CRACK IBPS PO : New Pattern Reading Comprehension Day 57

Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer these questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in BOLD to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

India Inc. suffered a new blow on Friday when the chief executive of one of the country’s leading technology outsourcing companies suddenly resigned, a surprise move he attributed to “a continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity.”

The departure of the executive, Vishal Sikka, from Infosys comes just months after a struggle at the top of the Tata Group, a powerful Indian conglomerate, focused attention on a variety of problems in the country’s corporate governance and culture.

Both companies symbolized a shift in India’s business mind-set in recent decades, as they looked overseas to court clients and deals. Their success in recent years — Infosys counts a wide range of global companies as its clients, like the automaker Honda, the beverage seller Diageo — has come as India’s overall economy has seen faster growth.

Their more recent struggles, however, have also held similarities, with both companies being caught in battles between the goals of their original founders and a new generation of executives.

Mr. Sikka took over as the chief executive of Infosys in 2014, coming from the software company SAP and making it the first time the company looked beyond its original founders to fill the top job.

Established in 1981 by seven engineers armed with just $250, Infosys now has approximately 200,000 employees and reported revenue of $2.6 billion in the three months through June.

It has steadily expanded by offering software outsourcing services, arguing that it saves money for major companies and allows them to operate more efficiently. The majority of its revenue now comes from the United States, where Mr. Sikka pledged this year to hire 10,000 American employees. (The New York Times is also among the company’s clients.)

Mr. Sikka was credited with helping bolster the company’s revenue, sending its shares sharply higher. But he nevertheless found himself criticized by the founders of Infosys, including Narayana Murthy, a longtime former chairman and chief executive, particularly over levels of executive pay.

That criticism came to a head on Friday, when Mr. Sikka suddenly announced he was resigning. In a letter published by Infosys, he complained of a relentless string of attacks, which he said were “repeatedly proven false and baseless.”

“This continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity over the last several months/quarters inhibits our ability to make positive change and stay focused on value creation,” he wrote.

He came to the conclusion “that it is indeed time for me to leave.”

Mr. Sikka will stay on as executive vice chairman, and the company’s chief operating officer U. B. Pravin Rao will take over as interim chief executive. Infosys said it planned to have a new chief executive in place by the end of March.

“This is purely a case of founders going for overkill,” said Manoj Kumar, a managing partner at the corporate law firm Hammurabi & Solomon, which is based in Delhi. “Shareholder value will definitely be impacted in the short term, as well as the long term.”

Infosys paid tribute to Mr. Sikka, saying he helped grow the company and establish “breakthrough new programs.” In a statement, the company’s board said it was “profoundly distressed by the unfounded personal attacks on the members of our management team” which it said “harmed employee morale and contributed to the loss of the company’s valued C.E.O.”

The company’s shares fell nearly 10 percent in Mumbai after the announcement of his resignation.

Mr. Murthy, however, offered no such tributes. He said in a statement that he was concerned by the “deteriorating standard of corporate governance” at Infosys, adding: “It is below my dignity to respond to such baseless insinuations.”

Mr. Sikka’s resignation mirrors the struggle over control of the Tata Group.

In that case, the conglomerate’s patriarch Ratan Tata, an Indian corporate titan, clashed with his chosen successor, Cyrus Mistry. Mr. Tata ousted Mr. Mistry in October, starting a nasty public battle in which the company found itself defending against accusations of wrongdoing. The fight between the two sides has rumbled on in recent months, with Indian media reporting that the Tata Group had moved to cut ties with companies controlled by Mr. Mistry.

1. According to the author , who has offered no such tributes according to the given passage ?

(a) Vishal Sikka

(b) Cyrus Mistry

(c) Anand Subramanian

(d) Narayana Murthy

(e) Pravin Rao

2. Which of the following is false with respect to the statements given below ?

(a) Pravin Rao will take over as the Interim CEO

(b) Mr. Sikka was credited with helping bolster the company’s revenue

(c) All the struggles had similarities

(d) Mr. Sikka took over as the chief Operating Officer of Infosys in 2014

(e) None of the these

3. Who was credited with helping bolster the company’s revenue according to the author ?

(a) Narayana Murthy

(b) Anand Subramanian

(c) Vishal Sikka

(d) U.B. Pravin Rao

(e) Cyrus Mistry

4. Which of the following is true with respect to the given passage ?

(a) Infosys said it planned to have a new chief executive in place by the end of March.

(b) Infosys has steadily expanded by offering software outsourcing services.

(c) Infosys is not the first time the company looked beyond its original founders to fill the top job.

(d) The company’s shares fell nearly 10 percent in Mumbai after the announcement of his resignation.

(e) The Tata Group had moved not to cut ties with companies controlled by Mr. Mistry.

(a) ONLY (A) , (B) & (C)

(b) ONLY (A) , (B) & (D)

(c) ONLY (B) , (C) & (E)

(d) ONLY (A) , (C) & (E)

(e) ONLY (C) , (D) & (E)

5. From where did majority of the income for Infosys come from ?

(a) India

(b) Singapore

(c) South America

(d) United Kingdom

(e) United States of America

6. What can be the appropriate Title for the given passage ?

(a) Vishal Sikka’s Resignation

(b) The Board’s interference and Sikka’s Resignation

(c) Infosys Chief Quits After Battle

(d) The fall of great conglomerate in INDIA
(e) None of the above

7. Choose the word which has the OPPOSITE MEANING as the word BOLSTER

(a) Maintain

(b) Bulwark

(c) Strengthen

(d) Discourage

(e) Sustained

8. Choose the word which has the OPPOSITE MEANING as the word IMPACT

(a) Smash

(b) Failure

(c) Coordination

(d) Bounce

(e) Impingement

9. Choose the word which has the EXACT MEANING as the word RELENTLESS

(a) Remorse

(b) Vigour

(c) Yielding

(d) Sympathetic

(e) Determined

10. Choose the word which has the EXACT MEANING as the word IMPACT

(a) Collision

(b) Buildup

(c) Avoidance

(d) Stillness

(e) Wallop