The Hindu Business Line : Investment quiz

1.Strategic financial investment by a couple of institutional investors in an Indian construction company, a couple of years ago, was a key turning point that led to a re-rating of the stock as well as the sector. Name the company.

2.Name the two famous publishing houses owned by Pearson Plc of UK, the publishers of The Financial Times.

3.Citigroup enjoyed the status of the world's largest bank till Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ slipped into the numero uno slot on January 1. Who is the biggest stakeholder in Citigroup?

4.We now have several funds that focus on dividend yield in India. Which was first dividend-yield focussed fund launched in India?

5.`The most noble business on earth' — This was how a global major was described by its present CEO, few years ago. Who are we referring to? Interestingly, a predecessor had in the 1990s famously quipped that the company `... is a religion'.

6.What is the significance of the New York Quotation Company in the world of financial markets?

7.Call-centres have become a major business in India over the past three years. Name the largest call-centre services company in the world.

8. Mr Pawan Sachdeva was involved in a major capital market scandal in the mid-1990s.

With which company was he associated?

9.BlackRock is a money-management firm in the US. It is set to merge with a globally-renowned fund management-cum-investment banking major to create an entity that will have assets in excess $1 trillion. With which company is BlackRock merging?

10.He has blazed a trail with his pioneering spirit and immense risk-taking ability when his preferred businesses were in their nascent stage in India.

An ad agency started by him in the late-1970s now has a global major as a partner. In the mid-1990s, he was among the first in India to venture into cyberspace. He steered his firm through dotcom bust in 2000 and the company has now emerged as strong web platform. The company's stock is also listed on the Nasdaq. Who is the person in the photograph?

Answers

1.IVRCL Infrastructures.

2.Simon & Schuster and Penguin.

3.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz al Saud

of Saudi Arabia.

4.Birla Dividend Yield Plus.

5.Coca-Cola.

6.It offers ticker services on NYSE trades to subscribers

and is a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange.

7. Convergys Corp.

8.M.S.Shoes East.

9.Merrill Lynch.

10.Mr Ajit Balakrishnan, founder and CEO of Rediff.com.

Compiled by S. Vaidya Nathan