Weekly CA Quiz: January 2022 4th week

P S Vinothraj directed film Koozhangal from India won the best film award in the Asian Film Competition section at the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival in Dhaka. Apart from this, four more Indian entries were included among the 17 awards given away for the films during the concluding session.

The Prime Minister conferred Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars for the year 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 in the investiture ceremony. This award was instituted by the Union Government to recognize and honour the invaluable contribution and selfless service rendered by the individuals and organisations in India in the field of disaster management.

Former Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was conferred with the Netaji Award 2022 by Netaji Research Bureau.

Astronomers have discovered a new planet that has expanded our understanding of planets. An international team of astronomers published their findings in the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal where they shared details of a planet with a weird shape for the first time.

India and Israel have launched a commemorative logo to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The logo was unveiled virtually at an online event in the presence of Ambassador of Israel to India Naor Gilon and Indian envoy to Israel, Sanjeev Singla.

Ministry of Culture organized Rangoli Utsav Umang to celebrate National Girl Child Day on January 24,2022 under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced 15 percent reservation for Women in non-gazetted posts of J&K Police on the occasion of National Girl Child Day on January 24,2022.

India is among the top 10 nations in the world in terms of technological advancements and funding in artificial intelligence, according to findings from a study published by The Brookings Institution.

To offer lending products to MSMEs and consumers Fullerton India and One97Communications (Paytm) have announced a partnership to provide lending products to merchant partners and consumers. With the partnership, the two established institutions will leverage data-driven insights and wide reach to bring credit to new-to-credit users.

Hitachi Payment Services and Indipaisa have tied up to develop a new Fintech platform for India s MSMEs.

Food-delivery giant Swiggy has raised $700 million in Invesco-led new funding, which, according to sources, has made the outfit a decacorn, almost doubling its valuation to $10.7 billion.

Vinodanand Jha, a 1983-batch retired IRS officer has been appointed as the chairperson of the PMLA Adjudicating Authority located in the national capital.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has announced his resignation, citing the inability of his office to influence policy during times of national crisis.

GoodDot, which is a plant-based meat company, has roped in the Olympic gold medalist, Neeraj Chopra as its brand ambassador. 

Common Services Centers (CSC) has launched the “Yogyata” mobile phone application to provide vocational education and skill enhancement opportunities to youth and citizens in rural areas across the country.

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash launched the country s first virtual platform for spice exports Spice Xchange India at a hybrid event held in Kochi.

With a score of 40, India ranks at 85th position in the Transparency International s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), 2021. The countries that have fared well are Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand, each with a score of 88 followed by Norway (85), Singapore (85), Sweden (85), Switzerland (84), the Netherlands (82), Luxembourg (81) and Germany (80). South Sudan, Syria, and Somalia with scores of 11, 13, 13, remain at the bottom of the index.

Suriya s Jai Bhim (Tamil) and Mohanlal s Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (Malayalam) have been included in the long list of films eligible for the Oscars 2022. The two films found a place in the shortlist of 276 films which are in contention to get nominated at the 94th Academy Awards.

Padma Shri – 107. Padma Bhushan – 17. Padma Vibhushan – 4. Padma Vibhushan: Ms. Prabha Atre -Art – Maharashtra
Shri Radheyshyam Khemka (Posthumous) -Literature and Education-U.P.
General Bipin Rawat (Posthumous)- Civil Service -Uttarakhand
Shri Kalyan Singh (Posthumous)- Public Affairs- Uttar Pradesh

Olympian Neeraj Chopra honoured with Param Vishisht Seva Medal. Neeraj Chopra is the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India s economic growth forecast to 9 per cent for the current fiscal year ending March 31. In its latest update of World Economic Outlook, the Washington-based international financial institution, which had in October last year projected a 9.5 per cent GDP growth for India, put the forecast for the next fiscal FY23 (April 2022 to March 2023) at 7.1 per cent.

Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary, which is among the proposed five sites in the country, is expected to be formally notified as tiger reserve (TR) soon before the Global Tiger Summit, which is to be held at Vladivostok, Russia.

Facebook s parent company Meta said that it has created a new artificial intelligence supercomputer that it believes will be the fastest in the world.

Friendship Hospital, in the southwestern town of Satkhira in Bangladesh has been adjudged the most transformative building of the world for the year 2021 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women s Cricketer of the Year:Smriti Mandhana (India)Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men s Cricketer of the Year:Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)ICC Umpire of the Year:Marais ErasmusICC Men s T20I Cricketer of the Year :Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)ICC Women s T20I Cricketer of the Year:Tammy Beaumont (England)ICC Men s ODI Cricketer of the Year: Babar Azam (Pakistan)ICC Women s ODI Cricketer of the Year:Lizelle Lee (South Africa)ICC Men s Test Cricketer of the Year:Joe Root (England)

Apple retained the title of the world s most valuable brand in 2022, with a valuation of $355.1 billion (about Rs. 26,72,600 crore), according to a report. The valuation of the Cupertino company increased by 35%, thanks to the growth of its recognition in the market. After Apple, Amazon and Google were named among the three most valuable brands of the year.The Indian conglomerate Tata Group has emerged as the most valuable brand from India and also in South Asia. It is the only brand from the country in the top 100. The Global Rank of Tata Group 78.

Pencilton, a teen-focused fintech company, has launched PencilCard, a debit card with NCMC for teens. PencilCard is an NCMC-compliant (National Common Mobility Card) RuPay debit card specially designed for the teenager segment. It has been launched in partnership with Transcorp.

India s first innovation centre for graphene will be set up in Kerala by the Digital University Kerala (DUK), along with Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) in Thrissur, for Rs 86.41 crore.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai launched Gram One programme in 3026 Gram Panchayats spread over 12 districts. The scheme is aimed at taking government services to the doors of people at the grass-root level.

A joint maritime exercise involving all three wings of Indian armed forces and also the Coast Guard, that provided the participants an opportunity to operate together under realistic conditions and enhance inter-service synergy, has concluded, the Navy said.The exercise, Paschim Lehar (XPL-2022) , involving the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the Coast Guard concluded off the West Coast, the Navy said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi host the first India-Central Asia Summit in a virtual format during which the leaders are expected to deliberate on steps to take forward relations to newer heights as well as the evolving regional security situation.

India, France sign MoU with scope for cooperation in health research. CSIR and Institut Pasteur will jointly research and focus on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and inherited disorders and enable delivery of effective and affordable healthcare solutions not only for the people of India and France but for the global good.

Iran, Russia and China began a joint naval drill “2022 Marine Security Belt” in the Indian Ocean aimed at boosting marine security.

The Andhra Pradesh government has revised the number of districts in the state, increasing it from the existing 13 to 26.

In an effort to improve infrastructure and quality of education in government schools, Telangana Cabinet has decided to take up the ambitious Mana Ooru-Mana Badi as a flagship programme with a budget of Rs 7,289.54 crore in three phases over a period of three years.

Indian Naval Ships Shivalik & Kadmatt undertook Maritime Partnership Exercise with Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force Ships Uraga and Hirado in the Bay of Bengal.

Adding another marvel to its truly incredible architecture, Dubai has thrown the Infinity Bridge open to traffic for the first time. The bridge consists of six lanes and improves the link between Deira and Bur Dubai. It features a combined 3-metre track for pedestrians and cyclists.

India has paid USD 29.9 million in UN regular budget assessments for the year 2022.

Russia has delivered to India all the contracted 70,000 AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles as envisaged under a contract signed late last summer between India and Kalashnikov.

The central government had approved the proposed merger Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank with Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB).

The 2021 edition of the FIFA Best Football Awards held in Zurich, Switzerland. The awards ceremony is presented annually by the sport s governing body – FIFA.Best FIFA Men s Player :Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)Best FIFA Women s Player :Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, Spain)

The government of Assam has decided to honour renowned industrialist Ratan Tata with the award of Asom Baibhav which is the highest civilian honour of the state.

Kokborok Day, also known as Tripuri Language Day, is observed annually on January 19th throughout the Indian state of Tripura with the goal of developing the Kokborok language.

INS Khukri, the lead ship of the Indian Navy s Khukri class missile corvettes which was decommissioned last December, was handed over to the Diu administration to be converted into a museum.

The worlds largest canal lock was inaugurated by Dutch King Willen-Alexander at Ijmuiden The Netherlands .$338 million amount has been spent on the construction on this project.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said its international payments arm NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with TerraPay, Netherlands-based global payments infrastructure company to allow Indians with an active UPI ID to receive real-time, international payments into their bank accounts via TerraPays secure payments technology.

One97 Communications Limited that owns the brand Paytm, Indias leading digital payments and financial services platform, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money has introduced Indias first intelligent messenger – Pops, revolutionizing the way users invest and track markets.

Agri-tech start-up Faarms in association with Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. (RGICL) has introduced customised digital insurance solutions for the rural population especially the farmers.

Malaysias AirAsia Group said it has changed the name of its listed holding company to Capital A to reflect the diversity of its business portfolio as it seeks to grow its non-airline revenue.

Pushp Kumar Joshi has been picked by government headhunter PESB to be the new chairman and managing director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), the nations third largest oil refining and fuel marketing company.

Fairfax and Capital Group-backed non-banking finance company IIFL Finance appointed former State Bank of India boss Arun Purwar as chairman of its board effective from April 1.

Dr V. Anantha Nageswaran has been appointed Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India.

Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) in Erode district has been given the prestigious TX2 award after its tiger numbers doubled to 80 since 2010. Apart from the STR, the Bardia National Park in Nepal has won this years TX2 award for doubling the population of wild tigers.

The former finance secretary of India, Subhash Chandra Garg has announced his debut book named “The $10 Trillion Dream”.

As the country celebrated Republic Day recently, Ruskin Bonds new book, A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 years of Independence came in.

The book titled Operation Khatma has been released. It is an eyewitness account by two journalists R C Ganjoo and Ashwini Bhatnagar.

Minister of State for Culture Meenakashi Lekhi has released the pictorial comic book Indias Women Unsung Heroes in New Delhi.The book has been prepared by Culture Ministry in partnership with Amar Chitra Katha.

The Lok Sabha secretariat has launched a new app, Digital Sansad, that will make it easier for people to follow proceedings in Parliament, and also their own lawmakers.

GM Magnus Carlsen secured his eighth victory in Wijk aan Zee with a round to spare. The world champion defeated GM Fabiano Caruana and now leads the 2022 Tata Steel Chess Tournament by a full point.

TVS Motor Company said it has acquired a 75 per cent stake in Switzerlands largest e-bike player, Swiss E-Mobility Group AG (SEMG), for USD 100 million.

2022 Women s Hockey Asia Cup: India won bronze medal beating China 2-0 for third and fourth place play off. Japan defeated South Korea to win the title.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, IREDA in New Delhi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Goa Shipyard Limited, GSL, to set-up a rooftop solar power project at GSL headquarter in Vasco da Gama, Goa.

India and Israel will work together to create 150 Villages of Excellence that will help farmers to adopt latest technology in the farm sector.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) said it has imposed several restrictions on Indian Mercantile Cooperative Bank Ltd, Lucknow, including a cap of ₹1 lakh on withdrawals.

Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), under its modernisation initiatives, has set up new bank note printing lines each at Currency Note Press, Nashik and Bank Note Press, Dewas. In India, four printing presses for printing and supply of Banknotes. These are at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, Nasik in Maharashtra (owned by SPMCIL), Mysore in Karnataka, and Salboni in West Bengal (owned by Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL)).

Fintech company Alphaniti announced a partnership with IIFL Securities to allow investors to invest and trade in stock offerings.

Social media giant Meta said it has, under its #SheMeansBusiness programme, partnered with industry body FICCI to support five lakh women-led small businesses across India.

World Number one Ashleigh Barty, won her first Australian Open title after defeating Danielle Collins of the United States in the Womens Singles final at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Israel has successfully tested a system designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the earth s atmosphere.
The Arrow Weapon System is part of an array of missile defences Israel has developed in recent years to protect itself in any future conflict.

Children have chosen anxiety as their word of the year for 2021, according to new research from Oxford University Press (OUP). In comparison, teachers have chosen resilience .

Senior IAS officer Chanchal Kumar was appointed as Managing Director, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

The Government approved the proposal for appointment of Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said all existing non-deposit taking Non-Banking Finance Company-Investment and Credit Companies (NBFC-ICCs) with asset size of ₹1,000 crore and above will be permitted to undertake factoring business subject to satisfaction of certain conditions.

The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member countries conducting a 12-day maritime exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. The name of the maritime exercise is “Neptune Strike 22”. The naval drill will end on February 04, 2022.

Multilateral bank Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), will invest $150 million in the development of data centers that mostly serve emerging Asia.

The optimal hedge ratio for the External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) raised by firms in India is estimated at 63 per cent for the periods of high volatility in the foreign exchange (forex/FX) market, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Working Paper. 

India has emerged as the largest exporter of cucumber and gherkins in the world. India has exported cucumber and gherkins to the tune of over one lakh 23 thousand Metric Tonnes with a value of 114 million US dollar during April to October 2020-21.

In Badminton, two-time Olympic medalist, P.V. Sindhu has won the Women s singles title at the Syed Modi International tournament. Sindhu defeated compatriot Malvika Bansod 21-13, 21-16 in the summit clash in Lucknow that lasted for 35 minutes.

Global internet body ICANN-supported Universal Acceptance Steering Group said it has roped in Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma as UA Ambassador.

United Nations Development Programme India announced their partnership with leading content creator and actress Prajakta Koli who embraces the moniker MostlySane as their first UNDP India Youth Climate Champion.