October 25, 2009

Biz Quizzard 291

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week October 19 - 24. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Which is the only Indian company to be named amongst the top 25 global companies in the 25 A T Kearney Global Champions For 2009 list?

2. The country’s longest elevated expressway (flyover in simpler language) was opened to public last week. Which city?

3. Which MNC last week said it was acquiring US-based staffing firm MPS Group for $1.3 billion?

4. Which automobile company last week bought the remaining stake of 79% in Hispano Carrocera SA, Spain’s largest bus and coach bodies manufacturer, for an undisclosed sum?

5. Mr Ranjan Das died of a heart attack in Mumbai last week. He was the managing director of which software MNC?

6. Lakme Lever, the beauty and wellness services business of the country’s biggest consumer goods company, will be launching a top-end variant of Lakme Salon. What will it be branded as?

7. Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy last week sold shares worth Rs 174 crore in the company to start a venture capital (VC) fund. What is it called?

8. Why was US-based Raj Rajaratnam in news last week?

9. Security solutions firm G4S last week said it had acquired the project security systems division of which company for an undisclosed sum?

10. Model-turned-actress Chitrangada Singh can be seen in the television commercial (currently on air) for which skincare brand? (name both the brand and the variant)

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz quizzard 291 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

October 18, 2009

Biz Quizzard 290

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week October 12 - 17. Hope you enjoy it.

1. General Motors last week launched its luxury sedan in the country. What has it been branded as?

2. Which brand last week unveiled its first high-end store ‘Dive in’ in Hyderabad?

3. Who has been appointed the president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham)?

4. Which MNC last week said it had agreed to pay $2.9 billion for Starent Networks Corp., a maker of equipment for wireless carriers?

5. Which company has agreed to buy the 80-year-old American magazine BusinessWeek?

6. Tata Motors last week launched its new generation sedan. What has it been branded as?

7. Which software company last week entered into a definitive agreement to buy Chennai-based Laser Soft Infosystems, a privately-held banking software company?

8. Which MNC has pipped a host of companies, including India’s Bharti Airtel and BSNL, to buy Luxembourg-based Millicom’s Sri Lankan mobile network?

9. OP Puranmalka has been named the new CEO of which cement company effective April next year?

10. Which company has launched a new brand campaign based on the concept of ‘joy of ownership’?

11. The new avatar of which brand was unveiled recently including new packaging and a new logo, which features a red 'eye' that the company refers to as the 'Eye of Good Health'?

12. Model Dipannita Sharma has been roped in to feature in the television commercial (currently on air) of which brand with the baseline ‘doobo taazgi mein’?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 290 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

October 11, 2009

Biz Quizzard 289

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week October 05 - 10. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Actors Swapnil Joshi and Gaurav Gera have been signed on for the new campaign of which biscuit brand?

2. Which automobile MNC last week announced plans to licence its brand in the country as part of an image building exercise?

3. Which company has acquired an 80% stake in Ismart-Timex, a leading BPO services provider in Sri Lanka, for an undisclosed sum?

4. Which beverage chain last week unveiled its revamped identity and logo?

5. Bajaj Auto last week launched the world’s largest selling 250cc motorcycle in India. Name the brand?

6. Which celebrity has been signed on as a brand ambassador by Kolkata-based La Opala RG for its premium tableware brand Diva?

7. Nikos Kordaris was last week appointed acting CEO of which airline in India?

8. Which automobile company is all set to roll out Rio, the country’s cheapest SUV?

9. Who has topped the Football Rich List 2009-10, the list of wealthiest football club owners, as ranked by football magazine Fourfourtwo.com?

10. The Brazilian unit of Spanish bank Banco Santander last week raised $8.05 billion through its IPO. What is unique about this IPO with reference to 2009?

11. Which steel company last week launched its first hypermarket in Bangalore?

12. Private equity firm KKR & Co last week appointed which well known business personality as senior adviser?

13. Hrithik Roshan last week appeared in the print ad of which fashion brand with the positioning ‘BE THE CHANGE’?

14. Which company last week launched the first store of its retail chain “Maya’ in New Delhi?

15. One of my favorite models, the beautiful Sheetal Malhar, in a sari, drenched in rain. No, not a fantasy of mine but a TV commercial (currently on air) for a men’s deodorant brand. Which one?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 289 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

October 4, 2009

Biz Quizzard 288

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week September 28 - October 03. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Starting this edition on a beautiful and soft note. With which brand would you associate Supritha Shetty, Raashi Khanna, Sweety Massy, Noor Ansal and Madhavy Raj? (If you have been watching/reading TV/newspaers in the last couple of weeks and read the entire statement and question again carefully, you can crack this)

2. Which MNC has agreed to buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc for $5.75 billion in cash and stock?

3. Which company has acquired the Indian subsidiary of Kyocera with an upfront payment of $6 million?

4. Which MNC last week announced that it would sell its entire pharmaceutical business to Abbott Laboratories for $6.6 billion in cash?

5. According to a report last week, private equity partner JP Morgan wants to sell its 33% stake in which eatery chain through a maiden public issue?

6. Which company last week launched its ‘Limited Edition 241’ series?

7. Which MNC last week unveiled Latitude Z, the world’s thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptop?

8. HM Nerukar last week took over as the managing director of which well known company in India?

9. Which MNC last week launched ‘Corby’, a fully-touch handset designed to support the highly connected lifestyle of today’s younger users?

10. According to a news item last week, the famous Mumbai Dabbawallas have been roped in to promote which TV show?

11. England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, according to a news item last week, has inked a nearly 2 million pound deal with which hair care brand?

12. Which company will be buying Grasim’s cement division in a deal worth $2 billion?

13. Former US president Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative (GGI) has recognized which company’s strategy to sell products focused at addressing the issues of malnutrition and iron deficiencies among Indian children?

14. Mr B Prasad Rao last week assumed charge as chairman and managing director of which public sector entity?

15. Which MNC has agreed to buy Norwegian videoconferencing company Tandberg for $3 billion?

16. Which company last week launched its Wake Up Sid T-shirt collection?

17. Which MNC last week revealed the sketch of its global compact car?

18. India’s biggest Planet Sports opened last week. Which city?

19. Medical technologies and services giant GE Healthcare last week merged its business unit in India with which joint venture partner?

20. Which well known MNC, according to recent reports, is all set to adopt a new tagline "Power to you" as it revamps its brand and marketing for the first time in four years?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 288 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli