?

41. What is the Parliament in Norway called?

42. Which are the top-three countries in terms of highest

per capita income in 2012 as per IMF assessment?

43. Who was the partner of Leander Paes in his Men‘s

Doubles title win at the US Open in September 2013?

44. Who won the Men‘s and Women‘s Singles titles at the

US Open tennis in September 2013?

45. Which two nations reached the Davis Cup final in

September 2013?

46. Who was elected as the ninth President of the

International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Buenos

Aires in September 2013?

47. The new President of the International Olympic

Committee (IOC) is a former gold medal winner in

which event at the Olympics

(Weightlifting/Shooting/Fencing/Judo)?

48. Who won the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)

Championship in Kathmandu on September 11, 2013?

49. Which was the first movie to use Dolby System in

1971?

50. Ray Dolby worked at ____ Corporation founded by

Alexander Poniatoff before starting his own company.

51. SEBI has the authority to regulate any money pooling

scheme worth Rs ______crore or more and attach

assets in cases of non-compliance under the Ordinance

promulgated in September 2013.

52. Forward Markets Commission (FMC) has been shifted

from _______ Ministry to the Finance Ministry from

September 2013.

53. SFIO is:

54. Who is the Chairman of Economic Advisory Council

to the Prime Minister?

55. Which petroleum is building a 9 MMTPA greenfield

refinery cum petrochemical complex in Rajasthan?

56. Which institute is being jointly set up by Institute of

Company Secretaries of India, the Institute of Cost

Accountants of India, the Institute of Chartered

Accountants of India in Ajmer, Rajasthan?

57. Who are the heads of the Institute of Company

Secretaries of India, the Institute of Cost Accountants

of India and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of

India?

58. What are demand liabilities of banks?

59. What are time liabilities of banks?

60. An increase in Repo rate __________

(encourages/discourages) banks to borrow from the

RBI.

61. A reduction in Cash Reserve Ratio __________

(increases/decreases) the amount of funds available

with the banks for lending.

62. Who is the Chairperson of the Expert Committee

constituted to examine the current monetary policy

framework of the Reserve Bank of India and

recommend what needs to be done to revise and

strengthen it with a view to, inter alia, making it

transparent and predictable?

63. Who is the author of Bihar Breakthrough released in

September 2013?

Mind Games: Sudoku (Answers on page No: 39)

SUDOKU I

SUDOKU II



39

Do you remember? Answers

1. 51%

2. Delhi

3. Prasad Menon & Mukund Rajan

4. Karachi

5. JRD Tata, Puss Moth

6. IndiGo

7. Network for the Promotion of Asian

Cinema

8. ‗Oass‘

9. The Foundation for Amity &

National Solidarity

10. Leela Samson

11. September 8, 2013

12. Saakshar Bharat awards

13. IIT Delhi

14. DRDO

15. Yogendra Yadav

16. Rasheed Masood of Congress

17. Humayun‘s Tomb

18. Vrishanana Yogini sculpture

19. 5,000 km

20. Indian Air Force (IAF)

21. Shubh

22. Kalyani Shankar

23. Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation

24. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

25. Bishkek

26. September 16, 2013

27. Montreal

28. Asian Pacific Postal Union

29. UN Environment Programme

30. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

31. Kaesong

32. Sichuan

33. The Philippines

34. Federal Reserve

35. Muhammad Ali Jinnah

36. Sushmita Banerjee

37. Megan Young

38. Muslimah

39. Miss America

40. King Sejong Literacy Prize

41. Storting

42. Luxembourg, Qatar & Norway

43. Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic

44. Rafael Nadal & Serena Williams

45. Czech Republic and Serbia

46. Thomas Bach of Germany

47. Fencing

48. Afghanistan

49. ‗A Clockwork Orange‘

50. Ampex

51. 100

52. Consumers Affairs

53. Serious Fraud Investigation Office

54. C. Rangarajan

55. HPCL

56. Centre of Excellence and Ethics

57. S. N. Ananthasubramanian, Suresh

Chandra Mohanty & Subodh

Agrawal

58. Savings and current account

deposits

59. All time bound deposits like fixed

deposits

60. Discourages

61. Increases

62. Urjit Patel, Deputy Governor, RBI

63. Rajesh Chakrabarti

Mind Games: Answers

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU I

SUDOKU II



40

Corporate Knowledge Quiz Directions for Qs. 1 – 50: Choose the correct answer from the four options (Answers on page No: 42)

1. Which of the following was chosen as the ‗most

valuable brand‘ in the world in 2013 by Interbrand‘s Best

Global Brands report released in September 2013?

a) Apple b) Coca-Cola

c) Google d) IBM

2. Which Indian kitchen appliances company has signed

Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan as its brand

ambassadors in September 2013?

a) Sunflame b) TTK Prestige

c) Inalsa Appliances d) Maharaja Appliances

3. Which aircraft manufacturer has dragged the Indian

government to international arbitration after its contract

to sell AgustaWestland helicopters was scrapped on

charges of corruption?

a) Lockheed Martin b) Finmeccanica

c) Boeing d) Dassault

4. Which country‘s citizens enjoy visa-free entry into the

largest number of countries (173) according to the

International Air Transport Association (IATA)?

a) USA b) Singapore

c) Australia d) United Kingdom

5. Which of the following was named world‘s top

university by the Times Higher Education Global

Ranking for the third year in a row in October 2013?

a) Massachusetts Institute of Technology

b) California Institute of Technology

c) Harvard University

d) Oxford University

6. BES stands for BlackBerry ________

a) Engineering Service b) Entertainment Service

c) Enterprise Service d) Ethernet Service

7. Which town in Gujarat was in news in September 2013

for getting GI (Geographical Indication) recognition for

its unique Patola fabric?

a) Bharuch b) Jamnagar

c) Patan d) Surendranagar

8. Which is the only Indian brand in the continent‘s top

ten brands by the African Business magazine in October

2013?

a) Tata b) Airtel

c) Godrej d) Mahindra

9. Electric car e2o is a product of which corporate group?

a) Tata b) Hinduja

c) CK Birla d) Mahindra

10. The World Gold Council (WGC) is headquartered in:

a) UK b) USA

c) Dubai d) Belgium

11. Who among the following Bollywood actors has

become the face of infotainment channel National

Geographic in September 2013?

a) Ajay Devgan b) Hrithik Roshan

c) Salman Khan d) John Abraham

12. Who among the following is the owner of popular

apparel brands such as Zara and Massimo Dutti?

a) Amancio Ortega b) Ingvar Kamprad

c) Carlos Slim d) Reed Hastings

13. Online payment service PayPal is owned by:

a) Visa b) eBay

c) MasterCard d) Amazon

14. Lloyd‘s List is a specialist publication on which form

of transportation business?

a) Roads b) Railways

c) Air cargo d) Shipping

15. Which continent has the highest number of

millionaires according to the world wealth report released

in Sept 2013 by Capgemini & Royal Bank of Canada?

a) Asia b) Europe

c) Australia d) North America

16. India-born Canadian entrepreneur Prem Watsa was in

news in September 2013 for a deal to buy which of the

following well-known technology brands?

a) Cisco b) Oracle

c) Motorola d) BlackBerry

17. Who owns the shaving brand Gillette?

a) Henkel b) Proctor & Gamble

c) Unilever d) Colgate Palmolive

18. Which of the following hosted the 10th Global HR

Summit organised in Gurgaon in September 2013?

a) FMS b) IIPM

c) Amity d) IBS



41

19. Which of the following has named Priyanka Chopra

as the most dangerous celebrity in Indian cyberspace in

September 2013?

a) NASSCOM b) McAfee

c) Google d) Facebook

20. Who has launched Cafe Cuba beverage in Sept 2013?

a) Coca Cola b) Nestle

c) PepsiCo d) Parle Agro

21. Which Indian IT company has launched the first all-

female business process outsourcing (BPO) centre in

Saudi Arabia in September 2013?

a) TCS b) Genpact

c) Infosys d) Cognizant

22. Anthony Lake is the head of which agency of the

United Nations?

a) UNESCO b) UNICEF

c) UNCTAD d) UNWTO

23. Which Indian IT company acquired Equinox

Consulting, a financial services company in France, in

October 2013?

a) TCS b) Genpact

c) Infosys d) Cognizant

24. Which of the following launched the Khadi Mark in

New Delhi on September 30, 2013?

a) Biba b) Fabindia

c) Gurjari d) Government of India

25. Hudl tab computer has been launched by which MNC

retailing company?

a) Tesco b) Metro

c) Walmart d) Carrefour

26. Which of the following has launched a paper-based

mosquito repellent called ‗Good Knight Fast Card‘?

a) P&G b) Henkel

c) Godrej d) Reckitt Benckiser

27. Which film production company is owned by Rakesh

a) Roshan?

b) Filmkraft c) Vishesh Films

c) Eros International d) Mukta Arts

28. Who is the highest paid corporate in India in 2012-13

with a pay package of Rs 56.25 crore?

a) Savitri Jindal b) Indu Jain

c) Kiran Mazumdar Shaw d) Kavery Maran

29. Arun Bhatia is a leading investor in which of the

following airlines?

a) IndiGo b) GoAir

c) Tata-SIA d) AirAsia India

30. Libero from Swedish firm SCA Hygiene is a leading

brand of:

a) Talc b) Diapers

c) Deodorant d) Insect repellent

31. Which is the brand owned by Beiersdorf AG?

a) Vaseline b) Garnier

c) Ponds d) Nivea

32. Which corporate group has forayed into the retailing

of solar-power based home appliances under brand

‗Ekosol‘?

a) L&T b) Tata

c) Mahindra d) Godrej

33. What was Videocon Mobile Services rebranded as in

September 2013?

a) Videocom b) Videocon Talk

c) Videcon Telecom d) Videocon Cellular

34. Which of the following is the only Indian corporate

group among Asia‘s 10 best companies for leadership by

global consultancy firm Hay Group in September 2013?

a) L&T b) Tata


35. Which business family is the promoter of tractor

manufacturer Escorts Ltd?

a) Nanda b) Mittal

c) Firodia d) Singhania

36. Ravindra Pisharody, new Chairman of the Audit

Bureau of Circulation (ABC), is associated with which of

the following corporate groups?

a) Tata b) Wadia


37. Which of the following pairs of media professionals

and their companies is matched correctly?

a) Sunil Lulla – Times Global Broadcasting Company

b) Ashish Kumar Bagga – News 24 Broadcast India

c) Anurradha Prasad – Independent News Services

d) Rajat Sharma – TV Today Network

38. Which corporate group has forayed into engineering

education in collaboration with the France-based Ecole



42

Centrale and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University,

Hyderabad in September 2013?

a) L&T b) Tata


39. ‗London Whale‘ is a trading scandal associated with

which leading US financial services firm?

a) JPMorgan b) Citigroup

c) Bloomberg d) Goldman Sachs

40. Arthur Levinson is the Chairman of:

a) Apple b) Google

c) Microsoft d) General Electric

41. WelcomHotel Sheraton, Fortune and

WelcomHeritage are hotels run by:

a) ITC b) Oberoi

c) Taj d) Hilton

42. Airtel has been signed as the sponsor of I-League

_____ tournament for 2013-14 in September 2013.

a) Hockey b) Football

c) Cricket d) Basketball

43. Which of the following has forayed into the male-

grooming segment with the launch of OxyLife Men

Crème Bleach in September 2013?

a) Marico b) Emami

c) Dabur d) Ozone Ayurvedics

44. Who is the richest American according to the annual

Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans list released in

September 2013?

a) Tim Cook b) Bill Gates

c) Mark Zuckerberg d) Warren Buffett

45. How many institutions from India are among the top

20 management institutes of the world, as per the

Financial Times (FT) Global Rankings survey releases in

September 2013?

a) 0 b) 1

c) 2 d) 3

46. Whose first acquisition in India in cosmetics business

is Mumbai-based Cheryl‘s Cosmeceuticals in September

2013?

a) P&G b) L‘Oreal

c) Body Shop d) Johnson & Johnson

47. Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, priced at Rs.49,900, was

launched in India in September 2013. It is based on which

operating system?

a) Windows Mobile b) Symbian

c) iOS 7 d) Android

48. Bump is a file-sharing application acquired by:

a) Microsoft b) Google

c) Facebook d) Yahoo!

49. Which of the following launched the scooter Jupiter

in September 2013?

a) TVS b) Mahindra2Wheelers

c) Hero MotoCorp d) Bajaj Auto

50. Asia Index is a joint venture launched by

_________and S&P Dow Jones in September 2013.

a) NSE b) MCX

c) BSE d) CRISIL

General Knowledge Quiz: Answer Key

1. a 2. b 3. b 4. d 5. b 6. c 7. c 8. b 9. d 10. a

11. d 12. a 13. b 14. d 15. d 16. d 17. b 18. c 19. b 20. d

21. a 22. b 23. d 24. d 25. a 26. c 27. b 28. d 29. d 30. b

31. d 32. c 33. c 34. b 35. a 36. a 37. a 38. c 39. a 40. a

41. a 42. b 43. c 44. b 45. c 46. b 47. d 48. b 49. a 50. c

Detailed Answers on next page



43

General Knowledge quiz: Detailed Answers

Answer 1: Technology giant Apple has been chosen as the world‘s ‗most valuable brand‘ for 2013 by Interbrand‘s Best

Global Brands report on September 30, 2013. Last year the top position went to

soft-drink manufacturer Coca-Cola, which slipped down to the third position this

year. It was the first time in 13 years that Coca-Cola lost out to Apple as the Best

Global Brands. Apple was followed by search giant Google on number two position

while IBM featured on fourth position, which till last year secured the third

position. The report said that social media giant Facebook made to 52nd

position

from 69 last year and it is also the site‘s first year on the list, while the sinking

smartphone company BlackBerry was wiped out of the list. The top ten companies who made it to the ‗most valued

brands‘ list include: 1. Apple 2. Google 3. Coca-Cola 4. IBM 5. Microsoft 6. General Electric 7. McDonald‘s 8. Samsung

9. Intel 10.Toyota.

Answer 2: Kitchen appliances manufacturer TTK Prestige, part of the Rs 2,500 crore TTK

Group, has roped in Bollywood star couple – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek

Bachchan – as their brand ambassadors. Prestige is re-introducing the line ―Jo biwi se kare

pyaar, woh Prestige se kaise kare inkaar‖ in an advertising campaign with the celebrity

couple, the company said in a statement on September 30, 2013. TTK Prestige offers various

kitchen utility products ranging from pressure cookers, non-stick cookwares and gas stoves

to electrical appliances and kitchen tools. It has 487 Prestige Smart Kitchen outlets in 238 towns across the country.

Answer 3: AgustaWestland has invoked arbitration over a scandal-tainted deal to sell helicopters to the government,

according to a statement on October 4, 2013 from the unit of Italy‘s

Finmeccanica. In February 2013, India froze payments on the 560 million

euro contract to supply 12 helicopters after the deal became mired in

allegations of bribery and the then-CEO of Finmeccanica was arrested by

Italian police for allegedly paying bribes to secure the deal. Italy and India

are separately investigating allegations that AgustaWestland paid bribes to

win the 2010 deal for the helicopters to be used for transporting VVIPS in India. AgustaWestland denies the allegations.

Answer 4: British citizens enjoy the widest range of visa-free travel in the world, able to

visit 173 countries with just a passport, while Indians get visa-free or visa-on-arrival access

in 52 countries. The UK citizens are on a par with those from Finland and Sweden for visa-

free access, according to Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index on October 4, 2013.

Nine of the top ten in the index are European Union countries, with the tenth being the US.

India is 74th on the list while Afghanistan is at the bottom of the table with only 28

countries allowing entry without visa. According to passport information from the

International Air Transport Association (IATA), 52 countries and territories provide visa-

free or visa-on-arrival access to holders of Indian passports. Twenty-eight countries and territories around the world are

accessible visa-free.

Answer 5: The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has again been named the world‘s top university by the

Times Higher Education Global Ranking. It is the third year in a row that the British organisation

ranked Caltech first among the top 200 universities around the world on October 3, 2013. Caltech is

followed by Harvard University, Oxford University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology round out the next four top institutes in the 2013-2014 rankings. Thirteen

performance indicators, including research (worth 30 percent of a school‘s overall ranking score),

teaching (30 percent), citations (30 percent), international outlook (which includes the total numbers

of international students and faculty), the ratio of scholarly papers with international collaborators

(7.5 percent), and industry income (a measure of innovation worth 2.5 percent), make up the data of the ranking. Located

in Pasadena, southern California, Caltech is a private research university with about 2,200 students on its rolls.



44

Answer 6: Struggling smartphone-maker BlackBerry on October 3, 2013 said it has received NATO approval to use its

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES10) and BB10 smartphones for classified

communications up to a ―restricted‖ level. The approval for classified communications,

just months after debut, is testament to thoroughness of its design and BlackBerry‘s

commitment to its defence and government customers, said BlackBerry in a statement.

The certification allows agencies in all 28 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)

member states across North America and Europe to use BlackBerry 10 smartphones in

the office or in the field. It provides assurance to security-conscious organisations,

including government agencies, companies in regulated industries and other firms dealing with sensitive information, that

data handled by BlackBerry 10 smartphones is strongly secured and encrypted.

Answer 7: ‗Patan Patola‘, a double-sided saree from Gujarat, has got recognition

from Geographical Indication (GI) Registry, said Chinnaraja G. Naidu, Assistant

Registrar of Trade Marks and Geographical Indications on September 30, 2013. The

Patan Double Ikat Patola Weavers‘ Association, Patan district, Gujarat, had filed an

application before the Registry of GI for registration of its products under the name of

‗Patan Patola.‘ Given the extreme complexity and time consuming process, very few

weavers continue the practice. Those who have continued, do so mostly out of sheer

passion for their work. For preparing a patola, skilled labour, precision, calculation

and patience are of utmost importance. At the end of the day, it is not possible to weave more than 8-9 inches of the

cloth.

Answer 8: Sunil Bharti Mittal-promoted Airtel is the only telecom company from India featuring on the list of top ten

global brands admired most in Africa, according to a survey. Airtel was placed at ninth on the list, beating Japanese car

manufacturer Honda, the survey conducted by the African Business Awards said in

Johannesburg on October 3, 2013. The list was headed by US-based Coca Cola, and

dominated by other US and European brands, the only other Asian brands were

Japan‘s Toyota and Samsung Electronics of Korea. The brand valuation is based on

estimated proportion of revenue that the parent company attributes to the brand on

the African continent. Airtel is India‘s largest telecom company with 192.22 million

subscribers as of August-end. The African Business Awards were launched by

African Business magazine. The full list is: 1. Coca Cola-US, 2. Shell-Netherlands

3. Samsung-South Korea 4. Vodafone-UK 5. Nike-US 6. Toyota- Japan 7. McDonald‘s-US 8. Pepsi Cola-US 9. Airtel-

India 10. Honda-Japan

Answer 9: Mahindra Reva, part of the $16.2 billion Mahindra Group, on September 25, 2013, announced a partnership

with cab rental firm Carzonrent. Under the

partnership, Carzonrent will offer Mahindra‘s

electric car e2o for self drive in the three cities at a

rate of Rs. 800 for 24 hours, from October 1, 2013.

The three cities are New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The service will be gradually expanded in all metropolitan cities.

Induction of e2o into the self-drive fleet has been undertaken to capture the huge potentially untapped organised self

drive market and make it cost-effective for the consumers.

Answer 10: The World Gold Council (WGC), on September 25, 2013, said it had elected

Randall Oliphant as its new Chairman, succeeding Ian Telfer, who steps down from the board.

The WGC is the market development organisation for the gold industry working within the

investment, jewellery and technology sectors, as well as engaging in government affairs, whilst

stimulating and sustaining demand for gold. Based in the UK, with operations in India, the Far

East, Europe and the US, the World Gold Council is an association whose 23 members comprise

the world‘s leading gold mining companies.



45

Answer 11: Actor-producer John Abraham has become the face of infotainment channel National Geographic. The 40-

year-old actor on September 27, 2013 also launched a new campaign ‗Unlock‘ with the channel. National Geographic

Society is an American scientific society founded (1888) in Washington, D.C.,

by a small group of eminent explorers and scientists ―for the increase and

diffusion of geographic knowledge.‖ With more than nine million members in

the mid-1990s, the organization is the world‘s largest scientific and educational

society. Although overseen by 24-person board, the society has been guided by a

member of the Grosvenor family almost since its inception. In addition to the

National Geographic Magazine, the society publishes books and atlases, issues weekly bulletins to educators, librarians,

and students, and operates a news service. In one of its most successful endeavours, the society has created hundreds of

documentary programs for television.

Answer 12: India on September 27, 2013 approved a proposal by Spain‘s Inditex S.A., the world‘s largest clothing

retailer and the owner of the Zara brand, to sell its Massimo Dutti line of

clothing, apparel, footwear and other products. India had rejected an

application by Inditex unit Zara Holdings BV to sell the more upscale brand

through a joint venture with Tata Group‘s retail arm, Trent Ltd., in July

2012. But the Foreign Investment Promotion Board on September 27

cleared the proposal. Inditex is a Spanish multinational clothing company

headquartered in Galicia, Spain. It is made up of almost a hundred

companies dealing in activities related to textile design, production and

distribution. Amancio Ortega, Spain‘s richest man, and the world‘s third richest man, is the founder and current largest

shareholder.

Answer 13: Online shopping site eBay on September 27, 2013 purchased online

payment firm Braintree for 800 million dollars in a bid to boost its PayPal unit‘s

presence on mobile devices. Despite PayPal being dominant in the online payment

platform, it faces competition from firms such as Chicago-based Braintree, whose

Venmo app lets consumers make payments on smartphones and tablets. About 40

percent of eBay‘s revenues come from PayPal, which has 120 million users. The deal

between eBay and Braintree makes reasonable sense strategically as it expands PayPal‘s distribution and removes a

competitor.

Answer 14: Lloyd‘s List, the specialist publication that has served the shipping industry for 280 years, is to become

fully digital, it announced in London on September 25, 2013.

―Lloyd‘s List -- the leading news, analysis and data source for the

global shipping industry -- is set to become a totally digital

publication by 20th December 2013,‖ it said in a statement.

Lloyd‘s List began in 1734 as a notice pinned to the wall of a

coffee shop in London, offering trusted shipping news and information to the customers.

Answer 15: Some 300,000 people joined Asia‘s millionaire ranks last year, according to a world wealth report released

on September 25, 2013 by Capgemini and Royal Bank of Canada, which also found that the region slipped behind a

rebounding North America. The survey found that the number of Asian millionaires grew 9.4 per cent in 2012 to 3.68

million people, up from 3.37 million the

year before. Economic growth, strong

stock markets, rising property prices and

the region‘s high savings rates helped

boost fortunes. The report defines wealthy

as those with at least USD 1 million in

liquid assets. It covered 10 Asian countries and territories including China, Japan, Australia and South Korea. Asia was

surpassed only by North America, where the millionaire population grew 11.5 per cent to 3.73 million.



46

Answer 16: Hyderabad-born IITian Prem Watsa, who has come to the rescue of floundering

mobile company BlackBerry, has been variously described as ―Canada‘s Warren Buffett‖, and

―billionaire king of lost causes‖. Watsa, 61, chairman and chief executive of Toronto-based Fairfax

Financial, was in news in September for his $4.7-billion deal to buy BlackBerry. Watsa‘s

―investment acumen in Canada is nearly unrivalled‖, said Canada‘s Global News noting that ―he‘s

earned the title ‗Canada‘s Warren Buffet‘ by making profits from bets on companies and market

trends that looked ill-advised at the time, but later turned out to be shrewd decisions‖. Hyderabad-

born Watsa completed his bachelor‘s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of

Technology in 1971. Fairfax was born in 1987 after Watsa took over Markel Financial Holdings

Ltd. and renamed it.

Answer 17: The world‘s largest household products maker, Procter & Gamble (P&G), will

soon be the sole promoter of shaving-products maker Gillette India, with the Saroj Poddar-

led Poddar Heritage group (Poddars), the domestic promoters, set to relinquish control for a

severance package. The Poddars, the founding partners of Gillette India who currently hold a

12.86 per cent stake in the company, valued at around Rs 950 crore, will yield control after

payment of an undisclosed sum from P&G. (September 27, 2013)

Answer 18: Amity International Business School organised its 10th Global HR Summit on the

theme ―Mining Human Potential and Managing Global Challenges for Creating Next Generation

Organisations‖ at Noida, Uttar Pradesh on September 26-27, 2013. During the two days conference

renowned professionals, leading HR experts across multiple sectors, Academicians from leading

educational institutions and Stalwarts from multiple domains deliberated on issues in the area of

Human Resource Management.

Answer 19: Actress Priyanka Chopra has topped the list of the most dangerous celebrities in the Indian cyberspace this

year followed by Bollywood superstars Shah

Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, according to a

study. Priyanka knocked off Sunny Leone, who

topped the list last year but dropped to the ninth

position this time, in the study by security

software maker McAfee released on September

24, 2013. Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Kumar

were in the top five in the study which highlights

how cybercriminals use celebrities to take

advantage of fans seeking more information

about their idols. This year, searching for a

celebrity‘s name, with search terms like ―wall

paper‖, ―videos‖ and ―nude pictures‖ resulted in the highest instances of malware-laden sites. Chopra, showed 79

infected search results, while Shah Rukh was at the second spot with 75 malicious sites, Salman ranked third, with 68

infected sites.

Answer 20: Fast moving consumer goods major Parle Agro on September 24, 2013 re-

entered the Rs.15,000 crore carbonated soft drinks (CSD) segment with the launch of Cafe

Cuba. Parle had exited the carbonated beverage segment 20 years ago when it sold off

brands like Thums Up and Limca to Coca Cola. Prakash Chauhan, chairman and

managing director, said that the new drink which is currently available in 250 ml cans,

priced at Rs.20 and blends flavour of roasted coffee beans with strong carbonated fizz.

Apple also markets beverages like Frooti, Appy, Grappo Fizz and Saint Juice, mineral water

brand Bailey, confectionary brands ButterCup and Mintrox, snack brand Hippo. Prakash

Chauhan‘s brother Ramesh runs Bisleri International.



47

Answer 21: India‘s TCS, GE launch female BPO centre in Saudi

Arabia: India‘s Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in partnership

with GE and Saudi Aramco on September 24, 2013 launched first

all-female business process outsourcing (BPO) centre in Saudi

Arabia that will create nearly 3,000 jobs in the Gulf kingdom. The

centre, in Dhahran, headquarters of Saudi Aramco, will be staffed

by Saudi women with TCS and GE owning 76 percent and 24 percent equity respectively in the new venture, which will

initially serve Saudi Aramco and GE as anchor clients.

Answer 22: To help the government in its efforts to improve the chances of survival, development and growth of

children in India, the IKEA Foundation has contributed Euro 60 million for

UNICEF‘s programmes, the UNICEF said on September 23, 2013. The IKEA

Foundation is UNICEF‘s biggest corporate donor globally. Since 2002,

UNICEF programmes funded by the IKEA Foundation have impacted the lives

of over 74 million people living in 15 states in India. ―Five million infants and

five million mothers in marginalised communities can receive better access to

health, nutrition, water and sanitation services and 7 million more children can

continue to go to school and receive a quality education,‖ said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive

Director.

Answer 23: Francisco D‘souza-led Cognizant Technology Solutions on October 2, 2013 said it has

acquired Equinox Consulting, a financial services company in France. About 160 consulting

professionals from Equinox will join Cognizant. Equinox provides consulting services in

investment banking, asset management, retail banking, insurance and specialised financial services.

Founded in 2004, the company has regulatory expertise spanning Basel III and Solvency II. It also

has expertise in strategy consulting, organisation and operations management, change management

and HR consulting.

Answer 24: To give a distinct identity to khadi promoted by Mahatma Gandhi to counter Western fabric, President

Pranab Mukherjee launched the Khadi Mark in New Delhi on September 30,

2013. The launch of Khadi Mark will ensure that no textile can now be sold or

otherwise traded by any person or institution as Khadi in any form or manner

without it bearing a Khadi Mark tag, sticker or label, the Ministry of Small and

Medium Enterprises said. ―The mark is expected to provide a much-needed

identity to khadi as an assurance of purity and genuineness to customers to

boost sales. This is part of the ongoing reform measures in the sector to keep up

with the changing times,‖ the Ministry said in a release. The MSME Ministry in

July notified the Khadi Mark Regulations 2013 to ensure the genuineness of

khadi — hand spun and hand woven, containing natural fibres

(cotton/wool/silk) produced in India. K. H. Muniyappa, MSME Minister, said

khadi worth Rs 762 crore was produced in 2012-13. He said under the Khadi

Reform Development Programme, direct assistance was given to 300 existing khadi institutions.

Answer 25: Tesco is hoping to make tablet computers accessible to a broader range

of people with the launch of its Hudl tablet computer on September 24, 2013.

Tesco‘s new 7in Android tablet is family-focused, with kid-friendly features and a

beginner‘s guide to Android built in. Offering a low-cost alternative to Google‘s

£199 Nexus 7 and Amazon‘s recently price-cut £119 Kindle Fire HD, Tesco is

aiming the £119 Hudl at people who wouldn‘t ordinarily think of buying a tablet

computer. The Hudl comes pre-loaded with access to Tesco‘s shopping sites and

digital services such as music and video streaming.



48

Answer 26: Godrej Consumer Products has created a new market with its new paper

format mosquito repellent. This new product is called Good Knight Fast Card and is

nothing more than a slip of paper that burns for three minutes but is effective for

nearly four hours. It consumes no electricity and is smoke-free, which makes it

different from all other mosquito repellents in the market so far. The product has

been priced at an attractive Re 1/per use and comes in a pack of 10 cards. Mosquito

coils from Godrej Consumer are priced at Rs 2.50 a piece. (September 24, 2013).

Godrej Consumer‘s research and development team in India and Indonesia has

developed this product. The product has already been launched in Indonesia under the brand name Hit Paper Magic.

Answer 27: As the release date for the latest installment in the Krissh series grows near, the

makers of the film are pulling out all stops to promote it in unusual ways. This time around,

Graphic India and Filmkraft Productions (the producer of Krissh 3) have collaborated to

launch an original digital comic series and comic magazine called ―Krrish: Menace of the

Monkey Men.‖ The story features the original adventure of Krrish written and illustrated by

comic book creators -- Tom De Falco, Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema -- who have worked on

leading comic book characters such as Spider-Man, Superman and Thor among others.

Filmkraft Productions has been founded by acclaimed producer and Director, Rakesh

Roshan.

Answer 28: Sun TV promoters Kalanithi Maran and his wife Kavery were the top paid corporates

in India in 2012-13 with a package of Rs 56.25 crore each among the listed companies, replacing

Jindal Steel‘s Naveen Jindal who is at third position this year with Rs 54.98 crore package. Aditya

Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, who was paid Rs 49.62 crore by his five listed firms

together, was at the fourth position. Hero MotoCorp‘s father-son trio, Brijmohan Lall Munjal (Rs

32.72 crore), Pawan Munjal (Rs 32.80 crore) and Sunil Kant Munjal (Rs 31.51 crore), occupy the

next three positions in the top 10 highest paid executives list. The pay packages include salary,

perquisites, commissions, profit-linked incentives, sitting fees and other benefits. The data has been

taken from the annual reports of the companies that have so far been published. Mukesh Ambani,

once the country‘s highest-paid executive, is at 16th position with a remuneration of Rs 15 crore,

which has remained unchanged for the fifth consecutive year now. (September 22, 2013)

Answer 29: Malaysian low cost brand AirAsia cleared another hurdle for launching its domestic

airline in India. The civil aviation ministry on September 20, 2013 granted a no objection clearance to

AirAsia for launch of operations. Now the airline will have to apply to the Directorate General of

Civil Aviation for an operator permit. AirAsia India which will be based in Chennai is co-owned

AirAsia (49%), Tata group (30 percent) and Delhi based industrialist Arun Bhatia‘s Telestra

Tradeplace (21%).

Answer 30: Companies such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly Clarke and Unicharm,

key companies in the Rs 4,000-crore baby diaper market in India, will now have to

contend with one more competitor in Swedish firm SCA Hygiene. The world‘s

second-largest baby diaper maker is launching its brand Libero in the country. Libero

competes in most markets across the world with P&G‘s Pampers, Kimberly Clarke‘s

Huggies and Unicharm‘s Mamy Poko Pants.

Answer 31: Skincare brand Nivea India, affiliate of Beiersdorf AG, on

September 13, 2013 launched a new campaign for its men fresh active deodorant.

The campaign features Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal who is the face of Nivea

Men. The company also launched a new campaign for its ‗Nivea Fruity Shine Lip

Care‘ lip balm collection, titled ‗Kiss and Make up‘.



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Answer 32: The Anand Mahindra-promoted Mahindra group on September 13, 2013 announced

its entry into retailing of solar power based home appliances, meant primarily for the rural markets.

The group has coined a new brand tag ‗Mahindra Ekosol‘ for its solar products business with five

product lines — lanterns, home lighting systems, inverters, water pumps and street lighting

systems.

Answer 33: Videocon Mobile Services, a subsidiary of Videocon Industries, on September

19, 2013 rebranded itself as Videcon Telecom. The company roped in Punjabi actor and

singer Gippy Grewal as its brand ambassador and also unveiled a new logo which replaces

text ‗mobile services‘ in its old logo with Telecom in white and green box. The company in

November 2012 auctions won spectrum in six circles for Rs 2,221.44 crore and operates in

four circles of Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, at present. It aims to add

about 60 lakh subscribers in 2013-14. The company had over 22 lakh customers at the end of

May 2013.

Answer 34: Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group has moved up one place and is now ranked fourth among Asia‘s

10 best companies for leadership, says a survey by global consultancy firm Hay Group on September 19, 2013. Tata

Group is the only Indian entity which has managed to find a place in the list of ten best companies for leadership in Asia.

The Indian corporate major has been ranked at the fifth position among ten best

companies for leadership in Asia list, which was topped by Samsung Group

followed by Toyota Motors and Unilever at the second and third position,

respectively. Others in the top 10 in Asia include Petronas, General Electric, IBM,

Sony, Coca-Cola and DHL International. According to Hay Group, the Best

Companies for Leadership (BCL) globally are strategic in developing and

motivating leaders throughout the organisation to do their best. Among the global

best leadership companies, Procter & Gamble topped the list, followed by

Microsoft, General Electric and Coca-Cola. In comparison, Asia‘s Best Companies for Leadership exhibit a profound

ability to maintain the balance between their ability to explore (innovate) and exploit existing marketing strengths to

achieve business excellence in tough times. The report further noted that best companies for leadership report higher

usage rates of web-based leadership modules, classroom-based leadership training, and mentoring.

Answer 35: Tractor maker Escorts Ltd on September 19, 2013 said it has appointed Nikhil

Nanda as Managing Director of the company. ―The Board of Directors unanimously believed that

it was time for Nikhil to shoulder larger responsibilities given the ambitious targets that the

company has set,‖ Escorts Chairman Rajan Nanda said.

Answer 36: The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) on September 20,

2013 elected Ravindra Pisharody, Executive Director at Tata Motors as its chairman while M

Venkatesh of HT Media was elected as the deputy chairman for 2013-14. The Audit Bureau of

Circulation, set up in 1948, audits the circulations of major publications, including newspapers

and magazines in India. The council also elected 14 other members to the management council

representing advertisers, advertising agencies and publishers.

Answer 37: The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on September 20, 2013 appointed KVL

Narayan Rao, Executive Vice Chairperson of NDTV group, as its President for the year 2013-

14. Other members on the NBA board for 2013-14 include Rajat Sharma, Chairman of

Independent News Services Pvt Ltd; Sunil Lulla, MD and CEO of Times Global Broadcasting

Company Ltd; Alok Agrawal, CEO of Zee News Ltd; Ashish Kumar Bagga, Director of TV

Today Network, and Anurradha Prasad, Chairperson and MD, News 24 Broadcast India Ltd.

NBA presently has 24 leading media broadcasters as its members, representing 51 news and

current affairs channels.



50

Answer 38: The Mahindra Group has marked its entry into the technical education space by

setting up an engineering institution in Hyderabad. Mahindra École Centrale has been set up in

collaboration with the France-based Ecole Centrale and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological

University-Hyderabad. According to Tech Mahindra executive vice chairman Vineet Nayyar on

September 20, 2013, the institute would facilitate extensive industry-university collaboration to

generate global soft-skilled tech managers, which for India is quite important to maintain global

edge. The institute also aims to bring the upfront industry managerial practices close to practising

engineering graduates.

Answer 39: JPMorgan Chase & Co., the US‘ largest bank by assets, has agreed to pay $920 million to the US and

British regulators to settle violations connected with a derivatives trading scandal. The failure of the bank‘s internal

controls on transactions by a former Britain-based trader, who came to

be known as the ―London whale‖ because of his team‘s massive

derivatives bets, led to a trading loss of roughly $6 billion in 2012. The

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on September 19,

2013 it had charged JPM with ―mis-stating financial results and

lacking effective internal controls to detect and prevent its traders from

fraudulently overvaluing investments to conceal hundreds of millions of dollars in trading losses.‖

Answer 40: Google said it had teamed up with Apple‘s chairman to launch a new company that

will attempt to significantly increase the human lifespan. Calico will use biotechnology to tackle

major illnesses and ageing, the search giant announced on September 17, 2013. The new company

will be led by Arthur Levinson, who as well as being chairman of Apple and biotech firm

Genentech, holds a PhD in biochemistry from Princeton and is also a member of the Biotech Hall of

Fame. Announcing the creation of Calico, Google chief executive Larry Page said: ―Illness and

ageing affect all our families... from the decreased mobility and mental agility that comes with age,

to life-threatening diseases that exact a terrible physical and emotional toll on individuals and

families.

Answer 41: ITC Ltd on September 16, 2013 said it has entered into an agreement to manage

five hotels owned by West Asia-based Indian businessman Ravi Pillai. As part of the agreement

with RP Group Hotels and Resorts, ITC will manage the properties under the upmarket

WelcomHotel and mid-market Fortune brands. Two properties in Kerala and Calicut will

operate as WelcomHotel Raviz. The other three — two in Dubai and one in Calicut — will

operate as Fortune Raviz. Raviz is the hotel brand of RP Group. ITC operates more than 90

hotels through four brands — ITC Hotels, WelcomHotel, Fortune and WelcomHeritage.

Answer 42: I-League got its title sponsor on September 20, 2013 with the Airtel being roped in for the 2013-14 edition

of the tournament. All India Football Federation (AIFF) I-League started on

September 21. There are 15 teams in the I-League, India‘s top-level football

league. During the course of a season (from October to May) each club plays

the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their

opponents, for a total of 28 games. Teams receive three points for a win and

one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by

total points. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. The

current champions are Churchill Brothers, who won the title during the 2012–13 Season.

Answer 43: DELHI: FMCG firm Dabur India on September 18, 2013 said it has entered the

male grooming market with the launch of OxyLife Men Creme Bleach and a male professional

facial bleach, targeting the men‘s beauty salon and parlour market. Brands marketed by Dabur

include Dabur Amla, Dabur Chyawanprash, Vatika, Réal, Dabur Red Toothpaste, Dabur Lal

Dant Manjan, Babool, Hajmola, Dabur Honey, Glucose, Fem and Odonil.



51

Answer 44: The richest 400 Americans are significantly richer in 2013 than they were last

year. The annual Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans list released in New York on September

17, 2013 was topped by Bill Gates, who at 57 has a net worth of $72 billion. He was

followed by Warren Buffett with $58.5 billion.

Answer 45: Country‘s premier business school, Indian

Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) clinched the 19th rank among the top 20

management institutes of the world, as per the Financial Times (FT) Global Rankings

survey. IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad are the two institutions from India to feature

in this ranking released on a release said on September 16, 2013.

Answer 46: L‘Oreal, the French cosmetics major, on September 20, 2013,

announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based Cheryl‘s Cosmeceuticals, a professional

skincare products and treatment company. L‘Oreal India did not reveal the size of the

acquisition. Cheryl‘s Cosmeceuticals has a turnover of Rs. 20 crore, and reaches

10,000 salons across India. L‘Oreal‘s professional products division has three

brands—L‘Oreal Professional, Matrix and Kerastase. L‘Oreal intends to retain the

Cheryl‘s brand name.

Answer 47: Note 3, Galaxy Gear: Korean mobile maker Samsung, on September 17, 2013,

announced the launch of its Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, priced at Rs.49,900, as well as its

Galaxy Gear smart watch, which has been priced at Rs.22,900, in the domestic market. The

Note 3, which is the most expensive device from the handset manufacturer‘s stable, is

powered by the Android operating system, and comes with a 5.7 inch screen along with a 13

megapixel camera.

Answer 48: Google on September 17, 2013 acquired file-sharing app developer Bump for

undisclosed financial terms. Bump CEO David Lieb said that the company‘s apps, which also

include a photo sharing service, Flock, will keep working for now. The app, launched more than

four years ago, allows users to share files by bumping devices together.

Answer 49: With the festive season just round the corner, automobile companies are stepping on the gas in terms of

promotions and launches. The latest in that lineup is Venu Srinivasan-led TVS Motor Company

which has just rolled out a model in the rapidly growing scooter segment called TVS Jupiter on

September 18, 2013 at an ex-showroom price of Rs 46,354. Jupiter is the latest in the company‘s

―new wave of feature rich‖ products. For instance it features the TVS patented Econometer

which guides riders in both ‗Eco Mode‘ and ‗Power Mode‘ which helps the rider to manage and

achieve highest possible fuel efficiency from TVS Jupiter. TVS currently sells around 35,000

units of its Wego scooters per month and with the addition of Jupiter, expects the sales number

is expected to go up to 50,000 units by December end.

Answer 50: Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and S&P Dow Jones on September 16, 2013 announced a joint venture

company, Asia Index, to provide an array of indices enabling global and domestic investors to

participate in South Asia‘s vibrant economies. The 50:50 partnership would bring together

BSE‘s closely-watched India index suite, which includes the Sensex, with S&P Dow Jones

Indices‘ 115 years of experience in publishing transparent and independent global benchmarks.

―It (Asia Index) will bring additional focus to our efforts to serve investors and develop new

business in an area of tremendous potential in India and the entire South Asia geography,‖ BSE

MD and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan said. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a subsidiary of

The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the world‘s largest, global resource for index-based concepts,

data and research. BSE is Asia‘s oldest stock exchange and home to the iconic Sensex index - a

leading indicator of Indian equity market performance.



52

Face-off

―It is about when we make an investment;

we need to know what our tax equations

are. We do not want to have the goal posts

changed.‖

– Ron Somers, President, US India

Business Council (USIBC), saying there

needs to be ―clarity and predictability‖ on

issues of policy and taxation in India

―When Indian economy was growing at the

rate of eight to nine per cent, I think

everybody was quite happy. Even when

there were defects in our policies, they were

overlooked, and when the economy slows

down, people try to find faults and excuses.‖

– Manmohan Singh, PM, on US concerns

―I welcome the judgement. If not

immediately, it will eventually improve the

quality of candidates fielded by political

parties.‖

– T. S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief

Election Commissioner, on the Supreme

Court verdict giving voters right to reject

candidates fighting elections

―I don‘t think this is the way to address

democracy because when you exercise your

franchise you have to cast your vote in

favour of a candidate. And if you don‘t

choose any candidate ... How are you going

to improve the election and polity.‖

– Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon

―This is a landmark judgement. As you

sow, so you shall reap.‖

– Kirti Azad, former cricketer & BJP

leader

―Sad that he is found guilty, he has been

framed, sure he‘ll provide evidences &

prove his innocence.‖

– Digvijay Singh, ex-MP CM & senior

Congress leader defending convicted RJD

supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav

―There was no need to bring an ordinance

from the backdoor to protect convicted

lawmakers from immediate

disqualification.‖

– Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM, on the

ordinance aimed at protecting convicted

lawmakers

―One should be given the chance to file an

appeal. Why is there the system of appellate

courts then?‖

– Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha

Speaker, against immediate disqualification

for convicted MPs and MLAs

+

―You might not agree with the selection,

that‘s your prerogative. But to

continuously and recklessly make

comments and innuendos about it is really

not done.‖

– Supran Sen, Secretary General, Film

Federation of India (FFI), on ‗Lunchbox‘

Director Ritesh Batra‘s criticism of the FFI

jury for selecting ‗Good Earth‘ as India‘s

entry to Oscars

―Sir, please use your good offices to give us

a transparent, objective process with a public

and not a secret jury. It is a direct and

humble request, not a criticism.‖

– Ritesh Batra, responding to Sen

―It is really sad that they banned the person

who created the league but people who are

fixing matches are being protected by the

BCCI members.‖

– Lalit Modi, former IPL Commissioner,

after the BCCI imposed a life ban on him

―Everybody today attended the meeting and

voted in favour. There was not a single

dissent vote.‖

– Rajiv Shukla, Rajya Sabha MP and

former BCCI vice-president, on BCCI‘s

Special Meeting that banned Modi

genesis-october 2013 issue ii

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