Weekly CA Quiz: April 2019 3rd week with PDF

Explanation: The 4th Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific Congress 2019 organised by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and co-hosted by South Delhi Municipal Corporation started in New Delhi. It will conclude on 17th April 2019. It offers a lot of innovative solutions that build resilience to climate change at the sub-national level.

Explanation: NIRBHAY, the long-range, sub-sonic, cruise missile was successfully tested with a sharper ‘terrain hugging capability’. The indigenously developed missile was test-fired from the ITR, Chandipur, off the Odisha coast. In the controlled flight, the missile was manoeuvred at low altitudes of as less as 5 mt to a range of 2.5 km, according to the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).

Explanation: UAE is set to host the world’s foremost Artificial Intelligence,AI Summit to empower global dialogue on the future of government, business and society. The inaugural ‘AI Everything’, AIE will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre, between 30 April and 1 May.

Explanation: Bajaj Finserv through its lending arm Bajaj Finance Ltd. has launched a unique proposition through its campaign #BijliOnEMI wherein customers buying air-conditioners on EMI can avail an Insta Credit loan in their Bajaj Finserv Wallet which they can use to pay their electricity bills on EMI.

Explanation: India’s Harsheel Dani, a former junior national champion, defeated Mads Christophersen of Denmark, world no 149, to clinch the 20th Victor Dutch International Badminton title in Wateringen, The Netherlands with a 15-21, 21-12, 21-13 victory in a 47-minute clash.

Explanation: Jailed Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo won a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting for uncovering Rohingya killings in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The two reporters were imprisoned by authorities in Myanmar, on charges of breaking the country’s Official Secrets Act, while they were conducting investigations into the killings.

Explanation: Renowned space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Center (ISAC) director Dr SK Shivakumar passed away after suffering from an illness. Dr Shivakumar was part of the team that developed the telemetry system for Chandrayaan-I – India’s first lunar exploration mission.

Explanation: The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their separate investigations of President Donald Trump and his family

Explanation: Fincare Small Finance Bank (SFB) has been awarded the prestigious Celent Model Bank 2019 Award in the category of Financial Inclusion, for ‘Redesigning Lending to Reach Small Businesses’.

Explanation: redBus, the world’s largest bus ticketing platform, has announced M.S. Dhoni as its brand ambassador. Dhoni will helm all major campaigns for the brand, across media platforms and will soon appear in his first promotional concept for the brand.

Explanation: Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has been named the goodwill ambassador of Team India at the Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC). She, alongside Sourav Ganguly and Rajasthan Royals, joins in supporting the team as they gear up for the final match at Lords, just ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in May this year.

Explanation: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have together launched a private blockchain with a pseudo-token. The new token, called “Learning Coin” and only accessible within the IMF and World Bank, has a purpose to teach relevant individuals within the organizations about blockchain.

Explanation: Google and Apple have blocked the download of TikTok from Play Store and App Store respectively in India, following a request from the government to ban access to the Chinese short video-sharing app that has been downloaded over 230 million times in the country.

Explanation: The Centre has approved a proposal to change the name of a village in Madhya Pradesh from ‘Durjanpur’ to ‘Shivdham’. The central government’s nod was given to the proposal of the Madhya Pradesh government sent last year before the Assembly elections held in November.

Explanation: Every April 17 World Haemophilia Day is recognised worldwide to increase awareness of haemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. This is a critical effort since with increased awareness comes better diagnosis and access to care for the millions who remain without treatment.The theme is “Reaching out – connect to your community”.

Explanation: India’s growing might in earth observation, remote sensing, mapping, and location technologies has got a shot in the arm, with the US department of interior appointing an Indian to its prestigious National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC).

Explanation: India’s largest app for financial services, ETMONEY announced that it has integrated unified payment interface (UPI) as a payment method on its platform as it looks to double its monthly user base by the end of the year.

Explanation: Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited has been certified with ISO 31000. ISO 31000:2018 is an international risk management standard. The standard provides guidelines, principles, framework, and a process for managing risk. It can be used by any organization regardless of its size, activity or sector.

Explanation: Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank said it has received approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the proposed acquisition of Gruh Finance

Explanation: Saudi Arabia announced it will host the G20 summit in November next year in the capital Riyadh.

Explanation: A team led by an Indian American student has been chosen by NASA to have their CubeSat a mini research satellite to detect cosmic rays flown into space on future missions of the US space agency.

Explanation: The Indian Navy undertook the second edition of the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and Vietnam Peoples’ Navy, (IN – VPN BILAT EX) at/ off Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. Conduct of the bilateral exercise on an annual basis would give a further fillip to the existing strong bilateral relation between the two countries.

Explanation: The Election Commission (EC) launched a new mobile application for near-realtime availability of voter turnout during elections across the country. The beta version of the “Voter Turnout” app, available on Android Playstore, currently shows the state-wise and constituency-wise voter turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Explanation: In a bid to become world’s first 100 per cent green energy metro rail network, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) started its operations through the support of solar energy on Violet line in between the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium metro station to Central Secretariat station.

Explanation: India has dropped two places on a global press freedom index to be ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the annual Reporters Without Borders analysis released recently, with the lead up to the ongoing Indian general elections flagged as a particularly dangerous time for journalists.

Explanation: Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was launched into space today from NASA’s Flight Facility on Virginia’s east shore. ‘Raavana 1’ weights around 1.05 kg and the lifespan of the satellite is around one and a half years.

Explanation: Chandigarh will host the 18th Asian Billiards, the 20th Under-21 Asian Snooker Championship and the 3rd Ladies Asian Snooker Championship from April 27 to May 3, officials of the Punjab Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) said in Chandigarh.

Explanation: India’s Bajrang Punia has regained the world number one spot in the men’s 65-kilogram freestyle category rankings. The rankings were released by United World Wrestling.

Explanation: The Royal Society of London has announced a list of 51 eminent scientists elected to its fellowship in the year 2019. Among these are Gagandeep Kang, who is now with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad. Dr. Kang is the first Indian woman to be elected to the Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).

Explanation: The International Day for Monuments and Sites also known as World Heritage Day is an international observance held on 18 April each year around the world with different types of activities, including visits to monuments and heritage sites, conferences, round tables and newspaper articles.The theme is Rural Landscapes.

Explanation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of former Gujarat Chief Secretary HK Khan. Known for outstanding administrative skills and firm grip on policy matters, Khan made an indelible contribution to Gujarat’s growth.

Explanation: Scotland all-rounder, Con de Lange, who had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, passed away at the age of 38. South Africa-born played 21 internationals for Scotland, made his debut in T20 international in June 2015 against Ireland.

Explanation: NASA’s first female astronaut candidate, pilot Jerrie Cobb, has passed away. Cobb died in Florida at age 88. In 1961, Cobb became the first woman to pass astronaut testing.

Explanation: Indiabulls Life Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Indiabulls Integrated Services, received preliminary approval from insurance regulator IRDAI to foray into the life insurance business.

Explanation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Exim Bank has provided soft loans of USD 266.60 million to Rawanda for various projects. The funding, done in three separate tranches to Rawanda, is to support agricultural projects, development of special economic zones (SEZs) and for financing road project in the African nation.

Explanation: The chronicler of Chennai history, cartographer and journalist S. Muthiah, 89, passed away in Chennai owing to age-related ailments. Muthiah was also known as “Mr. Madras” for his love for Chennai that was earlier known as Madras and for his books on the city’s history.

Explanation: Legendary Bengali folk singer Amar Paul passed away at a state-run hospital following a celebral haemorrhage. He was 96. After shifting base to Kolkata, he joined All India Radio as a grade artist and began lending his voice to films.

Explanation: The 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy which killed thousands of people is among the world’s “major industrial accidents” of the 20th century, a UN report has said, warning that 2.78 million workers die from occupational accidents and work-related diseases each year.

Explanation: Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba launched the third ship of Project 15B, a guided missile destroyer Imphal, at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, Mumbai. The launch marks yet another significant milestone in the annals of the indigenous warship design and construction programme of India.

Explanation: The world celebrates Earth Day and Google has introduced an interactive doodle that celebrates the uniqueness, diversity and wonder of a small fraction of life forms found on earth. World Earth Day, which is celebrated on 22 April every year, now includes events in more than 193 countries.The theme is Protect Our Species.

Explanation: Prominent scientist and businessman Yusuf Hamied is among a host of Indian-origin experts honoured in the 2019 list of new fellows of the UK’s Royal Society. The 82-year-old chairman of pharmaceutical major Cipla has been made an Honorary Fellow of the prestigious body, comprising of many of the world’s most eminent scientists.

Explanation: Sunil Kumar Gautam, Special Commissioner of Police (Operations) was honoured with ‘Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Award‘ for his book titled ‘Samvidhan Kavya‘.

Explanation: Malayalam film Bhayanakam (Fear) directed by Jayaraj won the best cinematography award at the Beijing International Film Festival. The cinematography was done by Nikihil S Praveen.

Explanation: In Football, the Services lifted the Santosh Trophy, beating Punjab 1-nil in the final at Ludhiana. In the first half, both the teams were goal-less. In the second half, Services scored the lone goal and held on till the final whistle.

Explanation: Reliance retail has become the first Indian retail company to clock more than Rs 1 lakh crore in annual revenues. The retail venture of Reliance Industries reported an income of Rs 1,30,556 crore for 2018-19, 89% more than the previous year’s Rs 69,198 crore.

Explanation: Asian Tea Alliance (ATA), a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries was launched in Guizhou, China. Its members are major associations from key tea producing Asian countries viz. Indian Tea Association (ITA), China Tea Marketing Association (CRMA), Indonesian Tea Marketing Association (ITMA), Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) and Japan Tea Association (JTA).

Explanation: India has rebuilt Chhyoiphel Kundeling Monastery in Nepal. Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche inaugurated newly reconstructed Monastery at Lisankhu village in Sindhupalchok district. Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India Dr. Ajay Kumar was also present on the occasion.

Explanation: India rose to 17th position in global startup ecosystem in 2019, up from the 37th spot in 2017, as per StartupBlink. The country list was topped by the US, followed by the UK and Canada. Notably, India was ranked above 27th-placed China.

Explanation: India Post has partnered with IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become a multi-service digital hub, modernize the delivery of mail and packages, enhance customer experience and launch innovative services.