Weekly CA Quiz: September 2021 1st week

The Finance Ministry has released over 13 thousand 385 crore rupees to 25 states for providing grants to the Rural Local Bodies. The grants have been released as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.

In a huge relief to pension subscribers in National Pension Scheme (NPS), the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has revised the rules for those joining it after 65 years of age. In a set of new rules, PFRDA has permitted them to allocate up to 50% of the funds in equity, besides easing the exit norms. The pension fund has revised the guidelines on entry and exit following an increase in the maximum age for joining the NPS from 65 years to 70 years of age. The entry age for NPS has been revised to 18-70 years from 18-65 years. The maximum equity exposure, however, will be only 15%, if subscribers joining NPS beyond the age of 65 years decide to invest under the default ‘Auto Choice’.

India hosted the 8th Meeting of Agriculture Experts of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Countries virtually. Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research chaired the daylong meeting.

As part of the ongoing goodwill visit to Europe and Africa, the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Tabar participated in a Maritime Partnership Exercise with the Algerian Navy ship ‘Ezzadjer’. INS Tabar, as part of her overseas deployment, made a port call at Casablanca in Morocco and participated in a Maritime Partnership Exercise with Royal Moroccan Navy ship “Lieutenant Colonel Arrahman” off Casablanca port.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a 50 million dollar (about Rs 368 crore) loan agreement with Northern Arc Capital (NAC), an Indian financial institution, to fund non-bank financial entities that provide financial services to women.

Moody’s Investors Service has retained India’s growth forecast for the calendar year (CY) 2021 at 9.6 per cent, in its August update to ‘Global Macro Outlook 2021-22’ report. The GDP growth forecast for calendar year 2022 is retained at 7 percent.

The gross domestic product, GDP, of the country surged 20.1 percent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data released, its best-ever fiscal-quarter numbers.

Indian Grandmaster P Iniyan won the Noisiel International Open 2021 Chess Tournament, scoring eight points from nine rounds in the Classical event after securing the top prize in the Blitz section.

The Goods and Services Tax collection for the month of August fell to Rs 1,12,020 crore from Rs 1.16 lakh crore in July, data released by the finance ministry showed.

India hosted the 8th Meeting of Agriculture Experts of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Countries virtually. Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research chaired the daylong meeting.

Odisha-born neurosurgeon Basant Kumar Misra has received the ‘International Lifetime Achievement Award in Neurosurgery’ conferred by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). He is the first Indian to get this honour.

A Bangladeshi vaccine scientist and a microfinance pioneer from Pakistan were among the five recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award — regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize — announced.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a Committee to review the existing guidelines of Journalist Welfare Scheme and make appropriate recommendations for changes to the guidelines.

The Gujarat Government will host 12th Defence Expo-2022 in Gandhinagar next year. This was announced by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani after meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Kevadiya.

The Indian Army contingent will participate in a two-week multi-nation military exercise named ‘ZAPAD 2021’ at Nizhny in Russia that is aimed at boosting anti-terror cooperation.

The New Development Bank (NDB) established by the BRICS ((Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in 2015 has approved Bangladesh as its new member.

EarlySalary has tied up with HDB Financial Services Ltd (HDBFS), a leading Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) to fuel growth in Digital Lending.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a five-member committee to review applications and give recommendations on new umbrella entity (NUE) licences.

IRS officer JB Mohapatra was appointed as the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

 Chandigarh Railway Station has been awarded a five star Eat Right Station certification for providing high-quality and nutritious food to passengers.

 India and the US have signed an agreement for cooperation in the development of Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV), in what is seen as a new step to further expand their bilateral defence and military cooperation.

 The Union Territory Government of Ladakh has announced snow leopard as its state animal and black-necked crane as state two years after it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile State of J&K.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha launched Rural Enterprises Acceleration Programme titled ‘Saath’ for Self Help Group (SHG) women.

The Reserve Bank said India’s holding of IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) has gone up to SDR 13.66 billion which is equivalent to USD 19.41 billion as per exchange rate.

Export-Import Bank of India [Exim Bank], on behalf of the Government of India, has extended a Line of Credit [LOC] of USD 40 million to the Government of the Republic of Maldives for the purpose of financing for development of sports infrastructure.

The rules released by the Ministry prescribes calculation of taxable interest relating to contribution towards EPF or GPF with prospective effect and that the threshold for contribution to avail non-taxable interest could go to ₹5 lakh, in case of government employee.
Accordingly, new rules will come into effect from April 1, 2022.

India has emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China and the pace of growth is not showing any signs of slowing down.

 private sector life insurer HDFC Life announced it was acquiring a 100 per cent stake in Exide Industries-promoted Exide Life Insurance for Rs 6,687 crore, in a bid to enhance its proprietary channel.

Atul Bhatt has been appointed as chairman and managing director (CMD) of disinvestment-owned steel company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), according to an official notification.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) said it has appointed former State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar as an independent non-executive director and a member of Audit Committee and Risk Committee of the Asian entity.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (also called MMFSL and Mahindra Finance), part of the Mahindra Group, appointed Raul Rebello as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO) with immediate effect.

SVC Bank has appointed Ashish Singhal as its new Managing Director & CEO. His appointment came into effect from September 1.

Larsen & Toubro Technology Services has been awarded with the “Association for Talent Development (ATD) 2021 BEST Award”, securing the first rank from 71 organisations globally.

 Hansa New Generation trainer aircraft designed and developed by CSIR-NAL in Bengaluru has successfully made its maiden flight.

India will host a key summit s part of the International Climate Summit (ICS) 2021, an initiative by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s environment committee. The ICS has partnered with Invest India for the event. The special focus of the summit will be on ‘Powering India’s Hydrogen Ecosystem’.

Eight major banks have joined the account aggregator network that will enable customers to easily access and share their financial data. These lenders include State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Federal Bank.
Neo bank Fi has also joined the account aggregator network and is one of the first fintechs to join the ecosystem.

Nasscom Centre of Excellence for Internet of Things (CoE-IoT) said it has signed an intent of cooperation with Taiwan-India Artificial Intelligence Technology Innovation Research Centre, Taiwan’s largest university and incubator of startups under the National Chung Cheng University.

Indian boxers dominated the recently held ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships, claiming a total of 39 medals, a new high for the country at the 2021 ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships with 39 medals, including 14 gold, in Dubai.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar released the book ‘Haryana Environment and Pollution Code’ compiled by former IAS officer and famous poet Dheera Khandelwal.

Three Indian educational institutes have made it to the list of the best 400 universities across the world. Indian tally is led by the IISc Bangalore – a consistent first among Indian institutes. Globally, the University of Oxford tops the ranking for the sixth consecutive year. It was followed by California Institute of Technology and Harvard University

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu appointed Dr PPK Ramacharyulu, working as Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat since 2018, to the highest office till further orders. He succeeds Desh Deepak Verma, who demitted office as SG after serving for four years.

State-owned engineering consultancy firm Engineers India Ltd (EIL) announced Vartika Shukla has assumed charge as the first woman Chairperson & Managing Director of the company with effect from September 1,2021.

India has become the first Asian country to develop a plastics pact, launching a ground-breaking new initiative to bring together leading businesses at a national level to make commitments for building a circular system for plastics. The India Plastics Pact (IPP) has launched as a collaboration between:WWF India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The three-day long 28th edition of Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise SIMBEX concluded in the South China Sea.

Sai Life Sciences, a leading global Contract Research, Development & Manufacturing Organization (CRO/ CDMO), announced that it has become a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest sustainability initiative.

India’s largest private sector general insurer ICICI Lombard said that it has received the final nod from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) for its acquisition of Bharti Axa General Insurance.

A memoir titled ‘A Rude Life: The Memoir’ has been written by Vir Sanghvi, one of India’s most recognised journalists. The book was published by Penguin Random House.

SJVN has been conferred with prestigious Dun & Bradstreet – Corporate Award 2021 in the category of Best Growth Performance-Power. The award has been presented in a virtual conference titled India’s Top 500 Companies 2021.

The government has appointed Suman Sharma as the managing director (MD) of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the renewable energy ministry said.

Equitas Small Finance Bank said it has roped in woman hockey player Rani Rampal and cricketer Smriti Mandhana as its brand ambassadors.

Max Verstappen has won the formula one Dutch Grand Prix 2021. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Great Britain) came second while Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-Finland) came third.

The book titled “Bullets Over Bombay: Satya and the Hindi Film Gangster” has been written by Uday Bhatia released recently.

Indian biologist Shailendra Singh has been awarded the Behler Turtle Conservation Award for bringing three critically endangered turtle conservation species back from the brink of extinction.

The International Legal Assistance Consortium has elected Advocate Prashant Kumar to its board of directors. Kumar, also president of the Bar Association of India, is the second Asian to serve on ILAC’s board.

Cyrus Poncha, secretary of Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), was elected the vice-president of the Asian Squash Federation (ASF) for a four-year term at the 41st ASF AGM held virtually. David Mui of Hong Kong was elected unopposed for his second term as the president.

The Punjab government and the American Chamber of Commerce in India (Amcham India) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote investment in the state as well as further increase the ease of doing business for US member companies. The MoU was signed during the 29th annual general meeting of the Amcham India.

The bilateral exercise – AUSINDEX between Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy commenced in Australia.It will continue till 10th of this month.

Gujarat government has announced an 11 per cent hike in dearness allowance for its employees and pensioners with effect from 1st July. The new DA rate will be 28 per cent.The Central government had raised DA for its employees from 17 per cent to 28 per cent in July.