1) What is the name of the latest operating system programme launched by Google for its Android-based phone OS, that is being unveiled by the company on 15 September 2014 in India? – Android One
Explanation: Under the Android One programme Google partners with local phone makers to create and sell affordable yet feature-packed Android phones. Sundar Pichai, the Google executive, who heads Chrome and Android divisions at the company, is in India for the Android One launch event on 15 September. The phone devices based on Android One are meant to give Google a tighter control over the system, so that users get a better Android experience. Google gives its mobile operating system, Android, for free to manufacturers, which can customise it for the sake of differentiation. But, this has made the Android ecosystem highly fragmented. The Android One program guarantees that the phones that come out of it will run on the most recent Android release, as Google will push updates to those phones similar to the way it handles GPE devices. The phones based on Google One are made available in the Indian market from 15 September.
2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during September 2014 closed down six Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), the conduct of whom was found suspicious. What was the main charge against these UCBs? – Being indulged in money laundering activities
Explanation: The report had emerged that such entities were being used as conduits for money laundering. The matter of misuse of UCBs, over which there is dual control by central and state governments, was discussed during a recent meeting of the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by Finance Minister. UCBs are inspected annually or once in two years depending on their ratings or classification. About 70% of these urban cooperative banks are subjected to inspection every year. RBI has aggressively pursued the issue.
3) Which Chinese e-commerce giant is poised to offer its mega initial public offering (IPO) worth $21.1 billion soon, which now appears set to exceed Visa Inc’s $19.7 billion IPO in 2008? – Alibaba
Explanation: Alibaba runs Internet-based e-commerce businesses including B2B (business-to-business) online web portals. It was the company’s first online commerce platform, launched in 1999 and was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma. Sellers on Alibaba.com are typically manufacturers and distributors based in China and other manufacturing countries such as India, Pakistan, the United States and Thailand. Its IPO is the most anticipated IPO of recent times and is expected to open on 18 September 2014. Alibaba stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol BABA. With most big IPOs seeing a decent pop on debut, investors are keen on getting some shares of Alibaba even if at higher end of price band ($66/share). Indian investors can invest in this IPO via overseas trading accounts and some brokerages offer the facility to invest in various stocks that are traded on US exchanges.
4) The extremists of Islamic State (IS) on 14 September 2014 released a video showing the beheading of a British aid worker who was abducted in Syria during 2013. What is the name of this aid worker who became the third western citizen to be beheaded by the IS? – David Haines
Explanation: David Haines became the third western citizen to be beheaded by IS after two American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. The IS group has also put out videos showing the beheading of Kurdish and Lebanese soldiers and the mass shooting of dozens of captured Syrian soldiers. On 12 September, Haines’ family had issued a public plea urging his captors to contact them.
5) The West Bengal has decided to transfer its shareholding in the troubled Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) in favour of which New York-based group led by an Indian entrepreneur? – The Chatterjee Group (TCG)
Explanation: TCG is led by Indian entrepreneur Purnendu Chatterjee who founded the group in 1986. TCG has diversified interests in areas such as investment banking, real estate, petrochemicals and life sciences. Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. is the second largest petrochemical company in India. Apart from TCG, other stake-holders in HPL are the West Bengal government, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and the Tata Group. HPL’s huge petrochemical complex is situated at Haldia in West Bengal which is around 120 km from capital Kolkata. The complex has been shut for more than two months with authorities citing reasons of a technical snag. The company had long been facing fund crunch and was operating the plant at sub-optimal capacity owing to non-availability of naphtha in desired amount. As per the terms of agreement, the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) would transfer its block of around 40% of its stake in HPL to TCG at Rs. 25.10 per share.
6) What is the name of the young Indian badminton player who won the Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold, the maiden Grand Prix title of his career on 14 September 2014? – H.S. Prannoy
Explanation: 22-year old Prannoy won the title after defeating local favourite Firman Abdul Kholik (Indonesia) in the finals by 21-11, 22-20. Prannoy is upcoming young badminton player from Kerala and had earlier won a silver medal in Boys’ singles at Summer Youth Olympics of 2010.
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