Weekly CA Quiz: August 2020 4th week

The 1.8- kilometre long ropeway service connecting Guwahati and North Guwahati. The ropeway has been operated from Kachari Ghat in Guwahati to Dol Govinda temple in North Guwahati.

“Tribes India Showroom” has been e-inaugurated by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda. The showroom has been inaugurated in Indian Globe Chambers of LIC Western Zonal Office, Fort, Mumbai.
“Tribes India on Wheels” is also launched by TRIFED to boost the sales and enhance tribal income in these challenging times.

Axis Bank has plans to employ nearly 1,000 people under its new hiring initiative ‘Gig-a-Opportunities’, a model devised to attract skilled talent that can work with the bank remotely, from anywhere in the country.

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) said it approved the proposed acquisition of C&S Electric by Siemens.

Legendary South African all-rounder Jaques Kallis, Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas and Pune-born former Australian captain Lisa Sthalekar were inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame in a virtual ceremony.

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is annually observed on August 23 to remind people of the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade.
This year, the theme is ‘Confronting Slavery’s Legacy of Racism Together’

The Ministry of Finance said that businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh are GST exempt. Initially, this limit was Rs 20 lakh.
The Finance Ministry said, additionally those with a turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore can opt for the Composition Scheme and pay only 1 per cent tax.

The Centre has constituted a National Council for Transgender Persons through a notification. Thawar Chand Gehlot, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister will be the ex-officio Chairperson and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment will be ex-officio Vice-Chairperson.
The National Council will advise the Centre on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons.

The Delhi government launched Niraman Mazdoor Registration Abhiyan, under which a mega registration campaign will be held for construction workers from August 24 to September 11.

WWF-India State unit has joined hands with the Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) and Thumbipuranam for the first-ever State Dragonfly Festival in Kerala, christened Thumbimahotsavam 2020.
‘Pantalu’ is the official mascot of the festival. As part of the festival, various programmes will be rolled out in the coming months to reach out to various sections of society.

The World Health Organisation has urged wealthier member states to join its Covid-19 vaccine facility by the end of the month, amid fears it may not raise enough money to fund the global inoculation programme.
The mechanism, known as Covax, aims to ensure the equitable global distribution of 2bn doses of effective vaccines by the end of 2021 but the initiative has so far failed to build momentum.

A book titled “Who painted my lust red?” has been authored by Sree Iyer has been released recently . The book is something about when Bollywood meets Cricket meets Politicians.

As millions of students navigate learning from home, Google has announced a new initiative called The Anywhere School, bringing over 50 new features across Meet, Classroom, G Suite and other products to hundreds of thousands of viewers in more than 250 countries around the world.

Home-grown Paytm Payments Bank has integrated Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) on its platform. The integration will allow customers to access basic banking services like cash withdrawal, balance enquiry and draw mini statement using their Aadhaar card.

Maharashtra Government, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed a loan agreement for a USD 500 million Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III.

Noted Malayalam filmmaker AB Raj, also known as A Bhaskar Raj, who had been active in the world of movies for over three decades since 1951, died at his residence in Chennai. He was 95.

Former Australia captain and all-rounder Cameron White has announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket.

Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been given a two-year extension as the Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman DRDO beyond his tenure of August 26, 2020.

The product- Structured Finance and Partial Guarantee Programme to NBFC-MFIs -entails providing partial guarantee on pooled loans extended to small and mid-sized micro finance institutions (MFIs).
Nabard signed a pact with Vivriti Capital and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank earlier this month to roll out the initiative.

The Reserve Bank has projected India’s growth rate at (-) 4.5 percent for 2020-21. In its annual report, RBI projected global growth rate between (-) 6.0 per cent and (-) 7.6 per cent.

IT major Tech Mahindra announced collaboration with NITI Aayog to empower women entrepreneurs in the country.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a portal for NRIs named ‘NRI unified portal’ , especially for those from Uttar Pradesh, that will help not only in bringing in investment but also assist those seeking jobs abroad.

For the first time in domestic banking, ICICI Bank is deploying satellite data to power farm credit assessment, which it claims will reduce cost for both farmers as well as the lender.
The second-largest private sector lender said it has been piloting the project in a few select villages for the past two years and is extending the same to 500 villages in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat now.

SBI General Insurance has launched first-of-its-kind insurance product called ‘Shagun – Gift an Insurance”, which is a unique gift of Personal Accident policy.
Gift Receiver (insured) should be in the age group of 18 years to 65 years.Policy can be availed for up to 1 Year.

Neelakanta Bhanu Prakash, a 21-year-old Hyderabad boy, has become the world’s fastest human calculator after winning the first gold for India in the Mental Calculation World Championship at Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) in London.

Rajiv Srivastava, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) resigned aside citing personal reasons.
Satyanarayan Goel, the current non-executive chairman of the board of IEX was given additional charges as the interim MD and CEO of the company.

India’s largest commodity exchange the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) launched the country’s first bullion index, MCX iCOMDEX Bullion, or Bulldex.

The Ministry of Culture has announced 7 new circles of Archaeological Survey of India, ASI.
The new circles have been created in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Jhansi and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Hampi (Karnataka), Raiganj (West Bengal) and Rajkot (Gujarat) have been created.

Over 15 crore loans amounting to ₹4.78-lakh-crore have been disbursed to women borrowers since the inception of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) with Tamil Nadu topping the list in availing the loan followed by women in West Bengal and Karnataka.

Gujarat has been ranked first in the first ever Export Preparedness index 2020 released by NITI Ayog.
The report says, overall, most of the Coastal States are the best performers. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu occupy the top three ranks.

The Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla in Odisha’s Sambalpur district became the first University in the country to set up a Space Innovation-cum-Incubation Centre with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Jammu and Kashmir’s agriculture department has created an e-auction portal to promote trading of GI-tagged ‘Kashmir Saffron’.

World Health Organization has declared Africa free of polio, a landmark in a decades-long campaign to eradicate the notorious disease around the world.

Axis Bank has launched a new savings account called the Axis Liberty Savings Account, aimed at millennial customers.

HSBC India introduced Omni Collect, a one-stop solution to provide multiple payment options on single platform.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to dissolve the Banking Codes and Standards Board of India (BCSBI).
BCSBI was set up by the Reserve Bank in February 2006 as an independent and autonomous body, assigned to formulate codes of conduct to be adopted by banks voluntarily for ensuring fair treatment of customers.

Veteran Indian table tennis player from West Bengal, Poulomi Ghatak, has announced her retirement from the game to shift focus on coaching career.

SBI Funds Management said it has appointed Vinay M Tonse as MD & CEO, replacing Ashwani Bhatia who returned to parent State Bank of India (SBI) as its Managing Director.

A book title ‘Cricket Drona’ on renowned coach Vasudev Jagannath Paranjpe or Vasoo Paranjape will be released in September 2020.
The book published by Penguin has been co-authored by Paranjape”s son, former India player and current national selector Jatin Paranjpe along with cricket journalist Anand Vasu.

World Water Week 2020 is observed from 23-28 August, 2020. The World Water Week organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Stockholm.
World Water Week 2020 theme is ‘Water and Climate change: Accelerating Action’.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has e-launched the National GIS-enabled Land Bank system, which is being developed by the integration of the Industrial Information System (IIS) with the State GIS Systems.
The project was launched for six states, while other states and Union Territories would be brought on board by December 2020.

The central government has set up an expert committee to redefine the role of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the current and futuristic defence and battlefield scenarios.
To be led by Prof P Ramagopal Rao, Director IIT Delhi, the select panel will delve deep into the nature of work being carried out by each lab under the organisation.

The Delhi government has recently launched “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” campaign for students.

Just 24 per cent of Indian households have internet connections to access e-education, and there is a large rural-urban and gender divide that is likely to widen the learning gap across high, middle and low-income families, according to a new UNICEF report titled ‘The Remote Learning Reachability’.

HDFC Bank has announced a strategic partnership with Adobe to help improve digital experience journey of its customers.
The company claims that the partnership will enable HDFC Bank to deliver personalised digital experiences to existing as well as new customers, at anytime and anywhere.

Innoviti announced that it had entered a partnership with Visa, the leader in payments technology to develop a platform that will enable issuers to extend credit to their cardholders at face-to-face point-of-sale (In India).

India are planning to host BRICS Games in 2021 and may align it with Khelo India Games, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju has said.

US men’s doubles duo Bob and Mike Bryan announced the end of their legendary record-shattering tennis career, just days before the US Open where they made their Grand Slam debut in 1995.

29-year-old Dutch writer Marieke Lucas Rijneveld won the 2020 International Booker prize for their debut novel ‘The Discomfort of Evening’.

Noted singer Archana Mahanta passed away in Guwahati in a private hospital. She was 72.

The book titled ”pitching it straight” was released recently, which has been co-authored by Indian Cricket Coach Gurcharan Singh and senior journalist MS Unnikrishnan.
In 186-page book, renowned coach Gurcharan offers priceless tips to the current generation with anecdotes.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa flagged off the first ever Roll-On/Roll-Off (RO-RO) train between Bengaluru (Nelamangala) to Solapur (Maharashtra) through video conferencing.
RORO is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities on open flat railway wagons.

Kerala will set up India’s first international women’s trade centre (IWTC), in consonance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at Angamaly.

Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya launched the Major Dhyan Chand Vijaypath Yojana under which 19 international players from the state will get road connectivity to their houses.

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) said it has got global recognition for its HR initiative ‘Nayi Disha’ which over the course of 1.5 years has touched more than 2.40 lakh employees.
The bank has won three Brandon Hall Excellence Awards, also known as the Academy Awards of Learning & Development.

Para-swimmer Satyendra Singh Lohia of Madhya Pradesh is the first Divyanga Indian sportsperson of the country, who has been awarded with the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award.

Veteran Congress leader, multiple term Bihar MLA and former Lok Sabha member Ramdeo Rai, who had caused ripples in the 1980s when he defeated socialist heavyweight Karpoori Thakur in an electoral contest, died in Patna. He was 81.

Noted cardiologist Dr S Padmavati has died due to COVID-19. She was 103. Recipient of both Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, Dr S Padmavati popularly known as ‘God Mother of Cardiology’.

Pranab Mukherjee served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017.

More than 40.35 crore people benefited from the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) which was launched six years ago as a national mission for financial inclusion.

India has announced that it is withdrawing from multilateral Military Exercise Kavkaz 2020 to be held in Russia next month (Sep 2020).

Usha Padhee, joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been given additional charge as director general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
Padhee is the first woman and third IAS officer to have been appointed to the post.

The “Kiran” mental health rehabilitation helpline number, 1800-599-0019, will provide callers “support for early screening, first-aid, psychological support, distress management, mental well-being, preventing deviant behaviours, psychological crisis management etc.
The helpline will offer services in 13 languages.

Minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad launched next-generation startup contest “Chunauti” which aims to encourage startups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns.
With an outlay of about Rs 95 crore over a three-year period, the programme aims to identify around 300 startups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of up to Rs 25 lakh and other facilities.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated Pratheeksha, the first marine ambulance acquired by the state fisheries department, through video conference in Kochi.
The floating out ceremony of two other ambulances Prathyasa and Karunya was held on the occasion.

With an average monthly wage of Rs 32,800 (USD 437), India has been ranked a lowly 72nd among 106 countries in terms of the average wage per month, while Switzerland topped the chart, according to a global ranking of average wages prepared by Picodi.com, an international e-commerce platform which provides discount coupons.

Japan’s Olympic badminton champion Ayaka Takahashi will not defend her doubles crown with Misaki Matsutomo at next year’s Tokyo Games after announcing she will retire at the end of the month.

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned amid US pressure for its Chinese owner to sell the popular video app, which the White House says is a security risk.

Veteran athletics coach Purshottam Rai passed away due to a cardiac arrest in Bengaluru. He was to be conferred the prestigious Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category. He was 79.

INS Viraat, the aircraft carrier that served the Indian Navy for 30 years before being decommissioned three years ago, is likely to be towed from Mumbai to Alang in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district next month to be dismantled and sold as scrap.