Weekly CA Quiz: December 2019 2nd week

Ranong Port of Thailand and port trusts of Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata have inked three Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) to cut down sea travel time by half between the two countries.

To further strengthen its capabilities of hitting enemy targets from submarines, India test-fired the 3,500 kilometre strike-range K-4 nuclear missile from an underwater platform off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurating 10th Asian Conference of Emergency Medicine in New Delhi. The aim of the conference is to develop programs and manuals to train citizens in emergency first aid procedures such as Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation as it will help in saving a life while waiting for emergency services.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated banks not to charge savings account holders for National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) from January 2020.

The Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that India would be hosting the Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2023.

Stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma has become the first Indian male cricketer to play 100 T20Is. He achieved the feat in the ongoing second T20I of the three-match series against Bangladesh here at the Khandheri Cricket Stadium in Rajkot, Gujarat.

The UAE’s Supreme Council of the Union has re-elected his Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as its President for a 4th five-year term, in accordance with the provisions of the UAE Constitution.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu announced the formation of a 14-member informal group to study issues related to pornographic content on the Internet and social media platforms.

In Karnataka, Human Library, a concept which seeks to replace books with humans, was held in the City of Palaces, Mysuru. The first event of Human Library aims to break past long-standing prejudices and stereotypes by creating a safe framework for conservation by using a library analogy of lending people rather than books.

Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) led by IIT Kanpur organized the 4th India Water Impact Summit from 5-7 December 2019 at the Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended his greetings and felicitations to the people of member countries on the 35th SAARC Charter Day on 9th December.

Sanjay Dhotre, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Human Resource Development (HRD) inaugurated the India Pavilion at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico. Gandhi’s philosophy ‘Let Our Lives Be Open Books’ is the theme of the India pavilion.

The 7th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Vienna, Austria under the Co-Chairmanship of OPEC’s President, HE Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, People’s Minister of Petroleum of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and HE Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased lending limit for Non-Banking Financial Company-Peer to Peer Lending platforms (NBFC-P2P) to Rs 50 lakh.

Leading stock exchange NSE has appointed Public Interest Director Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as its new chairman.

Former transport minister, 34-year-old Sanna Marin elected as the Prime Minister of Finland. Marin is set to become the world’s youngest sitting prime minister.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to 36 nursing personnel include Lini Puthussery, the nurse from Kerala who died due to Nipah virusin New Delhi on the occasion of International Nurses Day.

South Africa’s 26 year old Zozibini Tunzi is the Miss Universe 2019. Zozibini and Miss Universe Puerto Rico Madison Anderson were the top two contestants for the Miss Universe title.

International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually, on 9 December, since 2005 to raise public awareness for anti-corruption.This year’s theme for International Anti-Corruption Day 2019 is – “United Against Corruption – Take action – Lead the change – Be the change”

Around 36 thousand crore rupees have been disbursed under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi as on 30th of November, 2019.

Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Shri Girish Chandra Murmu dedicated the 72-metre-long Multi Cell Box Type Load Class 70 bridge to the Nation in Rajouri. The bridge spans over Draj nallah and connected Draj Area to Tehsil Kotranka area under District Rajouri.This bridge will facilitate all weather and speedy movement of Army troops as well as locals.

According to a report titled ‘2019 Human Development Index (HDI)’ released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India climbed one spot to 129 among 189 countries in the 2019 human development index.

India, for the first time, ranks among the top 10 in this year’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) released at the COP25 climate summit in Spanish capital Madrid.

Iron Union 12’, a joint military exercise between the ground forces of the UAE and the United States, commenced. ‘Iron Union 12′ will see the two sides take part in joint military cooperation to enhance combat and tactical capabilities.

India has provided USD 500 million (Rs 3,561 crore) line of credit to Bangladesh for defence-related procurement in the neighbouring country.

World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) handed a 4-year ban to Russia from participating and hosting major sporting events over its involvement in a doping scandal.This means that Russia will not take part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, 2022 Winter Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Adding another feather to his cap, India’s R. Praggnanandhaa won the London Chess Classic FIDE Open 2019 with a score of 7.5/9 and a rating performance of 2699.

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year. It is a United Nations (UN) campaign that calls for people to know and push for their rights no matter where they are in the world.The theme for this year is “Youth Standing Up for Human Rights”.

Ministry of Defence is organising a massive plogging programme at more than 400 locations throughout the country as part of the activities of Swachhta Pakhwada.

Deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Modi has replaced Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the head of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST).

Switzerland will be the partner country for BioAsia 2020 scheduled to be held in Telangana from February 17-19, 2020.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) trimmed its forecast for India’s economic growth in 2019-20 to 5.1 per cent saying consumption was affected by slow job growth and rural distress aggravated by poor harvest.

Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty was appointed as the brand ambassador of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). NADA along with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) recently conducted anti-doping awareness workshops for all footballers.

Odisha government has won the ‘World Habitat Award’, global recognition for its ambitious initiative — Jaga Mission.

George J. Laurer, whose invention of the Universal Product Code at IBM transformed retail and other industries around the world, passed away in USA. He was 94.

International Mountain Day is observed on December 11 every year. International Mountain Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2003 to promote sustainable development in mountains.The theme of the International Mountain Day this year is ‘Mountains Matter for Youth’.

Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) and Chemical & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya informed that the Port of Mongla is declared as Port of Call under Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade (PIWT&T) and Chattogram is not part of PIWT&T.

Andhra Pradesh Cabinet under Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy approved the enactment of the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act also known as the Disha Act that provides for harsher punishments, including death sentence, to those guilty of heinous crimes against women.

The First Pashu Kisan credit cards in India were distributed to 101 animal farmers in Bhiwani in Haryana. Haryana Government has set a target to issue 10 lakh Pashu Kisan Credit cards by March 2021.

In a bid to combat pollution in the city, electric autos and bikes service ‘e-yAna’ has been introduced in Hyderabad which is a True Green First Exclusive Fleet Service of the city launched to reduce the carbon footprint.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched a radar imaging earth observation satellite and nine customer satellites by PSLV-C48 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. This is the 50th successful mission of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Dell Technologies announced a new partnership with UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace) to enable school teachers adopt technology in classrooms by using ICT tools.

Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg was named Time Magazine’s person of the year 2019, becoming the youngest person ever to be the recipient of the title.

Universal Health Coverage Day, commemorated each 12 December, is the anniversary of the first unanimous United Nations resolution calling for countries to provide affordable, quality health care to every person, everywhere.The theme for this year’s celebration is “Keep the promise”, a reference to the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage that took place earlier this year.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme.

The three day ‘International Seminar on Climate Smart Farming Systems’ for BIMSTEC countries organized by the Department of Agricultural Research & Education, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare and Indian Council of Agricultural Research began in New Delhi.

The South Pacific region of Bougainville voted overwhelmingly to become the world’s newest nation by gaining independence from Papua New Guinea.

Spain’s football league LaLiga appointed Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador in India.

The Forbes 2019 list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ has been topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde in the second spot and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, ranked third. Also on the list is Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (29).

A three-day TECH (Transforming Education Conference for Humanity) 2019, being organised jointly by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The three-day Namaste Orchha festival marking the cultural landscape of Madhya Pradesh will be organised by the state government from March 6 to March 8 in Orchha, which won the award for the best heritage city for 2017-18.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik flagged off the 1st Baristha Nagarika Tirtha Yatra Train from Balasore in Odisha.

Amazon-owned Audible has launched the Audible Suno app especially for Indian market. It features content from celebrities like Karan Johar, Tabu, Vidya Balan and Anurag Kashyap among others.Amazon’s Audible Suno is available for free of and it features ad-free content.

A ten-member working group has been constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to suggest segment-wise ways and means to improve loss prevention and loss minimisation in the general insurance industry.

According to data furnished by the oil ministry to parliamentary committee, the United States has surpassed Kuwait to become India’s sixth largest oil supplier as it supplied 70 per cent more crude to the world’s third largest energy consumer during April-September.

Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its 2019 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.6 per cent as slow employment growth weighs on consumption.

Australian Ashleigh Barty, whose breakout 2019 campaign included French Open crown and world number one ranking, was named the WTA Player of the Year.

The advertising industry’s doyenne Tara Sinha passed away. She was 87 years. Ma Sinha, as she was popularly called, started her career in the world of advertising in 1950. With over 50 years of experience, she was also the first woman to set up a national advertising agency, Tara Sinha Associates (TSA), in the 1980s.

Five-time world champion, Viswanathan Anand has penned a book titled “Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life”. The book, published by Hachette India. This book is co-authored by sports journalist Susan Ninan.

The Kerala state government has launched two social welfare schemes – ‘Vijayamritham’ and ‘Sahachari’ to honour differently-abled people as well as NSS, NCC and Student Police Cadet (SPC) units working for their care and welfare.

Along with the Galileo of the European Union and QZSS of Japan, the US Congress has given its nod to designate India’s NAVIC as its “allied” navigational satellite system.

COP25, is the 25th United Nations Climate Change conference held in Madrid, Spain, under the presidency of the Chilean government. The conference incorporates the 25th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 15th meeting of the parties for the Kyoto Protocol (CMP15), and the second meeting of the parties for the Paris Agreement (CMA2).

Edelweiss Mutual Fund launched the new fund offer of India’s first corporate bond ETF (exchange-traded fund) called Bharat Bond ETF.

Toni-Ann Singh from Jamaica was crowned the 69th Miss World, beating her contenders from France and India.

Former Union Minister ID Swami passed away at the age of 90. He was suffering from heart disease and was admitted to the hospital in Faridabad, Haryana.