Weekly CA Quiz: February 2021 3rd week

In order to recognize the sacrifice and services rendered by the Covid warriors who lost their lives fighting the pandemic, the Odisha government has decided to construct a Covid Warrior Memorial in Odisha. The Biju Patnaik Park in Bhubaneswar has been selected for this purpose.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Central government and Uttarakhand government for setting up of ₹173 crore science city in Dehradun in presence of chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Sri Lanka has settled a USD 400 million currency swap facility with India, the Indian High Commission said.

The Finance Ministry will infuse Rs 3,000 crore capital into state-owned general insurance companies during the current quarter in a bid to improve their financial health.

Equitas Small Finance Bank said it has launched a FASTag powered truck terminal at Khalapur, in Maharashtra.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has launched a new goal based savings product – ‘ICICI Pru Guaranteed Income for Tomorrow’ (GIFT), which provides guaranteed income to policyholders to help them achieve their long-term financial goals.

Realty developers’ body, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Payments and Postal Bank (IPPB) to facilitate opening of bank accounts for construction workers.

Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was formally sworn in as Italy’s new prime minister, against the backdrop of the deadly coronavirus pandemic and a crippling recession.

The SERB Women Excellence Award that has been conferred on them provides a grant of Rs. 15 lakhs for a period of three years to the awardees to pursue their research ideas. The women scientists selected for the awards include
1.Dr. Shobhna Kapoor, Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
2.Dr. Antara Banerjee, Scientist B National Institute For Research In Reproductive Health, Mumbai, Maharashtra
3.Dr. Sonu Gandhi Scientist D from National Institute Of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad 4.Dr. Ritu Gupta, Assistant Professor at Indian Institute Of Technology Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami handed over Tamil Semmal award to Muthalankurichi Kamarasu (From a bus conductor to a writer).

Actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas officially turned author with the release of her first book, “Unfinished: A Memoir”.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated the country’s first full-fledged international cruise terminal, Sagarika at Cochin Port and Marine Engineering Training Institute of Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of Maharaja Suheldev Memorial and development work of Chittaura Lake in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh through video conferencing.
Mr Modi also inaugurated a medical college in the name of Maharaja Suheldev. The event marked the 112th birth anniversary celebration of Maharaja Suheldev.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Economic Trade Organization (IETO) and the Government of Karnataka for working closely to implement the Sustainable Development Goals in the state with much effective manner and expanding the scope of the sustainable future.

In a bid to bring ‘ease of living’ to the family members of deceased government employees, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has decided to raise the upper ceiling of family pensions from ₹45,000 to ₹1.25 lakh per month.

The first day of the spring called ‘Pahela Phagun’ was celebrated in Dhaka despite the continued shadow of Corona pandemic in the country.

The Reserve Bank set up a committee to draw a vision document for strengthening urban co-operative banks (UCBs) and exploring the potential of consolidation in the sector.
The committee, to be headed by former RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan, will suggest “effective measures for faster rehabilitation and resolution of Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs).

The aggregate fiscal deficit of states is likely to be at 4.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021-22 compared to 4.6 per cent in 2020-21, says a report by India Ratings and Research.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry has informed that more than one crore two lakh MSMEs were registered in the country within five years.

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, bringing down curtains on a two-decade long illustrious domestic career.

International Solar Alliance (ISA) has announced Dr. Ajay Mathur as its new Director General following his election at the first special assembly of ISA members.
Dr Mathur replaces Mr Upendra Tripathy, who has served as Director General since the inception of the ISA.

Beleaguered media baron Peter Mukerjea (British executive) has come out with his memoir titled ‘Starstruck: Confessions of a TV Executive’.

Safer Internet Day is observed every year on the second day of the second week of February with an aim to provide safer and better internet, where every user gets to use the internet responsibly and without getting their data leaked. This year’s SID celebration took place on 9 February 2021.
This year, the theme is “Together for a better internet”.

Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha has released the book, titled “Tipane Kashmirchi (notes on Kashmir), untold stories”, authored by Arun Karmarkar, in Mumbai.

Former Governor of Bihar and Jharkhand M Rama Jois who had served as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court has passed away after prolonged illness in Bengaluru. He was 89 years old.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been conferred the Skoch Chief Minister of the Year Award.

The Kerala Sahitya Akademi awards for the year 2019 were announced, and author S. Hareesh’s Meesha (Moustache) has won the best novel prize. The awards carry prize money of Rs 25,000, a citation and a certificate.
Rathri Pandrandarayk oru Tharattu (A Lullaby at 12:30 in the Night), written by P. Raman, won the award for the best poetry.
Ramachi by Vinoy Thomas has bagged the award for the best short story.
Noted actress Sajitha Madathil bagged the Akademi award for her contribution in the drama Arangile Matsyagandhikal.

In Cricket, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has become the first player in the 143-year history of Test cricket to take 200 wickets against left-handed batsmen.

Amazon is setting up its first device manufacturing line in India to make Fire TV sticks locally and has partnered with Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn, to begin producing the device at its Chennai plant later this year.

Mastercard announced the launch of its flagship Priceless program in India. The program – known as Priceless India – will enable domestic and global travellers who are Mastercard cardholders to attain unique insights and exclusive access to several unparalleled experiences in the country.

Under the Abhyudaya scheme, free of cost coaching centres for the preparation of competitive government exams will be provided by the UP government.

 The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation and laid the foundation of key projects of the oil and gas sector in Tamil Nadu via video conferencing.

Food Processing Industries Ministry has approved proposals worth over 363 crore rupees to increase the level of processing and value addition of horticultural and agricultural produce.

With an eye on the upcoming Assembly polls, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeelaunched “Maa” canteens for providing subsidised cooked meals for the poor and the destitute at a nominal cost of ₹5.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a Rs 100 crore debt financing agreement with Global Health Private Ltd (Medanta) to provide essential health care services and medical equipment to help combat the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

Bank credit growth in FY21 so far (up to January 29) has reached about 90 per cent of the year-ago level, going by the Reserve Bank of India’s data on Scheduled Banks’ Statement of Position in India.

Japanese brokerage Nomura said that economic activity is on the ‘verge of normality’ after being severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The firm said that India GDP will grow at 13.5 per cent in FY22.

 India’s Usha Rao-Monari, a leading investment professional, has been appointed by UN chief Antonio Guterres as Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the UNDP, joining a growing list of women from the country appointed to helm key agencies of the global organisation.

The Indian Navy has got its third Scorpene-class submarine, which will be commissioned as INS Karanj.

The prize winning writer Irwin Allan Sealys announced his stunning new novel, titled “ASOCA: A Sutra”. The book will be published by Penguin Random House India.

E-commerce company Flipkart has partnered with ICICI Lombard to offer ‘Group SafeGuard’ insurance, a group insurance policy to its consumers.

Global forecasting firm Oxford Economics revised India’s economic growth projection for 2021 to 10.2 per cent from the earlier 8.8 per cent, citing receding COVID-19 risks and the shift in the monetary policy outlook.

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced his resignation, prompting celebrations from the opposition, which called for an early election.

 The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has received the Asia Environmental Enforcement Award-2020 awarded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Bangladesh Supreme Court launched the Artificial Intelligence (AI) based translation software ‘Amar Vasha’ through a virtual event.

A team of scientists, nature lovers and doctors have come up with a mobile application ‘Snakepedia’ on snakes in Kerala to help the public as well as doctors to treat snake bites.

The Central Government launched the Go Electric campaign to boost the adoption of electric mobility vehicles and electric cooking appliances to ensure energy security in the country.

S&P Global Ratings has said that India will be one of the fastest growing emerging marketeconomies with a 10 per cent growth in the next fiscal.

 Ladakh Scouts Regiment Centre (LSRC) Men’s and Kharu women have lifted the 1st Lieutenant Governor Ice Hockey Cup in their respective sections, in Leh.

 India’s top-ranked table tennis player Manika Batra beat Reeth Rishya, 4-2, in the women’s singles final, to win the 82nd Senior National Table Tennis Championship, at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, Haryana.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Arbor Day Foundation have recognized Hyderabad as a 2020 Tree City of World, for its commitment to growing and maintaining urban forests.

The American space agency NASA successfully landed its fifth rover ‘Perseverance’ on Marsin a deep crater near the planet’s equator called Jezero.

The World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20.

 India successfully test fired indigenously-developed anti-tank guided missile systems ‘Helina’and ‘Dhruvastra’, paving their induction into the Army and the Indian Air Force respectively.

The United Nations’ (UN) International Mother Language Day annually celebrates language diversity and variety worldwide on February 21. The theme of International Mother Language Day 2021 is “fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.”

The Tata group will acquire 68% stake in online grocery platform BigBasket for about ₹9,500 crore. The group has signed an agreement.

Sri Lanka fast bowler Dhammika Prasad has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

State-owned Indian Bank said it has entered into an MOU with Society for Innovation and Development (SID), an initiative of Indian Institute of Science, for extending exclusive credit facilities to Start-ups and MSMEs.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said that the country is creating a global model of energy justice by balancing its accessibility and affordability at the Joint Conference of the 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit in New Delhi.