Genesis-November 2015 Issue I PDF

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve
The Genesis
November 2015-Issue-I
Current Affairs
GrandalliancewinsBiharAssemblypolls
India,States
5,13
World
14
Sports
18
Economy
20
Corporate
22
CyberBuzz
30
Science&Technology
31
People
Faces:BrijmohanLallMunjal
17
BusinessBiography:ThomasStemberg
21
Bihar polls: 3
An uneasy coalition of two
regional leaders - socialist
friends-turned-adversariesturned-allies - has handed a
resounding defeat to the BJPled NDA by registering a
margin
of
victory
that
confounded predictions
Knowledge Corners
Books
29
GD:Preelectionopinionpollsshouldbebanned
12
Crossword
32
Sudoku
40
Doyouremember?
33
CorporateKnowledgeQuiz
36
PointCounterpoint
39
Faces: 17
Brijmohan Lall Munjalcame
from
a
generation
of
corporate
leaders
who
created their businesses from
scratch in the oppressive
licence-permit
raj
environment but also went
on to excel in todays freemarket era
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THE GENESIS
Grand alliance wins Bihar Assembly polls
An uneasy coalition of two regional leaders - socialist friends-turned-adversaries-turned-allies - has handed

a resounding defeat to the BJP-led NDA by registering a margin of victory that confounded predictions that
this would be a closely fought contest
decide the fate of national politics. Kumar said that in

spite of big victory in the elections, he will respect the
opposition in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
called up Kumar and congratulated him on his victory.
Overwhelmed by the the poll results, RJD president Lalu
Prasad claimed that the verdict of the Bihar assembly
elections has marginalized Modi.
BJP has dismissed the contention that RSS Chief Mohan
Bhagwats remarks on reservation policy had any
negative impact on the partys electoral loss in Bihar.
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said Grand
alliance has succeeded in forming better social equation in
the assembly elections.
The Grand Alliance has registered a big win in Bihar
Assembly electionsby securing 178 seats in the 243member legislative assembly in the results declared on
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has termed the

Bihar poll outcome as the defeat of the divisive agenda of
the BJP and the RSS.
November 8, well ahead of the two-third mark of 162.

Of this, RJD bagged 80 seats, JDU 71 and Congress 27.
Kumar and Yadav face the tough job of staying together

and working together for Bihar - coalitions in India can be
notoriously fickle, and governments run by them are
infamous for corruption and cronyism. It is still not clear
how this coalition will work for Bihar.While questions
were being asked on whether Lalus superior performance
would push him to make unreasonable demands on Nitish
Kumar, including seeking the post of Deputy Chief
Minister for one of his sons, both leaders dismissed them
as speculative.
NDA has secured 58 seats of which BJP has got 53 seats.

LJP and RLSP have bagged two seats each while HAM
has got one seat. Others have won seven seats.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar termed the mandate as the
victory of self respect of the people of Bihar. Kumar said,
the people of Bihar have chosen solidarity of the grand
alliance ignoring the aggressive campaigning of the NDA.
He also said that he is not biased against anybody and will
welcome the support from everybody for all round
development of the state. He opined that the result will
The Grand Alliance surpassed the NDA in all regions of

the State. The cumulative vote share of the Grand
Alliance was 41.9 per cent while that of the BJP-led NDA
THE GENESIS
4
of the 49 seats in the state.But the prime
ministers lustre seems to have somewhat
diminished since.
The losing alliance have a lot of lessons to learn
from the Bihar verdict.
stood at 34.2 per cent. Significantly, the BJPs own vote

share, at 24.5 per cent, was not a drastic reduction from
the 29.86 per cent it secured over a year ago, in the Lok
Sabha poll. Also, it was higher than the 16.49 per cent
that the BJP notched up in 2010. In that election, it was
enough to secure as many as 91 seats for the BJP. But this
time the party managed only 53 seats despite increasing
its vote share by about nine percentage points.
In contrast, two constituents of the Grand Alliance were
able to secure more seats without corresponding increases
in vote shares. The RJD managed to secure 80 seats with
an 18.4 per cent vote share; in 2010, it won only 22 seats
with a similar vote share (18.84 per cent). At 6.7 per cent,
the Congress vote share was down two percentage points
from its 2010 performance (8.37 per cent). But the seats it
won increased from four to 27. As for the JD (U), it
secured fewer seats (71 as opposed to 115 in 2010), but it
did so with only 16.8 per cent of the vote as against 22.58
per cent in 2010.
Indias most-talked about election this year has now
delivered what many say is a historic verdict.Bihars
voters can be fiendishly difficult to fathom - economic
aspirations are often leavened with primordial loyalties of
caste and religion.
Modi came to Bihar promising jobs and development in a
reprise of the campaign which helped him to sweep to
power in Lok Sabha polls of 2014 when the BJP won 31
First, running a campaign that uses

development, caste and religion does not always
work. Voters should be more respected for their
wisdom.
Secondly, voters appear to be increasingly
sceptical of the Prime Ministers promises of
growth and development. Many believe the
Bihar verdict shows he hasnt convinced many
people that he has the ability to deliver on his
key promise.Even some of his most ardent
supporters say Modi has run a lacklustre and
underwhelming government in the past 18
months. The tyranny of expectations is
beginning to bite. The needless provocations of
some of his noisy lawmakers and ministers and
the radical fringe are giving his government a bad name at
home and abroad.
Thirdly, Modi is seen as a less invincible and strong
leader. The rout in Delhi shattered the aura of
invincibility. The Bihar debacle proves that the
enthusiasm has waned further. Many are wondering how
a prime minister with one of the largest poll victories in
Indias history is unable to rein in hardliners in his own
flock.
Finally, the BJP should now be ready to face a
reinvigorated opposition - in tatters after last years
debacle.
The fact that the BJP could not take on a motley coalition
in which one of the leaders, Yadav, was convicted in a
corruption case and has been effectively barred from
holding office until 2024, points to the BJPs lack of
political imagination and accommodation.
The prime minister needs to regain the initiative, rein in
the recalcitrant hotheads in his party and engage with his
opponents in a more befitting manner.
The results are a big blow to Mr Modis momentum. His
future now depends on how he responds. If he uses this
verdict as a wake-up call and cleans out the ugly side, he
could turn it around. There will be also infighting in the
party now,says political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta.
THE GENESIS
Current Affairs: India

HAPPENINGS
SC Bench strikes down NJAC Act as unconstitutional and void
Declaring that the judiciary cannot risk being caught in a web of
indebtedness towards the government, the Supreme Court in October
rejected the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act and the
99th Constitutional Amendment which sought to give politicians and civil
society a final say in the appointment of judges to the highest courts.
It is difficult to hold that the wisdom of appointment of judges can be shared
with the political-executive. In India, the organic development of civil
society, has not as yet sufficiently evolved. The expectation from the judiciary, to safeguard the rights of the citizens of
this country, can only be ensured, by keeping it absolutely insulated and independent, from the other organs of
governance, Justice J.S. Khehar, the presiding judge on the five-judge Constitution Bench, explained in his individual
judgment.
The Bench in a majority of 4:1 rejected the NJAC Act and the Constitutional Amendment as unconstitutional and void.
It held that the collegium system, as it existed before the NJAC, would again become operative. Justice J.
Chelameswar was the dissenting judge.
Every judge on the Bench, comprising Justices J. Chelameswar, Madan B. Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A.K. Goel, has
written separate judgments explaining the debate, reasonings and individual conclusions they arrived at about the NJAC
and the Constitutional Amendment. The entire bulk of the series of judgments and orders run to about 1,000 pages.
The Bench admitted that all is not well even with the collegium system of judges appointing judges, and that the time
is ripe to improve the 21-year-old system of judicial appointments. Justice Khehar scheduled further debate for
November on bettering the working of the collegium system.
Uniform Civil Code necessary but consensus neededGowda: A Uniform Civil Code is necessary for
national integration but any decision to bring it can be taken only after wider consultations, Law Minister D V Sadananda
Gowda said in October after the Supreme Court asked the Centre whether it is willing to bring in a common code. The
government plans to file an affidavit in this regard in the apex court. Even the Preamble of our Constitution and Article
44 of the Constitution do say that there should be a Uniform Civil Code. For the interest of national integration, certainly
a common civil code is necessary. But it is a very sensitive issue. It needs very wider consultation, Gowda said.
PM unveils statue of former President Kalam: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of former
president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) Bhavan in New Delhi on the
occasion of his birth anniversary on October 15. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar renamed the countrys prestigious
Missile Complex at the Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in Hyderabad as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex. Dr
Kalam had joined Missile Complex, DRDO in 1982 and was a part of it for nearly two decades.
Govt employees get more time to disclose assets: Government has extended the deadline for central
government employees to file details of their assets and liabilities along with that of their spouses and dependent children
as part of mandatory obligations under Lokpal Act. Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) extended the deadline
by six months till April 15, 2016. As per rules, notified under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, every public
servant shall file declaration, information and annual returns pertaining to his assets and liabilities.
Chemists oppose online sale of medicines: The All India Organisation of Chemists & Druggists (AIOCD)
held a nationwide chemists strike in October demanding action from the Centre against illegal online sale of
medicines. The AIOCD has strongly opposed the governments move to regularise sale of medicines through internet that
THE GENESIS
is e-Pharmacy in larger public interest. It claimed it was illegal to sell medicines on internet under the Drugs and
Cosmetics Act 1940. They alleged the internet online pharmacies are supplying products without confirming the
authenticity of prescription and patients. Recently, the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has raided 27
online pharmacies located in the state and seized drugs worth crores.
Netajis files to be declassified: Meeting long-pending demands, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced
that government will start unveiling the secret files related to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from his birth anniversary
(January 23) next year, raising hopes about solving the seven-decade-old mystery about his disappearance. Modi told
Netajis family members during a meeting in New Delhi in October that he would also urge foreign governments to
declassify files on Bose available with them by writing to them and personally taking up with their leaders, beginning
with Russia in December.
Aadhaar card scheme is purely voluntarySC: Supreme Court said in October that Aadhaar card scheme is
purely voluntary and not mandatory till matter is finally decided by it. The Apex Court, at the same time extended
voluntary use of Aadhaar card for schemes like MGNREGA, all types of pension schemes, PMs Jan Dhan Yojana and
EPF. The apex court modified its August 11 order which restricted use of Aadhaar to public distribution system and LPG
subsidy. The Bench was hearing a batch of requests made by the Centre, the Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDIA), the Reserve Bank of India and various government regulators for securities, insurance, telecom and pension
Pulses recovered from hoarders: Center had directed state governments to enforce the Essential Commodities
Act more stringently and as a result about 36000 tonnes have been recovered from hoarders in over 3000 searches across
the country by the end of October. Hoarding and black-marketing is a major reason behind the price rise. Other reasons
include low production and high prices in international market. Production of pulses in the 2014-15 crop year that ended
in July was estimated to be around 17.38 million tonnes. It was 9.5% less than 2014-14 because of drought in
Maharashtra and Karnataka. India imports almost 4-5 million tonnes of pulses every year. Unlike wheat, rice and
oilseeds, the global marketable surplus is limited to around 13 to 15 million tonnes. This makes international prices shoot
up even at the slightest increase in demand from India.
No copyright on title of literary workSC: The Supreme Court held that no copyright exists in the title of a
literary work. The court passed the order in October on an appeal filed by Krishika Lulla and others against an order of
the Bombay High Court which had refused to quash a complaint filed by writer Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta. The bench
said that in the present case they find that there is no copyright in the title Desi Boys and thus no question of its
infringement arises. Devkatta had claimed copyright in a synopsis of a story written by him with the title Desi Boys.
According to him, he got the synopsis of Desi Boys registered with the Film Writers Association in 2008.
Indian Police Foundation inaugurated: Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Indian Police
Foundation and the Indian Police Institute in New Delhi in October to foster a culture of research and evidence-based
policing and to avoid subjectivity, personal biases and errors in decision-making. The Police Foundation and Institute
aims to bring together the police professionals, academia and other stake holders including citizens and provide a
platform to research, discuss, ideate and seek the answers.
Vigilance Awareness Week observed: The Vigilance Awareness Week was observed from October 26 to 31
with the theme Preventive Vigilance as a tool of Good Governance. The observance of Vigilance Awareness Week
began with taking of pledge on October 26 in all the Government, Public Sector Organizations, Autonomous
Organizations and Local Bodies. In order to convey the importance of preventive vigilance and also the message that
corruption ultimately ends in a tragedy, eight short episodes, each of half an hour duration were telecast during the on
Doordarshans DD National channel. Interviews of K.V. Chowdary, Central Vigilance Commissioner and T.M. Bhasin,
Vigilance Commissioner were also telecast.
Govt. worried over use of Nepal telecom in border areas: The Home Ministry has taken strong exception
to the use of telecom services of Nepal by locals and security forces along the international borders in Uttarakhand.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju disclosed this during his two-day visit to Indo-Nepal and Sino-Indian borders in
THE GENESIS
Uttarakhand in October. He said around 20 thousand people living in upper reaches of Dharchula use Nepal telecom
services. Security forces deployed in the forward areas also use mobile telephone services of Nepal as no Indian telecom
networks functions there. Rijiju said this may compromise security and he will approach Telecom Minister for expanding
the Indian telecom services in this sensitive area.
Sahitya Akademi condemns killings of writers: The Sahitya Akademi condemned the killing of writers and
urged the writers to take back the awards they returned in anguish against the Akademis silence so far on the issue. Over
100 litterateurs have returned their Akademi awards to protest primarily against the attacks by some Hindutva groups on
writers and thinkers like M.M. Kalburgi. The writers also cited the lynching of a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh over
rumours that he ate beef as an example of growing intolerance in the country. Kalburgi was killed in August 2015.
Another noted writer, Govind Pansare died from gunshot wound in Kolhapur in February.
Book commemorating martyrs of CRPF released: On the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day on
October 21, the Prime Minister released a book, Warriors Remembered. The book is a commemoration of the brave
CRPF personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty. A copy of the book would be presented to the family
member of every martyr by CRPF formations across the country.
NGOs receiving Environment Ministry grants to be rated: An in-house rating of NGOs receiving grants
from the Environment Ministry will be done to rank them on the basis of their performance. We will create a system
where the performance of NGOs receiving Environment Ministrys grant will be assessed to see whether the money has
been spent on the purpose it was mentioned for and second, whether the message for which the amount is given has
reached the people and the purpose is achieved, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in October. FCRA
(Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) is not the only criterion of recognize NGOs because there are thousands of NGOs
who are working without foreign donation and they create resources within the country, he said.
2ndphase of Mission Indradhanush launched: Buoyed by the success of the first phase of Mission
Indradhanush, the government launched second phase of the ambitious immunisation programme focussing on 352
districts in October. Health Minister J P Nadda said his Ministry aims to achieve full immunisation of more than 90 per
cent children by 2020. Mission Indradhanush aims at fully immunising more than 89 lakh children who are either
unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and those who have not been covered during routine immunisation for various
reasons. The Mission aims to immunise them against seven life-threatening but vaccine-preventable diseases -diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, tuberculosis, polio, measles and hepatitis-B.
Parliament panel on Lokpal gets extension: The deadline for a Parliamentary panel examining the bill on anticorruption watchdog Lokpal for submission of its report has been extended for a third time till November 15. The 31member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by Congress MP
E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, is examining the Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
The panel was expected to submit its report by September-end 2015.
NITI Aayog Sub-group for boosting skill development missions: A NITI Aayog sub-group headed by
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has underscored the need for reorienting and strengthening the role of
SSDMs to improve the outreach of skill development. In a report submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently,
the sub-group proposed that a three-tier structure of State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) -- at state, district and
block level -- should be constituted to facilitate the outreach. The report has also recommended pooling of resources at
the state-level and prioritising on the skills, including traditional skills, relevant to the states. Focus was laid on
strengthening industry coordination with SSDMs through involvement of Sector Skill Councils and industry
conglomerates operating in the states.
NITI Aayog Sub-Group calls for cess to fund on Swachh Bharat: The NITI Aayog Chief Ministers sub
group on Swachh Bharat chaired by AP CM Chandra Babu Naidu submitted its report to the Prime Minister in October.
It says that success of an ODF (Open Defecation Free) programme should be measured against the increase in toilet
usage. Toilet construction and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) have to be given equal priority. It calls for
THE GENESIS
involvement of political and social/thought leaders and celebrities on pro bono basis in conveying the message of
sanitation. A chapter on sanitation practices should be included in school curriculum from the first standard itself. The
sub-group has called for a Swachh Bharat cess on petrol, diesel and telecom services to raise funds for the programme.
Govt switches to e-publishing of Gazette Notifications: Department of Publication has stopped physical
printing and switched over to e-publishing of Gazette Notifications. Now the notifications will be available on its official
website www.egazette.nic.in within five days of receipt of the same from respective ministries and departments from
October. This will put an end to the long wait for the important documents. The e-publishing will do away with the need
for printing of about 3 crore 50 lakh pages of such notifications every year and lead to a saving of Rs. 40 crore annually.
National Postal Week observed: India Post celebrated National Postal Week from October 9 to 15 create
awareness about the role of postal sector in the lives of people and business and its contribution to social and economic
development. As part of National Postal Week, the Department of Posts observed Savings Bank Day on October 10, Mail
Day on October 12, Philately Day on October 13, Postal Life Insurance Day on October 14 and Business Development
Day on October 15. The World Post Day was observed on October 9 to commemorate the establishment of the Universal
Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital Berne.
Conference on women in law enforcement organised: A three-day international Conference on Women in

Law Enforcement was organised in Hyderabad in October. Aruna Bahuguna, Director, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National
Police Academy (SVPNPA), said that the primary objective of the conference was to deepen competencies of future
women leaders. The best minds from the academia and policing organisations from the world shared their on-going study
and research on the many complex dimensions of law enforcement.
Mobile app for Voter ID cards launched: Ahead of next years state Assembly polls, an Electoral Assistance
System tapping mobile and online facility for accessing voter details, was launched in Chennai in October, claimed to be
the first such in the country. Through the new facility - EASY - a voter can get his or her voter card or make changes
through mobile phone, by telephone or by online portal service. Through this facility duplication of voter details can be
avoided and one can get the voter identity card in 15 days.
Govt. to set up Indian Skill Development Service: The Government approved the formation of the Indian
Skill Development Service (ISDS), a Group A service of the technical cadre of the Ministry of Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship (MSD&E) in October. It was earlier called the Directorate General of Employment & Training under
the Ministry of Labour Employment.
Barefoot technicians for better execution of MGNREGA works: The Government has decided to
train 10,000 young barefoot technicians in the basic concepts of civil engineering and involve them in planning, doing
layout, measuring and supervising MGNREGA works in 2,500 most backward blocks across India. A Bare Foot
Technician is an educated person, identified from the local SC/ST MGNREGA worker households and specially trained
in civil engineering concepts, using the customized training modules. Minister for Rural Development Birender Singh
said in October that better training and skills development will contribute to creation of durable and good quality assets.
National War Memorial and Museum in Delhi: The government in October started the process of setting up
the Rs. 500 crore National War Memorial and National War Museum near India Gate in New Delhi to be built in
memory of over 22,500 soldiers who laid down their lives post-Independence in the various wars that India fought
including counter-insurgency and anti-terror operations in the North East, J&K and IPKF operations in Sri Lanka. The
Indian Navy commissioned the first indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel INS
Astradharini in Visakhapatnam (AP) in October.
Army launches Live a Life Less Ordinary campaign: Indian Armys new recruitment campaign, titled
Join the Indian Army and Live a Life Less Ordinary was launched across the country in October. The campaign
projects Indian Army as a full-fledged working organization that offers exciting career in different sectors for young
Indians. While careers like technology, media and entertainment have caught the fancy of youth, the reality is that army
THE GENESIS
has over 20 diverse career disciplines offering an all-round lifestyle and its constantly modernising itself with the cutting
edge technology. Meanwhile in a bid to attract youth towards joining the service, the Indian Air Force flagged off the
Induction Publicity Exhibition Vehicle (IPEV), a bus modified to show the various facets and the working of the IAF to
aspirants across the country, in October.
DRDO inaugurates new R&D centre in Chang La: The DRDO inaugurated an Extreme Altitude Research
Centre at Chang La in Jammu and Kashmir at 17,600 feet above mean sea level in October. It has been established by
Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, a constituent establishment of Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO). The centre is poised to be the worlds highest terrestrial R&D centre in the cold
desert of Ladakh, where the temperature goes as low as -40 degrees Celsius. The centre was inaugurated by DRDO
Director S. Christopher, who highlighted its utility in frontal areas of food and agriculture and bio-medical sciences for
wellbeing of the soldiers deployed in high-altitude climes.
AWARDS
Tata LitFest lifetime achievement honour: Eminent novelist and playwright Kiran Nagarkar, 73, was
conferred the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement award at the Mumbai Literature
Festival held in Mumbai in October-November. A significant writer in postcolonial India, the
bilingual Nagarkars debut novel Saat Sakkam Trechaalis (1974) in Marathi was translated
into English as Seven Sixes are Forty-Three. His book Raavan and Eddie (1994), set in the
chawls of the mill city was first written as a screenplay. He made it into a trilogy with the books
The Extras (2012) and more recently Rest in Peace. His historical novel Cuckold (1997)
got him Sahitya Akademi award. Nagarkar probed into the dark heart of the religious fundamentalist in Gods Little
Soldier. Nagarkars play, Bed-time Story, has just been published.
Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award: Poet and novelist Vikram Seth was conferred with this years
Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award at the Mumbai Literature Festival held in Mumbai in October-November.
Best known for his magnum opus novel The Suitable Boy, (1993), Seth has published six books of poetry all of which
have received much international acclaim. His collections of poetry such as his first book of poems, Mappings (1980),
to his next, From Heaven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983), The Humble Administrators Garden
(1985), All you who Sleep Tonight (1990), Beastly Tales From Here and There (1991) and Three Chinese Poets
(1992) are notable contributions to the Indian English language poetry canon. He has just launched a new book of poems
titled Summer Requiem (2015).
Best Finance Minister of Asia: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been chosen as Finance Minister of the Year,
Asia by London-based publication Emerging Markets in October. In an article the magazine said that Jaitley too
deserves some recognition for Indias relative economic success over the last 18 months. It said that most of the
plaudits for Indias relative economic success have gone to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the governor of the
Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan, who was recognised with Emerging Markets Central Bank Governor of the
Year award for Asia in 2014. But Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also deserves some recognition, for without his
decisions and his stewardship of Indias financial direction, India would not have achieved what it has, said the
magazine.
Worlds Childrens Prize: Cambodian activist Phymean Noun has been awarded the USD 50,000 Worlds
Childrens Prize for helping children who live in garbage dumps in Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh. Another USD
50,000 was evenly split between the winners of the Worlds Childrens Honorary Award: Javier Stauring of the Catholic
Archdiocese in Los Angeles who works with jailed children, and Indias Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi.
The prizes were given in Stockholm in October during an award ceremony attended by Swedens Queen Silvia.
Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award: Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi was awarded the prestigious
Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award in Washington in October. The award is given by the University annually to an
individual whose works and deeds have served to improve the quality of lives and inspired people to greater heights.
THE GENESIS
10
Satyarthi, shifted gears from his career as an electrical engineer more than three decades ago to start Bachpan Bachao
Andolan, or Save the Childhood Movement, a Delhi-based non-profit that has been working to advance the rights of
children in India since 1980. The organization has been instrumental in rescuing more than 80,000 children from forced
labour, trafficking and slavery.
PERSONSINNEWS
Bhagwati Agrawal: Indian-American Bhagwati Agrawal is listed among CNNs Top 10 Heroes
of 2015, for bringing safe drinking water to more than 10,000 drought-stricken people in his native
Rajasthan. Each of the ten everyday people doing remarkable things to make the world a better
place will receive $10,000 and be honoured at CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute on December 6.
The CNN Hero of the Year chosen on the basis of readers votes will receive an additional $100,000
for his cause. Others in the list are: Dr. Jim Withers, Monique Pool, Richard Joyner, Maggie Doyne,
Sean Gobin, Kim Carter, Rochelle Ripley, Jody Farley-Berens and Dr. Daniel Ivankovich.
APPOINTMENTS: Renowned scientist Shekhar Basu, , who is presently Director of Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre (BARC), was appointed as Atomic Energy Secretary and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission in October.
IFS officer Vinay Mohan Kwatra was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Prime Ministers Office in
October for a term of three years. Ashish Bahuguna, the Chairman of the food regulator FSSAI, has been given an
additional charge of its CEO, following shifting of Yudhvir Singh Malik to the NITI Aayog. Diplomat Gurjit Singh has
been appointed as Indias Ambassador to Germany. Vijay Gokhale is set to take over as Indian Ambassador in Beijing.
OBITUARIES
Admiral RH Tahiliani: Former Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram
Tahiliani (Retd) passed away in New Delhi on October 14 at the age of 85. The Admiral was
commissioned in the Navy on September 1, 1950 and served as the 11th Chief of Naval Staff from
December 1, 1984 till November 30, 1987. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the
Param Vishisht Seva Medal for his distinguished service. Post retirement Admiral Tahiliani served
as the Governor of Sikkim between Feb 90 and Sep 94. He also helped launch the India chapter of
Transparency International as a founder member in 1997. He was the chairman of the India chapter
from its founding until 2010.
Veteran music composer and lyricistRavindra Jain, who was awarded Padma Shri in January 2015, passed away in
Mumbai on October 9 at the age of 71. Jain composed music for hit films like Chor Machaye Shor, Geet Gaata Chal,
Chitchor and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, in the 70s. He also composed for television, including Ramanand Sagars
sprawling 1980s series, Ramayana, based on the Hindu epic. With legendary Raj Kapoor, he composed super hit songs
in movies such as Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Do Jasoos, and Heena, which was directed by Randhir Kapoor. Jain was also
credited for bringing singer K.J. Yesudas to Hindi movies. The duo collaborated together in giving melodies like O
goriya re, Gori tera gaon and Jab deep jale aana. Jain was born on February 28, 1944, in Aligarh (UP).
OTHERS: Acclaimed flute maestro N. Ramani, who received a host of recognitions like Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Padma
Shri, and Padma Bhushan, died in Chennai on October 9 at the age of 82.Punjabi singer Labh Janjua, who was known
for his hit songs London Thumakda and Jee Karda, was found dead at his home in Mumbai on October 22.
EXTERNALRELATIONS
JORDAN-PALESTINE-ISRAEL: President Pranab Mukherjee returned to New Delhi on October 16 from his
three nation visit of Jordan, Palestine and Israel. During his visit to Jordan he had meetings with the King Abdullah II and
inaugurated the worlds largest sulphuric acid plant, ajoint venture between IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser
Cooperative Limited) and JPMC (Jordanian Phosphate Mines Company), at Eshidiya, 325 kms from capital Amman. In
Palestine, Mukherjee was received by President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamadallah and was
THE GENESIS
11
conferred Honorary Doctorate by Al-Quds University. In Mukherjee met President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and addressed the Knesset.
RUSSIA: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russias Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin chaired the
21st India-Russia Inter-Governmental Consultations in Moscow in October when the two leaders discussed ways to boost
their economic ties and bilateral trade. Swaraj and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov also discussed the Russian
governments joint venture to manufacture Kamov 226T helicopters in India.
UNITED STATES: An American art museum will return to India four allegedly stolen rare artworks purchased
from smugglers. The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) in the US state of Ohio said it will return the artworks, including a
bronze sculpture and carved stone. The four objects to be returned to India include a stone stele of Varaha Rescuing the
Earth and a nearly 1,000-year-old bronze sculpture of the Hindu god Ganesha described as being from Tamil Nadu. Also
The National Security Guard (NSG) would conduct the Agnipariksha-2 joint anti-terrorism exercise with the US
commandos at its Manesar base camp in Gurgaon in November, NSG Director General R.C. Tayal said in New Delhi in
October.
UNITED STATES: In a relief to Indian IT companies, the US has scrapped an additional fee of $2,000 for H-1B
visa and $2,500 for L1 visa seen as discriminatory. Popularly known as outsourcing fee, such a fee was called
discriminatory by Indian companies as it majorly affected them and hit their ease of doing business in the United States.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the additional fee expired on September 30. The
charges had forced Indian IT companies in the last few years to pay millions of dollars towards protecting the USMexican border from illegal immigration.
GERMANY: Chancellor of Federal Republic of Germany came on an official visit to India in October for the third
India Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC). Giving a thrust on clean energy, Germany pledged about one
billion euros (Rs 7,300 crore) assistance for Indias solar projects. Students in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) will be able to
opt for German language as an additional foreign language, the HRD Ministry announced. The Ministrys earlier
decision to discontinue the teaching of German in KVs had escalated into a diplomatic row. Germany returned to India a
10th century Durga idol Mahishasuramardini avatar which had gone missing from a temple in Pulwama (Kashmir) over
two decades back and was later found in that country. India also sought Germanys support for lifting the ban imposed by
EU on import of four vegetables, including brinjal and bitter gourd, from the country.
JAPAN: India, the US and Japan participated in the Malabar naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal in October THAT
SAW American aircraft Theodore Roosevelt in action along with a nuclear submarine besides Indian and Japanese naval
assets. Malabar is an annual naval training exercise conducted by Indian and American Navies. Japan had last taken
part in the Malabar hosted by India in 2007. However, a strong reaction from China against the inclusion of Japan and
Australia in 2007 led to the exercises being largely kept bilateral. However, India this year invited Japan to be part of the
exercise along with the US.
CHINA: The Indo-China Combined Military Training Exercise HAND-IN-HAND 2015 was conducted at Kunming
Military Academy, Yunnan, China in October. This was the fifth exercise in the Hand-in-Hand series, which started in
2007. The twelve day exercise laid emphasis on joint handling of insurgency at sub-unit level and related issues, while
the aspect of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief was discussed at formation headquarters level.
SRI LANKA: In continuation with the series of joint exercises between India and Sri Lanka to enhance build militaryto-military co-operation and interoperability, the two conducted Exercise Mitra Shakti-2015 in Pune in October. The
14-day-long exercise was conducted with the basic objective of enhancing confidence and trust between the two
militaries, which are often called upon to engage in anti-terrorism operations including those under the UN mandate.
THE GENESIS
12
Group Discussion
Pre-election opinion polls should be banned
FOR
In the debate that has ensued following the seeking of the
opinion of political parties by the Election Commission in
respect of the idea of banning publication of opinion polls
prior to an election, some have sought to suggest that
banning opinion polls is a strike against free speech in the
same way as banning a viewpoint in the press. But there
does appear to be a commonsense difference between the
two. An opinion expressed in an article can never be
mistaken by a citizen as reflecting voter preferences. But
an opinion poll can snare a less educated or nondiscriminating voter as precise numbers are tossed
around, and may guide his voting behaviour.
Specifically, in the Indian case, opinion polls project
results from too narrow a base say, a sample of only a
few hundred voters in a constituency of a few lakh. This
also explains why they are so often wrong, unlike their
Western counterparts.
Opinion polls have unreliable results and are conducted at
the behest of rivals who want to claim a stronger position
than they are actually in. There is little doubt that a few
individuals of dubious integrity have entered the opinion
poll business. We have had the unedifying spectacle in
recent times of the same poll research agency giving
different results to different channels within the space of a
fortnight for a national poll.
There is no conclusive research on whether voters get
influenced by opinion polls but the available evidence
suggests that there is a small degree of bandwagon
effect of opinion polls. A party that is seen to be leading
in the polls gets some additional support from fencesitters. This small difference could be decisive in a close
contest. More than the voters, opinion poll-based
forecasts do affect the morale of party workers and
supporters. This makes a big difference during the
campaign. Hence pre-election opinion polls should not be
allowed in the interest of free and fair elections.
AGAINST
Any move to ban pre-election opinion polls would be a
clear restriction on freedom of speech. In no democracy in
any part of the world have opinion polls caused any
problem for them to be banned. Why should they be
banned in India? Also, will opinion pieces and editorials
in newspapers be next?
Most other democracies Britain, USA, Australia,

Canada, Germany seem to have faith in their
electorates capacity to resist manipulation and make up
their own minds. The Indian political systems inability to
do so betrays a lack of confidence not only in the people
it governs but also in itself.
The reasoning for a ban is that opinion polls influence
voters prior to polling, and therefore the results of such
polls should be withheld until after the end of voting.
Needless to say, this is a flawed argument, and a ban,
while imposing needless restrictions, will not in any way
enhance the purity of elections. Whether opinion polls
influence voting is debatable. Even if some of the surveys
are not scientific, and some others are fraudulent just
as some election manifestoes may include tall promises
a ban cannot be the solution. Opinion polls that are not
transparent and are carried out unscientifically quickly
lose credibility. In any case, the voters must be allowed to
judge for themselves the extent of reliability of the
innumerable opinion polls and exit polls.
A ban will serve the party in power well. It can use the
enormous government resources at its disposal to
influence the voter while the opposition has to worry
about not exceeding its election expense limit. The UPAs
Bharat Nirman advertising campaign of 2014 was a prime
example. Supposedly an attempt to make their rights clear
to people, nobody who had seen the advertisement failed
to understand that the real purpose was to claim that the
Congress had done well and should be voted back in.
To say that the voter makes up his mind on whom to vote
after watching the opinion polls is incorrect and the 2004
Lok Sabha elections are a very good example. Most
opinion polls had failed to predict a UPA victory. Same
was the outcome of recent Bihar Assembly polls. While
most opinion polls had predicted a close fight the Grand
Alliance won with a two-thirds majority. Clearly the
opinion polls failed to influence the voter. So why ban
them? The results reveal both the limitations of polling
and the autonomy of voter behaviour. The average voter
has shown no indication of casting a ballot based on poll
findings. There already exists a ban on publishing the
findings of polls beginning 48 hours before polling and
till the last voter has cast her vote. This is a reasonable
restriction, enough to safeguard against manipulations. A
full ban for the entire duration of campaign is
unwarranted.
THE GENESIS
13
Current Affairs: States

DELHI: Cracking whip against illegal sex determination tests being performed in the national capital, Delhi
Government in October announced a slew of measures including Rs one lakh cash reward to those providing information
about the centres conducting such tests. A separate website and a toll-free helpline number was launched to enable people
to lodge complaints against hospitals and centres conducting illegal sex selection tests and sex selective abortions. The
National Green Tribunal imposed an environment compensation charge (ECC) ranging from Rs.700 to Rs.1300 on
commercial vehicles entering Delhi as a transit route for their onward journey.
JAMMU & KASHMIR: Jammu and Kashmir High Court ruled in October that Article 370of the Constitution that
grants special status to the state is beyond amendment, repeal or abrogation. The Court said Jammu and Kashmir, while
acceding to Dominion of India, retained limited sovereignty and did not merge with Dominion of India, like other
Princely States. It said, the state continues to enjoy special status to the extent of limited sovereignty retained by it.
HARYANA: The Haryana government has approved Swadhar Greh scheme, assuring economic and social security
to women in difficult circumstances. Swadhar Greh would be set up in every district with capacity to house 30 women
to cater to the needs of shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment and care of the women in distress and who are without
any social and economic support.
WEST BENGAL: Indias first community reserve to protect the endangered Gangetic river dolphins will come up in
in the Hooghly River in West Bengal, the states Chief Wildlife Warden West Bengal and Principal Chief Conservator of
Forest (Wildlife) said in Kolkata in October. Once found in thousands, there are fewer than 2,000 Gangetic dolphins left
in the country in the entire distribution range along the Ganga and Brahamaputra river system. It was declared as the
National Aquatic Animal in 2010.
ODISHA: The citizens of Odisha can now lodge their complaints with police directly through the citizen portal, a
facility launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar in October. The services which can be afield
through the citizen portal are issuance of character certificates, permission for taking out processions and rallies, issuance
of FIR copies, permission for holding events and performances, permission for holding protests and strikes. Tenants
verification, employees verification, registration of missing permissions and registration of lost property can also be
done through the portal.
TAMIL NADU: The state Chief Education officer informed the Madras High Court in October that strict instructions
have been given to schools not to use primary and elementary school children for welcoming VIPs. In unavoidable
circumstances the schools could use NCC, scouts, Red Cross and green brigade volunteers to participate in such
functions after ensuring that the students had adequate drinking water and toilet facility.
ANDHRA PRADESH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 22 laid the foundation stone of Andhra
Pradeshs new capital Amaravati at Uddandarayunipalem village in Guntur district, about 40 kms from Vijayawada, the
commercial hub of the state. Amaravati was once the seat of power of Satavahana rulers. Singapore government agencies
have prepared the master plans for the three-layered capital -- seed capital, capital city and capital region.
KERALA: The Kerala High Court in October imposed restrictions on activities in college campuses including DJ
programmes, saying college and hostel campuses are not venues for students to show off. Upholding the state
governments decision to restrict students vehicles on college campuses, the court also prevented DJ programmes by
external agencies inside campuses. Programmes on campuses cannot spill over 9 pm.
MAHARASHTRA: The Supreme Court in October stayed the operation of Maharashtra Police Act that prohibited
dance performances at eating places, beer bars and restaurants. Noting that the said provision was brought back in the
Maharashtra Police Act in 2014 after being held ultra vires in 2013 by the top court, the court said it is appropriate to
stay the provision that prohibits the dance performances.
THE GENESIS
14
Current Affairs: World

HAPPENINGS
Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay elected to UNSC: The United Nations General Assembly
has elected Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay to serve as non-permanent members on the UN Security
Council (UNSC) for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2016. The five permanent UNSC members, which each
wield the power of veto, are China, France, Russia, UK and the US. The non-permanent members that will remain on the
Council until the end of 2016 are Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela. The 15-member UNSC, which
comprises 10 non-permanent and 5 permanent members, has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security. It takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon
the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. The
UNSC can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore peace.
World Congress on Marxism organised: China organised the first World Congress on Marxism in Beijing on
Beijing in October to discuss the future orientation of the socialist ideology expounded by Karl Marx. The congress,
sponsored by Peking University, was a platform to study and discuss the exchange, spread, and development of Marxism
around the world and its role in boosting social progress and civilisation development. More than 400 Marxist scholars
from 20 countries were invited to participate in the congress with the theme of Marxism and the Development of the
Human Race. During the two-day conference, more than 100 scholars gave speeches on topics such as the origin and
development of Marxism, and Marxism and the global economy. The next congress will be held in 2018 to coincide
with the 200th anniversary of Karl Marxs birth.
Inquiry finds MH17 shot down by BUK missile: International investigators have concluded that Malaysian
Airlines flight MH17 enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile fired
from rebel-held eastern Ukraine. The final report was officially unveiled in Holland in October. It seeks to end 15 months
of speculation about why the Boeing 777 broke up in mid-air killing all 298 people on board on July 17, 2014. It rejects
Moscows contention that the plane was hit by a missile fired by Ukrainian troops as it flew at some 33,000 feet above
the territory. The investigators hit out at Ukrainian authorities for allowing commercial aircraft to continue flying over
the separatist region despite the dangers involved. On the day MH17 was blown out of the skies, some 160 commercial
flights overflew the area.
African nation issues stamp on Durga: Reflecting an international interest in the Indian festival of Navratri and
Durga Puja, an African island nation issued a special stamp on Goddess Durga in October. Adorned with special features
like velvet effect and Swarovski element, the limited edition collectors stamp was launched by Sao Tome and Principe,
an African Island country near the Equator, said numismatist Alok Goyal who has the sole selling rights for the stamps.
The stamp, having a face value of 86,000 Dobra, currency unit of the Portuguese-speaking country, shows a picture of
Sherawali Maa sitting atop a tiger. Only 1500 pieces of this stamp have been issued internationally.
US, 11 others agree on Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade pact: The US and 11 other countries
reached a landmark deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership in October, which aims to become the worlds largest free-trade
zone linking 40% of the global economy. According to the Obama administration, the TPP would address the 21st
century trade issues such as intellectual property protections, digital trade rights and protections for investors. This
partnership levels the playing field for our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers by eliminating more than 18,000 taxes
that various countries put on our products, Obama said after the 12 countries Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,
Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam released a joint statement in Atlanta.
Rays Apu Trilogy in 5 greatest Asian films: Celebrated filmmaker Satyajit Rays The Apu Trilogy is
among the top five greatest Asian films of all-time, it was announced at the Busan International Film Festival in Busan
(South Korea) in October 2015. The Apu Trilogy depicts the life of Apu in Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito; (1956),
and Apur Sansar (1959). Tokyo Story, a legendary masterpiece by Ozu Yasujiro from Japan topped the list. Kurosawa
Akiras Rashomon was on second position. In the Mood for Love by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai came
THE GENESIS
15
third. Ray was on fourth position with The Apu Trilogy. A City of Sadness by Taiwanese filmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien
came fifth. Other Indian filmaker whose works made it to the top-100 list were Ritwik Ghatak, Raj Kapoor, Adoor
Gopalakrishnan, Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan, Govindan Aravindan and Mira Nair.
Nepal turns to UN over obstruction of trade: Nepal has turned to the UN over alleged obstruction of a key
border trade point with India that has resulted in acute shortage of essential goods as it appealed to the international
community to ensure that landlocked countries freedom of transit is not curtailed. Deputy Prime Minister Prakash Man
Singh, who led Nepals delegation to the UN General Assembly, held talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
during which the issue of Indias blockade on the border also figured. Singh appealed to the world community to
ensure effective and unhindered access to the sea for landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) like Nepal. Meanwhile
China has started sending supplies to Nepal through its newly-reopened border point in Chinas Tibet.
New Greek parliament sworn-in: Greeces new parliament was sworn-in in October following the September 20
snap elections. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras-led left-wing radical SYRIZA party and the right-wing Independent
Greeks (ANEL) party, junior partner of the ruling coalition, now jointly control 155 seats in the 300-member assembly.
The far-right Golden Dawn party remains the third largest party controlling 18 seats among eight parties represented in
the new parliament. Lawmakers will vote on a new round of tough austerity and reform measures within months in
exchange for further aid by international creditors under the third bailout programme approved in August.
UNESCO approves Arab resolution criticising Israel: UNESCO approved a resolution in in October from
a group of Arab states criticising Israel for failing to protect heritage sites and rebuild regions destroyed by war. The
resolution condemns Israeli actions at the Al Aqsa compound, including restricting access to Muslim worshippers during
Eid celebrations in September 2015 on security grounds. The flashpoint compound, which is considered sacred to both
Islam and Judaism, is located in the Old City in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem. Muslims call it Al-Haram al-Sharif (the
Noble Sanctuary) while Jews revere it as the Temple Mount which housed the First and Second Temples.
Sri Lankan govt. probe panel admits war crimes: Allegations that the Sri Lankan Army committed war
crimes during the civil war with Tamil rebels are credible, a government probe panel has said, and backed UN Human
Rights Councils recommendation that foreign judges be part of a role in domestic inquiry. The probe panel
commissioned by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa submitted its 178-page report in Colombo in October. The report
by retired judge Maxwell Paranagama also called for an independent judicial investigation into war crimes allegations.
Liberal Party wins Canada polls: Canadian voters ended 10 years of rule by Prime Minister Stephen Harper of
the Conservative Party in the election held in October. The Liberal Party led by 43-year old Justin Trudeau won
parliamentary majority of 184 seats out of 338. Harpers Conservatives won 100 seats. The Liberals received 39.5 per
cent of the overall vote compared to 32 percent for the Conservatives and 19.6 for the New Democrats.
NATO launches Trident Juncture: NATO launched Trident Juncture, its biggest military exercise in 13 years in
Europe, mobilizing 36,000 troops from more than 30 countries to test the alliances ability to respond to new security
threats. The exercise started on October 21 will demonstrate that NATO can deal with everything from conventional
military engagements to more subtle hybrid warfare techniques and propaganda. The trans-Atlantic security alliance
said the geopolitical situation is considerably more unstable than the last time such large-scale exercises were held during
the Cold War, citing Russias annexation of Crimea, support of eastern Ukrainian separatists and attacks against
moderate rebels in Syria, as well as the spread of terror groups into Libya and Syria.
AWARDS
Martin Ennals Award: An Emirati human rights activist barred from leaving his home country was named the
2015 Martin Ennals award, which is often dubbed the Nobel Prize for human rights, in October. Ahmed Mansoor has
since 2006 campaigned for freedom of expression and greater political and civil rights in the United Arab Emirates, and
successfully pushed for the liberation of two bloggers jailed for highlighting social problems in the country. The award is
named after the former secretary general of Amnesty International in Geneva. The winner receives a prize of 20,000
THE GENESIS
16
Swiss francs (18,350 euros). The debut recipient in 1994 was Chinese rights activist and former political prisoner Harry
Wu, who moved to the United States in the mid-1980s.
World Food prize: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of Bangladesh-based BRAC, the largest non-governmental
organisation on the planet, has been awarded the 2015 World Food prize for his unparalleled work on reducing poverty
in Bangladesh and 10 other countries. The 79-year-old received the award and $250,000 in prize money on the World
Food Day on October 16. The 2015 World Food Day theme is Social Protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of
rural poverty. Social Protection has been chosen as the theme of this years World Food Day (WFD) to highlight its
importance in reducing rural poverty and granting access to food or means to buy food.
Confucius Peace Prize: Zimbabwes controversial president, Robert Mugabe, has been awarded Chinas Confucius
Peace Prize in October, despite widespread accusations of war crimes and human rights violations. The 91-year-old is
Africas oldest leader and has been in power for almost three decades. Chinas Confucius Prize was launched in 2010 as
a reaction to the Nobel Peace Prize being given to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who had been jailed for 11 years for coauthoring the Charter 08 petition that called for legal and democratic freedom in China.
IMPORTANTDAYS
International Day of Older Persons: October 1

International Day of Non-Violence: October 2
World Teachers Day [UNESCO]: October 5
World Habitat Day: October 5
International Walk to School Day observed: October 7
World Sight Day: October 8
World Post Day observed: October 9
World Egg Day: October 9
World Mental Health Day: October 10
World Day against Death Penalty: October 10
International Day of the Girl Child: October 11
World Arthritis Day: October 12
International Day for Disaster Reduction: October 13
International Day of Rural Women: October 15

Global Handwashing Day: October 15
White Cane Day: October 15
World Food Day: October 16
World Standards Day: October 15
International Day for Eradication of Poverty: October 17
World Statistics Day: October 20
United Nations Day: October 24
World Development Information Day: October 24
World Polio Day: 24 October
World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: October 27
World Cities Day: October 31
World Thrift Day: October 31
PERSONSINNEWS
APPOINTMENTS: Communist leader Vidya Devi Bhandari (54), widow of late
general secretary of CPN-UML, Madan Bhandari, was elected as Nepals first woman
President by the Parliament in October, weeks after it adopted a new landmark Constitution
that declared the country a secular state. President Alpha Conde won a second term in the
polls held in African nation Guinea in October receiving 58% of the vote, while his main
opponent, Cellou Dalein Diallo had 31%. Retired Lieutenant General Nasser Khan Janjua
was appointed as the new National Security Advisor (NSA) of Pakistan in October, divesting
the position from the mild-mannered Sartaj Aziz who will now concentrate on foreign affairs.
Fijis parliament elected Jioji Konousi Konrote as the Pacific island countrys next
President in capital Suva in October. Alexander Lukashenko won Belarusian presidential
elections with 83% of the votes in October.
OBITUARIES: Mumbai-born Lord Gulam Noon, who founded the 200-million pounds Noon Products business
which is credited with Britain developing a taste for chicken tikka masala, passed away at the age of 79 in London on
October 27. Scottish singer-songwriter Jim Diamond, best known for hits including I Wont Let You Down, I Should
Have Known Better and Hi Ho Silver, passed away in London on October 11 at the age of 64. Geoffrey Howe,
Britains former Chancellor and deputy PM under former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, died on October 9 at 88.
Gamal el-Ghitani, one of Egypts most acclaimed novelists, died in Cairo on October 19 at the age of 70.
THE GENESIS
17
Faces
Brijmohan Lall Munjal: Forever Hero
Munjal came from a generation of corporate leaders who created their businesses from scratch
in the oppressive licence-permit raj environment but also went on to excel in todays freemarket era
thought of doing that and

instead focused on making
bicycles.
Brijmohan Lall Munjal, founder & chairman emeritus of

Hero MotoCorp, maker of the popular Hero range of
motorcycles and scooters, died at 92 on November 1,
2015 in Delhi.
Born in 1923 at Kamalia in the undivided Punjab state of
present-day Pakistan, Munjal moved to Amritsar with his
family when he was 20 years old. The Munjals then
shifted to Ludhiana, a city that would later become the
base of their business ventures. Munjal, who never went
to college, started making bicycle components before
securing a licence to make bicycles. Along with his three
brothers, he set up Hero Cycles, which has been the
worlds biggest bicycle manufacturer consistently since
1986.
In 1984, Hero took a plunge into motorcycle production
under a joint venture with Japans Honda Motor. The
entity, Hero Honda, went on to overtake the then market
leader in the segment, Bajaj Auto, controlled by Rahul
Bajaj.
When the time came to end a 26-year-old alliance with
Honda in 2010, when the latter wanted to launch its own
branded motorcycles in India, Munjal took charge of
rebuilding the group all over again and decided to replace
the Hero Honda brand with Hero MotoCorp much earlier
than the June 2014 deadline set out in the joint venture
agreement. That showed extraordinary self-belief, at a
time when the company was trying to come out of the
shadow of Hondas technological excellence.
While it now competes with Honda, Hero has held on to
its position as Indias biggest maker of two-wheelers,
with a 50 per cent market share.
Only a handful of industry leaders from the license-permit
raj era were able to make a seamless transition into the
demands of a post-liberalisation India. The late chairmanemeritus of the Hero Group, who did exactly that, would
often tell his friends the following story: In the days of the
licence raj, it was easy to get tempted and make money
through a licence for a commodity in short supply, such
as steel sheets, oil or even power, as these could be traded
in the market for a handsome profit. But Hero Group,
which had a licence to buy steel sheets, never ever
His vision allowed Hero Group

to rapidly overtake wellestablished rivals and become
the worlds largest cycle maker,
and Hero Motocorp the worlds
largest
two-wheeler
manufacturer by volume. In joint venture with Honda he
positioned his motorcycles as more fuel efficient than
scooters, which struck a chord with cost-conscious Indian
buyers. The Fill it, shut it, forget it campaign remains
one of the most effective ones in the countrys corporate
history.
Munjal was a pioneer in many other ways as well. In the
1980s, organised dealership networks didnt exist;
companies produced and sold through traders. When
Munjal changed that system, it was thought to be ahead of
its time - but, eventually, that distribution model became
an entry barrier for many of Heros competitors. His
relationship with dealers was so strong that till his last
days as chairman, he would remember most of the 1,000odd dealers of Hero MotoCorp by their first name.
Forging partnerships and nurturing them into strong
relationships were clearly his hallmarks.
Beside Hero Group, Munjal held leadership positions at
many national associations like CII (Confederation of
Indian Industry), SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile
Manufactures), AICMA and PHD. The Padma Bhushan
was conferred upon him in 2005 to recognise his
contribution in the field of trade and industry.
Munjal, 92, who passed the baton to his son in June 2015,
will always occupy a prominent place in Indias corporate
history for his ability to do all this - and still live a life on
the principle that if you work hard and be good to people
around you, success in business will follow. After all, in
the dog-eat-dog business world, its not often that you
find one of your strongest competitors referring to you as
his business guru. Rahul Bajaj did precisely that not
only after Munjals death, but many times during the
great mans lifetime. (Credits: www.businessstandard.com)
THE GENESIS
18
Current Affairs: Sports

South Africa win ODI series 3-2: South Africa (438/4) defeated India 224/10 in 36 overs) by 214 runs in the fifth
and final one day international (ODI) at Mumbai on October 25 to register the first ever bilateral ODI series win on
Indian soil 3-2. AB de Villiers was the best batsman with 358 runs. In the fourth match at Chennai on October 22, India
(299/8) beat SA (264/9) by 35 runs. At Rajkot, SA (270/7) defeated India (252/6) by 18 runs in the third match on
October 18. India (247/9) defeated South Africa (225/10 in 43.4 overs) by 22 runs in the second match at the Holkar
Cricket Stadium in Indore (MP) on October 14. Rohit Sharmas 150-run knock went in vain as India (298/7) lost to SA
(303/5) by 5 runs in the first match at Green Park, Kanpur on October 11. Skipper AB de Villiers was named player of
the series. Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada were joint top wicket-takers in the series with 10 wickets each.
Zaheer retires from international cricket: Zaheer Khan, one of Indias greatest fast bowlers, bid adieu to
international cricket in October. The 37-year-old left-arm pacerhas been in and out of the team in the last three to four
years due to recurrent injuries which took a toll on his body. Zaheer, who is contracted with Delhi Daredevils in the IPL,
will end his domestic career next year with the events ninth edition. In 92 Test matches, Zaheer has taken 311 wickets
and is fourth highest wicket-taker in longer version amongst Indians after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and
Harbhajan Singh (417). He picked 282 wickets in 200 ODIs and 17 scalps in 17 Twenty20s. He played a major role in
Indias 2011 World Cup triumph with 21 wickets.
Younis becomes Paks top run-getter: Veteran batsman Younis Khan became Pakistans all-time leading Test
run-scorer, surpassing Javed Miandads tally of 8832 runs during the test series against England at Abu Dhabi in
October. Playing in his 102nd Test, Younis, 37, crossed both Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haqs (8830) score before being
bowled out at 38. Miandad held on to his aggregate for 22 long years, played 124 matches with an average of 52.57.
Indias batting legend Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most Test runs, with 15,921 in a record 200 matches.
ICC doubles reward for top-ranked Test team: The ICC Board has decided to double the prize money of the
top-ranked Test team to USD 1 million from its existing USD 500,000 from April 1, next year and also increase
investment in womens cricket by five-fold. According to a media release issued by ICC, In a decision to better reward
the best performing Test teams, the Board has doubled the prize money for sides that top the ICC Test Championship
table each year at the 1 April cut-off date. As a result, the number-one ranked Test team on 1 April 2016 will receive
USD 1 million, up from USD 500,000 in 2015.
Muguruza wins China Open tennis: Spains Garbine Muguruza beat Switzerlands Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-4
to win the Womens Singles title at the China Open tennis in Beijing October. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the
Womens Doubles title by defeating Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei 6-7 (9), 6-1, 10-8 in the final. Novak
Djokovic crushed his age-old rival Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-2 in the final to win Mens title in Beijing. Canadas Vasek
Pospisil and American Jack Sock beat Canadas Daniel Nestor and Frances Edouard Roger-Vasselin 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 to
win the Mens Doubles title.
Williams wins Wuhan Open tennis: Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams won her 47th WTA title
at the Premier 5-level Wuhan Open in Wuhan (China) in October as Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza pulled out of
the final with an ankle injury when trailing 3-6, 0-3. Ace Indian tennis star Sania Mirza continued her superb run with
Swiss partner Martina Hingis as the duo clinched its seventh title together by winning the Wuhan Open womens doubles
trophy by beating Romanian team of Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-3 in the title clash. Polands
Agnieszka Radwanska won the Womens Singles title at the Tianjin Open in Tianjin (China) by defeating Danka Kovinic
of Montenegro 6-1, 6-2 in the final.
7 candidates in running for FIFA presidency: Footballs world-governing body FIFA confirmed in October
that seven candidates had come forward to run in its election for a new president in February 2016. The candidates are
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Musa Bility, Jerome Champagne, Gianni Infantino, Michel Platini, Sheikh Salman bin
Ebrahim Al Khalifa and Tokyo Sexwale. Candidates need the backing of at least five of FIFAs 209 association members
before they can be considered. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, 39, is president of the Jordan Football Association. Musa Bility,
THE GENESIS
19
48, is president of the Liberian Football Association. Jerome Champagne, 57, is a former FIFA executive. Gianni
Infantino, 45, is UEFAs General Secretary. Michel Platini, 60, is UEFA President and FIFA vice-president. Sheikh
Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, 49, is Asian Football Confederation President. Tokyo Sexwale, 62, is a South African
former government minister.
Ronaldo wins European Golden Boot award: Cristiano Ronaldo has been awarded Golden Boot for a record
fourth time in October after scoring the highest number of goals in Europes domestic leagues last season. The
Portuguese international netted 48 goals in his 35 La Liga appearances to receive his third Golden Boot with Real
Madrid. He had also received the award with Manchester United during 2007-08 Premier League season. Earlier in
September, Ronaldo had replaced Raul as Madrids all-time leading scorer with 324 goals.
Subroto Cup football: The AIFF Academy boys outplayed Little Angels Paradise Secondary School of Manipur 41 to clinch the Subroto Cup U-17 title at the Ambedkar Stadium at New Delhi in October. A formidable Manipur side
routed Odisha 5-0 as they lifted the Subroto Cup Junior National Football Championship for U-18 Girls in the final
played at the Rosary Complex ground, Navelim, Goa.
India win NZ hockey series 2-1: India eked out a 1-1 draw against New Zealand in the final hockey Test in
Christchurch to pocket the four-match series 2-1 in October. Meanwhile at Kolkata, Punjab National Bank defeated
defending champions Indian Oil Corporation in the penalty shootout to win theBeighton Cup hockey title in October.
Grischuk wins World Blitz Chess: Former world champion Viswanathan finished 22nd in the World Blitz Chess
championship, which was won by Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk of Russia in Berlin in October.
Jayaram clinches Dutch Open badminton: Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram notched up a superb straight-game
win over Estonias Raul Must 21-12, 21-18 in the finals to defend his mens singles title at the Dutch Open Grand Prix at
Almere (The Netherlands) in October. In mens doubles, Indian pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost in the final
to 15-21, 10-21 Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan of Malaysia.
Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton of team Mercedes won the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi
on October 11while Ferraris Sebastian Vettel finished second. Sergio Perez of Force India team finished third.
USA retains Presidents Cup golf: The International Team lost to the United States by one point in the 11th
Presidents Cup golf at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Incheon (South Korea) in October.
Vijender begins his pro-boxing career on a high: Indias Vijender Singh made his professional boxing debut
with a bang, defeating Briton Sony Whiting through a technical knockout in the third round at Manchester in October.
The Olympic bronze medalist began well, attacked through the middleweight bout, and finished off the fight in the
penultimate round when the referee stopped the contest. The Indian boxer followed his impressive debut with a win in his
second bout against Englands Dean Gillen in Dublin in November.
Govt constitutes All India Council of Sports: The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has constituted All
India Council of Sports, headed by Prof V.K. Malhotra, to advise the Ministry on matters relating to the promotion and
development of sports and games in the country. The council set up in October includes Among the sportspersons in the
council are Sachin Tendulkar, MP (Rajya Sabha), P.T. Usha (Athletics), I.M. Vijayan (Football), P. Gopichand
(Badminton), Baichung Bhutia (Football), Uday Shankar, CEO Star India and Vishwanathan Anand (Chess).
Former IOA President Ashwini Kumar passes away: Former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President
Ashwini Kumar, who was honoured with the Olympic Order in 2002, passed away in New Delhi on October 19 at 94. He
was life President of IOA and also headed Indian Hockey Federationfor 16 years. Ashwini served the police force for 36
years and retired as the Director General of the Border Security Force in 1978. He was also adjudged the Policeman of
the millennium in Sydney in 2000.
THE GENESIS
20
Current Affairs: Economy

CBI raids Bank of Baroda for black money probe: CBI conducted searches at a Bank of Baroda branch in
Delhi in October in connection with alleged transfer of black money to Hong Kong. Over Rs. 6,000 crore of black money
was allegedly sent out of the country from the bank in July 2014. An amount of Rs. 6172 crore was deposited by
fictitious companies in the bank to be transferred to Hong Kong. The matter came to fore following an internal inquiry
audit report of the bank. CBI said accounts of about 60 companies opened at the Ashok Vihar, New Delhi branch of the
bank are under scanner. The Enforcement Directorate has also registered a case and carried out searches in this
connection.
India most attractive investment destination globally-E&Y: India has been ranked as the most attractive
investment destination in the world for the next three years, according to a survey by Global consultancy firm EY
released in October. Among Indias most attractive features for doing business, investors rated its vast domestic market
and availability of labour as most appealing.
NSDC CEO Dilip Chenoy resigns: National Skill Development Corp (NSDC) Board accepted resignations of
MD and CEO Dilip Chenoy and COO Atul Bhatnagar in October, paving the way for restructuring of the skill
development body. NSDC is a public private partnership under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
There were reports from the industry being unhappy for not ushering in more private partnership in the skill development
initiative. The NSDC was lagging behind on the ambitious programme of creating ecosystem for skills and industry
bodies were not happy with the sector skills councils of NSDC. The NSDC aims at scaling up efforts necessary to
achieve the objective of skilling/up-skilling 150 million people by 2022.
Funds for National Watershed Management Project approved: The Union Cabinet approved the
National Watershed Management Project (NWMP) in October. It will be a component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi
Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY) to ensure access to irrigation for every farm and efficient use of water (Per Drop More Crop).
The total outlay of the project (Neeranchal National Watershed Project) which is done with the World Banks assistance
is Rs.2142 crore. The objective is to bring about institutional changes in watershed and rain-fed agricultural management
practices in the country.
Indias GDP to grow 7.5% this year UNCTAD: Indias economy is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent this
year, driven by domestic demand and consumption as well as improved fiscal position due to lower oil import bill, an
UNCTAD report said in October. Growth is being driven essentially by domestic demand, with an increasing
contribution of consumption, both public and private, said the Trade and Development Report, 2015, released by
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Indian economy expanded by 7.1 per cent in
2014, as per UNCTAD data. Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund has projected the economic growth rate of 7.5
percent for India in 2016 in its latest World Economic Outlook Update.
Govt. revises upward blackmoney disclosures: The 90-day blackmoney compliance window declarations
were revised upwards to Rs 4,147 crore, from which tax receipts are expected to be over Rs 2400 crore, even as
government warned that it will go after those who have not come clean. While the total number of disclosures remained
the same at 638, the total illegal foreign assets brought to book rose to Rs 4,147 crore from the from Rs.3,770 crore
declared earlier. The governments total tax receipt from the black money declared during the window is expected to be
Rs 2,488.20 crore--at 30 per cent tax and 30 per cent penalty.
CREDAI moves CCI against cement firms: Realtors apex body CREDAI has filed a complaint with the
Competition Commission against cement manufacturers alleging price cartelisation by raising rates up to 40 per cent in
the last two months. The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI), which has about
10,000 members, filed the complaint in October with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against the Cement
Manufacturers Association (CMA). The move follows the decision of the CREDAIs NCR chapter to stop purchase of
cement from companies like Ultratech and Lafarge for unilaterally hiking prices in last one month.
THE GENESIS
21
Business Biography
Thomas Stemberg: Staples success
He came up with the idea of office supplier Staples after driving around the Boston area searching for
printer ribbon on July 4th weekend in 1985 when stores were closed. Hailed as a retail pioneer and
innovator, he revolutionized the office supply business by eliminating wholesalers and selling directly to
customers through his warehouse-like superstores
Thomas Stemberg, a former

grocery business executive who
founded Staples Inc. and
revolutionised the office supplies
retail
business
died
in
Massachusetts at the age of 66 on
October 23. He hatched the idea
for Staples after driving around
the Boston area searching in vain
for printer ribbon on the Fourth
of July weekend in 1985, when local stationery shops
were closed.
Stemberg, the only son of Austrian immigrants, received
an academic scholarship to attend Harvard College in
1967 to study organic chemistry. He cofounded the
Harvard Independent, an alternative campus newspaper.
After graduating in 1971, Stemberg went to Harvard
Business School, from which he received a masters in
business administration.
He climbed the ranks of the cutthroat New England
grocery business by pushing then-new concepts like
generic store-brand food.
His first big break came when he lost his job in the
grocery store business, a setback that led him to develop
one of the countrys first specialized superstores years
before they dotted the retail landscape.
His dismissal in 1985, led Stemberg to start Staples Inc., a
concept he grew from a single location off a turnpike in
Boston in 1986 into an international chain with billions of
dollars in annual sales.
He understood those mom-and-pop stores could probably
be fine just from 9 to 5 by charging huge
markups.Stemberg said customers would flock to an
outlet with more convenient hours and cheaper prices. A
bigger store, he reasoned, could squeeze better deals out
of wholesalers.
The idea won over Leo Kahn, a former rival in the
grocery industry who had bonded with his younger rival
over Harvard basketball games. The two teamed up and
pitched the plan to investors. Kahn gave the startup
credibility in the financial markets while Stemberg
worked on the stores strategy and day-to-day operations.

Kahn died in 2011.
When most shopping was still done in malls and on Main
Street, Staples approach to pens, pads and printer ink
helped usher in a new era of big-box stores set up to
squeeze the competition with more selection and lower
expenses. The chain eventually grew into the worlds
leading office supplier with more than $22 billion in sales
in 2014.
A stickler for efficiency, Stemberg was seen stocking
some of the first stores shelves the day it opened and
would often enlist his children to scout out competitors
stores in the companys early days. Wed be standing
outside counting how many people were coming in, said
Rylan Hamilton, his adopted son.
Stemberg kept running Staples as it opened more stores,
built its own distribution centers and
launched its initial public offering in
1989. The company became a
windfall for its founders. Stemberg
stepped down as chief executive in
2002 and stayed on as executive
chairman until 2005.
After Staples, Stemberg joined venture-capital firm
Highland Capital Partners.
The simple economics of Staples lower expenses and
broader selection eventually swept away most
independent stationers in much the same way
supermarkets had trumped independent grocers decades
earlier.
Stembergs success with Staples didnt always translate
into other businesses. In 1998, he founded Zoots, a 24/7
dry-cleaning service that boasted a website on which
customers checked the status of orders and scheduled
home deliveries. Zoots grew to 75 stores nationally before
foundering; it was sold off in pieces in 2008. That same
year he cofounded KaBloom, which hoped to become the
Staples of florists. The initial vision called for 150 stores
nationwide within a few years; today, there are 50
franchises.After leaving Staples, Stemberg became a
venture capital investor. (Credits: http://www.wsj.com)
THE GENESIS
22
Current Affairs: Corporate

RANKINGS&INDEXES
Nation Brands
Indias nation brand value has in 2015 increased by a
whopping 32 per cent to $2.14 trillion, compared with $1.62
trillion in 2014, shows a report by London-based Brand
Finance, a leading independent brand valuation and strategy
consultancy. Not only has Indias rate of increase been the
highest among the top 10 by brand value, it has also helped the
country improve its global ranking by a notch to seventh.
Only three Asian nations - China, India and South Korea figure among the top 20 most valuable nation brands. Even as
China has maintained its second position, it has lost one per
cent of its value over a year to $6.3 trillion in 2015. South
Korea has improved its ranking to 12th from 17th with a 10
per cent increase in value to $1.1 trillion.
Meanwhile, in a classic case of how one companys mess can
hurt a country, the recent crisis faced by automaker
Volkswagen has not only affected Germanys brand value but
also cost it its position as the worlds strongest nation brand.
In addition to a four per cent erosion in brand value to $4.2
trillion, Germany, the third-most-valuable nation brand, has been replaced in the strongest nation brand pecking order by
Singapore.
With its intolerance for corruption, generous wages for public officials to discourage graft, heavy tax on cars leading to
less congestion and good public transport, and a high-quality education system, Singapore, which has a nation brand
value of $412 billion, is now the strongest nation brand.
According to Brand Finance, a nation brand is one of the most important assets for any state in a global marketplace,
encouraging inward investment, adding value to exports and attracting tourists.
Though the US remains the most valuable nation brand in Brand Finances 2015 edition of Nation Brands report, the
countrys image as the Great Satan in Iran will affect the ability of its firms to export into Iran. The report says: Those
with a neutral and internationalist branding, such as Apple, should be largely unaffected. But the more all-American
brands like Coca-Cola might struggle to overcome negative perceptions.
Brand Finance measures the strength and value of 100 countries using a method based on the royalty-relief mechanism
employed to value large companies.
The five-step approach includes preparing a brand strength index on the basis of goods and services, investment and
society. The first is sub-divided into governance, market and tourism (for investment, tourism is replaced by people and
skills).
It emphasises a six-step approach by governments to improve the nation brand through appraisal, macro and micro
image, consistent and focused vision, brand strategy, market strategy and execution.Indias Incredible India slogan,
used for tourism promotion, has worked well as an umbrella brand, with more targeted and detailed campaigns
appealing to the different audiences.
THE GENESIS
23
Interestingly, Iran tops the list of best-performing nation brands; the value of its nation brand value has increased 59 per
cent over a year ago to $159 billion. The report says Hassan Rouhanis moderate approach is slowly shifting the
international perception of Irans potential. The conflict on its doorstep and the Sunni-Shia divide will remain an
impediment to trade and investment locally but with a market of 77 million people, vast hydrocarbon reserves and a
highly educated population, Iran certainly has a receptive audience globally, says the report.
Ukraine and Russia, rivals in political arena, are together in the worst-performing nation brand category, at first and third
spots, respectively. Russias brand value, at $810 billion, is more than 60 per cent lower than Indias.
HBRs 100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World

MasterCard Chief Executive Ajaypal Banga, ranked 74th, is the only Indian among the
worlds 100 top CEOs, shows the Harvard Business Reviews (HBRs) BestPerforming CEOs in the World report, released in October. The list for 2015 was
topped by Lars Rabien Sorenson, CEO of Danish pharmaceutical company Novo
Nordisk who was followed by Cisco Systems John Chambers and Inditexs Pablo Isla.
The HBR list features 100 best-performing CEOs and chairpersons of companies across
sectors and geographies.
There has been change in HBRs methodology for compiling the list this time. Rather than considering only the hard
stock market numbers total shareholder returns and the change in a companys market capitalisation since its CEO
took over the research has also looked at companies environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance under
the current chair.
Each CEO was awarded two sub-rankings financial and ESG the average of which was used for calculating the
overall rank.
For financial ranking, each CEOs tenure was evaluated under three parameters country-adjusted total shareholder
return (including dividends reinvested); industry-adjusted total shareholder return (including dividends reinvested); and
change in market capitalisation (adjusted for dividends, share issues, and share repurchases) measured in terms of
inflation-adjusted US dollars. Each CEO was ranked for each financial parameter, and the average of these was used for
his or her overall financial ranking.
HBR sourced environmental, social and governance research and analytics data from Sustainalytics to rate firms ESG
performance on a scale from 0 to 100. The average of these was used to arrive at an individuals ESG ranking.
To calculate the final ranking, HBR combined the overall financial ranking and ESG ranking (weighted at 80 per cent
and 20 per cent, respectively).
Worlds Best Companies to Work For

Google has topped the list of worlds best companies to work for, grabbing the numero uno position for the third straight
year, while software developer SAS Institute and manufacturing firm W L Gore were ranked second and third
respectively. The annual Worlds Best Multinational Workplaces List ranks the top 25 global companies to work for.
Rounding out the top five on the list are data storage specialist NetApp and mobile communications provider Telefonica.
EMC Corporation has been ranked sixth, followed by software giant Microsoft at seventh position in the list compiled by
research and consulting firm Great Place to Work Institute. No Indian company however, made it to the coveted list.
Others in the top ten include, BBVA (8th), Monsanto (9th) and American Express (10th) place.
This years best workplaces represent operations in 47 different countries and come from industries ranging from
cosmetics and candy to computer software and chemicals. Other listed companies are from the retail, financial services
and hospitality fields.
THE GENESIS
24
The analysis, which involved survey responses from more than half a million employees at the 2015 Worlds Best, found
that a spirit of camaraderie is central to employee perceptions that their cultures are great. Qualifying companies must
have been selected for at least five national Great Place to Work lists, have at least 5,000 employees worldwide and count
at least 40 per cent of their global workforce outside of the companys home country.
Global Pension Index

Indias retirement system ranks last in the global pension index, says a study by global consulting major Mercer. The
countrys index value fell from 43.5 in 2014 to 40.3 in 2015, primarily due to a material reduction in its household
savings rate, Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI) report said. The study added that the National Pension
System (NPS), which was launched by the government in June as part of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, will help the
country improve its index. It said enhanced participation in the NPS will help the country increase its index value.
Denmark has been rated as the country with the best retirement system in the world.
HAPPENINGS
BSE becomes worlds fastest exchangeCEO: BSE claims to have become the worlds fastest stock
exchange. Managing Director and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan said in October that BSE has become the fastest
exchange in the world with a median response time of 6 micro seconds. The bourses high speed BOLT PLUS system is
already the fastest trading platform in the country with a response time of 200 micro seconds for trade executed on it.
More than 900 brokers with over 100,000 branches and millions of retail investors are on the BOLT PLUS system.
Kwality obtains Kwality artwork for its dairy products: Dairy firm Kwality secured rights from its
founding father P L Lamba to use the Kwality artwork for its dairy products and beverages in October. This excludes
usage in ice cream, ice lollies and frozen desserts. At present, Kwality is selling its dairy products under the brand name
Dairy Best. In 1994-95, Kwality had joined hands with the then HLL for ice cream business. Later, HUL, which was
earlier known as HLL, gained control of the brand. The current promoter Dhingra acquired Kwality in 2002-03.
United Spirits gets into film production to promote brand: United Spirits (USL) has signed a deal with
Eros International for co-producing a Marathi movie, Guru, which will be released in January 2016. The company will
invest Rs 20-25 crore in five years. United Spirits is the largest spirits company in India and a flagship entity of $2 billion
UB group. It manufactures wide range of whisky, vodka, rum and other spirits.
Telenor launches free life insurance for customers: Telenor India has announced free life insurance cover
for its existing active customers as well as potential new ones across its six operating circles. The company said it would
work with Shriram Life Insurance and MicroEnsure, a UK-based mass-market insurance specialist, to take the initiative
to the masses. Customers of the company would get the benefit of cover which would be a hundred times of the monthly
recharge value and up to a maximum of Rs 50,000.
Apple told to pay $234 mn for using BITS graduates technology: Tech giant Apple has been told to pay
$234 million to the intellectual property arm of Wisconsin University, Madison, for using without permission patented
technology developed by its team, in October. The case centres on technology that became a component of processors
that run widely popular Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad. Gurindar Sohi and Terani Vijaykumar, both electrical
and electronics engineering graduates of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, were part of the fourmember WARF team which developed the technology.
Infosys, Huawei develop software for Wi-Fi in stadiums: Indian IT major Infosys said in October that it
and Chinese telecom major Huawei jointly developed software for high-speed Wi-Fi access in stadiums. The software
product offers high-speed Wi-Fi access and smart services for users in stadiums and exhibition centres. Huawei has
deployed Wi-Fi networks in 20 stadiums worldwide.
Apple removes infringing privacy apps from online store: Apple has removed more than 250 privacyinfringing apps from its online store after discovering that a Chinese firm was secretly siphoning-off and storing private
THE GENESIS
25
information in violation of the tech giants privacy policies. The threat to user privacy came from hidden software
development kit SDK developed by a Chinese mobile advertising provider, called Youmi. The apps using Youmis SDK
will be removed from App Store and any new apps submitted to App Store using this SDK will be rejected.
Tats win Sustainability Award: Private steel major Tata Steel has been awarded the Golden Peacock Global
Award for Sustainability (GPGAS) for 2015 by the Institute of Directors, India in October.
MEA places order for 55 Mercedes-Benz sedans: Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz disclosed in October
that Indias Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has placed an order to lease 55 top of the range E 250 CDI luxury
sedans. The high-end sedans will be used by the visiting foreign dignitaries of ministries including the head of states,
presidents, prime ministers and top diplomats.
Toyota recalls 6.5 mn vehicles over window defect: Toyota is recalling 6.5 million vehicles worldwide
because of a power window glitch that presented a fire risk. Toyota said a drivers side power window master switch
could short-circuit and cause parts to overheat and melt. In recent months, Toyota has recalled nearly 10 million vehicles
outfitted with defective air bags that have been linked to several deaths globally.
Toyota tops in Jan-Sept global sales: Japans Toyota Motor overtook scandal-hit Volkswagen to become the
worlds largest carmaker by sales in January- September 2015. The Japanese automaker had been dethroned by its
German rival in the first half of 2015, for the first time in four years. From January to September, however, Toyota sold
more than 7.49 million vehicles including those from subsidiaries Daihatsu and truckmaker Hino. Volkswagen
announced that its global sales stood at 7.43 million for the same period.
NABARD chair inaugurated at IIM-A: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) now has a
NABARD Chair unit which will undertake research activities related to the areas where the apex development bank has
interest. The chair formally inaugurated in October envisages conduct of research in NABARDs areas of interest and in
collaborating with it for joint research activities.
2 from Indianin The Economists top B-Schools: Two schools from India feature in the 2015 rankings of
The Economist of best business schools in the world in October. They are IIM Ahmedabad, a 50-year-old legacy
institution and SP Jain School of Global Management.
PERSONSINNEWS
BRAND AMBASSADORS: Actress Shruti Haasan was signed as the new face of the
Ayurvedic hair care brand - Kesh King marketed by FMCG major Emami for the Southern
markets while Juhi Chawla will continue as the national face of the product. Marico has
introduced its next-generation Livon Serum through its new advertising campaign Pretty Girl
Swag, featuring Kangana Ranaut with the tagline Live free, Live fab, Livon that highlights the
confidence that comes from fabulous looking hair. Voylla.com, a Jaipur-based online fashion
jewellery marketplace founded by Vishwas Shringi, roped in Kangana Ranaut as its brand
ambassador in Oct. Two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor company has roped in Amitabh
Bachchan as Brand Philosophy Evangelist for its scooterette Jupiter in Oct in the actors first
endorsement of a 2-wheeler. South African batsman A B de Villiers was roped in as the brand
ambassador of tyre manufacturing giants MRF Limited in October. PujaShoppe.com, an online
marketplace for puja material and services including booking of priests, was launched in October with Ameesha Patel as
its brand ambassador.
APPOINTMENTS I: M. K. Surana, who is currently the CEO of Prize Petroleum Co Ltd, the upstream oil
exploration arm of HPCL, was selected in October to replace Nishi Vasudeva as the new Chairman and Managing
Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) in March 2016 when she retires. Industrialist A. Vellayan has
resumed charge as Chairman of the Murugappa Group in October, five months after stepping aside from the post after
THE GENESIS
26
market regulator SEBI slapped insider trading charges against him. Twitter Inc. appointed former Google executive
Omid Kordestani as its executive chairman, holding good on a promise to appoint an outsider to work alongside cofounder Jack Dorsey in his second stint as CEO.
APPOINTMENTS II: Reliance Communications senior vice executive president Amit Mathur was elected as
the president of CDMA players industry body Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI) in
October. Former telecom secretary M F Farooqui was appointed chairman of Broadband India Forum (BIF) that works
on enhancing broadband potential in the country in October. UTI Mutual Funds managing director Leo Puri was elected
as chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) for one-year term in October. The Gem and Jewellery
Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) elected Praveenshankar Pandya as Chairperson for a period of 2 years in October.
LAUNCHES
Pandeymonium: Creative heavyweight and doyen of Indian advertising Piyush Pandey unveiled his book
Pandeymonium in October. Published by Penguin Random House, the book chronicles Pandeys body of work, as well as
his philosophy, inspirations and failures. The 244-page book also addresses how one can inspire people to communicate
effectively, as well as how to lead and convey messages simply.
Pepsi P1: Soft drinks giant Pepsi Co. launched a smartphone in China in October as part of a new marketing ploy. The
company is not foraying into smartphone manufacturing and would only be lending its brand name for use on a new
smartphone available only in China to market Pepsi gear like apparel, soda and food. The phone is an opportunity to
promote its other products in China by showing its logo on frequently used mobile phones. The new device, called the
Pepsi P1, will be powered by Googles Android operating system and would feature a camera and 16 gigabytes of
storage for a price of $205.
LYF: Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Industries said in October that it is soon going to
launch its own brand of 4G LTE smartphones under the brand LYF. Reliances net-based pan-India cellular service
provider Jio Infocomm said that it has substantially completed the rollout of its network across the country and tests for a
pan-India launch are now in full swing. Jio Infocomm has also signed a deal with Anil Ambanis with Reliance
Communications for sharing of spectrum in the 800MHz band across seven circles.
MOBILES: English luxury mobile phone manufacturer Vertu launched its next generation high-performance
smartphone the New Signature Touch in October which comes with its full portfolio of services, which comprise
a dedicated concierge as well as Vertu LIFE and Vertu CERTAINTY packages. Samsung launched its second Tizen OSbased smartphone Z3 in India, priced at Rs 8,490 in October. Google India launched the latest range of its Nexus phones
running on the latest version of Android Marshmallow 6.0 operating system in partnership with LG and Huawei starting
at Rs 31,900 in October. Alcatel launched a new smartphone -- Flash 2 -- priced at Rs.9299 in partnership with Flipkart.
GADGETS: Panasonic India has launched a 20-inch tablet PC Toughpad FZ-Y1 priced at Rs. 2.4 lakh for niche
segments such as the healthcare and film industries in October. Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced its PageWide XL
range of printers in India with the launch of the PageWide XL 8000in October. Yupp TV, an internet-based TV
streaming service provider, entered Indian market with 200 plus channels in 12 languages in October.
BusZone: Auto major Tata Motors inaugurated its first bus dealership BusZone at Arumbakkam near Chennai that
would be equipped with a dedicated bus display area, professional sales and service teams, customer lounge including
wi-fi connectivity and other services. BusZone would also provide various services like bus financing, highway
assistance facility, loyalty programmes and full service contracts.
VEHICLES: Mahindra & Mahindras Farm Equipment Sector (FES) has launched a four-wheel drive (4WD) tractor
Arjun Novo in October. Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) rolled out two new products -- the Supro Van in
the passenger van segment while the Supro Maxitruck in load carrier category in October. German automobile
manufacturer Mercedes-Benz India launched its luxury SUV GLE with two variants GLE 250 d at Rs. 58.9 lakh and
GLE 350 d at Rs. 69.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Italian-American auto major Fiat Chrysler Automobiles launched
THE GENESIS
27
hatchback Punto Abarth and crossover Avventura in India. Maruti Suzuki India launched a limited edition variant of
Swift branded Swift Glory at Rs. 5.28 lakh for petrol and Rs. 6.19 lakh for diesel. BMW India launched the X6M and
X5M at a price tag of Rs. 1.60 and 1.55 crorerespectively. Chevrolet India has partnered with Amazon India for booking
the Chevrolet Trailblazer. Countrys largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp launched a new version of its
Splendor Pro bike, priced at Rs 46,850 (ex-showroom Delhi) in October. Mahindra2Wheelers launched 300 cc bike
Mojo priced at Rs 1.58 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) featuring a 21-litre fuel tank, the largest in its class.
Eukanuba: Mars International India, the wholly-owned arm of US-based chocolate maker Mars Inc, has launched its
international pet food brand Eukanuba in the domestic market in October. Mars had acquired Eukanuba from The
Procter & Gamble. The brands from Mars International stable includes chocolates like M&Ms, Snickers, Dove, Galaxy,
Mars, Bounty, Milky Way and Twix, while the pet care brands are Pedigree, Whiskas, Sheba, Cesar and Royal Canin.
NuPro: M&M forays into branded pulses retailing: Tractor and utility vehicle market leader Mahindra & Mahindra
(M&M) announced its foray into pulses retailing under the brand NuPro in October at a price of tur at Rs 210 a kg
against the prevailing price range of Rs 180 and Rs 220 a kg. The company entered the business-to-business (B2B)
pulses segment three years ago and launched NuPro mustard oil brand recently.
SmartShift: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) launched SmartShift, a technology enabled load exchange platform for
cargo owners and transporters, in October. Cargo owners -- both businesses and individual users -- can access the
SmartShift service through a mobile app available on Android phones, website or the dedicated call centre.
Ola Share: Taxi aggregator Ola has launched a new Share feature on its app that will allow its users in the city to
share rides, making their travel cheaper. The carpooling feature will be rolled out to select users in Bengaluru. The
service will be available for an introductory flat fare of Rs 50. Earlier, Uber had announced the launch of UberPool, its
carpooling service in India. The service is available in beta in Bengaluru.
TG Rooms, TG Stays: Online travel firm Yatra.Com has launched TG Rooms and TG Stays with a starting price of
Rs 499 in over 60 cities, expanding its presence in the budget accommodation segment in the country. While TG Rooms
will cater to budget travellers providing hotel and guest house options, TG Stays will offer verified home stays across the
major destinations in the country.
YouTube Red: Alphabet Inc.s YouTube said it will launch a $10-a-month subscription service called YouTube Red
in the United States in 2016 that will allow viewers to watch videos from across the site without interruption from
advertisements.
TechPrep: Facebook has launched a new portal TechPrep geared towards women, students and their parents which
have traditionally had less exposure to careers in coding as part of the companys push to increase minorities in
technology. TechPrep is also targeted at parents and guardians, and seeks to analogise coding skills with language skills
to make the subject of computer science less forbidding and opaque.
Expert Track: In a bid to attract top talents from the premier institutes such as IITs and IIMs, IT services provider
Infosys has introduced a new initiative christened as Expert Track. While expert track initiative is driven by its
recruitment team, the methodology, selection criteria, procedures, interviews and subjects would be different from
normal campus recruitment.
APPAREL: Aditya Birla Group, which is already present in the fashion space through Madura Fashion and
Pantaloons that houses brands like Allen Solly, Peter England, Van Heusen and Louis Phillipe, among others, entered the
e-commerce space in October by launching fashion portal abof.com. Online fashion retailer Myntra launched a new
fashion range All about You, designed by actor Deepika Padukone, in October priced Rs 1,500 onwards.
SPONSORS: Star Sports has decided to enter into a partnership with the Subroto Cup football event as presenting
sponsor of the inter-school tournament in October. Hockey India has secured an official partner in Coal India
Limited/South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) for the Hockey World League Final 2015 in Raipur in Nov-Dec.
THE GENESIS
28
MERGERS&ACQUISITIONS
Mahindra acquires Autorisk: Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd (MFCWL), a multi-brand certified used car
company, acquired the business assets of Autorisk Management Services, a leading player in the pre-insurance inspection
services business in India, for an undisclosed sum in October.
HCL Tech to buy Volvos IT business: HCL Technologies will buy Swedish commercial vehicles major Volvo
Groups external information technology business for $138 million (around Rs 895 crore) in an all cash deal. Volvo
Group will also outsource its IT infrastructure operations to HCL Technologies for five years.
Infosys acquires Noah Consulting: IT major Infosys announced acquisition of US-based oil and gas consulting
firm Noah Consulting for USD 70 million (approximately Rs 453.5 crore) in an all-cash deal in October.
Recipharm acquires Nitin Lifesciences: Swedish firm Recipharm has picked up 74 per cent stake in sterile
injectables maker Nitin Lifesciences for Rs 671 crore in an all cash deal, the companies announced in October. Nitin
Lifesciences is engaged in contract manufacturing of liquid ampoules, liquid vials, sterile dry powder, multidose eye and
ear drops. The company was founded by M.M. Sobti in 1994 and has manufacturing units in Haryana and Himachal.
American Tower to buy Indias Viom: American Tower Corp has agreed to buy a 51 percent controlling stake
in Indian mobile mast operator Viom Networks for $1.17 billion in October. Indus Towers, a joint venture of Indias
three top mobile phone carriers, is Indias biggest telecommunications tower company with more than 117,000 towers.
Bharti Infratel Ltd owns 42 percent of Indus.
Western Digital buys SanDisk: Global computer disk drive leader Western Digital announced a deal to acquire
flash memory specialist SanDisk for $19 billion in October. Western said the acquisition will help transform it into a data
storage solutions company with global scale, extensive product and technology assets, and deep expertise.
Cox & Kings acquires LateRooms: Travel services provider Cox & Kings acquired UK-based online hotel
booking specialist LateRooms for 8.5 million pounds (about Rs 85 crore) from TUI Group in October.
CAMPAIGNS
FarmersFirst: National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has launched a nationwide
campaign to support dairy cooperative brands through the campaign FarmersFirst. The NDDB
has appealed to consumers, especially urban, to support dairy cooperative brands which are
farmer-owned organisations. Every time you spend any money on cooperative dairy brands,
minimum 75 per cent money goes back to the farmers. A little shift in the choice of products and
brands, with the best quality assurance, can make a big difference, NDDB said in October. All
India Radio is the radio partner while actor Nana Patekar is the voice of this campaign. Chairman
of NDDB T. Nandakumar said this campaign is to make consumers aware of the role of farmers
in the day-to-day lives and the need to support them.
Chance Pe Dance: Bosch has rolled out a new campaign Chance Pe Dance to promote its washing machine
exchange offer in October. The campaign taps on the opportunity by showcasing a montage of old rickety machines
dancing to a festive tune. The film highlights that now you can see your old machines dance one last time and exchange
it for a German-engineered Bosch washing machine with an attractive exchange bonus of up to Rs 7,000.
Khali pet jung nahi jeeti jaati: Nature Fresh Sampoorna Chakki Atta, one of the fastest growing brand of
packaged Atta in India marketed by MNC Cagill, launched a new campaign with the theme Khali pet jung nahi jeeti
jaati in October. The brand tagline has been articulated as Shakti hur jung ke liye.
THE GENESIS
29
BOOKS
TheBrothersBihari
Laloo Yadav and Nitish Kumar,
chalk and cheese. One a charismatic
populist, the other a shrewd
introvert. Taken together, a
mesmerizing duo: heroes to some,
villains to others, champions of the
underdog yet imperious of manner;
allies in youth, foes in mid-life, now
ageing veterans. For a quarter of a
century, the two by turns dictated
the destiny of Bihar. What do Laloo
and Nitish mean to Bihar? Here, for
the first time, a revised and updated omnibus edition of
Sankarshan Thakurs widely acclaimed biographies of the
men. From one of Indias finest journalists, this masterful
narrative-part personal memoir, part political portraiture,
part unsparing perspective-is essential reading to
understand Bihar. In the lives of the two giants also lies
the arresting story of one of Indias largest and most
challenging states.
EXCEPRT:
Laloo and Nitish together make a seamless continuum of
the narrative of contemporary Bihar. Two of its great
sons, who embossed the state with their imprint on either
side of the millennium. One made a story of hope
wantonly betrayed, the other ventured its unlikely
kindling in the mire of collective cynicism and
resignation. They make a strange diptych, Laloo and
Nitish, a fracture of the same bone, separated by radical
contrasts yet locked on the hinges by an uneasy sameness.
For far too many reasons, understanding Laloo is critical
to understanding Nitish, and very often the opposite is
equally true. One significant change they have together
wrought on Bihar is that, like in neighbouring Uttar
Pradesh, upper-caste dominance of politics has become a
thing of the past. In the twenty-five years since Laloo
came to power in 1990, the transfer of power hegemony
from the minority upper castes to backward and Dalit
representatives has become complete; that process is in
irreversible stability, the pyramidal order of caste
dominance turned on its head.
Bihar has much to learn, a long way to go. Its leaders
alone cannot carry the burden of that journey, its people
will have to.Perhaps a good place to start would be to
stop imagining the world to be shaped like a spittoon. The
mouthfuls of masticated paan Biharis are wont to spit any
and everywhere must rank high on the catalogue of

uncivil liberties they feel entitled to. To have a dualcarriageway in Bihar is to find ways of violating the oneway regime, to wade your vehicle--four- wheel, twowheel, bike or bullock-cart--in the face of oncoming
traffic. To find a padded seat on the bus is an invitation to
stab it and rip the foam. Correction: the delight of
deflowering virgin foam is reserved for those who bother
squeezing into the bus; the best seats are still on the top,
whether or not the inside is entirely taken. The New Bihar
Story awaits the courtesies of its people.
DontLetHimKnow
In a boxy apartment building in an
American university town, Romola
Mitra, a newly arrived young bride,
anxiously awaits her first letter from
home
in
India. When
she
accidentally opens the wrong letter,
it changes her life. Decades later, her
son Amit finds that letter and thinks
he has discovered his mothers
secret. But secrets have their own secrets sometimes and
a way of following their keepers.
Amit does not know that Avinash, his dependable and
devoted father, lurks on gay Internet groups at times,
unable to set aside his lifelong attraction to men. Avinash
has no idea that his dutiful wife had once romanced a
dashing Bengali filmstar, whose memory she keeps
tucked away in a diary amongst her silk saris.
Growing up in Calcutta, in a house bustling with feisty
grandmothers, Amit has been shielded from his parents
secrets. A successful computer engineer, he settles in San
Francisco, torn between his new life and his duties
towards the one he has left behind. Moving from
adolescent rooftop games to adult encounters in gay bars,
from hair salons in Calcutta to McDonalds drive-thrus in
California, Dont Let Him Know is an unforgettable story
about family, the struggle between having what we want
and doing what we feel we must - and the sacrifices we
make for those we love. Tender, powerful, and
beautifully told, Dont Let Him Know marks the arrival
of a brave new voice.
Sandip Roy is Senior Editor at the popular news portal,
blogs for the Huffington Post and is an Associate Editor
with New America Media.
THE GENESIS
Cyber Buzz
Facebook launching local market: In the near
future, Facebook would no longer remain just the
socialising platform it would also likely become a
marketplace. The social networking giant is testing a
dedicated buying and selling community called Local
Market, powered by Facebook groups in October. The
new feature appearing briefly in their Facebook iPhone
app, sometimes in place of the Messenger button. The
feature, which is only in testing but not broadly
distributed, is a more structured marketplace aimed at
buyers and sellers, allowing Facebook users to browse
through or post items to sell across a variety of product
categories such as autos, appliances, furniture, clothing,
household, kids, books, and much more. The new section
included both a Buy and Sell interface, as well as a
way to search across the marketplace for particular items
using keywords.
Instagram launches Boomerang: Instagram on

unveiled a new feature allowing users to post one-second
video loopsin October in an effort to keep up with
rivals offering animated images. Boomerang is a new
video application that lets you turn everyday moments
into something fun and unexpected, the Facebookowned picture-sharing network said in a blog post. The
Instagram feature is shorter than the six-second video
segments on Twitter-owned Vine but aims for a richer
experience than animated images known as GIFs.
Boomerang takes a burst of photos and stitches them
together into a high-quality mini video that plays forward
and backward, Instagram said. Instagram said recently
its user base has climbed past the 400-million-user mark,
but it is facing intense competition with other services
such as Snapchat, popular among young users.
Tata launches private cloud services: Tata

Communications launched IZO Private Cloud service in
October that gives direct control to organisations hosting
it over their critical data. Cloud computing service allows
users to access softwares, storage etc. on pay as per their
use only and without actually buying the entire product.
Some companies especially in the field of banking,
research and development prefer to have private cloud to
keep their information isolated from public network for
security reason. The new service is part of Tata
Communications IZO network platform ecosystem
which currently consists of over 20 service providers
covering countries accounting for 85 per cent of the
worlds GDP. It has partnered with Microsoft Azure,
30
Office365, Amazon Web Service, Google Cloud Platform

and Salesforce to offer cloud services.
Twitter launches Brand Hub: Micro-blogging site

Twitter in October launched its Brand Hub feature that
will help advertisers understand more about their brands.
Under the new analytics tool, the company has introduced
TrueVoice -- a new metric available within Brand Hub to
help advertisers track their share of conversation in real
time. The company determines any brands TrueVoice by
first analysing Tweets about the subscribers brand and
those of its competitors. It then identifies what percentage
of impressions the subscribers brand owns.
Movie clips in Skype instant messaging: Skype
users will now be able to send receive short clips of
popular movies to communicate with the video calling
service from Microsoft rolling out Mojis in India. The
company also announced partnership with Indian studios
Yash Raj Films and ErosNow in October to develop
custom Mojis for users in India. India, which has the
second highest number of Internet users globally, is also
among the top 5 markets for Skype, both in terms of user
base as well as usage.
Dorsey donates stock to employees: After laying

off more than 300 workers, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is
trying to lift the spirits of the remaining employees by
giving them 6.8 million shares of the stock he owns in the
online messaging service. Dorsey is giving up the stock,
currently worth more than USD 200 million, so Twitter
can award the shares to its employees. The gesture comes
a week after Dorsey laid off 8 per cent of Twitters
workforce in October in an effort to make the company
profitable for the first time in its nine-year history. The
gift represents nearly one-third of the stock Dorsey owns
in the company.
CAIT to launch e-Lala: With more Indians

buying products online, traders body CAIT will launch a
portal christened e-Lala in November to support brick
& mortar shops to embrace e-commerce as an additional
platform to generate more business. Only a person having
a physical presence in the form of a store can sell
products through e-Lala. There will be direct interface
between the buyer and the seller. CAIT has also been
organising a training programme named Master Your
Card with MasterCard to promote financial awareness
and literacy for traders.
THE GENESIS
31
Science & Technology

Ozoneholegetsbigger:NASA
NDRFtogetISROsatellitedata
The 2015 Antarctic

ozone hole area was
larger and formed later
than in recent years,
scientists from NASA
and
the
National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) said in October.
In order to obtain the vital third eye to tackle disasters,

the NDRF inked a pact with the National Remote Sensing
Centre in October which will provide the force with geospatial and other satellite data for sharpening its relief and
rescue operations.
The ozone hole is a severe depletion of the ozone layer

above Antarctica that was first detected in the 1980s.
The Antarctic ozone hole forms and expands during the
Southern Hemisphere spring (August and September)
because of the high levels of chemically active forms of
chlorine and bromine in the stratosphere.
Earlier this month, on October 2, the ozone hole
expanded to its peak of 28.2 million sq kms -- an area
larger than the continent of North America. Throughout
October, the hole remained large and set many area daily
records.
Unusually cold temperature and weak dynamics in the
Antarctic stratosphere this year resulted in this larger
ozone hole, scientists said.
In comparison, last year the ozone hole peaked at 24.1
million sq kms on September 11. Compared to the 19912014 period, the 2015 ozone hole average area was the
fourth largest.
The ozone layer helps shield the Earth from potentially
harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer,
cataracts and suppress immune systems, as well as
damage plants.
The large size of this years ozone hole will likely result
in increases of harmful ultraviolet rays at the Earths
surface, particularly in Antarctica and the Southern
Hemisphere in the coming months.
Thanks to the Montreal protocol on substances that
deplete the Ozone layer, atmospheric levels of these
ozone depleting compounds are slowly declining. The
ozone hole is expected to recover back to 1980 levels in
approximately 2070.
The new partnership will allow the force to access the

NRSC, Hyderabad and the Indian Space Research
Organisations (ISRO) technical database on disaster
management support to not only prepare for the onslaught
of a natural disaster but also while preparing the physical
response to such calamities.
The NRSC would also share with the NDRF mobile
Applications developed as part of the National Disaster
Emergency Management for responding to such
emergency situations where the fury of the devastation
caused by the nature, at times, remains unpredictable.
The NRSC, under the ISRO, is the national organisation
having expertise in the field of Geographic Information
System and is responsible for acquisition, processing and
supply of aerial and satellite remote sensing data.
Chineserobotsetswalkingrecord
A China-made quadruped robot on November 1, 2015
walked its way into the Guinness World Records for
covering over 134-km in 54 hours, beating a previous
record held by an American robot.
Four-legged Xingzhe No 1, made by a research team in
southwest Chinas Chongqing University of Posts and
Telecommunications, circled an indoor track from
October 24 to 27, taking 340,000 steps before it had to
stop and recharge. It covered a distance of 134.03 km in
over 54 hours and used 0.8 kWh of power.
The distance the Chinese robot covered was more than
twice that of the former record holder, Ranger, which was
developed by a team at Cornell University in the U.S.,
and the speed was 1.18 times faster.
The head of the research team said that the overall task
was not simply to extend the length the robot could trek,
but rather, to study electrical efficiency increase the
robots reliability and possibly, enable the robots to
perform dangerous, remotely controlled missions in the
place of a human being.
THE GENESIS
Crossword:
32
(Solution on page: 40)
ACROSS
1. Dull and tedious, slang word
(5)
4. Make an attempt or have a
bash at? (2.3.2)
8. Fiber Optic Gyro (3)
10. AsianRiver ___ Darya (3)
11. Broken in like the horse that
is no more wild? (5)
12. Christopher ______: The
Dark Knight director (5)
13. Harry__: the famous escape
artist? (7)
15. Milk as a prefix? (5)
16. Vincent famous painter?
(3.4)
17. Footnote word (4)
20. Famous French Marquis,
ades anagram? (4)
23. Joyous song or broken
pane? (4)
24. Associated as comrades or
chums informally speaking (6)
26. Recovers from? (4,4)
27. One who takes something for
temporary use only (8)
28. Surface crust on antique vase
(6)
31. Overlook or forget (4)
32. Get naturally corroded, in a
way? (4)
ACROSS
34. Scrape off outer layer or skin of (4)
35. Alleviate, mitigate or allay (7)
36. Oddballs; eccentric persons (5)
38. Law passed by legislative body (7)
41. More than; higher in rank (5)
ACROSS
42. Entice or lure (5)
43. President Eisenhowers nickname? (3)
44. Muslim festival (3)
45. Tries hard; struggles or contends (7)
46. Strip of leather, often with buckle, etc. for fastening things (5)
DOWN
1. It may be a 5-star one (5)
2. The hilly Pradesh (8)
3. A scene of confused uproar (8)
4. Eastern teacher (4)
5. Japanese mountain (4)
6. Reactivate or revitalize (6)
7. _____ up: making a statement etc. more harsh or emphatic? (6)
8. Topple to the ground (4,4)
9. Capital of Gujarat (11)
14. Indian P.M. from June 1996 to April 1997 (4.5)
18. Discouragement (9)
19. Fit; timely and suitable (11)
DOWN
21. Bedeck or garnish (5)
22. Cages for keeping poultry (5)
23. Cheekily forward! (4)
25. Robbery proceeds (4)
27. A purse or a wallet? (8)
29. They excel in physical games and exercises (8)
30. Tell-tale (8)
33. Go into a ______: take a break? (6)
34. Harass or bother (6)
37. Arrangement? (3,2)
39. Name of sea forming north-eastern arm of Black Sea (4)
40. Exodus author Leon _____ (4)
THE GENESIS
33
Do you remember?
(All questions based on content of previous issue; Answers on page No: 35)
1. Who won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
which book in October and for which book?

Bob Marley was famous for which genre of music
(Blues/Jazz/Rock/Reggae)?
Which pair of authors and their books is not matched
correctly Tom McCarthy: Satin Island, Chigozie
Obioma: The Fishermen, Anne Tyler: A Little Life,
Sunjeev Sahota: The Year of the Runaways?
What was the cash prize given to winner of the 2015
Man Booker Prize for Fiction in October?
Who is the author of The Narrow Road to the Deep
North?
INDCs stands for Intended Nationally Determined
_______.
Which paramilitary force started a 73-day 2350-km
long Swachh Ganga river rafting expedition in
October?
Which state is not among the five Ganga states
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh and West Bengal?
Which campaign was launched by the Social Justice &
Empowerment Ministry in October to enable easy
access to differently-abled persons in government
buildings and other public places?
Which is the largest Made in India warship launched
by the Indian Navy in October and who constructed it?
Who is the Chief of Naval staff?
The parliamentary committee headed by BJP MP Yogi
Adityanath was on which issue?
What is the official period for the Southwest Monsoon
season in India?
What was the rainfall deficiency in the Southwest
Monsoon season as per IMD analysis in October?
Pictorial health warnings will cover what percentage
of the package area on tobacco products from April 1,
2016?
Shaurya Gaathas (Valour Stories) is a comic book on
which paramilitary organisation released in October by
the Home Minister?
The new Paryatan Bhawan (Tourism Ministry
building) in New Delhi is named after which former
leader of the Jan Sangh?
When was the World Tourism Day observed this year?
Which movie is Indias official entry for the Best
Foreign Film category at the 2016 Oscar awards and
who is its Director?
Which is Indias best-ranked institution in Times
World University Rankings launched recently?
21. Which is the best-ranked institution in Times World
University Rankings launched recently?

22. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards is not given in which
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
one of these categories - Biological Science, Earth,

Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences, Economic
Science,
Engineering
Sciences,
Mathematical
Sciences, Medical Science, Physical Sciences,
Chemical Sciences?
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award is named after of the
founder of which organisation?
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award is given to scientists
of age ____ and below.
Reliance Foundation, Tata Power and Apollo are
among the nine corporates who have bagged this
years ____ Prize for Enabling Social Progress
(Covey/Drucker/Porter/Hammer).
Which awards were given to senior citizens and those
working for their welfare on the International Day of
Older Persons on October 1?
Which is the first state to declare 200 days of work
under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for drought affected
regions?
Which former scientist was given DRDO Lifetime
Achievement award recently?
Jacob Tsimerman has been selected for the SASTRA
Ramanujan Prize for his achievements the field of
____ (Physics/Mathematics/Chemistry/Economics).
Which automobile companys Chairman was honoured
with the lifetime achievement award at the Forbes
India Leadership Awards 2015?
Former ambassador Jayant Prasad has been appointed
the next Director General of which institute promoted
by the defence Ministry?
Who is the author of The Sixth Sense?
Who are the four brand ambassadors of governments
Digital India campaign?
Who are Indias next High Commissioners to United
Kingdom and Pakistan?
Who will replace Asoke Mukerji as Indias next
Permanent Representative to the UN?
Who is Indias next Ambassador to China?
Who is Indias next Ambassador to Russia?
Which state launched Prerana Project- Farmers
Mental Health Service Programme aimed at bringing
down the number of suicides due to the agrarian crisis?
Who is the new Chairperson of the National
Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)?
THE GENESIS
34
40. Uday Shankar and Raj Chengappa are executives at
60. __________ Sue Lloyd-Roberts died in a London on
which media organisations?

Hoping Stone Lyngdoh passed away on September 26.
He was the oldest MLA in which state?
Syed Ahmed passed away on September 27. He was
serving as Governor of which state?
Indias first visually-challenged MP Sadhan Gupta
died on September 20 at the age of 98. He belonged to
which party?
Former Lok Sabha MP Ram Kapse passed away on
September 29 at the age of 82. He belonged to which
party?
Kerala government has launched Operation _____ to
trace, rescue and reunite missing children with their
families.
Which state and the Centre have been directed by the
Supreme Court to grant citizenship within three
months to Chakma and Hajong tribals who had
migrated from Bangladesh in 1964-69?
Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay have
been elected to serve as non-permanent members on
the Security Council for a term of how many years
beginning January 1, 2016?
Which nation is creating one of the largest marine
protected areas in the world Kermadec Ocean
Sanctuary?
Which province of Spain saw separatist parities
winning control of regional parliament recently? Who
is the PM of Spain?
Who is the President of Bolivia?
Who is the President of Palestine?
Which award founded by Swedish-German
philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull was given to
Canadas Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Ugandas Kasha
Jacqueline Nabagesera and Italys Gino Strada
recently?
Who was elected as the new Chairman of UNs
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
and who was replaced by him?
Hailemariam Desalegne was re-elected as President of
which country in Africa recently?
Which Hollywood actor was named as the Global
Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive
Hazards by the United Nations?
Fayez Saraj is the new Prime Minister of the national
unity government in which country in Africa?
Who is the new Prime Minister of Nepal?
Nobel ______ (Physics/Chemistry/Literature/Peace)
laureate Richard Heck died in Manila on Oct10 at 84.
Which Swedish author, known for best-selling mystery
series featuring Inspector Kurt Wallander, died on
Oct5 at 67?
October
13
at
the
age
of
64
(Actress/Scientist/Singer/Journalist).
Who won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic
Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2015?
How many batsmen including Virender Sehwag have
scored a triple century twice in Tests?
Which England fast bowler, nicknamed Typhoon due
to his ferocious pace, died at the age of 85 on
September 27?
Which two countries featured in the first tied test
match in 1960?
Which state won the Subroto Cup football trophy in
the junior girls (Under-17) section in New Delhi?
Who defeated India in the final to lift the Sultan of
Johor Cup Hockey tournament in Malaysia in
October?
Who won Raid de Himalaya, the worlds highest
altitude motorsports rally, in the Xtreme Two-Wheeler
category in October?
Who won the World Cup Chess Championship
defeating compatriot Peter Svidler in a thrilling finale
that concluded in Baku (Azerbaijan) in October?
Which Indian player lost in the final of Denmark Open
Badminton to Li Xuerui of China in October?
Who won the Mens Singles title at the Denmark Open
Badminton in October?
Which tournament was won by Sania Mirza and
Martina Hingis by defeating Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi
in the final recently?
Which was the only title not won by China at the
Asian Table Tennis Championships (ATTC) in
Pattaya, Thailand in October?
Which marathon race was won by Kenyan athletes
Eliud Kipchoge and Gladys Cherono on September
28?
Which Indian player won the JSW Indian Squash
Circuit Kolkata International in Kolkata in September?
Who won Raid de Himalaya, the worlds highest
altitude motorsports rally, in the Xtreme Four-Wheeler
category in October?
Who won the F1 Japanese Grand Prix on Sept27?
Which is the best state in India to do business in
Assessment of State Implementation of Business
Reforms report of the World Bank?
The _____ Economic Conclave organised by the CII
in New Delhi on September 30.
The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana was launched in
Jharkhand recently. What is MUDRA?
Loans given under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA
Yojana are categorised as Shishu, Kishor and
_______.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
THE GENESIS
35
81. What is Indias ranking in the Global Competitiveness
85. Which scheme for the welfare of areas and people
Index of World Economic Forum and which is the

best-ranked country in the world?
82. Which Bengaluru-based private company has been
awarded $672 mn compensation from ISROs
commercial arm Antrix Corporation for wrongful
termination of contract?
83. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI),
which issues Aadhaar cards, has been shifted to the
administrative control of which Central Ministry from
NITI Aayog?
84. According to Financial Times of London, which was
the top country in attracting FDI in first half of 2015?
affected by mining related operations was launched by

the government recently?
86. The government has decided to exempt MNCs from
payment of minimum alternate tax (MAT) on profits
from April ______ if they do not have a place of
business in India.
87. What is Indias broadband penetration ranking in the
State of Broadband 2015 report of the United Nations
and which is the best-ranked country in the world?
88. What is the theme of the Science Express train flagged
off by Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh
Vardhan from Delhi on October 14?
Do you remember? Answers

1. Marlon
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
James for A Brief

History of Seven Killings
Reggae
Anne Tyler-A Spool of Blue
Thread, Hanya Yanagihara-A
Little Life
50,000 prize and a further
2,500 for being shortlisted
Richard Flanagan
Contributions
ITBP
Chhattisgarh
Accessible India Campaign
(Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan)
INS Kochi, Mazagon Dock
Shipbuilders, Mumbai
Admiral Robin K. Dhowan
Salary and allowances of MPs
June 1September 30
14%
85%
Central Reserve Police Force
Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
September 27
Court, Chaitanya Tamhane
Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore
California
Institute
of
Technology
Economic Science
Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR)
45
Porter
Vayoshreshtha Samman
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
Odisha
V S Arunachalam
Mathematics
Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC
Bhargava
Institute for Defence Studies and
Analyses (IDSA)
Pranav Mistry
Satwat Jagwani, Krati Tiwari,
Ankit Fadia, Pranav Mistry
Navtej Sarna and Gautam
Bambawale
Syed Akbaruddin
Vijay Gokhale
Pankaj Saran
Maharashtra
Stuti Narain Kacker
STAR India and India Today
Meghalaya
Manipur
CPI(M)
BJP
Valsalya
Arunachal Pradesh
Two years
New Zealand
Catalonia, Mariano Rajoy
Evo Morales
Mahmoud Abbas
Right Livelihood Award
Hoesung Lee, Rajendra Pachauri
Ethiopia
Daniel Craig
Libya
KP Sharma Oli
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
Chemistry
Henning Mankell
BBC Journalist
Angus Deaton
Four (Don Bradman, Chris
Gayle and Brian Lara)
Frank Tyson
Australia and West Indies
Haryana
Great Britain
Arvind K.P.
Sergey Karjakin of Russia
PV Sindhu
Chen Long (China)
Guangzhou Open
Womens Doubles
42nd Berlin Marathon
Saurav Ghosal
Raj Singh Rathore
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Gujarat
South Asian
Micro Units Development and
Refinance Agency
Tarun
55th, Switzerland
Devas Multimedia
Ministry of Communication and
Information Technology
India
Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra
Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)
2001
155th, South Korea
Climate Change
THE GENESIS
36
Corporate Knowledge Quiz

(All questions based on content in this issue& previous issue)
(Answers Key on Page No: 40)
1. Which of the following has been ranked as the most

valuable nation brand in Asia by London-based
consultancy firm Brand Finance in October?
a) Japan
b) China
c) India
d) Singapore
2. Which of the following was worlds largest carmaker
by sales in January- September 2015?
a) Toyota
b) Ford
c) General Motors
d) Volkswagen
3. M. K. Surana was selected to succeed Nishi Vasudeva
as CMD of which of the following from March 2016?
a) IOC
b) HPCL
c) BPCL
d) ONGC
4. Lars Rabien Sorenson was ranked first in the Harvard
Business Reviews ranking of the Best-Performing
CEOs in the World in October. He is the CEO of:
a) Merck
b) Allergan
c) Novo Nordisk
d) Pfizer
5. Who was ranked as the worlds best multinational
company to work for by human resources consultancy
Great Place to Work Institute in Oct2015?
a) Google
b) Apple
c) Unilever
d) Cisco
6. Who launched 4WDtractor Arjun Novo in Oct2015?
a) Mahindra & Mahindra
b) John Deere
c) Escorts
d) TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment)
7. Star Sports has agreed to sponsor which of the
following domestic football tournaments in October?
a) Santosh Trophy
b) Durand Cup
c) Subroto Cup
d) IFA Shield
8. Which MNC markets wheat flour under the brand
Nature Fresh in India?
a) ConAgra
b) Cargill
c) McCain Foods
d) General Mills
9. Which foods company launched a mobile phone in
China in October as a ploy to promote its products?
a) PepsiCo
b) Starbucks
c) Coca Cola
d) Nestle
10. Which Indian liquor company signed a deal with Eros
International for co-producing a Marathi movie, Guru?
a) Mohan Meakins
b) Radico Khaitan
c) United Spirits
d) Tilaknagar Industries
11. Who signed Shruti Haasan to endorse is Kesh King
brand in Southern markets?
a) Godrej
b) Emami
c) Marico
d) Dabur
12. Who launched Supro Van in the passenger segment
and Supro Maxitruck in load carrier category in October?
a) Force Motors
b) Mahindra & Mahindra
c) Tata Motors
d) Ashok Leyland
13. Pandeymonium launched by Penguin Random
House in Octoberis about:
a) Banking
b) Advertising
c) Tourism
d) Healthcare
14. Which of the following appointed former Google
executive Omid Kordestani as its Executive Chairman in
October?
THE GENESIS

b) Emami
c) Marico
d) CavinKare
a) Twitter
b) ebay
c) Amazon
d) Facebook
15. Glory is the limited edition version of which of its
models launched by Maruti Suzuki India in October?
a) Alto
b) Ciaz
c) Swift
d) Wagon R
16. Which online travel firm has launched TG Rooms and
TG Stays with a starting price of Rs 499 in over 60 cities
in October?
a) Yatra.com
b) MakeMyTrip.com
c) Goibibo.com
d) Cleartrip.com
17. Who announced a deal to acquire EMC Corporation
for $67 billion to create the worlds largest privatelycontrolled, integrated technology in October?
a) Dell
b) Acer
c) Lenovo
d) Hewlett Packard
18. Who owns pet food brands Pedigree, Whiskas, Sheba,
Cesar and Royal Canin?
a) Kraft Foods
b) Groupe Danone
c) Nestle
d) Mars
19. Which of the following accepted a takeover bid worth
USD 106 billion from Anheuser Busch InBev in October?
a) Diageo
b) Heineken
c) SABMiller
d) Pernod Ricard
22. Which Indian metals company was awarded the

Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability by the
Institute of Directors, India in October?
a) Vedanta
b) Hindalco
c) Jindal Steel
d) Tata Steel
23. Who acquired UK-based online hotel booking
specialist LateRooms from TUI Group in October?
a) Thomas Cook
b) Mahindra Holidays
c) Cox & Kings
d) SOTC
24. Which Indian ice-cream brand was founded by P L
Lamba?
a) Havmor
b) Vadilal
c) Kwality
d) Creambell
25. Amitabh Bachchan signed as brand ambassador for a
two-wheeler company for the first time for which of the
following in October?
a) TVS
b) Mahindra2Wheelers
c) Hero MotoCorp
d) Bajaj Auto
26. Which Indian IT company has launched a programme
Expert Track aimed at recruiting graduates from
premier institutes like IITs and IIMs?
a) Wipro
b) TCS
c) Infosys
d) HCL Technologies
27. Oil & gas exploration company, Prize Petroleum
Company Ltd (PPCL), is promoted by:
a) IOC
b) HPCL
c) BPCL
d) ONGC
20. Ashish Kumar Chauhan is the CMD of:

a) BSE
b) CRISIL
c) NSE
d) ICRA
21. A new adcampaign for Livon Serum featuring
Kangana Ranaut was launched in October. The brand is
owned by:
a) Dabur
37
28. Who among the following was selected as the new

Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India
(AMFI) in October?
THE GENESIS

b) TCS
c) Infosys
d) HCL Technologies
a) Padmaja Reddy
b) Vikram Akula
c) Praveenshankar Pandya
d) Leo Puri
29. Who among the following announced the launch his
companys own brand of 4G LTE smartphones LYF in
October?
a) Sunil Bharti Mittal
b) Kumar Mangalam Birla
c) Mukesh Ambani
d) Anil Ambani
30. Switchgear products and fan maker Standard has
roped in Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt as its brand
ambassador for its range of products. Standard is part of
which Indian electricals company?
a) Baja Electricals
b) Havells India
c) Crompton Greaves
d) Usha International
31. Which of the following has been rated as the country
with the best retirement system in the world in Melbourne
Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI) report while
India has been ranked last in October?
a) Finland
b) Singapore
c) Sweden
d) Denmark
32. Which of the following removed more than 250
privacy-infringing apps from its online store after
discovering that a Chinese firm was secretly siphoningoff and storing private information in October?
a) Microsoft
b) Apple
c) Google
d) Amazon
33. Which e-commerce company has launched a fashion
range All about You designed by actor Deepika
Padukone in October?
a) Jabong
b) Myntra
c) Yepme
d) Infibeam
34. Which Indian IT company is acquiring Swedish
commercial vehicles major Volvo Groups information
technology business for $138 million in October?
a) Wipro
38
35. Who has launched SmartShift, a tech-enabled load

exchange platform for cargo owners and transporters?
a) Force Motors
c) Tata Motors
d) Ashok Leyland
36. Which Indian tyre company signed South African
batsman A B de Villiers as its brand ambassador in
October?
a) Apollo Tyres
b) JK Tyres
c) CEAT
d) MRF
37. Toughpad is the range of laptops marketed by which
of the following?
a) Lenovo
b) Toshiba
c) Dell
d) Panasonic
38. Which of the following has launched a nationwide
campaign to support dairy cooperative brands through the
campaign FarmersFirst?
a) Mother Dairy
b) NDDB
c) GCMMF
d) NABARD
39. Which Indian IT company has developed software for
high-speed Wi-Fi access in stadiums and exhibition
centres in a tie up with Chinas Huawei in October?
a) Wipro
b) TCS
c) Infosys
d) HCL Technologies
40. Which of the following is recalling 6.5 million
vehicles worldwide, over a power window glitch that
presented a fire risk in October?
a) Suzuki
b) Volkswagen
c) General Motors
d) Toyota
41. Which of the following announced a deal to acquire
SanDisk in October?
THE GENESIS

a) Seagate
b) Transcend
c) Toshiba
d) Western Digital
42. YouTube will launch a $10-a-month subscription
option in the United States in 2016 that will allow
viewers to watch videos from across the site without
interruption from advertisements. What has it been
branded as?
a) YouTube Green
b) YouTube White
c) YouTube Yellow
d) YouTube Red
43. Which Indian vehicles company launched BusZone
in October?
a) Force Motors
c) Tata Motors
d) Ashok Leyland
44. Which public sector company was announced as the
sponsor of the Hockey World League Final 2015 to be
held in Raipur in November-December?
a) ONGC
b) Coal India Ltd
c) NTPC
d) Oil India Ltd
45. Which of the following has launched a new portal
TechPrep geared towards women and others who have
traditionally had less exposure to careers in coding as part
of the companys push participation of minorities in
technology?
a) Twitter
b) Microsoft
c) Google
d) Facebook
39
46. Which Indian IT company announced acquisition of
US-based oil and gas consulting firm Noah Consulting
for USD 70 million in October?
a) Wipro
b) TCS
c) Infosys
d) HCL Technologies
47. Which of the following was directed to pay $234
million to the intellectual property arm of Wisconsin
University, Madison, for using without permission
patented technology developed by its team in October?
a) Microsoft
b) Apple
c) Google
d) Samsung
48. Industrialist A. Vellayan returned as CMD of which
of the following South India-based corporate groups in
October?
a) Murugappa
b) Sanmar
c) Amalgamations
d) SPIC (Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation)
49. Indias Foreign Ministry has placed an order to lease
55 top of the range luxury vehicles from which of the
following for use by visiting foreign dignitaries?
a) Mercedes
b) Porsche
c) Rolls Royce
d) BMW
50. Who among the following fashion legends had the
surname Lifshitz?
a) Calvin Klein
b) Pierre Cardin
c) Ralph Lauren
d) Tommy Hilfiger
Point-Counterpoint
This country is tolerant and the Muslims

are tolerant as well. Shah Rukh Khan
should not be targeted only because he is a
Muslim.
Writers dont have any other way to

register their protest. We have never
witnessed this kind of religious intolerance.
At least, we were fearless in expressing
ourselves.
Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP, on the
Meenakshi Lekhi, BJP MP, claiming
criticism faced by the actor over his

remarks on growing intolerance in the
country
that SRKs remarks came after an

Enforcement Directorate notice served
on him
THE GENESIS
40
Answer Key
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
Sudoku(Solution below)
I
II
Solutions
CROSSWORD
SUDOKU I
SUDOKU II
THE GENESIS

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Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Grand alliance wins Bihar Assembly polls

An uneasy coalition of two regional leaders - socialist friends-turned-adversaries-turned-allies - has handed

decide the fate of national politics. Kumar said that in

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has termed the

November 8, well ahead of the two-third mark of 162.

Kumar and Yadav face the tough job of staying together

NDA has secured 58 seats of which BJP has got 53 seats.

The Grand Alliance surpassed the NDA in all regions of

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

stood at 34.2 per cent. Significantly, the BJPs own vote

First, running a campaign that uses

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Current Affairs: India

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Conference on women in law enforcement organised: A three-day international Conference on Women in

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Most other democracies Britain, USA, Australia,

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Current Affairs: States

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Current Affairs: World

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

International Day of Older Persons: October 1

International Day of Rural Women: October 15

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

thought of doing that and

Brijmohan Lall Munjal, founder & chairman emeritus of

His vision allowed Hero Group

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Current Affairs: Sports

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Current Affairs: Economy

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Thomas Stemberg, a former

worked on the stores strategy and day-to-day operations.

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Current Affairs: Corporate

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

HBRs 100 Best-Performing CEOs in the World

Worlds Best Companies to Work For

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Global Pension Index

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

and everywhere must rank high on the catalogue of

Endeavor Careers Dream Endeavor Achieve

Instagram launches Boomerang: Instagram on

Tata launches private cloud services: Tata

Office365, Amazon Web Service, Google Cloud Platform

Twitter launches Brand Hub: Micro-blogging site