Weekly CA Quiz: February 2020 4th week

In order to resolve queries of railway passengers, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has now powered voice-enabled ‘ASKDISHA’ to converse with customers in Hindi language.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the two day International Judicial Conference (IJC) at the Additional Building, Supreme Court Complex in New Delhi.

The “UPI Chalega” campaign was launched by the National Payments Corporation of India.

RBI has approved the appointment of Sunil Gurbaxani as Managing Director and CEO of the Dhanlaxmi Bank for a period of three years from the date of taking charge.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar resigned but stayed on as interim leader while the country’s three main parties battle out coalition talks after an inconclusive election.

 Ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu and shooter Saurabh Chaudhary bagged the female and male sportsperson of the year in the ESPN India Annual Multi-Sport Awards announced.

In a bid to bring transparency in the administrative functioning of the Indian Railways, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav launched the HRMS mobile app, in which the employees can see the data related to their service and communicate with the administration for any changes, if required.

 Centre has released 50,850 crore rupees to farmers so far under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.

 Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways represented India at the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm (Sweden).

Think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) pegged the economic growth for the current fiscal at 4.9 per cent, a tad down from 5 per cent estimated by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

Great Britain women’s field hockey captain Alex Danson-Bennett announced her retirement from the sport.

 Russia will be the first country to host the new format of AIBA Team World Cup in 2020.The final is scheduled for October in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.

Former India footballer Ashoke Chatterjee passed away at a city hospital He was 78.

 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Gandhi Peace Centre at Khandagiri-Udaygiri caves.

 Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare launched PM Kisan Mobile app on the occasion of 1st anniversary of launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

India wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya clinched a gold medal in the Asain Wrestling Championships at the KD Jadhav Wrestling Hall.

 India’s 13-year old Grandmaster D. Gukesh emerged champion in the 34th Cannes Open in Cannes, France, beating Harutyun Bargseghyan of the host nation in the final round to end with 7.5 points.

The Commonwealth Archery and Shooting Championships are set to take place in India in 2022 after a proposal to stage the event was approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Executive Board.

Rajalaxmi Singh Deo was re-elected as the (RFI) after the successful conclusion of the elections.

Actor Manoj Kumar was honored by the World Book of Records London. Kumar was awarded the WBR Golden Arra of Bollywood for his contribution to Indian cinema.Earlier legendary actor Dilip Kumar was also felicitated with the honour.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched yet another scheme named after him ‘Jagananna Vasthi Deevena’ in Vizianagaram district in north coastal Andhra.Under the ‘Jagananna Vasthi Deevena’ scheme.

 Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 2020 G20 Leaders’ Summit scheduled for 21-22 November. Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan announced that during a news conference at the end of the meetings of Finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

 National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount of 400.64 crore rupees to UT of J&K during the current financial year for giving boost to the infrastructure in the rural areas. The funding is a part of the NABARD’s ‘Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) – Trench XXV’ which aims at augmenting rural infrastructure.

According to the data of the commerce ministry, in 2018-19, the bilateral trade between the US and India stood at USD 87.95 billion. With this, the US has surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner, showing greater economic ties between the two countries.During the period, India’s two-way commerce with China aggregated at USD 87.07 billion.

 The ICC has banned Oman player Yousuf Al Balushi from all cricket for seven years after he accepted four charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

Hrithik Roshan won the Best Actor award for his performance in the film Super 30, which also won the Best Film at the 10th Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival in New Delhi.

Adline Castelino has been crowned as the winner of LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2020 competition.

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu released the book titled ‘Death – An Inside Story’ authored by Sadhguru, Founder, Isha Foundation.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the Public Service Messages on the toll-free number 14400 constituted specifically for the reduction of corruption.

Himachal Pradesh had become the first state in the country to have “100% LPG gas coverage”.

 Madhya Pradesh has become the first state in the country to introduce the unified registration card and the second state to launch the unified driving license after Uttar Pradesh.

Under Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat, Goa is paired with Jharkhand. Lot of exchange activities are happening on this front.

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is working on connecting about 3,000 kilometre-long power grid from Myanmar-Thailand to India. This was announced by the energy advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Dr Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury while inaugurating the energy conference of BIMSTEC in Dhaka.

According to the World Air Quality Report 2019 compiled by IQAir Air Visual, India was the 5 most polluted country in 2019, with Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region ranked as the most polluted city in the world.

Global tech major Microsoft announced a partnership with SBI to train differently-abled people find jobs in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry (MCA) has come out with the format of the new web form SPICe+(Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically plus) for incorporation of companies.

Global analytical company Crisil said it has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent stake in Greenwich Associates LLC.

Katherine Johnson, a ground-breaking black NASA mathematician whose life was portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures, died. She was 101.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Royal Air Force (RAF) of the UK jointly commenced the 5th edition of Exercise Indradhanush at Air Force Station Hindan, Uttar Pradesh. The focus of this edition of the exercise is ‘Base Defence and Force Protection’.

Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar informed that the ministry will soon launch a mobile app ‘Santusht’ with an aim to address issues of beneficiaries of Employees State Insurance (ESI) scheme.

The Central Board of Secondary Education has released an app-CBSE ECL which can be used by students to locate their examination center and see the distance between current location and examination center. The app is available on play store.

The Reserve Bank of India allowed Bandhan Bank to open branches without its prior approval, lifting a ban imposed on the lender for failing to reduce promoter ownership below the mandated 40%. Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd is the holding company and promoter of the Bandhan Bank.

A committee has been set up by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to study the feasibility of allowing life insurers to offer indemnity-based health insurance policies. Currently, IRDAI (Health Insurance) Regulations 2016 allow life insurers to offer defined benefit-based health insurance products only.

Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, one of the world’s most recognisable sportswomen, announced her retirement after an illustrious career.

Credit card and electronic payments giant Mastercard (MA) named current Chief Product Officer Michael Miebach as its next CEO.

TransUnion Cibil, the largest credit information bureau, on Tuesday appointed Rajesh Kumar of HDFC Bank as its new managing director and chief executive.

 Facebook has acquired Sanzaru Games, the developer behind the best virtual reality (VR) game of 2019 titled “Asgard’s Wrath” for an undisclosed sum.

The Government of India (GoI) announced the mega event, RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020,’ to be held from April 11-12 in New Delhi. RAISE 2020 is India’s first Artificial Intelligence summit to be organized by the Government in partnership with Industry & Academia.

 India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has achieved the milestone of two crore customers, providing a major impetus to the government’s efforts in furthering financial inclusion in unbanked and underbanked areas across the country.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a further two million dollars to help developing countries in Asia and the Pacific contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and improve resilience to this and other communicable diseases.

Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal launched a MIEWS Web Portal that will forecast wholesale prices of three key vegetables – tomato, onion and potato (TOP) – for three months and enable the government to monitor the supply situation for timely market interventions in case of a price crash during a glut.

State-owned suppliers of arsenal and protective military gear to India’s defence personnel could become among the first government entities to join the centralized invoicing platform, TReDS, helping smaller vendors access working capital easily.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has amended the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to allow 100% FDI for insurance intermediaries, which includes insurance brooking, insurance companies, third party administrators, surveyors and loss assessors.

Sahitya Akademi’s Translation Prize for 2019 in the category of translation into English has been awarded to Kannada novel Kusumabale by Devanur Mahadeva, rendered into English by Susan Daniel.

The government has approved Rs 162 crore under Operation Green scheme which has an outlay of Rs 500 crore to stabilize the supply of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) crops and to ensure their availability round the year without price volatility.

 Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has approved a proposal to change the name of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University in Lucknow.

 IndiGo airlines has partnered with HDFC Bank to launch its first travel credit card Called ‘Ka-ching’, it is powered by Mastercard.

Smartphone and smart TV brand Xiaomi announced it would bring ISROs Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System NavIC technology to its smartphones.

Eminent historian, archaeologist and scholar Prof Shadakshari (S) Settar passed away. He was 85.