Reading Comprehension Questions

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge on May 26, 2014, the world looked at him with high expectations. This was because not only did his party the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) manage to emerge as a single majority party with 282 seats to form the coalition government, but India was also in dire need of a strong leader who could steer the country towards the path of growth and bring in renewed hope and optimism to a crumbling economy. With NDA coming to power, it seemed in 30 years India had finally voted for a strong and effective government. During his campaign; Modi had strongly voiced his opinion about the lackluster performance of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. His manifesto had laid stress on bringing down inflation, renewing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and retrieving black money from abroad, among other initiatives.

As the government completes 100 days, one thing that emerges is that Modi walked the talk when he spoke about minimum government and maximising governance. His ministry has a clear, flat structure he is the head and his ministers mostly below 75 years directly under him, where he keeps a strict eye on them. He has made it clear that his government wants to do away with the Planning Commission and replace it with a think tank. As soon as he assumed power, he made efforts to bring in efficiency government officials now reach office on time and are putting in at least 12 hours; any purchase above one lakh is sent to the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for approval; cars and foreign travels have been restricted and allowed only when required. Modi has become synonymous with the BJP-led government and time and again proved that he means business, along with speaking inspiring words that he has a penchant for. The ministries under Modi have been trying to keep pace with his dynamism. The Human Resources Development Ministry headed by Smriti Irani has notable achievements like her initiative towards establishing the National Academy Depository for maintaining academic degrees and certificates in e-format, thus reducing paper work and saving considerable time. The ministry also plans to make about 20 classrooms in 21,000 colleges Wi-Fi enabled. The oil and gas ministry has also done its bit in terms of regulating the prices and major price hikes have been averted to a certain extent. Also, there are attempts being made to reduce the price gap between petrol and diesel. Hundred days may be too soon to judge the performance of a government because the benefits of some of the steps undertaken may only be realized in the long run. During these days, the government has been busy picking up tasks from the manifesto and ticking them. However, all their actions are not without criticism.

 Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem-solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles. This distinction is absolutely crucial for our purposes here: Successful transformation is 70 to 90 per cent leadership and only 10 to 30 per cent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today don't have much leadership. And almost everyone thinks about the problems here as one of managing For most of this century, as we created thousands and thousands of large organizations for the first time in human history, we didn't have enough good managers to keep all those bureaucracies functioning. So many companies and universities developed management programmes, and hundreds and thousands of people were encouraged to learn management on the job. And they did. But, people were taught little about leadership. To some degree, management was emphasized because it's easier to teach than leadership. But even more so, management was the main item on the twentieth-century agenda because that's what was needed. For every entrepreneur or business builder who was a leader, we needed hundreds of managers to run their ever growing enterprises.

Unfortunately for us today, this emphasis on management has often been institutionalized in corporate cultures that discourage employees from learning how to lead. Ironically, past success is usually the key ingredient in producing this outcome. The syndrome, as I have observed it on many occasions, goes like this: success creates some degree of market dominance, which in turn produces much growth. After a while keeping the ever larger organization under control becomes the primary challenge. So attention turns inward, and managerial competencies are nurtured. With a strong emphasis on management but not on leadership, bureaucracy and an inward focus take over. But with continued success, the result mostly of market dominance, the problem often goes unaddressed and an unhealthy arrogance begins to evolve. All of these characteristics then make any transformation effort much more difficult.
Arrogant managers can over-evaluate their current performance and competitive position, listen poorly, and learn slowly. Inwardly focused employees can have difficulty seeing the very forces that present threats and opportunities. Bureaucratic cultures can smother those who want to respond to shifting conditions. And the lack of leadership leaves no force inside these organisations to break out of the morass.

 Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem-solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles. This distinction is absolutely crucial for our purposes here: Successful transformation is 70 to 90 per cent leadership and only 10 to 30 per cent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today don't have much leadership. And almost everyone thinks about the problems here as one of managing For most of this century, as we created thousands and thousands of large organizations for the first time in human history, we didn't have enough good managers to keep all those bureaucracies functioning. So many companies and universities developed management programmes, and hundreds and thousands of people were encouraged to learn management on the job. And they did. But, people were taught little about leadership. To some degree, management was emphasized because it's easier to teach than leadership. But even more so, management was the main item on the twentieth-century agenda because that's what was needed. For every entrepreneur or business builder who was a leader, we needed hundreds of managers to run their ever growing enterprises.

Unfortunately for us today, this emphasis on management has often been institutionalized in corporate cultures that discourage employees from learning how to lead. Ironically, past success is usually the key ingredient in producing this outcome. The syndrome, as I have observed it on many occasions, goes like this: success creates some degree of market dominance, which in turn produces much growth. After a while keeping the ever larger organization under control becomes the primary challenge. So attention turns inward, and managerial competencies are nurtured. With a strong emphasis on management but not on leadership, bureaucracy and an inward focus take over. But with continued success, the result mostly of market dominance, the problem often goes unaddressed and an unhealthy arrogance begins to evolve. All of these characteristics then make any transformation effort much more difficult.
Arrogant managers can over-evaluate their current performance and competitive position, listen poorly, and learn slowly. Inwardly focused employees can have difficulty seeing the very forces that present threats and opportunities. Bureaucratic cultures can smother those who want to respond to shifting conditions. And the lack of leadership leaves no force inside these organisations to break out of the morass.

 Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem-solving. Leadership is a set of processes that creates organizations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles. This distinction is absolutely crucial for our purposes here: Successful transformation is 70 to 90 per cent leadership and only 10 to 30 per cent management. Yet for historical reasons, many organizations today don't have much leadership. And almost everyone thinks about the problems here as one of managing For most of this century, as we created thousands and thousands of large organizations for the first time in human history, we didn't have enough good managers to keep all those bureaucracies functioning. So many companies and universities developed management programmes, and hundreds and thousands of people were encouraged to learn management on the job. And they did. But, people were taught little about leadership. To some degree, management was emphasized because it's easier to teach than leadership. But even more so, management was the main item on the twentieth-century agenda because that's what was needed. For every entrepreneur or business builder who was a leader, we needed hundreds of managers to run their ever growing enterprises.

Unfortunately for us today, this emphasis on management has often been institutionalized in corporate cultures that discourage employees from learning how to lead. Ironically, past success is usually the key ingredient in producing this outcome. The syndrome, as I have observed it on many occasions, goes like this: success creates some degree of market dominance, which in turn produces much growth. After a while keeping the ever larger organization under control becomes the primary challenge. So attention turns inward, and managerial competencies are nurtured. With a strong emphasis on management but not on leadership, bureaucracy and an inward focus take over. But with continued success, the result mostly of market dominance, the problem often goes unaddressed and an unhealthy arrogance begins to evolve. All of these characteristics then make any transformation effort much more difficult.
Arrogant managers can over-evaluate their current performance and competitive position, listen poorly, and learn slowly. Inwardly focused employees can have difficulty seeing the very forces that present threats and opportunities. Bureaucratic cultures can smother those who want to respond to shifting conditions. And the lack of leadership leaves no force inside these organisations to break out of the morass.