Weekly CA Quiz: June 4th week (24 June – 30 June)

As in 2015(end of March), Southern Region had maximum number of offices of Scheduled Commercial Banks with 36,654 offices while individually state Uttar Pradesh had maximum number of office of SCB- 15,773

Moscow, Russia

Total amount of loan to be waived- Rs 34,020 crore
Farmers to be benefitted- 89 lakh [40 lakh farmers debt-free and providing relief to 49 lakh others]

Debt of up to Rs 1.5 lakh each will be written off
All BJP ministers and legislators of the state would contribute a month’s salary towards the loan waiver.

World Drug Report 2017 released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
UNODC Headquarters- Vienna
This year marks 20 years of the World Drug Report.

As per the World Drug Report 2017 released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2015 about a quarter of a billion people used drugs. Of these, around 29.5 million people – or 0.6 per cent of the global adult population – were engaged in problematic use and suffered from drug use disorders

The US has cleared the sale of 22 Guardian drones to India. The deal is estimated to be worth two to three billion dollars.

Maharashtra forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Friday announced that a mobile app named ‘My Plant’, which would help in recording data about tree plantations in the state, would be launched on July 1. The forest department has set a target of planting four crore saplings through public participation between July 1 and 7.

The Ministry of Urban Development has launched the ‘City Liveability Index’ for measuring the quality of life in 116 major cities including smart cities, capital cities and cities with a population of above one million each.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday received the highest prize in United Nations Public Service Award for the state government’s Kanyashree Prakalpa (Girl Child) scheme in The Hague, Netherlands.

The prestigious Biju Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence, 2014 was conferred on scientist Lalit Mohan Das for his outstanding contribution to science. Similarly, the CM awarded scientists Pradeep Kumar Chand, Swati Mohanty and Ajay Parida with the Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award.

Nisha Dutt, Chief Executive Officer of Hyderabad-based Intellecap has been honoured with the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award at The 7th Asian Awards in London. She is the first Indian woman leader to have been conferred with this recognition.

Lawn Tennis
Veteran tennis star Leander Paes won the Aegon Ilkley Challenger trophy with Canadian partner Adil Shamasdin, following a come-from-behind win over Brydan Klien and Joe Salisbury

England batsman Jason became the first ever batsman to be given out obstructing the field in T20 Internationals (T20I) during his side’s three-run defeat against South Africa at The Cooper Associates County Ground.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel flags off 2nd Slum Yuva Daud to highlight government’s pro-people schemes. It is a part of “Adopt a Slum” campaign.

The gross fiscal deficits of all the states skyrocketed to 4,93,360 crore Rupee in the last fiscal from the 18,790 crore rupee in the financial year 1991. Most populous state Uttar Pradesh and the largest Rajasthan lead the list of states with highest deficit.

IDFC Bank announced the elevation of its CFO Sunil Kakar as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company with effect from July 17 for three years.

National Skill Development Corporation has roped in Priyanka Chopra as an ambassador for the Skill India campaign.

India-Portugal International StartUp Hub (IPISH)

Home Ministry has said the Aadhaar is not a valid identification document for Indians travelling to Nepal and Bhutan.

As per a previous estimate, by 2050 about 50 per cent of India’s population will be living in urban areas, and the volume of waste generation will grow by 5 per cent per year.
The report has been jointly conducted by ASSOCHAM and global consulting firm PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

AIM will provide a grant-in-aid of upto Rs. 10 crore for a maximum period of 5 years to cover the capital and operational expenditures to establish the AIC

Samsung India is supporting the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways’ drive to reduce road accidents, especially those that happen due to irresponsible usage of mobile phones, including taking selfies on the road. A nationwide campaign ‘Safe India’ to sensitize people about responsible use of mobile phones while on the road was unveiled.

Yuva Puraskar 2017: Amey Naik (For his Konkani poetry collection ‘Mog Dot Com’.)

Kidambi Srikanth defeated Chen Long

The Sports Journalists Federation of India (SJFI), at its annual general meeting on Sunday, decided to confer the best Sportsperson of the Year Award on the ace shuttler and Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu

Swiss maestro Roger Federer came out with a ruthless performance against Alexander Zverev in straight sets to win the men’s singles title of the 25th Gerry Weber Open.
Gerry Weber Open – Tennis

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo (Australian) profited from the chaos to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, while Sebastian Vettel extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton.

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu launched a book titled ‘The Emergency-Indian Democracy’s Darkest Hour’ written by A. Surya Prakash, chairman Prasar Bharati Board.

The USD 250-million Skill India Mission Operation (SIMO), approved by the World Bank board of executive directors, will increase the market relevance of short-term skill development programmes (3-12 months or up to 600 hours) at the national and state level. The loan is funded by IBRD.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has appointed a new nine-member panel, under the Chairmanship of eminent scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan,who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 1994 to 2003, to work on a New Education Policy (NEP).

The US-India Business Council has constituted a task force to identify opportunities in the Indian Civil Aviation sector. The task force will be chaired by Palash Roy Chowdhury and will focus on identifying opportunities based on the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP).

China’s fastest: ‘Fuxing’ bullet train’ debuts on Beijing-Shanghai route

Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the first state in the country to exhaust all the seats allocated to it under the India BPO promotion scheme (IBPS) for setting up business process outsourcing (BPO) units in rural areas.

India has signed an agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 35 Million with World Bank for “Assam State Public Financial Institutional Reforms Project”.
The programme size is USD 44 million, of which USD 35 million will be financed by the Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of State Budget. The programme duration is 5 years.

As per agreement, ADB will provide the loan amount for Uttar Pradesh Main District Roads Development Project of 2782 crore rupees cost. State government will spend 832 crore rupees form its own resources on the project.

The brainchild of Scottish inventor John Shepherd-Barron, the first ATM (automated teller machine) was opened on June 27, 1967, at a branch of Barclays bank in Enfield, north London. The world’s first ATM was turned into gold for celebrations of its fiftieth anniversary.

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has launched a Digital MSME Scheme to further boost Ministry’s efforts towards making Digital India Mission successful.

Software major SAP India has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to jointly launch Bharat ERP — a programme to empower small businesses digitally.

The Trump administration is poised to declare China among the world’s worst offenders on human trafficking, putting the world’s most populous country in the same category as North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has appointed Social Democrat Mihai Tudose as Prime Minister and mandated him to form a new government.

Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay will be conferred East Bengal football club’s highest honour — Bharat Gaurav — at its foundation day ceremony on August 1.

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s third largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank have signed a corporate agency agreement for the distribution of general insurance products through the bank’s network of branches across the country.

Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP)
Additionally the country’s first national data repository (NDR) has also been launched.
The twin launches of OLAP and NDR are set to give India’s oil and gas exploration a big push.

Uttarakhand has been conferred with the award of excellence at the 2nd Global Skill Development Summit held in Paris for innovations and extensive use of IT for skilling the state’s youth.

In the Social Progress Tier, India comes in the Lower-Middle tier, along with China, Nepal, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.
India with an aggregate score of 58.39 is Rank 93 among the 128 countries.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has constituted a special seven-member committee to analyse the few contentious Lodha panel reforms which are being opposed by the state units.

Actress Vidya Balan has been named the ambassador of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

The UNESCO has crowned Sharjah with the prestigious ‘the World Book Capital’ for 2019 for the quality of its literary and cultural activities and for its efforts to make books accessible to the entire population of the nation.

The report by Google India, along with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), titled “Demystifying the Indian Online Traveller” has said that India’s domestic travel market is expected to grow at 11-11.5 per cent to reach $48 billion by 2020.

The Liuzhou Forest City in China is expected to absorb nearly 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and produce 900 tonnes of oxygen.

China has launched what it calls “the most advanced and largest warship in Asia”, billing it as a major step forward in the modernisation of its navy.

RBI has begun printing bills of 200 rupees for the first time to help ease consumer transactions.

ICICI Bank led consortium has concluded the largest asset resolution with the sale process of the cement business of Jaiprakash Associates and Jaypee Cement to UltraTech Cement valued at Rs 16,189 crore.

To prepare micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for migration to the new goods and service tax (GST) system, YES Bank along with Yes Global Institute has launched a tailor-made programme for MSMEs.

Dr. Jitendra Singh has launched a new training programme Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) for State Government officials.
The objective of this training programme is to improve the public service delivery mechanism and provide citizen centric administration through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on day-to-day basis.

India has contributed $100,000 to a UN fund to promote the participation of developing countries in a panel dealing with international cooperation in tax matters.

According to a report by the United Nations, India, which plays the role of the world’s pharmacy by producing affordable drugs, was the top supplier in the health sector to the UN system last year with total sales of nearly $804 million in pharmaceuticals and medical services.

India’s communication satellite GSAT-17 was launched by French rocket Ariane-5 from Kourou, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-238.

Eminent singer Sabita Chowdhury, widow of legendary composer Salil Chowdhury has passed away.

The Asian Development Bank has committed USD 10 billion support for infrastructure building and immediate development needs of less-developed States in India.

The Reserve Bank of India has said that if a payment bank (PB) has made arrangements with other banks to act as their Business Correspondent (BC), then the PB can facilitate withdrawals and transfers by the customer from his/her account with the other bank of which it is the BC.

According to Financial Stability Report 2017 released by The Reserve Bank, the ongoing accelerated reform initiatives like Goods and Sevice Tax and continuing political stability will push the economic growth. According to report, the GVA growth is expected to be higher at 7.3 per cent in 2017-18.

US has decided to sell one USD 366.2 million C-17 transport aircraft to India. US and India have built a close defence relationship in recent years.

Senior lawyer in the Supreme Court of India and constitutional expert K.K. Venugopal has been appointed as a new 15th Attorney General replacing Mukul Rohatgi.

Arnav Sharma-has scored higher in an IQ test than Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

According to the data released by Zurich-based SNB, money parked by Indians in Swiss banks have nearly halved to 676 Swiss francs (about Rs. 4,500 crore) in 2016.

This is mainly due to GST coming into effect from July 1, so another huge set of data would be generated and give a richer data base.

According to section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, every person who has an Aadhaar number and a PAN is required to link the two “on or before a date to be notified by the Central Government” — which has not yet been clarified.

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) investments – 7.5 per cent and mature in 115 months.
5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme – 8.3 per cent.
The one for girl child savings, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme – 8.3 per cent
Public provident fund (PPF) scheme – 7.8 per cent.

Arunachal Pradesh Government has made the Inner-Line Permit system paperless. State Chief Minister Pema Khandu launched the e-Inner Line Permit (eILP) programme, in Itanagar. The step has been taken to make hassle-free entry into the State for domestic visitors and give a further boost to tourism sector.

The move brings Germany into line with many other European nations including France, Britain and Spain.

Dr Padmesh Gupta, an Oxford poet has been honoured with a national award by the Indian Government for promoting Hindi literature abroad.