Weekly CA Quiz: November 2019 3rd week

In a move that may positively impact over 10 million people living on the coastline, India kicked-off a USD 43 million project to boost climate resilience in three coastal states in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Sisseri Bridge, built by the Border Road Organisation (BRO) on Pasighat-Bomjir Highway in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Chhattisgarh Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel gave its nod for the merger and integration of various health schemes running in the State into one. The new scheme which will be implemented in a trust-based model is named after late freedom fighter Khoobchand Baghel.

National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) was launched in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the annual session of BRICS, a grouping of five major world economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The Critically acclaimed movie “Bhonsle” has won prestigious awards at the Asian Film Festival Barcelona. The film has bagged two awards in the ‘Best Screenplay’ and ‘Best Director’ categories at the festival. The film is directed by Devashish Makhija.

The Tobacco Board of India, Guntur, has been awarded the Golden Leaf Award at Tab Expo 2019 event in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The award was given in the most impressive public service initiative category for the year 2019.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched ‘Mukhyamantri Septic Tank Safai Yojana’, a scheme aimed at helping people in waste management and ensuring the safety of sanitation workers.

In a war against sexual exploitation of children, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has set up an online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation(OCSAE) Prevention and Investigation Unit at New Delhi under its Special Crime Zone to tackle the menace of child porn on the internet.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has set up a ‘development council’ for bicycle to manufacture and design bicycles which are comparable with global standards for exports and domestic market.

Sri Lanka’s former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has won the Presidential election. He is the brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent from Bangladesh Rezwana Choudhury Bannya was conferred the ICCR distinguished alumni award in Dhaka.

Singer Azad Yusuf, popularly known as Cochin Azad, who was famous for his renditions of Mohammed Rafi songs, passed away. He was 62.

The Health Ministry signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under which the latter would provide technical, management and program design support through its grantees and other partners.

In a bid to curb sand smuggling, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched a toll-free number 14500 to register complaints or irregularities around sand hoarding, pricing and smuggling.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has inaugurated North India’s first sugar mill which will produce ethanol direct from sugarcane.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) and the opening ceremony of Defence and Security 2019 Exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand.

Pakistan has conducted a successful training launch of surface-to-surface ballistic missile Shaheen-1. The launch was aimed at testing the operational readiness of Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) ensuring Pakistan’s credible minimum deterrence.

ICICI Lombard and Fino Payments Bank announced plans to take insurance deeper into the hinterlands of the country by leveraging technology-enabled platforms to harness customer reach.

Brazil secured a 2-1 win over Mexico in the final to lift the FIFA Under-17 World Cup trophy held in Brazil. With this victory, Brazil have taken their World Cup titles tally to four.

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde has been sworn-in as the 47th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Ram Nath Kovind. New CJI, Bobde, has succeeded Justice Ranjan Gogoi who retired on November 17 after remaining in office for over 13 months.

The veteran actors Sridevi and Rekha were conferred with the Akkineni Nageswara Rao National Award for 2018 and 2019 respectively.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a reply in Lok Sabha informed that the National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID will come into operation by the end of next year.

The Indian Railways and the European Union (EU) have agreed to focus on digitisation and green transport as the part of a more proactive approach to forge a long-term partnership between the two sides.

Telangana Government has launched Rythu Mitra app for farmers. Farmers can get 18 services through the app. Agriculture extension officers will meet farmers and collect data from them.

Government of Odisha collaborated with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), along with Odisha Alliance Child Rights (OACR) in Bhubaneswar.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) said that 11,379 farmers committed suicide in India in 2016. The NCRB in its latest Accidental Death and Suicide report for 2016 says that there were 948 farmer suicides every month, or 31 suicides every day. The last report was released in 2015. As per the data in the report, the number of farmer suicides in the country has plunged to 11,379 in 2016 from 12,360 in 2014 and 12,602 in 2015.

The 8th edition of TrafficInfraTech Expo along with Parking InfraTech and Smart Mobility Expo was held in Mumbai with participation from over 100 exhibitors from different countries including USA, UK, UAE, Germany, Israel, Belgium, Australia, China and Italy showcasing their products and solutions for Traffic Management, Parking Management and Future Mobility.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded the board of beleaguered Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) as it “intends to shortly” initiate the process of insolvency.

Indian Navy Guided Missile Stealth Frigate INS Trikand and Patrol Aircraft P8-I arrived at Doha for the inaugural edition of the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and Qatari Emiri Naval Forces. Named Za’ir-Al-Bahr (Roar of the sea), the five-day exercise is being carried out to strengthen co-operation and enhance interoperability between the two navies.

AIIB approved a loan of $75 million to Tata Cleantech Capital Ltd, a non-banking financial company that lends to renewable energy projects in India. The Tata Cleantech Sustainable Infrastructure On-Lending Facility project aims to increase private capital investment in renewable energy, power transmission and water infrastructure.

Star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia has been conferred the Indian Personality of the Year Award (Sports) at the Indo Arab Leaders Summit & Awards 2019 in Dubai.World powerlifting champion Mahant Gaurav Sharma was honoured with Visionary Leaders of the Year (Sports) award.

American-Indian rapper and singer Raja Kumari has been roped in to host the upcoming 2019 American Music Awards.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the establishment of the National Institute for Sowa-Rigpa in Leh, Ladakh.

In a bid to curb corruption in government departments, Andhra Pradesh government has roped in the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to work with the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has installed first of its kind high-end reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machines in India for quick detection of diseases like dengue, tuberculosis and swine flu.

The Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani addressed the 2nd edition of South Asia Safety Summit in New Delhi.

India will host the 2020 World Conference on Access to Medical Products from September 23 to 25 next year, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said.

India has slipped 6 places to 59 rank on a global annual list of 63 countries, due to low quality of life and expenditure on education, according to the latest edition of IMD World Talent Ranking.

Union Ministry of Finance said that Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 2.53 lakh crore during October under the ‘Customer Outreach’ initiative.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (Netherlands) won F1 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos in São Paulo, Brazil.

Former Competition Commission of India chairman Sudhir Mital and Shantikumar Singh were elected as president and general secretary respectively, of the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI).

International Men’s Day is an annual international event celebrated on 19 November. It is an occasion to celebrate boys and men’s achievements and contributions, in particular for their contributions to community, family, marriage, and child care. The broader and ultimate aim of the event is to promote basic humanitarian values.The theme for 2019 is “Making a Difference for Men and Boys”.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has released the ‘Road Accidents in India, 2018’. It is an annual publication brought out by the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways which reports on accidents, related deaths and injuries, calendar year-wise, based on information supplied by the Police Departments of States and UTs.

Almost 61% of beneficiaries registered under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) between April 2018 and July 2019 (38.3 lakh out of the total 62.8 lakh enrolled) received the full amount of ₹6,000 promised under the scheme, according to an RTI reply.

In a major boost to air connectivity in the state, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa inaugurated Kalaburagi airport, which is around 14-km away from the city.

The 29th World Customs Organisation (WCO) Asia Pacific Regional Contact Points (RCP) meeting hosted by the Chennai Customs Zone at Puducherry began on November 18.

On the heels of putting in place a generic framework for insolvency proceedings of Systemically Important Financial Service Providers (FSP), the Centre has now specifically brought Non Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) with over ₹500 crore assets size under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) fold.

Muthoot Finance Ltd, the largest gold loan non-banking finance company in the country, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire IDBI Asset Management Ltd and IDBI Mutual Fund Trustee Company Ltd, paving way for its entry into mutual fund asset management space.

Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup assumed charge as Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs in the Ministry of External Affairs. Swarup, a 1986-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, who previously served as India’s High Commissioner in Canada, replaced senior diplomat Sanjiv Arora.