From January 2015

General Knowledge

Your Weekly Dose of Current Affairs (#16)

current affairs

Every week, we scour the newspapers for the articles which will help you become awesome in GK. Here’s the list of current affairs for the week.

Current Affairs

1. Planning Commission is now ‘Niti Aayog’

The NITI Aayog, which will replace the Planning Commission, will be responsible for formulating what the government described as “a Bharatiya approach to development”.

More Details: Economic Times

2. ISRO bids farewell to chairman K. Radhakrishnan

Koppillil Radhakrishnan has retired as chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after a stint of five years marked by historic achievements for the national space agency, according to an ISRO spokesperson.

More Details: Livemint

3. Reforms push: Cabinet clears land acquisition ordinance

The Centre today recommended an ordinance to make significant changes to the Land Acquisition Act so as to fasttrack projects in key sectors such as power, roads, defence and housing.

More Details: The Hindu Business Line

4. Bajrang Dal activists protest screening of PK

Activists of RSS affiliate Bajrang Dal on Monday vandalised two cinema halls, protesting against the screening of Aamir Khan’s blockbuster PK , which they claimed hurt Hindus’ religious feelings.

More Details: The Hindu Business Line

5. RBI happy about economy, but worried about banks

The economy is in a better position today thanks to the dip in inflation, the political stability and the recovery in the external sector, says the RBI’s Financial Stability Report released on Monday. It, however, also points out that primary market capital activity and banking business have been subdued due to moderate investment intentions.

More Details: The Hindu Business Line

6. SEBI frames new norms for municipal bonds

To give a boost to the Centre’s ‘smart cities’ initiative, market regulator SEBI on Tuesday proposed a new set of norms for listing and trading of municipal bonds on stock exchanges so as to channel household investments into urban infrastructure development.

More Details: The Hindu Business Line

7. Racial remarks against N-E people to be punishable

The government move is in accordance with the M.P. Bezbaruah Committee report on discrimination against the people of the Northeast.

More Details: The Hindu

8. Mahendra Singh Dhoni Retires as Test Captain; Virat Kohli Takes Over

Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from Test cricket with immediate effect. The decision came after India drew the third Test in Melbourne on Tuesday

More Details: NDTV

9. Xiaomi is Now the World’s Most Valuable Startup

Xiaomi, known as “China’s Apple,” is valued at over $46 billion as of Monday after it secured $1.1 billion in new investments.

More Details: Time

10. Nato ends combat operations in Afghanistan

After 13 years of war, Nato formally ended its combat operations in Afghanistan on Sunday, leaving the Afghan army and police in charge of security in a country plagued by continued fighting, a ferocious insurgency and a rising tide of both military and civilian casualties.

More Details: Guardian

JBIMS

JBIMS Application form: would you like to tell us something?

Thoughts on ‘would you like to tell us something apart from the information given to support your candidature?’

Your profile and answers are very important now with your CAT/CET score. In any application form, you are asked details like exam scores, graduation stream, percentage marks, work experience, etc. because these points are basic hygiene factors and probably 50% of your profile. The other 50% of your profile is what you are as an individual. How your experiences have shaped your career. What learnings you have drawn from life.

First of all, don’t put a generic statement without any evidence. Don’t write ‘I am a hard working individual’ (Aren’t you supposed to be generally hard-working in life?) But if this hard work resulted in something worthwhile, mention that. For example: because of my efforts and inputs, xyz organization was able to improve productivity by x%. That adds value.

There are so many applicants out there. What is different about you? When you actually go through your MBA program, you understand the importance of this. Any product or service has to offer something different. So how do you put that in your answer? A lot of people simply won’t be able to think of an answer but sit and think. May be it’s your graduation. Say if you are a veterinary doctor or you handled 300 clients or may be managed an event of 500 delegates single-handedly or you paint really well. We always have something that we consider different from others. Make sure you mention it.

Remember, when the institute is selecting you, they also know that you have other options. So putting across points that will bring out what the institute is going to gain from you will definitely add value. For example: I have always tried to make the education institute I have been part of proud by doing xyz things.

If you have entrepreneurial mind and have decided on an idea, makes sense to talk about it. For example: I have always been fascinated about technology and currently building a prototype of xyz which I intend to pursue after MBA. Mentioning your traits with examples works well. For example: I can notice and remember small things about people. This helps me connect with others easily.

The last bit is anything that doesn’t have a place in the official form. For example, if you work with an NGO working for the development of special kids. If you don’t have a formal certificate, it’s ok. As long as you can talk about it and when asked, provide a mail from someone from that NGO.

Every individual is different and what you write should be about you. One solution doesn’t fit. Again, all the examples that I have given are just to help you structure your answer. If you copy paste from here and it’s not what you really stand for, you will pretty much close your case.