June 30, 2013

Biz Quizzard 483

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week June 24 - 29. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Which company has topped the 2013 ‘India’s Best Companies To Work For’ list by The Economic Times and The Great Place To Work Institute study?

2. Which Bangalore-based company has acquired start-up venture Adepto Solutions, which offers a platform to launch customised applications on Facebook?

3. What is unique about the class of 2015 at Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K)?

4. Which online marketplace has launched SafeShip, a fulfilment platform for sellers?

5. Which company is readying a big push into the small but high-growth Indian fragrance market under the brand Skin?

6. Which FMCG brand has roped in just-released film Raanjhanaa’s lead pair Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor as brand ambassadors?

7. The board of directors of Titan Industries last week decided (subject to shareholder approval) to change the company name. What is the new name?

8. Which Coimbatore-based company has launched traditional South Indian crispy snacks under ‘Kaarams’ brand?

9. Sanjiv Sud will be the new head for the consumer banking business in India for which MNC?

10. Which dairy brand will commence marketing camel milk from August 15?

11. Which company is acquiring GateGuru, a mobile application for flight and airport information?

12. Raj Jain has quit as the chief executive of which company?

13. Which MNC has been ranked as the world’s most competitive steelmaker by World Steel Dynamics (WSD)?

14. Which forging and integrated auto component manufacturer has acquired a 51.27% stake in JMT Auto for about Rs 110 crore?

15. Which company has rolled out the first-ever white label Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) network under the brand Indicash?

16. Who has topped the inaugural Forbes list of ‘Top 100 Indian leaders in the UAE’?

17. Which company has named Satish Pai as the next chief executive officer of its aluminium business in India?

18. Which Italian automaker is shifting its focus from the elite to the merely wealthy with a mid-sized sedan called the Ghibli?

19. Italian car-maker Fiat plans to launch which SUV brand in India by the end of this calendar year?

20. H&R Johnson (India) has signed up which celebrity as its brand ambassador?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 483 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

June 23, 2013

Biz Quizzard 482

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week June 17 - 22. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Which company has entered into a global alliance with Spain-based CIE Automotive for its automotive components business?

2. Which MNC recently unveiled the world's biggest container ship?

3. Which international hospitality chain will bring all of its seven brands to India in the next three years to increase the footprint here?

4. Who has been named the chief advisor to AirAsia India?

5. Which iconic Los Angeles-based burger chain is entering India?

6. The Times Group has launched its foray into the education sector with which brand?

7. Maruti Suzuki India recently launched a CNG variant of which brand?

8. Which brewery firm has appointed Grant Liversage as the managing director?

9. The world’s three biggest operators in which industry have entered into an alliance - P3 alliance - to reduce fuel consumption and improve service and operations?

10. Vijayawada-based construction group LEPL has announced the launch of its no-frills airline which will connect cities in the South. What has it been branded as?

11. Which media conglomerate has unveiled its new corporate brand identity and positioning ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’?

12. Which MNC is entering the mobile handset retail market in India through stores called Android Nation, in partnership with BK Modi's Spice Global?

13. Which MNC has named current India president & CEO Atul Singh as deputy president, Pacific Group, an elevation that involves him overseeing operations in over 10 countries, including India and China?

14. Manu Anand has resigned as the region president for India and South Asia at which MNC?

15. Which Indian business personality has signed up to a new global experiment christened Plan B, which seeks to infuse businesses with a new DNA that puts people and the planet alongside profits?

16. Which milestone has Facebook reached in terms of advertisers?

17. Which company last week unveiled its new customer-focused strategy – Horizonext?

18. Which airline has received the ‘World’s Best Airline’ award at the 2013 World Airline Awards by Skytrax?

19. An Italian court has sentenced which well known personalities from the fashion industry to one year and eight months in prison for tax evasion of €200 million ($268 million)?

20. Naspers, a South African company with interests in the Internet and the media, has acquired which online portal through its Indian subsidiary, ibibo Group?

21. Which automobile brand is being advertised with the baseline 'EVERYBODY LOVES A SPORT'?

22. Former defense secretary Vijay Singh has joined the board of which business group?

23. Which well-known clothing brand from India opened its first outlet in Pakistan last week?

24. Delhi's Connaught Place is the fifth most expensive office destination in the world, according to global property consultant CBRE. Which location is the most expensive?

25. Which company has merged its loyalty programmes across three brands into one Encircle Loyalty card?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 482 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

June 16, 2013

Biz Quizzard 481

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week June 10 - 15. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Which FMCG company has launched what it claims as the world’s first gel-based facial bleach?

2. German sports goods maker Adidas is repositioning Reebok as a premium fitness brand in India & plans to open 100 premium stores. What will they be branded as?

3. Chennai-based privately-held Consim Info, which owns popular matchmaking portal BharatMatrimony.com, has changed its name. What is the new name?

4. Fiat Group Automobiles India has launched a new variant of Fiat Linea. What has it been branded as?

5. McDonald’s India recently opened its largest outlet in the country. Which city?

6. Which Indian hospitality group has inaugurated its first hotel in the UAE?

7. Which MNC has acquired map software provider Waze?

8. QRG Enterprises plans to diversify into healthcare by setting up a chain of hospitals. It is the promoter group of which electrical equipment company?

9. Which hospital chain has sold off its 65% stake in its Vietnam arm for $80 million (Rs 456 crore)?

10. Which company has launched the first range of couple deodorants in the Indian market under the brand Engage?

11. Which company has wrested the leadership position as the owner of the world’s largest whisky brand in 2012?

12. Which auto MNC plans to launch its sports utility vehicle (SUV) Terrano in India this year?

13. Which automobile company has launched its customer care website, WithYouHamesha.com?

14. Which company is foraying into the super premium hair-care business in India by launching the brand TIGI, popularly known as Toni & Guy after its founders?

15. Which company has agreed to acquire Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of the US in an all-cash transaction for about Rs 14,500 crore ($2.5 billion)?

16. Delhi-based electronics retailer Unique Infoways last week opened an electronics store, HOT, at Delhi’s Nehru Place metro station. What is its claim to fame?

17. Which business group in India is moving out of the music retailing business for good?

18. Which company, engaged in multi-brand aftermarket car servicing business has formed a joint venture with the U.S.-based Myers Tire Supply International Inc?

19. UAE's travel website, Musafir.com, has partnered with which Indian celebrity to be its brand ambassador, in addition to already being a stakeholder?

20. BSNL has decided to discontinue which 160-year-old service from July 15?

21. The Delhi High Court has restrained the filmmakers of Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani from releasing it on television on a plea from which beverage brand?

22. Which advertising agency in India has launched a new design vertical called SquareRoot Design?

23. Which MNC has announced the appointment of Karan Bajwa as the new Managing Director of its sales and marketing group (SMSG) in the country?

24. Which airline has appointed Gary Kenneth Toomey as its new chief executive officer?

25. According to a research carried out by US research agency SNL Kagan, which company has added the highest number of gross subscribers in 2012 in the DTH category globally?

26. Which MNC has named Alok Ohrie as the president and MD of its India operations?

27. According to a recent survey by leading online accommodation booking website Hotels.com, which city serves the most economically priced club sandwich in the world?

28. Which brand has pipped Tata Docomo as the largest brand on Facebook in India with more than 12 million fans, as per social media metrics tracker Socialbakers?

29. The government has decided to appoint SK Roy as the new chairman of which entity?

30. Which well known chocolate brand last week launched an eggless variant in India?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 481 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

June 9, 2013

Biz Quizzard 480

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week June 03 - 08. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Who has taken over as the executive chairman of Infosys?

2. British Indian businessman and investor Sanjeev Kanoria has acquired the domestic banking unit of which Austrian bank for around $85.5 million?

3. Which online news portal has acquired FakingNews.com?

4. Hina Shah, a well-known social entrepreneur from Ahmedabad and founder and director of ICECD, is featured in the campaign (TVC on air) of which brand?

5. Which car has beaten Maruti Suzuki Alto to become India’s best-selling car in May 2013?

6. Which well known media company has launched Bala Bharatam, an exclusive Telugu monthly for children?

7. V Balakrishnan has taken over as the chairman of which Switzerland-based consulting firm?

8. Which mutual fund has decided to wind up its business and has sold its assets to SBI Mutual Fund for an undisclosed amount?

9. Which 3 brands owned by Hindustan Unilever crossed the Rs 1,000 crore annual sales mark for the first time last fiscal?

10. Which company will roll out a chain of ladies footwear stores across the country within a year?

11. Ex-Citibanker Sanjeev Vohra will head the India business of which MNC bank?

12. Which mobile value-added services provider has entered into an agreement to acquire Livewire Mobile, a US-based company for $17.8 million?

13. Which MNC has entered the domestic water purifiers market in a brand licensing agreement with the country’s largest selling RO brand, Kent RO Systems Limited?

14. Which business group has entered premium fine fabric segment through its brand Lombard?

15. Who has topped the latest Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes?

16. Which company has formed a joint venture with Japan’s edible oil major J-Oil Mills and global trading firm Toyota Tsusho (TTC)?

17. The founder of which well known international retail chain has stepped down from the board of the company?

18. Which MNC has launched digital radiology and in-vitro diagnostics equipment and technologies under the GEO Brand in the country?

19. Which MNC has announced a deal to buy SoftLayer Technologies in a move aimed at ramping up its ability to offer businesses and governments computing services hosted in the Internet 'cloud'?

20. BlackBerry has launched its second smartphone running the BlackBerry 10 OS in India. What has it been branded as?

21. US-headquartered Indian IT services major Cognizant has been ranked 12th on a Forbes list of America’s 25 fastest growing tech firms. Which MNC has topped the list?

22. Fixing is all over the news. Which country has charged Nestle, Mars and a network of independent wholesale distributors over an alleged criminal conspiracy to fix the prices of leading chocolate bars?

23. Nikos Kardassis has resigned as the CEO of which airline?

24. Which two-wheeler manufacturer has roped in Tollywood actor Mahesh Babu as its brand ambassador?

25. Actor Ranbir Kapoor can be seen in the television commercial of which deodorant brand (give me the brand and the sub-brand)?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 450 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli

June 2, 2013

Biz Quizzard 479

Pleased to share with you that Biz Quizzard has been featured in the Limca Book of Records for the 3rd year in a row. The 2013 edition is commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema.

Presenting the current affairs quiz for the week May 27 - June 01. Hope you enjoy it.

1. Which England-based Chinese food chain plans to invest £25 million (over Rs 210 crore) in India over the next five years?

2. COO Varun Berry will lead the Indian operations of which FMCG major?

3. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Canada’s largest drug maker, agreed to buy which eye-care company owned by Warburg Pincus, for about $8.7 billion in cash and loans to repay debt?

4. Dabur India has expanded its packaged food business by launching fruit juice-based drinking yoghurt under which brand?

5. Which MNC looks set to become the first foreign company to invest in multi-brand retail by buying a 49% stake in Cedar Support Service in September for Rs 455.8 crore?

6. Takashi Kikuchi has been appointed the India managing director for which automobile MNC?

7. US-based auto component maker Johnson Controls has bought out which Indian partner from their joint venture for an undisclosed sum?

8. Which Indian software company and Dion Global Solutions said they would offer software solutions to assist financial institutions in Australia and New Zealand?

9. The CESC board has appointed which business personality as the chairman of the company?

10. Which nation has probably surpassed Japan to become the world’s third-largest economy after the US and China, according to Paris-based think-tank OECD?

11. Which business group has just bagged the Bangalore franchise for a new team in the I-League, the premier division league run by the All India Football Federation (AIFF)?

12. Which tyre company has sold part of its South African operations to Japanese trading firm Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) for $60 million (Rs 333 crore)?

13. Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) is buying which UK-based banking group’s international private banking arm?

14. Which Indian e-commerce firm is pulling the plug on its digital music store, nearly a year after the platform was set up and close to six months after Apple’s music store iTunes entered the Indian market?

15. Which 4 Indian business leaders figure in this year's Forbes philanthropy list of Asia-Pacific's most remarkable "givers"?

16. Bobby Pawar, JWT India’s former managing partner & chief creative officer, has joined which agency as director & chief creative officer, South Asia?

17. Which Indian company has bought Missouri-headquartered Wainwright Industries, an end-to-end supply chain provider, for Rs 50 crore?

18. Mercedes- Benz has launched its much awaited compact luxury car in India. Name the brand?

19. US-based Indian business tycoon Deepak Narula has purchased which celebrity’s New York penthouse?

20. Which city has edged out London as the world's most popular air travel destination, according to a ranking by the MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities?

21. Which online portal has acquired Shopo.in, an online marketplace for Indian handcraft products?

22. Which automobile company has entered into a multi-year marketing tie-up with iconic beer brand High Life?

Please mail your answers on or before next Sunday to rajeevkondapalli@gmail.com with Biz Quizzard 479 as the subject.

Happy learning!
rajeev kondapalli