Weekly CA Quiz: July 2021 1st week

India is ranked 10th in the Global Cybersecurity Index 2020 (GCI) released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations (UN) agency for information and communication technologies (ICT).
The United States has topped the GCI 2020. The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia is tied on the second position followed by Estonia.

Asia’s longest and the world’s fifth high speed test track (11.3km) was inaugurated at National Automotive Test Tracks (NATRAX) in Pithampur, MP. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar virtually inaugurated the new facility at NATRAX being built under NATRiP (National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project) of the Heavy Industries Ministry.

THE Supreme Court set a deadline of July 31 for states to implement the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ system and for the Centre to create a national database of unorganised workers.

India stands at the 20th spot among the top 100 countries that have been ranked in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021 by Startup Blink. The US, the UK, Israel, Canada and Germany are in the top five spots this year.

Innoviti Payment Solutions, India’s largest provider of payment solutions to Enterprise merchants, and PhonePe, India’s largest digital payments platform announced the pioneering facility of Dual-Display-UPI.

N Venudhar Reddy, an Indian Information service, IIS Officer of 1988 batch took charge as Director General of All India Radio.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a Reforms-based and Results-linked, Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme worth over Rs. 3 lakh crore

Return on five-year deposit: 6.7 per cent
Rate on 12 months’ deposit: 5.5 per cent
National Savings Certificate (NSC) rate: 6.8 per cent
Interest on senior citizens savings scheme: 7.4 per cent
Interest on savings deposit for senior citizens: 4 per cent
Interest on Sukanya Samriddhi account scheme: 7.6 per cent
Interest on Public Provident Fund (PPF) scheme savings: 7.1 per cent

India presented English, Russian and Chinese translations of 10 classic works of modern literature written by prominent Indian authors in different languages to the headquarters of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Government of Jammu and Kashmir took a proactive measure, via Jammu & Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO) with the initiative called “HAUSLA” for women entrepreneurs of Jammu & Kashmir. JKTPO partnered with India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace Flipkart to give an extra-mile outreach and marketing support for the products of these women Entrepreneurs.

In Chess, Abhimanyu Mishra made history by becoming the youngest chess Grandmaster, breaking the record of 12 years and seven months set by Sergey Karjakin in 2002. Abhimanyu reached the milestone in 12 years, four months, and 25 days.

Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Ltd(IRSDC) in collaboration with HNi Aquatic Kingdom has opened Indian Railways first movable freshwater tunnel aquarium at the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station in Bengaluru for the general public.

Odia poet Dr. Rajendra Kishore Panda has been selected for the Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar, the national award instituted in memory of the late poet laureate, for 2020.

Freelance filmmaker Deepti Pillay Sivan’s most touted documentary, “Decoding Shankar” about the life and career of the celebrated musician Shankar Mahadevan, recently won the Best Film Award in the Documentary section (Best Biographical) at the Toronto International Women Film Festival, 2021.

Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari took over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves in nominal terms, including the valuation effects, increased by $ 99.2 billion during the financial year 2020-21, compared to $ 64.9 billion in the preceding year, RBI data showed.

International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath and NASA Scientist Kamlesh Lulla are among the 34 immigrants honoured by a prestigious American foundation ahead of the US Independence Day(July 4) “who have enriched and strengthened” the US society and democracy through their contributions and actions.

An Indian Navy warship carried out a military exercise with a South Korean vessel in the East China Sea amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

The Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) and Microsoft have formed a strategic partnership to build an AI and emerging technologies Centre of Excellence.

The seventh edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), which was hosted by the French Navy at La Reunion in Italy, concluded. Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy, participated virtually in the inaugural session of the three-day event.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched ‘Jan Sahayak Aapka Sahayak’ mobile app for Government to Citizen (G2C) and Business to Citizen (B2C) services. He also announced a scheme for providing ownership rights to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) property holders.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of SB Energy Holding Limited by Adani Green Energy Limited. Under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, the CCI gave its nod to the acquisition of the entire stake in SB Energy.

Banking technology provider Network People Services Technology (NPST) has availed a registration for the third-party application provider (TPAP) from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for its TimePay solution.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued its first global report on artificial intelligence in healthcare and six guiding principles for its design and use.
The report titled ‘Ethics and governance of artificial intelligence for health’ has been published after two years of consultations held by a panel of international experts appointed by WHO.

India has joined Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 Inclusive Framework tax deal.

Buoyed by the increasing policy support from the government, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the country to add 26,000 megawatt (MW) of hydropower projects by 2030.

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said it has inked a memorandum of understanding with logistics service provider Aramex India to support micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) exporters in India.

The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has launched a new annuity plan. The new scheme is called — LIC Saral Pension plan. According to the corporation, it is a non-linked, non-participating, single premium, individual immediate annuity plan.

The Indian men’s and women’s hockey teams remained unchanged at fourth and 10th spot respectively in the FIH rankings released.
Australia moved to the top of the men’s world rankings with 2513.67 points after a string of victories over New Zealand, both in the FIH Hockey Pro League and an FIH sanctioned test series.
There is no change at the top of the women’s world rankings, with the Netherlands extending their lead over second-ranked Argentina to almost 600 points.

The gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) ratio of banks may rise to 9.8 per cent by March 2022, under a baseline scenario, from 7.48 per cent in March 2021, according to the Financial Stability Report (FSR) released by the Reserve Bank of India.

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying 36 UK telecommunication and internet satellites blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.
The launch was carried out by Arianespace, the world’s leading satellite launch company.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pushkar Singh Dhami took oath as the eleventh chief minister of Uttarakhand, a day after he was elected as the leader of the BJP’s legislature party in the hill state. Dhami, who had never held any ministerial position before being elevated as the chief minister, succeeds Garhwal MP Tirath Singh Rawat, who resigned recently .

The Central Reserve Police Force, CRPF has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC to train the manpower of the force in advanced technologies and undertake joint projects.

Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan released the book “Janaksuta Sut Shaurya” written by Dr. Gauri Shankar Sharma”Gaurish” at his residence.

China was certified as malaria-free by the World Health Organisation, following a 70-year effort to eradicate the mosquito-borne disease.

Radio Vishwas, a Community Radio Station operating in Maharashtra’s Nashik district which has been providing free audio lessons to school students during the COVID-19 pandemic, has bagged two awards at the 8th edition of the National Community Radio Awards instituted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The station bagged the first prize in the Sustainability Model Awards category and the second prize in the Thematic Awards category for its program `Education for All in the times of COVID-19′.

The Minister of State (I//C) for Culture and Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel hosted 6th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting through video conference.
Discussion was held for advancement and expansion of cultural activities amongst BRICS countries under the theme Bonding and Harmonizing Cultural Synergy.

Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has announced his retirement from international football after his team’s exit from the European Championship, the 31-year-old said.

The government has extended the superannuation age of IPO-bound LIC Chairman From 60 up to 62 years by making amendment to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (Staff) Regulations, 1960.

NABARD has sanctioned an assistance of Rs 388 crore for Odisha under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for setting up four mega piped drinking water supply projects.

The tenure of the managing director (MD)/ WTD shall not be for a period more than five years at a time subject to a minimum period of three years at the time of first appointment, unless terminated or removed earlier, and shall be eligible for re-appointment. Also, the post of the MD or WTD cannot be held by the same incumbent for more than 15 years, the RBI said.
Chiefs of public sector banks are typically appointed by the government for a term of three years or until the appointee reaches the age of 60, whichever occurs first. Private bank MD-CEOs are appointed by their respective boards, subject to approval by the RBI, and can hold the post till the age of 70.
The person shall not be below the age of 35 years and above the age of 70 years at any time during his/ her term in office.

Sirisha Bandla has made headlines as the second Indian-origin woman to head to space as part of Virgin Space Ship Unity on July 11.

Norway’s Karsten Warholm broke Kevin Young’s 29-year-old 400m hurdles world record when he completed the race in 46.70 seconds in front of his home fans at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo.

With a market-capitalization of over Rs 50,000 crore, The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) became the second most-valued listed public sector bank in India.

The Tripura government appointed veteran lawyer KN Bhattacharjee as the new Lokayukta of the state to deal with the complaints of corruption

Satish Agnihotri, retired IRSE officer of 1982 batch has taken charge as Managing Director, National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd.

PhonePe has partnered with Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart to digitise cash-on-delivery services of the e-commerce firm.

India achieves highest ever Merchandise export of 95 Billion dollar in first quarter of current financial year.

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha rolled out the Lieutenant Governor’s Sustainable Development Fellowship (LGSDF) for the engineering, management and other graduates of J&K. The programme, which shall be funded by the J&K Administration and implemented in collaboration with IIT, Jammu.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank virtually launched the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy – NIPUN Bharat. This initiative is aimed to develop learning competencies in reading, writing and numeracy in the children.

52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held from 20th to 28th November in Goa

The Ministry of Tourism has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU with Yatra.Com to strengthen the Hospitality and Tourism Industry. The primary objective of this MoU is to provide extensive visibility to accommodation units, which have self-certified themselves on System for Assessment, Awareness and Training for the Hospitality Industry- SAATHI on the OTA platform.

The Invest India, has been awarded with the world’s most innovative ‘Investment Promotion Agency (IPA)’ 2021 award by OCO Global.

The book titled ‘India To The Rescue’ co-written by Sushant Singh & Shruthi Rao has been released recently .

Legendary boxer MC Mary Kom and men’s hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh to be flag bearers at opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics. One of India’s biggest hopes, wrestler Bajrang Punia will be flag bearer at the closing ceremony on August 8.

Digital payments and financial services platform Paytm announced the launch of Postpaid Mini, small ticket loans that will give users flexibility to access loans ranging from Rs 250 – Rs 1,000, in partnership with Aditya Birla Finance Ltd.

Global media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières has named Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its list of 37 heads of states who massively cracked down on press freedom. The watchdog labelled them as “press freedom predators”.
Apart from Modi, this year’s list featured North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán were the new entrants to the list.

As part of its multimodal integration of transport services initiative, the DMRC launched the country’s first FASTag-based cashless parking facility at the busy Kashmere Gate metro station in north Delhi.

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Giriraj Singh, launched the Online Course Mobile App Matsya Setu.The app has been developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar, with the funding support of the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad.