Weekly CA Quiz: October 2021 4th week

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has said that India and the UK have agreed to strengthen climate initiatives and further their green partnership.

Saudi Arabia aims to reach zero-net emissions by 2060 and more than double its annual target to reduce carbon emissions

The book titled ‘The Origin Story of India’s States’ published by Penguin Random House India (PRHI), is written by author Venkataraghavan Subha Srinivasan.

India has handed over 34.9 km long cross-border rail link to Nepal government, that connects Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal.

A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has rung alarm bells: The amount of plastics in the oceans has been estimated to be around 75-199 million tonnes at present. Without meaningful action, emissions of plastic waste into aquatic ecosystems are projected to nearly triple by 2040.

Union Bank of India has entered into an MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Hyderabad under which CDAC will assist it to impart cyber security awareness and education to customers and employees.

 The Reserve Bank came out with a comprehensive draft framework for implementing the Basel III capital adequacy norms for All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs), including Exim Bank, NABARD, National Housing Bank and SIDBI.

Kishore Kumar Jena of Odisha won the National Open Javelin Throw Championships title with a best effort of 74.26m at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The rating agency announced the appointment of Ramnath Krishnan as managing director and group chief executive officer from 23 October 2021.

Rajiv Nigam (Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India), Selected as 2022 recipient of J.A. Cushman Award for Excellence in Foraminiferal Research.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated India’s first wildlife DNA testing lab in Nagpur.

Uttar Pradesh government has decided to rename the Faizabad Railway Junction as Ayodhya Cantt

 India, along with Australia, the UK and small island developing states (SIDS) will be launching a new initiave for Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) on the sidelines of the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP26).

Close to 14 per cent of the world’s coral reef have been lost since 2019 as rising temperatures take a toll on marine ecosystems across the planet. The new figures were released as part of the Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2020 report, which analysed global coral reef health spanning 40 years in 73 countries.

Private sector general insurer Future Generali India Insurance (FGII) has entered into a bancassurance tie-up with the Bank of India (BoI) for further penetration of its general insurance products.

 Max Verstappen has won the 2021 United States Grand Prix held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States. Lewis Hamilton stood second while Sergio Perez came third.

Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga has received the 2021 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

A new anthology consisting of some outstanding stories, poems, and essays by award-winning author Ruskin Bond was released recently.

 The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog has launched a Digi-book named “Innovations for You”. The sector in focus in this Digi-book is Healthcare.

Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Auditor General of Maldives have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the audit process of public finance. The MoU was signed by Girish Chandra Murmu, CAG of India and Hussain Niyazy, Auditor General of Maldives in Male.

The Union government has set up a National Steering Committee (NSC) for implementation of the NIPUN Bharat Mission. The Union Education Minister, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will be the Chairperson of the NSC and Minister of State for Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi will be the Vice-Chairperson.

The sea phase of the maiden bilateral tri-service exercise ‘Konkan Shakti 2021’ between the UK and Indian Armed Forces commenced off the Konkan coast in the Arabian Sea.

Private sector lender ICICI Bank crossed the market capitalisation of Hindustan Unilever to become the fifth largest company by market value.

Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMBL) and IndiGo announced a strategic partnership for the launch of a co-branded credit card – Ka-ching – under the 6E Rewards program.

Danish Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen won the Mens’ single 2021 Denmark Open Badminton held at the Odense Sports Park, Denmark. He defeated world number one Kento Momota of Japan.

 Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has launched knowledge App and platform CUNSULT. Emphasizing on innovation, entrepreneurship, science technology, research and skill for knowledge transformation, the minister said, conversion of knowledge into wealth is the future.

In view of a much needed solution for providing effective long-range marine communications, the Radio over Internet Protocol (ROIP) System at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkatawas inaugurated.

Sharing the vision of an ‘employment ready’ young India, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in collaboration with a coalition comprising HRH Prince Charles’s British Asian Trust, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF).

India ranks at the ninth spot globally for climate tech investment, with the country’s climate tech businesses receiving US$ 1 billion in venture capital funding between 2016 and 2021.

MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Google has announced a partnership to launch a growth and development program called the Appscale Academy.

Netherlands all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate announced his retirement from international cricket after his side failed to qualify for the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup in Sharjah.

TVS Motor Company, a reputed manufacturer of two-wheelers and three-wheelers in the world, has been recognised in the category ‘Outstanding Renewable Energy User’ at the Third Edition of India Green Energy Award 2020 by the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE).

The government has reconstituted the seven-member Economic Advisory Council to the PMfor a period of two years after its term came to an end last month.

Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya launched the 6th edition of National Formulary of India to promote rational use of medicines in the country.

Union Minister of MSME Narayan Rane launched ‘SAMBHAV’ a national level awareness programme for promoting entrepreneurship leading to the economic development of the country.

 The 16th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held via video conference. The Summit was chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

Facebook Inc. is re-christening itself Meta, decoupling its corporate identity from the eponymous social network mired in toxic content, and highlighting a shift to an emerging computing platform focused on virtual reality.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Government of Chhattisgarh to spread awareness about the benefits of listing SMEs in the state. This is expected to help in the healthy growth of SMEs.

 a first of its kind move, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has signed a 3-year exclusive partnership with sports management firm IOS Sports and Entertainment.

 The government announced the appointment of veteran banker K V Kamath as chairperson of the newly set up Rs 20,000 crore National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development(NaBFID).

Jammu & Kashmir Bank said the Reserve Bank has approved the appointment of Baldev Prakash as its next Managing Director and CEO of the bank for a period of three years from the date of taking charge or April 10, 2022, whichever is earlier, J&K Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Surface to surface ballistic missile, Agni-5 was successfully launched from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have taken the top three slots, emerging winners among the 18 large states in governance performance, Public Affairs Centre (PAC), a Bengaluru-based nonprofit think tank, announced.

The government has received 52 crore rupees from National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited, NBCC as dividend tranches.

The Reserve Bank of India’s holding of gold in foreign exchange reserves went up about 11 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 743.84 metric tonnes as on September-end 2021 against 668.25 metric tonnes as on September-end 2020.

Kotak Mahindra Bank said it has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch credit cards on the RuPay network for Indian armed forces personnel.

Digital payments and financial services firm Paytm announced that Switzerland-based reinsurance platform Swiss Re will purchase a 23% stake of Paytm Insuretech, Paytm’s insurance unit, for about 920 crore rupee (a bit more than $122.6 million).

The government has approved the reappointment of Shaktikanta Das as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years.

Chennai – Mysore- Chennai Shatabdi Express becomes the first Integrated Management Systems certified train of Southern Railway.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Dehradun to participate in various events in the state.

Karnataka has topped the State Energy Efficiency Index 2020 (SEEI), scoring 70 points out of 100 on the back of several initiatives to improve energy efficiency in the state. Rajasthan is on second rank followed by Haryana on third.

The Delhi government launched ‘Parents Samvad’, a programme aimed at increasing the engagement of parents in the education of their children in government schools.

India-Israel Joint Working Group on Bilateral Defence Cooperation has agreed to form a Task Force to formulate a comprehensive Ten-Year Roadmap to identify new areas of cooperation

 South Asia suffers the most among all regions of the world in terms of loss of human capital due to air pollution, according to the latest The Changing Wealth of Nations 2021 reportpublished by the World Bank.

Bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) have increased to 44 crore in over 7 years till October 2021, a finance ministry official said.

Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd said it has joined the account aggregator (AA) frameworkintroduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September. Max Life is the first life insurer to do so.

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, in an initiative never before, has launched the world’s first-ever FIFA Football for School Programme at KISS. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha virtually launched the Programme.