Weekly CA Quiz: August 2020 1st week

The government unveiled the new National Education Policy (NEP) that introduced several changes in Indian education system-from school to college level. The new policy comes after a period of three decades.
The NEP will replace the existing National Policy on Education 1986, which was later modified in 1992. The NEP includes the extension of the Right to Education Act 2009 to cover children between the age group of 3 to 18 years. The new policy also seeks to reduce the content load in the school education curriculum.

Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), Pune has developed ‘Aashray’, the medical bed isolation system to combat Covid-19 by minimizing the spread of the disease.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in association with credit bureau TransUnion Cibil has launched a portal to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), seeking access to finance and also help borrowers manage their credit obligations. while also supporting entrepreneurs towards managing their credit obligations.

The 6th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting was held under the presidency of Russia. The Environment Ministers of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa participated in the meeting held via the video conference. The meeting was preceded by the BRICS Working Group meeting. India will host the next meeting in 2021.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched a special two-month campaign with offers and discounts across its suite of products, including for loans, savings accounts, current accounts, corporate salary accounts as well as curated deals on Kotak debit cards, credit cards and digital payments.

Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna finished second in the rapid section of the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival in Switzerland.
The World No. 26 scored 10 points, two less than Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland, who finished on top.

Ivory Coast’s defence minister, Hamed Bakayoko, has been named prime minister, after acting as interim prime minister since the sudden death of Amadou Gon Coulibaly on July 8.

Former Samajwadi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 64. He had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Singapore for several months.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has launched ‘Odisha Agni-Shama Seva’ online portal. The portal will provide assistance in issuing fire safety certificates to different categories of buildings through online mode. As many as eight services online will be provided through the portal. Patnaik has directed Fire Services department to add other services before October 2, 2020.

Canara Bank has tied up with New India Assurance Company Ltd, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co Ltd and HDFC ERGO Health Insurance as part of social commitment to indemnify the unprecedented expenses of common man to sell short-term Corona Kavach policy to cover COVID-19 related health expenses.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a dollar 200 million financing deal with the Reliance Bangladesh LNG and Power Limited (RBLPL) to build and operate a 718 megawatt combined-cycle gas-fired power plant in Bangladesh.

As part of its effort to improve connectivity, Beijing-based multilateral funding agency AIIB is looking to provide loans worth USD 3 billion for various large infrastructure projects, including Delhi and Meerut Rapid Rail, Mumbai Metro Rail and Chennai Peripheral Ring Road project, over the next 12 months.

Veteran Maidan coach Ashok Mustafi, who also trained former India captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly during his formative years, passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 86.

Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has announced his book, Greenlights, is to be published on Oct. 20. In the diaries, the 50-year-old actor recorded “anything that turned me on, turned me off, made me laugh, made me cry, made me question or kept me up at night.”

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated annually during the first week of August (1st – 7th Aug) in over 120 countries around the world; and the week commemorates the signing of the Innocenti Declaration in August 1990.
The theme of World Breastfeeding Week 2020 is “Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet”.

The Centre has approved the Meghalaya government’s proposal for setting up of the Directorate of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) in Meghalaya. The state government has also proposed another 22 health and wellness centres for the current financial year 2020-21.

Northern Railway ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train on August 1, 2020. The train was destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons.

Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) has withdrawn from the women’s world team Squash championship scheduled in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 15th to 20th December, due to lack of preparation, time and match-readiness of its players.

Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton has won the Formula One British Grand Prix 2020 held at the Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom. Max Verstappen (Red bull) ended up second in this F1 race while Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) came third. This is the third win for Hamilton in this season of F1 races.

Former Guyanese housing minister, Mohamed Irfaan Ali has been named as the President of the country. He is a member of the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP). He succeeds David Arthur(A.) Granger.

Recently, 1st August has been recorded as “Muslim Women Rights Day” in the country’s history to mark first anniversary of the passage of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019. The law made triple talaq a criminal offence.

Theatre doyen and legendary teacher Ebrahim Alkazi passed away. He was the longest serving director of the National School of Drama. He also mentored generations of actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Rohini Hattangadi, Surekha Sikri and Pankaj Kapoor. He also won the BBC Broadcasting Award in 1950.

The inspirational story on the life of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, India’s youngest basketball team captain, is set to be released on August 29, the National Sports Day. The book, titled “Vishesh: Code To Win”, has been written by sportswoman-turned-author Nirupama Yadav and published by the publishing house Bluerose.

Mahrashtra has approved an ADB-funded Rs 1,000 crore project for boosting fruit and vegetable production in the state.
The project is worth $142.9 million, or about Rs 1,000 crore, of which 70% would be lent by Asian Development Bank and the balance will come from state government.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) announced setting up an expert committee to suggest ways for the development of international retail business.
The committee will be headed by Pradip Shah (Chairman, Indasia Fund Advisors Pvt Ltd).

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched ‘E-Raksha Bandhan’, aimed at creating awareness among the public on Cybercrimes across the State.
As many as 1 lakh women, girls and the general public would be trained through ‘E-Raksha Bandhan’ up to August 31. Webinars, workshops, debates, essay writing, quiz and slogan writing competitions will be conducted every day on different topics from 11 a.m. to 12 noon every day.

Following the Prime Minister’s appeal, a public awareness campaign called ‘Ek Mask-Anek Zindagi’ means one mask-many lives will be conducted from from August 1 till August 15 in many districts of Madhya Pradesh.

Sanjay Dhotre, Union Minister for Electronics, Communication, and IT, inaugurated ‘Bharat Air Fibre Services’, a radio-based last mile telecom connectivity solution for Akola and Washim districts in Maharashtra.
It has been launched by the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) as part of Digital India initiatives and aims at providing wireless connectivity in the range of 20KMs from BSNL locations, which will benefit citizens residing in remote areas.

The minister launched ‘CREDAI Awaas App’ and NAREDCO’s online portal ‘HousingforAll.com’ through a video conference. Puri released the knowledge pack of the government’s ‘Affordable Rental Housing Complexes’ (ARHCs) programme, which has been recently launched to provide rental accommodations to migrant and urban poor.

The prominent Northern Ireland politician and former Nobel Peace Prize winner, John Hume passed away. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, along with David Trimble, for his role in ending the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor Ram Pradhan passed away. The veteran IAS officer also served as a trustee of the Y B Chavan Pratisthan in Mumbai and also headed a two-member committee established in December 2008 to investigate the security forces’ response to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HDFC Bank. He will replace Aditya Puri. He will take charge in October when Puri retires.

Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu bordering Gujarat has launched E-Gyan Mitra mobile app for online education.

In Himachal Pradesh, Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has laid the foundation stone of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Dhaula Kuan in Sirmour district. The first phase of this Institute would be completed by spending an amount of 392.51 crore rupees. In 2014, the Union Government had taken decision to establish seven new IIMs including IIM Sirmaur.

Centre has released over 890 crore rupees as the second installment of the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package to 22 States and Union Territories.
The first installment of 3000 crore rupees was released in April this year to all States and UTs to aid and enable them to ramp up testing facilities, augment hospital infrastructure, conduct surveillance activities along with procurement of essential equipment, drugs and other supplies.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched a social security scheme for tendu leaves collectors in the state, which will benefit over 12 lakh families, mostly tribals and forest dwellers engaged in its collection.
The scheme, named after slain Congress leader Mahendra Karma, was inaugurated on the occasion of his birth anniversary from the official residence of Baghel.

Nation’s first ICMR approved mobile RTPCR Covid lab developed by Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru has been inaugurated. Packed with all the safety features, this unique lab is capable of producing accurate results within four hours. In a month the mobile lab can conduct 9000 tests. The lab can be utilised for testing H1N1,HCV,TB,HPV,HIV virus also.

India has contributed $15.46 million to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, underscoring the country’s commitment to supporting developing nations in their developmental priorities across all the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Reserve Bank of India left the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent. The central bank also maintained the reverse repo rate – the interest rate at which the RBI borrows funds from commercial banks – unchanged at 3.35 per cent.

As per the latest figure, there are 40.05 crore beneficiaries of this scheme and deposits in Jan Dhan bank accounts are in excess of Rs 1.30 lakh crore.

Jaideep Bhatnagar, an Indian Information Service Officer of 1986 batch, has taken over the charge as Director General, News Services Division of All India Radio.
He replaces Ms. Ira Joshi, who superannuated as Principal Director General, AIR News on 31st of last month.

President Ram Nath Kovind appointed former Union minister Manoj Sinha as the next Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He will replace Girish Chandra Murmu who resigned.

Journalist and author Yatish Yadav’s new book RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations is a window into the heroic covert operations carried by India’s external spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Uttarakhand state forest department will open India’s first conversation centre for snow leopards in Uttarakashi district soon, said Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
“The centre will come up at Lanka in Bhairoghhati area of Uttarkashi forest division. The decision will help to conserve the precious species.

Ashfaq Mehmood Choudhary, a 17-year-old boy from Chattyear of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, has developed a file-sharing app ‘Dodo Drop’ which would enable users to share audios, videos, images, and texts between two devices without Internet access.

Global remittances will fall by 108.6 billion dollars if the Covid-19 economic impact persists throughout the year, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This is equivalent to 18.3 per cent decline from what would have been expected without the impact of Covid-19.

Reserve Bank of India announced that it has decided to allow lenders to provide one-time restructuring facility on a few loans that were standard as on March 1, 2020 on account of ongoing coronavirus crisis and the resultant stress in the system.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das announced setting up of an expert committee headed by veteran banker KV Kamath which would make recommendations to the RBI on the required financial parameters.

The Reserve Bank announced an additional special liquidity facility (ASLF) of Rs 10,000 crore equally split between Nabard and the NHB to help small financiers and home loan companies amid COVID-19 difficulties.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries has been ranked the second biggest brand after Apple on the FutureBrand Index 2020.

Tech Mahindra, has launched Mhealthy, a solution to enable workforce and community safety against COVID-19. Mhealthy is a solution that uses technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable data driven digital diagnostics.

Titled “Amazing Ayodhya”, the book by Neena Rai promises to offer “authentic information” about the city, which will not only help understand the life and times of ancient Hindus, but also the revered figures of Rama and Sita.