Weekly CA Quiz: January 2020 4th week

The government decided to set up three high-level committees, one of which will be headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, to dispose of over 9,400 enemy properties, which is likely to fetch about Rs 1 lakh crore to the exchequer.

 India has been ranked at the 80th position among 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) prepared by Transparency International.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the short-term investment limit of such investors. It doubled the limit in case they voluntarily disclose their investment plan before hand.

The New India Co-operative Bank (NICB) said its shareholders have decided to convert it into a small finance bank.The move comes after a slew of regulatory changes by the RBI following the Rs 4,500-crore PMC Bank fraud and to ensure better regulation of such lenders which are heavily influenced by regional political heavyweights.

The Union Minister for Minority AffairsMukhtar Abbas Naqvi released his Hindi novel Balwa, a fiction story based on the happenings in India in the 1990s. It will be published by Diamond Pocket Books.

 Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh will be host to India’s first war memorial for service animals including dogs, horses and mules.

Indian Railways has commissioned country’s first governmental waste to energy plant at Bhubaneswar.

 India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to upgrade the 50.58-kilometre long road between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane highway.

The Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra and the World Bank signed a loan agreement of USD 210 million to support small holder farmers participate in competitive agriculture value chains, facilitate agri-business investments, increase market access and productivity in focus commodities, and build resilience of crops to recurrent floods or droughts in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

The telecom department has approved raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in Bharti Airtel to 100% from an earlier 49%, a provision that can help the telco draw more overseas funds.

The Hagley Oval in Christchurch will host the summit clash of next year’s Women’s Cricket ODI World Cup.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora has assumed Chairmanship of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) for the year 2020.

The 10th National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on 25th January . It was celebrated at over ten lakh locations across the country including Polling Stations, District and State headquarters. The theme this year is ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy’.

At the Indira Gandhi International Airport launched ‘Women with wheels,’ taxi service that is unique as it is operated by women drivers, for women.

 The 44th International Kolkata Book Fair will begin from January 29, 2020 and Russia will be the focal country.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched a scheme of SAIL to promote Voluntary Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by its employees. The scheme called “SAIL Employee Rendering Voluntarism and Initiatives for Community Engagement (SERVICE)” will promote and facilitate philanthropist activities by the employees in a structured manner.

India has climbed eight places to 72nd rank in the 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), which was topped by Switzerland, the US and Singapore.

As per the annual PwC CEO survey, India is their fourth choice after the US, China and Germany as only 9 per cent in a global survey favour India for their companies’ growth prospects. The survey was released during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

The Reserve Bank of India has cancelled the Certificate of Authorisation (CoA) of Vodafone m-pesa on account of voluntary surrender of authorisation.

The Reserve Bank of India raised the investment limit for FPIs in government and corporate bonds, a move that is likely to bring in more foreign funds in the country.

The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has extended USD 35.80 million (about Rs 250 crore) line of credit to Suriname government to fund the country”s rural electrification programme.

ICICI Lombard has received Irdai’s approval to pilot five innovative applications and programs in its health and motor portfolio under the Sandbox Project.

According to IMF’s World Economic Outlook update, India’s growth forecast for 2019 to 4.8 per cent from 6.1 per cent it projected in October on the back of sharp decline in consumer demand, stress in the NBFC sector and sluggish credit growth.

Mukesh Ambani-led telecom major Reliance Jio has launched UPI-powered payments service and has started offering the feature to its subscribers.

 India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects a marginal improvement in economic growth in next fiscal, however, it cautioned that the downside risks persist. Ind-Ra expects gross domestic product (GDP) to grow at 5.5 per cent in FY21 from 5 per cent in 2019-20.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has unveiled a human robot namedVyommitra or “friend in the sky” that will be sent to space as part of the Gaganyaan mission, India’s ambitious plan to send humans to space.

 Book titled “first definitive history” of Yoga, “The Story of Yoga: From India to the Contemporary World” has been written by Scottish cultural historian Alistair Shearer, released recently and published by Penguin Random House.

The National Girl Child Day is celebrated in India every year on January 24 to spread awareness among people about all the inequalities girls face in the Indian society. The objectives behind celebrating the National Girl Child Day is to provide support and opportunities to the girls of India.National Girl Child Day 2020 was celebrated with the theme of ‘Empowering Girls for a Brighter Tomorrow’.

Country’s first e-waste clinic is being opened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh It would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced that the Indian Railways is expected to switch entirely to electricity by 2024, as it is already shunting diesel locomotives gradually out of service.

Global warming on human activities with trust level declining in climate science, but Indians are the most trusting people in this regard, according to the new public opinion poll published by the World Economic Forum at its 50th annual meeting in Davos.

Giving more teeth to the digital monitoring the union ministry of road transport and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari has launched an online portal ‘GATI’.

American basketball legend and former NBA star Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in California, USA. He was 41.

Bengaluru-based defence aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which has taken the lead role in organising the 11th biennial edition of DefExpo-2020, is planning to showcase its prowess in defence and aerospace. DefExpo-2020 is being held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, from February 5-9 and HAL is the lead co-ordinator along with Ministry of Defence (MoD) in organising the event.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation with the Centre, has doubled the investment cap for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) under the ‘voluntary retention route’ (VRR) to ₹1.5-lakh crore. These limits will be available ‘on tap’ and allotted on ‘first come, first served’ basis.

According to the latest Counterpoint Research report, India has surpassed the US to become the second-largest smartphone market in the world, the country recorded 158 million shipments in 2019 with 7 per cent year-on-year growth, attributed to Chinese brands introducing smartphones with flagship-grade features in the mid-tier segment.

 Former top-100 tennis player Joao Souza has been banned for life and fined $200,000 after being convicted of multiple match-fixing and other corruption offences.

Sunil Mehta took over as Chief Executive Officer of the Indian Banks Association, IBA. He succeeds V G Kannan, who stepped down on December 31, 2019. Sunil Mehta was heading Punjab National Bank, PNB as an MD & CEO. While serving PNB, Mehta was also appointed as a chairman of IBA in 2018-19.

 Sneha Pamneja, a wellknown Graphic designer based in New Delhi, was awarded Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize 2020, for designing the cover of the book ‘Tiffin: Authentic Recipes Celebrating India’s Regional Cuisine’ at the13th edition of the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Adding to Indian Navy’s firepower, Defence PSU Garden Reach Shibuilders and Engineers delivered anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kavaratti to the Navy.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an international memorial day on 27 January commemorating the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second World War. It commemorates the genocide that resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jews and 11 million others, by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.The theme for Holocaust education and remembrance in 2020, “75 years after Auschwitz – Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice”

The East-West project of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation is expected to be completed by March 2022 after several years and doubled costs. India’s first underwater metro will partially run under the Hooghly river.

 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in New Delhi with an aim to further expand the already close strategic partnership with India. Bolsonaro was the chief guest at India’s 71st Republic Day Parade on January 26, besides holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.

China is the world’s second-largest arms producer, behind the US, a Swedish research institute announced in a report.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), in its State Focus Paper for Odisha, has estimated Odisha’s credit potential at Rs 90,395.69 crore for Financial year FY- 2020-21 with a hike of around 20% over credit projection of 2019-20.

 Bajaj Housing Finance Limited (BHFL), a 100% subsidiary of Bajaj Finance Limited, has won the ‘BFSI Digital Innovation Award’ for Cloud Solutions at the recently held Express BFSI Technology Conclave and Awards 2020 in Pune.

Rajasthan cricketer Vineet Saxena, whose marathon double hundred in the final helped the state win the Ranji Trophy in 2011-12, has announced retirement from the game.

Sunita Chandra, former India women’s hockey team captain, passed away in her sleep at her Madhya Pradesh residence. She was 76.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee released the autobiography of Yashwant Sinha titled ‘ Relentless’ and agreed with his observation that economy is “the last priority” of a politician in India.

 Extending support to the cyclone flood-hit nation of Madagascar, the Indian Navy deployed its amphibious ship, INS Airavat, to undertake humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief mission as part of ‘Operation Vanilla’.

 To mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of Shri Ram Chandra Mission and Heartfulness Institute, unveiled the meditation centre slated to be the world’s largest in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated the country’s first and biggest ‘walk-through’ aviary at the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo in Maharashtra, as part of the Republic Day festivities.

 The UK government has launched 4 million pound (about Rs 37 crore) fund in India to support collaborative research into emerging technologies. Innovation Challenge Fund will encourage industry and academia to collaborate and develop tech solutions for social, economic and environmental challenges in India.

New Zealand leg-spinner Todd Astle has announced his retirement from first-class cricket to focus on the limited-overs formats, ruling him out of the upcoming two-match unofficial Test series against India.

Over 650 aspiring footballers from seven countries will take part in the Barca Academy Cup – Asia Pacific, scheduled to be held in Gurgaon from January 30 to February 2.

 Renowned environmental economist and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador Pavan Sukhdev was awarded Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, recognizing his groundbreaking ‘green economy’ work.

 Well-known theatre person Sanjana Kapoor receives the prestigious French honour of ‘Chevalier dans lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) for her outstanding contribution to the field of theatre in New Delhi from French Minister of Culture Franck Riester.

 World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) 2020 is the annual flagship event of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) held in New Delhi, India, under the overarching theme, ‘Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade Count’.

The Indian Banks’ Association has written to the National Payments Council of India (NPCI), which enables digital payments and settlements in India, to ask for retrospective application of zero merchant discount rate for Rupay card and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.

According to, FICCI’s Economic Outlook Survey puts forth the annual median GDP growth forecast for 2019-20 at 5.0%. While the median growth forecast for agriculture and allied activities has been put at 2.6% for 2019-20.

In an effort to counter fake news and misinformation in India, Google News Initiative (GNI) has announced a $1 million grant for Internews, a news literacy organisation.The funding support is part of Google’s broader, $10-million commitment to media literacy.

The government appointed M Ajit Kumar as chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC). The appointment comes just two days before the Union Budget presentation. Kumar is presently a member of CBIC.

 India womens hockey captain Rani Rampal won the 2019 World Games Athlete of the Year award. The prize, which is voted for by the public, is given for outstanding performance, along with social commitment and fair behaviour.