TCS, Oracle - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

1)   TCS is the largest listed Indian company in terms of?

a. market cap
b. GDP
c. profits
d. sales
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: market cap

Explanation:
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is the country’s largest listed company in terms of market capitalisation, has announced India’s biggest buyback offer till now.

The software major plans to buy back up to 5.61 crore equity shares at INR2,850 per share.

Assuming that 5.61 crore shares - equivalent to 2.85% of the company’s equity - are bought back, the offer size would be pegged at INR 16,000 crore, surpassing Reliance Industries Ltd.’s 2012 share buyback offer of INR 10,400 crore.

The buyback is being made through the tender offer route.

This means the existing shareholders can tender their shares through the stock exchange.

The buyback offer price of INR 2,850 represents a 13.7% premium to INR 2,506.50, the closing price on February 20 when the announcement was made.

Since the buyback announcement, the stock has lost nearly 1% to close at INR 2,481.65 on Thursday (the stock market was shut on Friday on account of Mahasivaratri).

The buyback offer price is at a premium of almost 15% over the current market price.

TCS has a cash pile of more than INR 38,000 crore as on December 31, 2016.

Given the tax rules of India, a buy back is a comparatively better way of rewarding shareholders than doling out hefty dividends.

While there is no additional tax in buyback, dividends come at a cost to the company and the shareholders.

There is a dividend distribution tax of more than 20% on the companies while individuals have to pay 10% tax if dividend received is more than INR 10 lakh.

Buy Backs in IT Space: Know More

  • The mega buyback offer and the response to it could lead to more such offers, mostly from the IT space.
  • Infosys is seeking shareholder approval for amending its Articles of Association to include the provision of buybacks - as mandated by the new Companies Act.
  • Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies might be still some time away from such offers because of the lower levels of cash and a historical trend of inorganic growth.
  • The board of NASDAQ-listed Cognizant has also approved a plan to return $3.4 billion to its shareholders over two years through buybacks and dividend.
  • The NYSE-listed Accenture Plc has a history of returning all its profits to its shareholders in the form of buybacks and dividend payouts.


2)   Who is the chairman of TCS as per appointment on 20th Feb 2017?

a. Natarajan Chandrasekaran
b. S. Ramadorai
c. Ishat Hussain
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Explanation:
Tata Sons Chairman-designate Natarajan Chandrasekaran will also hold the chairmanship of the group's crown jewel Tata Consultancy Services from 21st Feb 2017.

The country's largest software services provider has also named V Ramakrishnan as its Chief Financial Officer to succeed Rajesh Gopinathan, who will take over as the CEO and MD of the Tata Group company.

The nomination was duly noted by the directors at its meeting held on February 20, 2017.

Chandrasekaran, currently Chief Executive and Managing Director of TCS, will take charge as the Non-Executive Chairman of the board of directors of TCS with effect from tomorrow.

In a separate filing, TCS said its board of directors appointed V Ramakrishnan as the Chief Financial Officer with effect from February 21.

Ramakrishnan, or Ramki as he is popularly known, joined TCS Finance in 1999, and served as the Finance Head of TCS North America for seven years.

Earlier in the day, TCS also announced a Rs 16,000 crore buyback, the largest till date in the Indian corporate history.

Tata Sons had earlier appointed Ishaat Hussain as TCS Chairman on November 11.

TCS had said Hussain would hold office as the Chairman until a new Chairman is appointed in his place.

TCS: Know More

  • CEO: Rajesh Gopinathan (21 Feb 2017)
  • Revenue: 16.54 billion USD (2016)
  • Headquarters: Mumbai
  • Founders: J. R. D. Tata, F. C. Kohli


3)   Who has been appointed interim chairman of the TATA Group?

a. Ishaat Hussain
b. Ratan Tata
c. Cyrus Mistry
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Ishaat Hussain

Explanation:
TATA Sons Ltd on 9th Nov 2016 announced the appointment of Ishaat Hussain as Chairman of IT giant, TCS with immediate effect.

  • He will hold the position till the name of the new chairman is announced.
  • Announcement was delivered to the company TCS through the letter dated 9th Nov 2016 from TATA Sons Ltd.
  • Hussain succeeds Cyrus Mistry who was ousted from the position on 23rd Oct 2016 by the board of TATA Sons Ltd.
  • Ratan Tata has been chosen as the Interim Chairman of the group till another suitable candidate was chosen.
  • He is a member of the board of Tata Sons and director of several TATA Companies such as TATA Industries, TATA Steel and Voltas.
  • He is also a member of the SEBI committees on insider trading and primary capital markets.
  • He is also a member of the CII Finance Committee.
  • Prior to TATA Sons, Hussain has served as the senior Vice President and Executive Director of finance at TATA Steel for 10 years.
  • He joined the board of the Indian Tube Company (a TATA Steel Associate company) in 1981 and moved to TATA Steel in 1983 after the merger of both companies.


4)   Country’s non-ED Phiroz Vandrevala has resigned from which company?

a. TCS
b. TSL
c. TAS
d. TASL
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: TCS

Explanation:
Country’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services on 9th July 2016 indicated Non Executive Director Phiroz Vandrevala resigned from the company.

  • He relinquished the office of Non-Executive Director of the company on account of personal reasons with effect from July 8, 2016
  • He has been a director on the TCS board since September 2007.
  • He will continue as Vice Chairman and MD of Diligent, a TCS subsidiary where he is responsible for driving business strategy and operations of the organisation globally.
  • He has over 25 years of consulting and leadership experience with TCS


5)   Which tech giant has announced a five part benchmark US dollar bond sale ahead of the pricing later on 29th June?

a. Oracle
b. IBM
c. Cognizant
d. HCL
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Oracle

Explanation:
Tech giant Oracle announced the five part benchmark US dollar bond sale ahead of pricing.

  • The borrower is approaching investors with 5,7, 10, 20 and 30-year bonds, with initial price talk set at T+110bp area, T+125bp area, T+135bp area, T+165bp-170bp area and T+185bp area.
  • Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes including stock repurchases, dividend payments and debt referencing as well as future acquisitions
  • Ratings are A1/AA-/A+.
  • Oracle was last in the US dollar market in April 2015 when it raised USD 10 billion


6)   Who has been appointed as the non executive chairman of City Union Bank?

a. S. Ramadorai
b. Ramani Iyer
c. S. Mahalingam
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: S. Mahalingam

Explanation:
S. Mahalingam, former chief financial officer (CFO) and executive director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is set to become the non-executive chairman of City Union Bank.

  • Mr. Mahalingam is currently an Independent Director on the board of the bank.
  • The board’s decision comes in the wake of S. Balasubramanian vacating the office of part-time Non-Executive Chairman of the bank at the close of business hours on Tuesday upon his superannuation.
  • Board also co opted M. Narayanan as Additional Director of the Bank.


7)   OpenText has chosen which former Oracle executive as their new President?

a. Stephen Murphy
b. Mark Barrencechea
c. Paul Tudor Jones
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Stephen Murphy

Explanation:
Former Oracle executive Stephen Murphy has been selected as the new President of OpenText, giving CEO Mark Barrenechea ample time to focus on strategy and the product road map of the company. Barrenechea will cede the title of president, but take on the mantle of Chief Technology Officer whereby he will focus on acquisitions. Murphy’s appointment will take effect from January 4th, 2015. OpenText is one of the largest software companies in Canada.


8)   Which Indian software services firm has won 4 awards in the UK on 8th December 2015?

a. Infosys
b. Wipro
c. TCS
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: TCS

Explanation:
India’s biggest software services firm TATA Consultancy Services has won 4 prestigious awards for key client projects as well as innovations at European Software Testing Awards 2015 organised by TEST Magazine.
It won the following awards:

1. Best Agile Project
2. Best Mobile Project
3. Testing Innovator of the Year
4. Leading Vendor


9)   TCS has partnered which company to oversee smart city projects in France?

a. Gifi Information
b. Gigi Informatique
c. Gfi Informatique
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Gfi Informatique

Explanation:
Country's largest software service firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) said it has partnered with Gfi Informatique to collaborate on smart cities projects in France.Gfi Informatique and TCS will offer the Intelligent Urban Exchange (IUX) advanced analytics solution developed by TCS Digital Software & Solutions (DS&S) Group, the latter indicated in a statement.


10)   TCS has announced a new partnership with which firm to provide the world’s first neural automation system which automates and optimises IT operations and processes of an enterprise, on 29th September 2015?

a. Nationwide Building Group
b. Nationwide Building Society
c. Nation Building Board
d. None of the above
Answer  Explanation 

ANSWER: Nationwide Building Society

Explanation:
Nationwide Building Society has selected SaaS platform Ignio which is the world’s first neural automation system for enterprise IT has part of the transformation of technology and operations. Nationwide Building Society delivers wide range of products to customers and works to increase strength of digital solutions. Moving services to a digital platform is a massive priority for Nationwide.

Ignite is based on the human neural system as well as machine learning and digital technologies to improve IT operations and processes of enterprise, reducing operational risks and increasing speed to enhance user experience.