Weekly CA Quiz: August 2019 2nd week with PDF

With an aim to bring down incidence of HIV/AIDS by 20,000 per year for the next two years, the Union Health Ministry is reaching out to targeted areas like prisons and women remand homes as cases in these places are much higher as compared to the general population.

India has contributed USD 5 million to the UN Palestine refugee agency and called for ensuring sustained fiscal support for the organisation’s work.

The annual Coastal Shipping and Inland Water Transport Business Summit will be held in Kochi, Kerala on August 30.

SBI Life Insurance and Chennai-headquartered Indian Bank have entered into a bancassurance pact to offer holistic financial planning solutions to the latter’s customers.

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras partnered with National Institute of Ocean Technology (HQ – Chennai) to harness electricity from ocean waves. Both institutions will together develop turbines that can harness the power of ocean waves to generate electricity.

Serena Williams, 37, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, topped the rich list, after earning $29.2m (£24.3m), including $25m (£20.57m) in endorsements, according to Forbes.

Australia’s greatest modern-day track and field athlete Sally Pearson has announced her retirement, acknowledging that her body can take no more punishment.

Leicestershire skipper Colin Ackermann stunned the world with his record-breaking bowling performance against Birmingham Bears as he became the first-ever seven-wicket taker in the T20 cricket.

India’s transsexual woman Naaz Joshi has made the country proud with a third successive victory in the beauty pageant Miss World Diversity. Naaz was crowned Miss World Diversity 2019 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

India and Bangladesh have agreed to set up a Joint Technical committee for optimum utilisation of Ganges water as being received by Bangladesh under the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty 1996.

Odisha government has launched the ‘Odisha Small Savings Incentive Scheme’ for the calendar year 2019 under the notation “AQ” series.

Manipur has topped the raknings in Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in the country. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan released a report on Breastfeeding in New Delhi. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are at the bottom positions in the report card.

India’s first underwater train project in Kolkata is almost complete. The metro will soon be operational soon in Kolkata under the Hubli river.

Iran has unveiled three advanced precision-guided smart missiles named “Yasin”, “Balaban” and a new series of the Ghaem missiles.

LIC has launched a new term-insurance plan called Jeevan Amar. It is a non-linked, without profit, pure protection plan, and is available for sale offline. It offers the flexibility to choose from two death benefit options – level sum assured and increasing sum assured.

India’s GDP growth is likely to be 6.2 per cent during the current fiscal, down from 6.8 per cent in 2018-19, on account of flat growth in agriculture sector, according to economic think-tank NCAER.

South Africa batsman Hashim Amla announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket with immediate effect. Amla will continue to play domestic T20 cricket in South Africa.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee, Assamese singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika and social activist Nanaji Deshmukh have been awarded the country’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The Virasat-e-Khalsa museum in Punjab’s Anandpur Sahib town is all set to find a place in the Asia Book of Records for becoming the most visited museum in the Indian sub-continent on a single day.

In the backdrop of simmering tensions between the two, India and Pakistan will be participating in a major upcoming exercise under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Russia.

United Nations report said that the Papua New Guinea has the highest number of living indigenous languages in the world with 840. India stands fourth with 453.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a USD 200 million loan for improving road infrastructure in 34 districts of Maharashtra.

Indian Bank, a premier Public Sector bank has entered into a corporate agency agreement with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd (Chola MS) for distribution of the latter’s insurance products to Indian Bank customers.

Public sector Indian Bank has inked a pact with private sector insurer Aditya Birla Sun Life to offer life insurance products to the bank’s customers.

Steve Smith has smashed his second ton of the match and has now overthrown Indian skipper Virat Kohli to become the second-fastest batsman to score 25 Test centuries. The former Australia captain achieved the feat on Day 4 of the 1st Test against England in Birmingham.

State Bank of India, the country’s largest state-run bank, said that the term of office of its Managing Director Dinesh Kumar Khara has been extended for further period of two years.

Harley Race, American professional wrestler passed away. Race overcame serious injuries from a car accident to become a mainstay of the wrestling circuit, winning numerous individual and tag-team titles in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India, Bimal Jalan’s new Book ‘Resurgent India’ has been launched. The book talks about key priorities that can be implemented by the new government in national interest, irrespective of the political agenda of the party that come to power. The book has been published by Harper Collins.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (World Adivasi Day) is observed on 9 August each year to frontup and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population. This event also recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues such as environmental protection.The 2019 Theme for International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is “Indigenous Languages”.

In a bid to implement ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ across the country by 1 June, 2020, the Centre kick-started inter-state portability of ration card between Telangana-Andhra Pradesh as well as Maharashtra-Gujarat

The Rajasthan government released biofuel rules-2019 on the eve of the World Biofuel Day. Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said Rajasthan is the first state in the country to bring the policy for biofuel after the notification of the Centre. Promotion of biofuel will reduce the need of fossil fuel in the interest of environment, and also generate employment opportunities.

The Manipur government has appointed a nine-year-old girl as the brand ambassador for the Chief Minister’s Green Manipur Mission, after a video of her crying inconsolably on seeing the two trees planted by her being cut down went viral on social media.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) task force, chaired by Usha Thorat, set up to examine the issues relating to the offshore rupee markets has submitted its report to the governor.

Digital healthcare platform, Practo has partnered with RBL Bank to launch a co-branded credit card, powered by Mastercard. The card is designed to cater to customers in both metros and non-metro cities, through Practo and RBL Bank’s customer base across the country.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the Jharkhand government’s ‘Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana’ under which money will be directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers in the state. Under the scheme, beneficiaries having farm land of less than one acre to five acres, will get 5,000 to 25,000 rupees in their bank accounts.

Gogabeel, an ox-bow lake in Bihar, has been declared as the state’s first ‘Community Reserve’. It is located in the Katihar district of Bihar.

Reliance Jio Infocomm and Microsoft Corporation have announced embarking on a long-term strategic relationship aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of Indian economy and society.

Huawei Technologies Co unveiled its much-anticipated in-house operating system Harmony OS, marking the Chinese tech giant’s arguably biggest push to build its own software ecosystem.

The Indian star wrestler Bajrang Punia has added another gold medal to his medal tally by winning the Golden bout in the Tbilisi Grand Prix of V. Balavadze and G. Kartozia, Georgia.

Padma Bhushan awardee Anupam Kher’s autobiography “Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly”, which chronicles his failures, rejections and lessons learnt in his life and in a career spanning 500 films, was released here by his friend and eminent actor Rishi Kapoor, his wife Neetu Kapoor and the fellow cast of the NBC show New Amsterdam.

Indian Railways has manufactured a high-speed locomotive in West Bengal’s Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), achieving a top speed of 180 km per hour.

Hospitality firm OYO has partnered ACKO General Insurance to launch complimentary insurance cover for guests at booking price for its properties across India.

Women’s T20 Cricket has been confirmed for inclusion at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, following a joint bid by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced.

The Khelo India will be held in Guwahati, Assam from 10th to 22nd of January next year. The Games will see a participation of more than 10,000 athletes and officials.

Aishwarya Pissay became the first Indian to claim a world title in motorsports, annexing the FIM World Cup ( Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) in the women’s category after the final round of the championship at Varpalota in Hungary.

In Badminton, reigning national champion, Sourabh Verma from Madhya Pradesh has clinched the Men’s Singles title in the Hyderabad Open.

Former director of the National Institute of Immunology Chandrima Shaha has been elected as the first woman president of the reputed Indian National Science Academy (INSA).

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on 10th of August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.The theme for World Biofuel Day 2019 is “Production of Bio-diesel from Used Cooking Oil”.

An initiative by the United Nations, the International Youth Day or IYD is celebrated on August 12 every year. First observed on August 12, 2000, the day marks an awareness day and draws attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding youth.The theme for International Youth Day 2019 is “Transforming education”.

The Department of IT, BT and S&T in Karnataka, through Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), has launched the E-Step, an initiative to empower student start-ups.

Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, has inaugurated a high-performance hockey centre — Naval Tata Hockey Academy (NTHA) — to groom the sports talent in the state.

National Payments Corporation of India has announced that Aadhaar enabled Payment System has crossed the milestone of over 200 million transactions during July 2019. The transaction count of AePS stood at 220 million in july 2019.

Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu wins Rogers Cup tennis tournament 2019 held in Toronto, Canada. She was the first Canadian to win the event in 50 years. Serena Williams was the runner-up in the final.

Justice Madan Lokur, who retired from the Supreme Court of India in December last year, has been appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Fiji.

Alejandro Giammattei has been elected as new president of Guatemala. Giammattei will succeed outgoing President Jimmy Morales.

The book, titled ‘Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar’ will be launched on Sridevi’s 56th birth anniversary. The book is written by author-screenwriter Satyarth Nayak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day address at the Red Fort in New Delhi on Independence Day, announced an outlay of Rs 3.5 lakh crore for Jal Jeevan Mission for Centre and states to work together to provide piped potable water to every rural household by 2024.

Swachh Nagar app, an app that will allow users to have waste — solid, wet or construction and demolition (C&D) — collected by their urban local bodies was launched by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, along with a new protocol on wastewater treatment that would become a part of cleanliness rankings of cities.

The center and agriculture ministry have decided to launch a new revolutionary app which will help the rural farmers to access cutting-edge technology in an affordable price at their doorsteps. With this new mobile application, farmers can book and hire all the expensive agricultural equipment which is beyond the reach for any average small farmers.

The famous Palani panchamirtham, given as ‘prasadam’ at the Murugan temple in Tamil Nadu, has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Denmark’s third-largest bank, Jyske Bank, has launched the world’s first negative interest rate home loan, where the charge is -0.5% a year. This means that Jyske Bank will effectively pay borrowers 0.5% a year to take out a loan. Borrowers will make monthly repayments but the amount outstanding will be reduced each month by more than what the borrower paid.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement to invest $23 million in Non-Convertible Debentures being issued by GR Infraprojects Limited (GRIL) to help the company rapidly scale up its construction of roads and highways in India through the purchase of new building equipment.

HDFC Bank’s managing director Aditya Puri remained the highest paid bank chief executive in India with a monthly basic salary of Rs 89 lakh in FY19. Puri has led the bank — the most valuable lender in the country — since its inception 25 years ago.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed an enemy jet during an aerial combat with Pakistan in February and was held captive for three days, has been conferred the Vir Chakra, India’s third-highest war time gallantry medal.

Priyam Chatterjee has became the first Indian chef to be awarded the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricoleto’ by the government of France to recognise his contribution towards reinventing the gastronomic scene in India. Chatterjee is best known for revisiting the traditional dishes from his native state of West Bengal and giving it a French twist.