The Second Take

Revisiting the Bizland

Quiz Miscellany 7
17 12 2010
Q1. Why have all the major cigarette factories in India stopped production
earlier this month?
Ans. Governments notice on warning pictures on the packets not clear
Q2. Which state proposes to launch a Right to Service act a first of its kind?
Ans. Bihar
Q3. Godrej is acquiring the FMCG brands GENTEEL and
SWASTIK SHIKAKAI from the Kothari family. Who were the original
creators of them?
Ans. Sarabhais
Q4. Number of emigrants from India is the second largest in the world.
What is Indias rank globally in receiving immigrants?
Ans. 10
Q5. Which car model is fast replacing Ambassador as the official car for
ministers, bureaucrats, generals?
Ans. Maruti SX4
Q6. In which Indian city a LITTLE KOREA colony is coming up thanks to
170 Korean companies setting up shop there?
Ans. Chennai
Q7. What is the service of GROUPONS the site acquired by Google for
over 5 b $?
Ans. Free coupons for groups to get discounts in retail sites

Q8. With no formal academic qualifications which pioneering institute did

Dasharath Patel create?
Ans. National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Q9. From whom has the RPG group acquired the global rights for
marketing under the CEAT brand ?
Ans. Pirelli of Italy
Q10. What does Harsh Mariwala of Marico find wrong with engineer
MBAs ?
Ans. Left brained and process driven.
- G. Mohan
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Quiz Miscellany 6
6 09 2010
Q1: Peter Bentley of London has developed an app for iPhone which is a
rage among doctors. What does the application do?
Ans: It makes the phone a stethoscope
Q2: Which two PSUs have come together to start a power equipment
manufacturing facility in Mannavaram , Chittoor AP?
Ans: NTPC and BHEL
Q3 : ____ are the Unilever of the entertainment industry. They make the
rules and others have to follow says an industry insider. Fill the blank.
Ans:T-series.
Q4: In Hindi this word means a shoddy temporary fix. Now it is being
touted by gurus as the Indian way of innovation. Identify this word.
Ans: Jugaad

Q5: Name this co founder of Microsoft who has sued companies like
Google, Amazon, Apple etc. for patent violation?
Ans: Paul Allen
Q6: Who is the long standing engine supplier of Boeing, delays from his
side is delaying the 787 project?
Ans: Rolls Royce
Q7: In which TV ad you will see a clone of Yuvraj Singh huff and puff on a
treadmill, taking a dig at REVITAL?
Ans: Supractiv
Q8: Starting today what is the new name of State Bank of Indore?
Ans: State Bank of India
Q9 : In trucks you will often find OK TATA painted , a free ad for TATA
trucks. A new brand of truck has been launched that says OK is no longer
OK. Name it.
Ans: Mahindra Navistar
Q10: Exhaled Air of which celebrity couple was sold on ebay for $523 ?
Ans: Brangelina
Q11: Name this hottest social gaming co founded by Mark Pincus. The co
is named after his dog. Clue- Farmville
Ans: Zynga
Q12: With which brand of sportswear has the world record holder sprinter
Usain Bolt signed up making him the richest athlete ever?
Ans: Puma
- G. Mohan
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Quiz Miscellany 5

25 05 2010
Q1. What is the stated benefit of a single polypill containing aspirin, statins
and 2 blood pressure-lowering medicines?
Ans. Prevent heart attacks
Q2. SAIL and Tata Steel are in discussion for a JV steel plant .If
materialized, this is not going to be their first JV. They already have a 50:50
JV in ecommerce. Name it.
Ans. mjunction
Q3. How can Indo-Pak trade in agriculture benefit the Aam Aadmi ?
Ans. Mangoes (Aam) for six months due to diff seasons on both sides.
Q4. Who said 3G is basmati rice, and 2G is PDS rice.? And why?
Ans. A Raja alias Spectrum Raja. He sold 2G spectrum for a song in 2008
Q5. Whats common to Raghu
Sriram Srinivasan and Rajeev Karwal ?

Pillai,

Gunendar

Kapoor,

Ans. High profile executives of Reliance Retail who have all quit
Q6. Germany has banned naked short selling? What is it?
Ans. Selling shares by borrowing is short selling, selling even before
borrowing them is naked short sell.
Q7. Warcraft and Second life are the most popular MMORPGs.What are
MMORPGs ?
Ans. Massive multiplayer online role playing games
Q8. Bank of Punjab, Centurion Bank, Times Bank have all merged into a
bank. Name it.
Ans. HDFC bank
Q9. What inspired India born Scotsman Shepherd Barron to invent the
ATM ?
Ans. A chocolate vending machine
Q10. As Abbott acquires Piramal it will get a brand of cough syrup that
sells more for its intoxicating effect. Name it.

Ans. Phensedyl
Q11. How do we know Morris Oxford series III of 1957 better in India ?
Ans. Ambassador car
Q12. Which Indian biscuit manufacturer was penalized as it had produced
a small quantity of sugar used in their biscuits ?
Ans. Parle.
Q13. In global economics what is the new normal ? Who coined it?
Ans. The post 2008 crisis, world economic order after recovery. PIMCO.
Q14.Name the man behind Sulabh Shauchalaya who developed the twopit toilet,an innovation now exported to 50 countries.
Ans. Bindeshwari Pathak
Q15. Which airline, in the news, has the tag line Simply Priceless?
Ans. Air India Express
Q16. What is an IDR? Who is the first issuer of IDR?
Ans. Indian Depository Receipt. Standard Chartered Bank.
- G. Mohan
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Quiz Miscellany 4
15 02 2010
Q.1. The Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is being accused of
being an agent of which MNC by the green activists?
Ans. Monsanto
Q2.What does the phrase The Great Firewall of China refer to?
Ans. Chinese censoring of the Internet

Q3.Name this Pepsico brand which was acquired from Quaker Oats and is
sold as Worlds No 1 sports drink.
Ans. Gatorade.
Q4. What is Wrap rage?
Ans. Extreme anger caused by product packaging that is difficult to open
or manipulate:)
Q5.Which legendary economist once said When facts change, I change?
Ans. John Maynard Keynes
Q6. Falaknuma palace was the residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad. It is
being restored and converted into a luxury hotel. Which group?
Ans. Taj
Q7.What is a sovereign debt crisis ?
Ans. When the govt of a country is on the verge of default on its debt.
Greece is now on the verge of one
Q8.What unconventional way to combat corruption has been used by an
Indian NGO 5thpillar ?
Ans. A zero rupee currency note printed and distributed to people so that
when a govt official asks a bribe he is presented this note which has no
value
Q 9.Who publishes a magazine titled HARPO ?
Ans. Oprah Winfrey. Oprah read backwards
Q 10. Who or what has the Wired magazine nominated for Nobel Peace
prize this year ?
Ans. The Worldwide web
Q 11. What unique service does commuteeasy.com provide to the residents
of Bengaluru ?
Ans. Carpooling
Q 12. Large inheritances can kill heirs says this Russian billionaire who
gave away 2.1 bn $ like Gates and Buffet. Name him.
Ans. Vladimir Potanin

Q 13. Which indian bank has introduced a floating rate deposit where
interest rates can change every quarter ?
Ans. HDFC BANK
Q 14. Which EPL match had the first live 3D broadcast on Skysports ?
Ans. Arsenal vs Man-U on 31st JAN 2010
Q 15. Lets begin is the new corp tagline of ESSAR group. Essar began as
a partnership between the brothers S and R. Name them.
Ans. Shashi and Ravi Ruia
Q 16.This visionary former Chairman of ONGC took it global and acquired
MRPL. He had a public spat with petroleum minister?
Ans. Subir Raha
Q17. Which global steel major has acquired over 34 % stake in
UTTAM GALVA ?
Ans. Arcelor Mittal
Q 18. Ran Niwas Mirdha Cong leader who died recently headed the JPC to
probe the 1992 stock scam. Who was the chief villain of this scam ?
Ans. Harshad Mehta
- G. Mohan
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Quiz Miscellany 3
27 01 2010
Q1.Indias largest tour operator. Was in the news for IPO. Name it.
Ans .COX & KINGS
Q2. Which brand was first woven into a computer game (advergame) ?
Ans. McDonalds in 1973 as a part of a DEC game Moonlander.

Q 3. In Chetan Bhagats new book 2 States, after graduating from IIMA ,which companies do KRISH and ANANYA join ?
Ans. Citibank and HLL
Q 4. BA and IBERIA are to merge. To which country does IBERIA belong?
Ans. Spain
Q 5. Which company is acquiring the telecom equipment company 3 COM
?
Ans .HP
Q 6. Which indian IT major has instituted an award for excellence in
science, modelled on Nobel prize?
Ans. Infosys
Q 7. This 90-year-old is the chief designer of IZHMASH arms factory.
Name him and his creation.
Ans. Mikhail Kalashnikov. AK-47
Q 8 . Under which brand name have SISTEMA SHYAM launched their
mobile service?
Ans. MTS
Q 9. What is the service of RENT the RUNWAY?
Ans. A haute couture rental through mail order
Q 10. Whose byline is Committed to improving the state of the world?
Ans. World Economic Forum.
Q 11. Name the new venture fund launched by the Murthys of Infosys?
Ans. Catamaran
- G. Mohan
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Quiz Miscellany 2
29 12 2009
Q 1. What are NINJA loans in mortgage loans market?
Ans : No Income, No Jobs or Assets.
Q 2. Which fund-house specializes in exchange-traded funds in India?
Ans : Benchmark mutual fund
Q3. If you are tracking the CAC 40, which countrys market would you be
following?
Ans : Paris Bourse, France.
Q4. IPO is Initial Public Offer, what is FPO?
Ans: Follow-on public offer.
Q5. Which two well-known companies have been removed from the Dow
Jones Industrial average in 2009?
Ans : Citibank and General Motors
Q6. Name the author of the book, The Power of Gold: The History of an
Obsession.
Ans : Peter Bernstein
Q7. Which company owns the Multi-commodity exchange MCX. This
exchange has been recently given permission to set-up an all India stock
exchange.
Ans : Financial Technologies.
Technology
Q8. Inspired by Noel Stevensons novel Snow Crash, this is a virtual world
on the net. In this virtual world, residents interact with each other through
avatars and even create and trade in virtual property. Name it.
Ans : Second Life

Q9. What innovation did Prof Sanjay Sharma of MIT do to bring about a

Q9. What innovation did Prof Sanjay Sharma of MIT do to bring about a
revolution in supply-chain management?
Ans; He brought down the cost of RFID tags from $ 2.50 to $ 0.05. RFID
tags are fast replacing bar-codes.
Q10. With which innovation is the famous Tamil writer and novelist
Sujatha Rangarajan associated with ? He also wrote the script and dialogue
for movies like Sivaji and Dasvatharam.
Ans : Electronic Voting Machines. He worked as an engineer with Bharat
Electronics Limited, where he worked on EVMs
- G. Mohan
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Quiz on Vintage Indian Ads

16 12 2009
Q1. Kanchan Choudhury, Indias first woman DGP inspired a TV serial
where the lead role was played by her sister. The sister is known to millions
of Indians as Lalitaji of Surf. Name her.
Ans : Kavita Choudhary. Udaan
Q2. David Whitbread, model coordinator and production stylist played the
role of which popular ad character for over 14 years?
Ans: Onida Devil
Q3. Film stars Ayesha Takia and Shahid Kapoor together appeared in
which ad as kids?
Ans: Complan
Q4. Karen Hishey teaches school children in New Zealand. What is her
connection to Indian advertising?
Ans : Karen Hishey nee Lunel was the original Liril girl
Q5. Tiger Pataudi was the Gwalior Suitings man, Sunil Gavaskar appeared
for Dinesh Suitings, Digjam had Shekhar Kapur. Which brand did Vivian
Richards and Ravi Shastri endorse?

Ans : Vimal
Q6. Ved Pal Sharma composed music for films such as Souten ki Beti. His
most famous creation was for an ad. Identify.
Ans : Nirma. Ved Pal composed the much recalled Washing Powder
Nirma
Q7. Jeevan and Hanu, the kid and the monkey were two cartoon characters
that educated kids on which company in the 80s?
Ans : LIC
Q8. Kanwarjit Paintal known for playing Shikhandi in Mahabharat TV
serial, appeared in which vintage bulb ad?
Ans : ECE bulbs
Q9. Vicks ki goli lo, khich khich door karo. This ad for Vicks where Jayant
Kriplani appeared along with a little girl made Jayant famous. The little girl
grew up to be an actress and anchor. Name her.
Ans : Ishita Arun, daughter of Ila Arun
Q10. Cricketer Farokh Engineer and Kishore Kumar have both endorsed
which brand now owned by Sara Lee?
Ans : Brylcreem
Q11. Ankita Jhaveri currently based in LA made her mark as a star in
Telugu film industry. How did she become darling of millions of people in
India, much before she entered the film industry?
Ans : She is the I love you Rasna girl.
- Reproduced from Deccan Chronicle
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Quiz Miscellany 1
21 05 2009
Here are the Questions and Answers to the weekly quiz
published by Business Standard in their Tuesday supplement
dated May 5th,2009

Q1.Who said: I expect the personal computer to become the kind of thing
that people carry with them. A companion that takes notes, does
accounting, gives reminders, handles 1,000 personal tasks?
Ans : Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft
Q2 .Name the company and the metric it created that measures research
spending divided by gross margins for each new product line. This helps it
to focus its resources on innovations that maximise profits.
Ans : Hewlett Packard and Research Prodcutivity
Q3. Smilemakers is a division of which company?
Ans : Staples
Q4. An Indian company recently introduced a brand positioned as an
emergency lemon refresher. Name the brand and the company.
Ans : LMN by Parle Agro
Q5. Which brand claims that it is the worlds largest selling non-Scotch
whisky?
Ans : Bagpiper
Q6. The co-founder of a consumer products company sent one of his
products to a lab in New York for analysis and got back a report which
said that the product had only .56 per cent of miscellaneous particles. This
prompted him to come up with what became a well-known catch phrase
for this product. Whats the phrase?
Ans : Ivory soap is 99.44 % pure, it floats
Q7. Mahatma Gandhi called it one of the few useful things ever invented.
Name it.
Ans : The Singer Sewing Machine
Q8. In which journal was Parkinsons Law first published?
Ans : The Economist

Q9. The birth of this brand goes back to 1921 when a school teacher and

Q9. The birth of this brand goes back to 1921 when a school teacher and
local candy shop owner was inspired by a little boys inability to decide
between ice cream and a candy bar. Name it.
Ans : Eskimo Pie
- G. Mohan
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Quiz on Satyam Computers

2 02 2009
Q.1. After Satyam announced the decision to acquire Maytas and then
backtracked who was the first independent director of Satyam to resign.
She is an an academician , working in the USA and was a Director of
Satyam from 1991. Name her.

Ans ; Dr Mangalam Srinivasan

Q.2 What was the earlier name of Maytas Infrastructure ?

company started by Ramalinga Raju.

Ans : Satyam Constructions

It was a

Q3. B.Ramalinga Raju and B. Rama Raju are in judicial custody. Name the
third brother who is currently absconding and is accused of being the
mastermind behind the land deals.

Ans : B.Suryanarayana Raju

Q4. Who was the first MNC client of Satyam Computers?

Ans : John Deere (the tractors company)

Q5. PwC the auditors of Satyam was formed by the merger of Price
Waterhouse and Coopers and Lybrand. Coopers and Lybrand had an
Indian associate to which the partners Srinivas Talluri and Gopalakrishnan
belonged. Name this audit firm.

Ans : Lovelock and Lewes

Q6. B.Ramalinga Raju and Satyam were considered model corporate

citizens due to their philanthropic and CSR work in the form of the 108
service (EMRI) and drinking water projects in different parts of AP. Name
the foundation which carries out the philanthropic activities of Raju.

Ans : Byrraju Foundation

Q7. As per the confession letter of Ramalinga Raju who was supposed to
take over the charge of Satyam after his resignation. This person was the
interim CEO for less than 48 hours before the government appointed a new
board.

Ans : Ram Mynampati

Q8. In the Chanchalguda jail, in Hyderabad, where Raju and Ramu are
holed up with other petty criminals how is Raju keeping himself busy ?

Ans : Reading spiritual books on Buddha and playing chess.

Q9. What does SFIO stand for?

Ans : Serious Frauds Investigation Office

Q10. Satyam was the first Indian IT Services company to be listed on the
New York Stock Exchange. What is its symbol ?

Ans : SAY

Q11. Satyam is fighting a long legal battle with a UK based products

company related to intellectual property rights. The case is going on in
Texas courts. Name the company .

Ans : UPAID Systems

Q12. As per US law, a lawsuit in which one or more parties file a complaint
on behalf of themselves and all other people who are similarly situated
(suffering from the same problem). Often used when a large number of
people have comparable claims. Satyam is facing several of such lawsuits
filed by investors in the US. What is the correct term for such a suit ?

Ans : Class- action suit

Q 13. In the boom days of Internet, Satyam had floated an Internet

company called Satyam Infoway, later renamed as Sify Ltd. This was the
first Indian Internet company to be listed on the NASDAQ. Satyam has
since divested their shares in this company. Name the new owner of Sify

Ans : Vegesna Raju

Q 14. Satyam floated a Joint venture with Dun and Bradstreet in 1992. The
first CEO of this JV was a Satyam nominee. Srini Raju, who happens to be
a close relative of Ramalinga Raju. Ramalinga Raju and Srini Rajus wives
are sisters. Srini Raju gave up charge of this company in 1994 and left
Satyam in 2000. This company is now a very big IT services
company listed on NASDAQ and is all set to beat Satyam in revenues.
Name this company.

Ans : Cognizant Technolgies

- G. Mohan
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Quiz on the Business of Healthcare

14 12 2008

Q 1: By what name Chemical, Industrial and Pharmaceutical Laboratories is

popularly known as? Hint: This company was founded in 1935.

Ans: CIPLA Ltd

Q 2: This company is named after its founder, who was an Ayurvedic

doctor in Bengal, and used to travel to far-flung villages to treat people. He
founded this company in 1884, which was named after a shortened form of

the way he was usually addressed. Name the company.

Ans: Dabur, by Dr S.K.Burman

Q 3: Physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen wasnt out to revolutionize the

medical field, but thats exactly what he did. The curious Roentgen wished
to see if cathode rays could escape a glass tube covered in black
cardboard. What did Roentgen discover which led him to win a Nobel
Prize?

Ans: X-rays

Q 4: What is common to Cheminor Drugs, American Remedies Limited,

BMS Laboratories, Betapharm, and Meridian Healthcare?

Ans: All the companies are now part of Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd.

Q 5: Find the odd one out among the following

Aetna
Aviva
Cigna
Humana
Ans: Aviva. Aviva is not an HMO. All others are.

Q 6 : In 1983 this Act was passed in the USA to provide to provide

incentives to develop treatments for rare diseases affecting fewer than
200,000 people nationwide. Thanks to the Act, over 160 medicines were
approved to treat rare diseases between 1995 and 2005. Name the Act.

Ans: Orphan Drug Act

Q 7: With which famous hospital chain would you associate Dr V? The

mission of the organisation in in the words of its founder was To eradicate
needless blindness.
Ans: Aravind Eye Hospitals, founded by Dr. Venkataswamy

Q 8 : Born on May 19, 1795 in Maryland USA. This businessman made his
money in selling corn, whiskey and later invested heavily in Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. He died without heirs on December 24, 1873. He left 7
million US Dollars mostly in Baltimore and Ohio railroad stock for
philanthropy. This sum was the single largest donation for setting up
educational institutions till that time. Name this philanthropist, on whose
name several world-class healthcare institutions are surviving to this day.

Ans: Johns Hopkins

- G. Mohan
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