POWER VOCABULARY
In the first edition of our Gk capsule we will learn the words which describe the way of
talking or speech habits.
1. Cogency- ability to think clearly or logically
2. Eloquent - fluent or persuasive in speaking
3. Magniloquent- using high flown, grandiose, pompous and impressive words
4. Grandiloquent - using high flown, grandiose, pompous and impressive words
5. Magnanimous- big hearted , generous, forgiving
6. Magnate- person with great power or influence, a big wheel
7. Magnificent- extremely beautiful, impressive
8. Magnitude - great size of something
9. Magnum- wine bottle, two fifths of a gallon
10. Magnum opus- big work , master piece
11. Involve - to roll in
12. Verbatim - work for work, in exactly the same words as were used originally.
13. Verbiage - excessively lengthy or technical speech or writing.
14. Revolve - roll again
15. Evolve - to roll out, unfold, gradually develop
VEDIC MATHS
In all the competitive exams speed plays a vital role, It can be a game changer. In order to
enhance your speed in such competitive exams, Vedic Maths plays a key role. Let’s quickly
learn one of the Vedic Maths tricks.
Squares of numbers ending in 5:
We can easily find the ‘squaring of numbers ending in 5’ using Vedic Maths.
Consider the example 252.
Here the number is 25. We have to find out the square of the number. For the number 25,
the last digit is 5 and the 'previous' digit is 2. Hence, 'one more than the previous one', that
is, 2+1=3.
The Vedic Maths Trick, in this context, gives the procedure 'to multiply the previous digit 2
by one more than itself, that is, by 3'.
It becomes the L.H.S (left hand side) of the result, that is, 2 X 3 = 6. The R.H.S (right hand
side) of the result is52, that is, 25.
Thus 252 = 2 X 3 / 25 = 625.
In the same way,
352= 3 X (3+1) /25 = 3 X 4/ 25 = 1225;
652= 6 X 7 / 25 = 4225;
1052= 10 X 11/25 = 11025;
1352= 13 X 14/25 = 18225;
Now you can test yourself: Apply the formula to find the squares of the numbers 15, 45, 85,
125, 175 and verify the answers.
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE &
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CABINET APPROVALS AND BILLS
PASSED
1. Rajyasabha Passes 122nd constitution amendment bill,” Goods and Services Tax (GST).”
Assam becomes first state to pass Constitution Amendment Bill on GST Assam.
2. Suresh Prabhu announces four new trains Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
announced four new categories of trains, one for unreserved passengers and three for
reserved ones, which will be operational in the next couple of months.
3. Six New IITS Get Parliament Nod Parliament approved establishment of six new IITs across
the country viz.Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharward (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Jammu
and Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).
6. Under PradhanMantri Jan AushadhiYojana (PMJAY), the central government will open
3,000 Jan Aushadhi Stores (JAS) pan India by the end of this fiscal to make quality drugs
available at affordable prices
7. Government has proposed setting up of 4 major ports viz. Enayam in Tamil Nadu, Sagar in
West Bengal, Dugarajpatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Vadhawan in Maharashtra.
9. Himachal Pradesh to plant one crore saplings to increase green cover
Himachal Pradesh government has set a target of planting over one crore saplings this year
to increase the depleting green cover in the state. Himachal Pradesh was the first state in
country to earn carbon credit
10. India’s first tiger cell to come up in Dehradun The country’s first tiger cell will soon take
shape at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) campus in Dehradun. The cell will house a
database of tigers as well as DNA and stripes samples of the big cats from over 50 tiger
reserves.
11. Uma Bharti launches Rs 560 crore NamamiGange projects at Kanpur Union Minister for
Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti launched
various projects worth Rs.560 crore under NamamiGange programme at Ganga Barrage in
Kanpur.
12. The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for amendments to the Maternity
Benefit Act, 1961 by introducing the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in
Parliament. The maternity benefit Act 1961 protects the employment of women during the
time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’ – i.e. full paid absence from
work – to take care for her child. The act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or
more persons. The amendments will help 1.8 million (approx.) women workforce in
organised sector.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITION 1. BSNL joins hands with Microsoft for enterprise business State-run telecom firm BSNL has
signed a strategic business pact with Microsoft India for offering complete suite of telecom
and IT solutions for enterprise businesses.
2. Indian Railways to Collaborate with Google Railways will collaborate with Google for
digitizing and showcasing its heritage on digital platforms.
3. Indian Railway as IRCTC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Defence Food
Research Laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for
Transfer of Technology of Retort Pouch Processed Foods so that ready-to-eat food can be
warmed and eaten straight out of the packet
4. Uber to sell China business to rival DidiChuxing After a bruising two-year battle, ride-
hailing firm Uber is selling its China operations to bigger local rival DidiChuxing in a deal that
will give Uber a one-fifth stake in Didi. The merged entity is worth around $35 billion.
5. Neyveli Lignite plans to buy 1200 MW Raghunathpur Thermal Power Project State-run
Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is planning to acquire Damodar Valley Corporation’s 1200
mw Raghunathpur Thermal Power Project (RTPP) through a joint venture company.
6. Zydus acquires derma brand Melgain from IssarPharma Zydus Group has strengthens its
derma portfolio with the acquisition of Melgain,used for the treatment of vitiligo, from
Hyderabad-based IssarPharma for an undisclosed amount.
7. HDFC Standard, Max Life approve merger terms Analjit Singh-led promoter group of Max
Financial Services will get Rs850 crore as non-compete fee following merger of its life
insurance business with HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd (HDFC Life).
8. Unilever acquires Blueair, a world leader in air purifying solutions with acclaimed leading — edge filtration technologies and design, announced it has been acquired by Unilever. 9. SBI approves merger with its associate banks State Bank of India (SBI) & its listed associate banks mainly State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ) have rallied by up to 9% on the BSE after SBI approved the share swap ratios for the merger of five associate banks and BharatiyaMahila Bank with itself. 10. Pfizer buys cancer drug firm Medivation For $14 bn The US-headquartered pharma major Pfizer Inc has entered into an agreement to acquire MedivationInc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing small molecules for oncology, for a total enterprise value of approximately $ 14 billion.
APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS
APPOINTMENTS IN AUGUST
Nita Ambani
First women member of International Olympic committee
Dinesh Kumar Khara
Managing Director of SBI
Urjit Patel
Next RBI Governor
Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Prime Minister of Nepal
Vijay Rupani
Chief Minister of Gujarat
Akhil Joshi
Executive Director, Bharat Heavy Electricals limited (BHEL)
Sunil Mittal
Chairman of Bharti - Airtel
SriramRajamani
MD of India Research Lab
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Arjuna Award
AjinkyaRahane /Lalita Babar Shiva Thapa
Prestigious White House Fellow programme
Astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi from California and physician Tina R Shah from Chicago
The Olympic Order for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement
N Ramachandran
France’s Chevalier honour Chevalier de L’Ordre Arts et Lettres (The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters)
Actor Kamal Haasan
VyasSamman award 2015
Sunita Jain
UEFA’s Best Player in Europe
Cristiano Ronaldo
world’s most valuable automobile brand
Toyota
Belgian Grand Prix Title
NicoRosberg
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Country’s First Nuclear Supplier’s Insurance Policy launched The first Nuclear Supplier’s
insurance policy of India has been officially set in motion by Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool
(INIP). The policy has been fully ratified by Shekharbasu, The commissioner of Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) in Mumbai, Maharastra.
2. Calicut University to open ‘touch and feel’ garden A first-of-its-kind “touch and feel
garden” for the visually impaired people in the country was inaugurated near Calicut
University campus by Kerala Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan.
3. Kerala to get solar powered e-rickshaws Kerala will soon have a solar-powered three-
wheeler. The vehicle is being assembled by Lifeway Solar Private Limited, a Kochi-based
enterprise, owned by GeorgekuttyKarianappally, who said the vehicle could seat five
persons.
5. Global Innovation Index: India moves up to 66th rank India has improved its innovation
ranking in Global Innovation Index to reach 66th position from its last year’s rank of 81st.
6. NASA will launch a spacecraft in September to a near-Earth asteroid known as Bennu to harvest a sample of surface material and return it to the Earth to scan for signs of life.
7. IBM, Apple open first global development hub in India In a bid to accelerate digital
transformation in India, IBM in partnership with Apple launched a global development hub
called Garage for iOS apps in Bengaluru that will work with existing design locations in
Atlanta, Chicago, Cupertino in the US and Toronto in Canada.
8. ISRO to launch two new meteorological satellites next month The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch two new meteorological satellites next month. 9. India’s First facility to produce nickel launched by HCL in Jharkhand Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) inaugurated the nickel, copper and acid recovery plant at Indian Copper Complex, Ghatsila (Jharkhand). 11. China launches World’s 1st Quantum communication satellite China has successfully launched the world’s first quantum satellite which can provide “hack- proof” communications at speeds faster than light between space and the ground with significant military and commercial applications. 12. Alibaba Group launches ‘million books’ donation drive Online along with Crossword and
Ratna-Nidhi Charitable Trust, has launched ‘Mission Million Books’, a pan-India initiative
inviting Indian citizens to donate textbooks for the underprivileged. The collected material
will be distributed to more than 2,500 educational institutions across India.
13. World’s first leprosy vaccine developed in India G.P Talwar, the founder-director of
National Institute of Immunology (NII), has developed a first-of-its-kind, exclusive and
indigenous leprosy vaccine in India.
14. ISRO successfully test-fires scramjet engine The Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV), a
sounding rocket (research rocket) with a solid booster carrying advanced scramjet engines,
was successfully flight-tested from the launch pad of the Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, also
known as Sriharikota Range (SHAR), at Sriharikota.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1. No Rail Budget from next fiscal The 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate Rail
Budget is set to come to an end from the next fiscal, with the Finance Ministry accepting
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s proposal to merge it with the General Budget.
2. Government selects four investment banks for share sale in HUDCO The government has
selected four investment banks for the proposed share sale in Housing & Urban
Development Corporation Limited. These are Nomura, SBI Caps, ICICI Securities and IDBI
Capital.
3. World Bank sanctions Rs 980 cr for Brahmaputra dredging The World Bank has sanctioned
Rs.980 crore to dredge the Brahmaputra as an initiative to develop waterways to
Bangladesh and to other South East Asian countries in a bid to boost trade and industry in
the Northeast.
4. Doha Bank opens first branch in Kerala, one of the prominent banks in Qatar, is formally
inaugurating its first branch in Kerala . The branch offers all banking products to corporate
and retail customers.
5. Cabinet approves foreign investment in other Financial Services sector The Union Cabinet
chaired by the Prime Minister has given its approval to amend regulation for foreign
investment in the Non- Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).
6.The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto
approval for amendment of Section 64 and section 65 and consequential amendment of
section 115 of the Factories Act, 1948 by introducing the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016
in the Parliament.
7. Union Government fixes an inflation target of 4 percent for five years the government
formally notified a consumer inflation target of 4%, putting a stamp of approval on the pact
with the RBI reached last year.
8. Former RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha joins IDFC Bank board, the newest lender in
the country, has appointed former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Anand Sinha to
the bank’s board.
9. RBI retains GDP growth forecast at 7.6%for FY17 With India touted as a “bright spot” in a
gloomy global economy, RBI retained its FY17 GDP growth projection at 7.6 per cent, same
as it sees both upside and downside risks.
10. The Reserve Bank will transfer to the central government its surplus profit of Rs 65,876
crore, marginally lower than the amount given last year.
11. Flipkart now on Kotak Mahindra Bank’s mobile banking app Kotak Mahindra Bank
(KMB), announced the availability of Flipkart’s mobile site inits mobile banking app, which
gives the customer a secure in-app shopping environment.
14. More banks to follow PNB, UBI After Punjab National Bank and United Bank of India,
more banks are likely to soon start a facility wherein an account holder can verify his income
tax return on e-filing site even without having net banking.
10. UBI launches USSD based mobile app for basic banking needs with NPCI National
Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments
system in the country.
11. Times Internet partners HDFC Bank to launch co-branded Debit Card Times Internet, the
digital arm of the Times of India Group, and private sector lender HDFC Bank entered into a
partnership to launch co-branded debit cards.
12. ICICI Bank unveils new ‘smart keys’ mobile app ICICI Bank unveiled a payment service
that uses a smartphone keyboard.
13. Deutsche Bank whistle blower refuses $8 mn reward Former Deutsche Bank risk officer
has refused his share of a $16.5 million award from the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) for reporting misdeeds.
14. Punjab National Bank makes locker visiting facility free The Punjab National Bank (PNB)
becomes the first public sector bank to make locker visiting facility free for its customers.
The lender had earlier allowed 12 free visits to the lockers per customer in a year.
15. 21 banks to go live with Unified Payments Interface National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI) launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is live and currently available for
customers of 21 banks.
16. India’s Economy to Expand 7.6%in FY17: RBI The near-term growth outlook for India
seems brighter than last fiscal and the economy is likely to expand at 7.6 per cent in 2016-
17, the Reserve Bank.
17. HDFC to deploy robots at its branches: Report Over the next few weeks, you may
encounter a robot at a branch of HDFC Bank as the country’s second largest private sector
lender tries to match Japanese players that have launched humanoids.
SPORTS
1. Four athletes get Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna award It was a celebration of woman power in
sports as Olympic stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and DipaKarmakar were conferred India’s
highest sporting honour the Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna along with shooter JituRai in a gleaming
awards ceremony at the RashtrapatiBhawan in New Delhi.
2. Patna pirates win second edition of pro- kabaddi tournament at Hyderabad .
3. PV Sandhu wins silver medal in womens’ single Badminton at Rio Olympics 2016.
4. Sakshi Malik won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category at Rio Olympics 2016, becoming
the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics
5. American swimmer Michael Phelps won 28th Olympic medal at Rio Olympics
6. Lewis Hamilton won German Formula One Grand Prix.
IMPORTANT DATES
August 6 Hiroshima Day, Anti-Nuclear Day
August 7
August 8 World Senior Citizen Day
August 9 Nagasaki Day, International Day of World’s
Indigenous People, quit India Day
August 12 International Youth Day
August 13 International Left Handers Day
August 14 Pakistan’s Independence Day
August 29 National Sport’s Day, Dhyanchand’s Birthday
OBITUARY
TA Razzaq
Malayalam screenwriter
JobaHavelange
Former FIFA president
Machli
World’s most photographed tigress the
longest surviving tigress
Subrata Banerjee
a former international umpire
SR Nathan
Indian-origin former Singapore President
John Ellenby
Early laptop pioneer
Gene Wilder
America’s foremost comic actors
Chris Amon
The former Formula One driver
EXAM GUIDE: NMAT 2016
NMAT by GMAC is a national level test conducted for admissions to MBA courses of various
B-Schools like Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Alliance University, SRM
University, BML Munjal University, VIT University, ICFAI Business School and Ansal
University. Unlike other tests, the NMAT can be taken 3 times in a given admission cycle.
NMAT also has other unique options like the candidate can chose the order in which they
respond to the sections, there is no negative marking and the student can choose the test
date, time and location as per their own convenience. Here are the things that you need to
know about the exam:
Eligibility: The candidates must fulfill the following eligibility criteria to be able to apply for
the exam:
It is absolutely mandatory for each student to have a bachelor’s degree (10+2+3/4) in
any discipline from any recognized university.
Candidates must have at least 50% score in aggregate in their graduation.
Candidates with work experience of two or more years after graduation will be favored
for admission to all full-time programmes (according to Admission
Information Handout of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS).
Students in their final year of bachelors can also apply for the exam where they shall be
offered provisional admission. The final admission will be granted only on clearing
graduation exams in first attempt with at least 50% of marks.
Registration: It has already begun and process is given below:
Create an account on nmat.org.in using a valid email address.
Provide contact information, personal, educational and work experience, the list of
programmes to send scores, and the ID that you will use at the test centre. Indicate
your interest in participating in a search service and agree to the terms and conditions.
Your name and date of birth that you enter on the registration form must exactly match
the name and date of birth on your primary and secondary ID.
Choose the schools to send your scores. Up to 7 programmes are included in your
registration fee. An additional fee of INR 200 + applicable taxes will be applied for each
programme added in excess of 7 programs.
You must upload a photograph that bears likeness to you and the photograph on your
primary ID. This photograph will be included on the admit card that you must bring.
Pay the test fee.
Once your payment is realized, your schedule exam option will be activated in your
dashboard, so that you can go ahead and schedule your exam.
You will be able to download your admit card from your dashboard once the payment is
realized.
Exam Pattern: The NMAT exam is of 2 hours and covers a total of 120 questions.
Language Skills has a total of 32 questions and the time allotted to this section 22 minutes.
Quantitative Skills has 48 questions and time allotted is 60 minutes. The Logical Reasoning
section has 40 questions and time allotted is 38 minutes.
Now that you have the required details about the paper, you can score well by thorough
practice and proper time management.
NMAT 2016 TIMELINE:
Exam Window: October 2016 – December 2016
Registration Monday, July 04,2016 Monday, October 03,2016
Scheduling Monday, July 04,2016 Friday, October 14, 2016
Late Registration Tuesday, October 04,2016 Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Registration - Retake Saturday, October 08, 2016 Thursday, December 15, 2016
Rescheduling Monday, July 04, 2016 Saturday, December, 17, 2016
Exam Delivery Friday, October 07, 2016 Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Re-take Scheduling Saturday, October 08, 2016 Saturday, October 08, 2016
Final Announcement of
Results
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
PREVIOUS YEARS GK PAPER: IIFT
2015 In our effort to prepare you thoroughly for the GK questions of various MBA exams, we will
be providing you with the Gk questions appearing in the past papers of IIFT, SNAP, XAT and
TISS. This month we have selected the questions of IIFT 2015 paper as, IIFT is the first exam
of the season to test your General Knowledge.
Q.1 Which multinational bank has been set up by the BRICS as an alternative to the World
Bank and IMF.
Q.2 Match the popular stock indices of the world with the country it represents
DAX Japan
Nikkei Brazil
KOSPI Germany
Bovespa South Korea
Q.3) The remains of which civilisation can be seen at the site of Machu Pichu in peru?
Q.4) Who is acknowledged as the creator of Rock garden Chandigarh?
Q.5) Which is the first Eurozone country to exit bailout package?
Q.6) Match the names of cities with the names of river on whose banks it is located
Budapest Tigris
Baghdad Tiber
Rome Han
Seoul Danube
Q.7) What is the motto of the 2016 Summer Olympic to be held in Rio de Jinero?
Q.8) Which film won the Oscar 2015 award for “Best Animated Feature Film”?
Q.9) Who has won the maximum all time Grand Slam Women’s title?
Q.10) Match the name of the Multinational Firm with whom the following Indians have
been associated as Ceo
Anshu Jain Master Card
Shantanu Narayan Reckitt and Colman
Ajay Pal Singh Banga Deutsche Bank
Rakesh Kapoor Adobe
Q.11) A person with ‘AB’ blood group is also called as Universal Recipient because of the
lack of
Q.12) Who is the vice chairman of NITI Ayog?
Q.13) The first Export Processing zone of Aisa was set up in?
Q.14) Who launched the crowd funding campaign to raise funds for bailing out Greece?
Q.15) Match the name of book with the author
To Kill a Mockingbird E.M.Foster
A Passage to India Joseph. E. Stiglitz
Globalisation and its Discontents Thomas. L. Friedman
The World is Flat Harper Lee
Q.16) The US recently announced that its reissued 10 dollar, to be issued in 2020, will
include
Q.17) The new Centre-State tax sharing model promised a 10% increase in the States’ share.
This 10% increase will result from increasing the share from
Q.18) Which country from Europe is not the member of European Union?
Q.19) As per the monetary policy agreement between RBI and Finance ministry, the RBI is
required to maintain inflation in the range of?
Q.20) Who discovered Pluto in the year 1930?
Q.21) According to the world investment report 2015-published by UNCTAD which of the
country is the largest recipient of FDI inflows in 2014?
Q.22) Euro Dollars are?
Q.23) Match the prime minster of India with their contemporaries President in office
Prime minister President
Indira Gandhi Shanker Dayal Sharma
Rajiv Gandhi V.V. Giri
I.K.Gujral A.P.J Abdul Kalam
Manmohan Singh Giani Zail Singh
Q.24) Mother Teresa was born in which country?
Q.25) The British cosmologist Stephan Hawking and Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner have
launched a project to search for extra-terrestrial life. This project name is?
Q.26) Match the organisation in the world with the city in which it is headquartered
Organisation Headquarter
International Monetary Fund Lausanne
International Olympic committee Geneva
International Labour Organisation Washington
International Chamber of Commerce Paris
BRAINSTORMING
Last Page shenanigans. Try out the following puzzles
1. A girl was ten on her last birthday, and will be twelve on her next birthday. How is this
possible?
2. If you had a 5-liter bowl and a 3-liter bowl, and an unlimited access to water, how would
you measure exactly 4 liters?
3. One brick is one kilogram and half a brick heavy. What is the weight of one brick?
4.
5. Solve the quick-fire maths brain teaser √9% =?
ANSWERS
IIFT 2015 Q.1) New Development Bank
Q.2) DAX- Germany, Nikkei-Japan, KOSPI - South Korea, Bovespa - Brazil
Q.3) Incas civilisation
Q.4) Nek Chand Saini
Q.5) Ireland
Q.6) Budapest- Danube, Baghdad- Tigris, Rome- Tiber, Seoul - Han
Q.7) ‘Live your Passion’
Q.8) Big Hero 6
Q.9) Margaret Court
Q.10) Anshu Jain- Deutsche Bank, Shantanu Narayen- Adobe, Ajay Pal Singh Banga-
MasterCard, Rakesh Kumar- Reckitt and Colman
Q.11) Lack of Anibodies in Blood
Q.12) Arvind Panagariya
Q.13) Kandla
Q.14) Thomas Feeney
Q.15) To Kill a MockingBird - Harper Lee, A Passage to India – E.M.Forster, Globalisation and
its Discontents- Joseph. E. Stiglitz, The World is Flat - Thomas. L. Friedman
Q.16) Face of a women
Q.17) Current 32% to 42%
Q.18) Norway
Q.19) Inflation to be maintained between 2% - 6%
Q.20) Clyde Tombaugh
Q.21) China
Q.22) EuroDollars are US dollars denominated deposits outside the United States, especially
Europe.
Q.23) Indira Gandhi- V.V. Giri, Rajiv Gandhi – Gyani Zail Singh, I.K. Gujral – Shankar Dayal
Sharma, Manmohan Singh - A.P.J Abdul Kalam
Q.24) Macedonia
Top Related