Weekly CA Quiz: March 2020 2nd week

Sri Lanka will host the next Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in early September 2020.

 State Bank of India will pick up 49 per cent stake in the crisis-ridden Yes Bank under a government-approved bailout plan, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assuring that depositors’ money is safe.

Tata AIA Life Insurance, through its unique initiative ‘Bachhpan ka Rakshakaran’, in association with Oscar Foundation, aims to infuse interest in education for the under-privileged girls, using football coaching as a medium.

 Former India opener Wasim Jaffer announced retirement from all forms of cricket, drawing curtains on his illustrious career spanning over two decades.

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) has been ranked 15th best B-schools in five major national rankings for 2020 in the Outlook ICARE B-School survey.

 International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world.This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is, “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”.

Final exercise of the National level Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX-2020) was conducted by the Indian Coast Guard in the sea at Vasco, South Goa district.

 The government has reconstituted the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) with Union Home Minister Amit Shah as its chairperson and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, among others, as its members.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) and the World Bank organized a discussion on the ‘The Future of Work: Women in India’s Workforce‘, in New Delhi.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Union Science and Technology Minister, Harsh Vardhan launched a women helpline number–01126565285– for women and students with science and technology background.

 India has joined as an observer of the Indian Ocean Commission — the inter-governmental organisation that coordinates maritime governance in the south-western Indian Ocean — a move that will bolster Delhi’s Indo-Pacific vision.

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard became the first player in the history of T20 cricket to feature in 500 matches when he took the field against Sri Lanka for the first T20I.

 Australia displayed an all-round performance to defeat India by 85 runs to win its fifth Women’s T20 World Cup title at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

 The International Cricket Council (ICC) launched “100 per cent cricket“, a 12-month campaign dedicated towards the promotion of women’s cricket.

 Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Hans Raj Bhardwaj passed away. He was 82.

Odisha will be the first State to have an exclusive department for Self-Help Groups (SHGs). This will be called ‘Department of Mission Shakti. This was announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a function held here to mark the International Women’s Day.

 In less than a month, ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service revised its baseline growth projections for India from 5.4% to 5.3% in 2020, saying an extensive and prolonged slump as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak will reduce growth in Asia’s third-largest economy to 5% during the calendar year.

State Bank of India (SBI) said that Chalasani Venkat Nageswar, Deputy Managing Director of its international banking group, has been given additional charge of Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect.

 National team captains Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal won the Dhruv Batra Player of the Year Award 2019 in the men’s and women’s categories respectively at the third Hockey India Annual Awards.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik released “The Adventures of the Daredevil Democrat’ – a comic book on adventure and works of legendary leader and his father Biju Patnaik.

The traditional ‘Fagli’ festival was celebrated in Yangpa village of Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh with great fervour.

The Central government has constituted the Delimitation Commission for the purpose of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.

The government has formed a committee under the Ministry of Agriculture which also includes representatives of the Indian Railways to work out the modalities of ‘Kisan Rail’.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to set up a ‘Kisan Rail’ through the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode for a cold supply chain to transport perishable goods in her budget speech.

 India has been ranked 46th out of 100 countries on the inclusive internet index 2020 released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

According to the 1st edition of ‘Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) 2020’, released by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), about 90 % or 9 in 10 of the world’s population has some bias against women.

 Mohun Bagan won the I-League title with four rounds still to go in the competition.

 Indian badminton player PV Sindhu won the inaugural BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award following a public vote.The shortlist of five contenders also consisted of sprinter Dutee Chand, boxer Mary Kom, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and para-badminton player Manasi Joshi.

V Praveen Rao, Vice-Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), has won the seventh Dr MS Swaminathan Award for the period 2017-2019.

The government of Karnataka has launched ‘Namaste over Handshake’ campaign in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19. With this campaign, the government advises people to keep a safe distance from one another.

Leh, the capital of the Union territory of Ladakh will be the venue for the main event for International Yoga Day on June 21

The country’s largest lender SBI rationalised interest rate on all savings bank (SB) accounts to a flat 3 per cent, a move affecting 44.51 crore account holders.

PhonePe, which earlier partnered with Yes Bank, is now working with private sector lender ICICI Bank for UPI transactions.

 According to the “Trends in international arms transfers 2019″ report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) listed the world’s top five arms importers during the five-year period as Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China. Together, the five accounted for 36% of all arms imports.

Badminton world champion PV Sindhu has been appointed the brand ambassador for Andhra Pradesh government’s anti-graft helpline.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century ruler of the Sikh Empire in India, has beaten competition from around the world to be named the “Greatest Leader of All Time” in a poll conducted by ‘BBC World Histories Magazine’.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has launched three ambitious schemes Kaushal Satrang, Yuva Hub and apprenticeship scheme in Lucknow.

 In the wake of the rising misinformation around the novel coronavirus, the Government of India and The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) joined hands and roped in megastar Amitabh Bachchan to raise awareness about COVID-19

 Facebook India called for applications for its CSR initiative, Facebook Pragati, powered by N/Core (The/Nudge Centre for Social Innovation).

Jaydev Unadkat-led Saurashtra clinched its maiden Ranji Trophy title against Bengal in the final played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Sports business network, iSportconnect releasing its ‘Influential Women in Sport’ list for 2020. In this list Nita Ambani, the owner of Mumbai Indians cricket team franchise, has been named in the list of 10 most influential women in sports for 2020 alongside likes of tennis superstar Serena Williams and gymnast Simone Biles.

The Maharashtra government has approved the implementation of “happy hour” for autorickshaws, slashing the fare prices by 15 per cent between 12 pm and 4 pm as recommended by Khatua panel.

Union Government plans to have at least one Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya JanAushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendra in each block of the country by end of 2020.

 India is one of the better-performing countries in the global Animal Protection Index 2020, created by international animal welfare charity, World Animal Protection.

The World Bank will provide USD 80 million (about Rs 600 crore) loan to improve water management practices and increase agricultural productivity in selected gram panchayats or village councils in Himachal Pradesh.

Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited announced the launch of iSelect+ Term Plan to provide enhanced protection cover at an affordable premium.

 For the first time in India, the Department of Posts is introducing a free digital parcel locker service in Kolkata, West Bengal. It will enable customers collect their consignment from specified post offices at their convenience. in Sector 5 of Salt Lake City and another in New Town.

IDFC FIRST Bank has announced the signing of iconic Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, as its first-ever brand ambassador.

Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE), the third national stock exchange in India announced that the exchange industry veteran, experienced in setting new ventures Ms. Latika S. Kundu, who has been approved by SEBI, will be joining MSE as its MD & CEO on March 12, 2020. Ms.Kundu will be the first woman MD & CEO of MSE.

Veteran Bengali actor Santu Mukhopadhyay who was known for his works in films such as ‘Sansar Simante’ and ‘Bhalobasa Bhalobasa’ died at his south Kolkata residence. He was 69.

World Kidney Day (WKD) is celebrated every year on the second Thursday of March. It is the global awareness campaign to raise awareness of the importance of kidneys to our health and to reduce the impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. 1 in 10 people is affected by kidney disease globally.This year’s theme is ‘Kidney health for everyone everywhere – from prevention to detection and equitable access to care’.

 American golfer Tiger Woods will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2021.Woods, winner of 15 major titles, will be inducted in the male competitor category.Woods was among 10 finalists named in March as candidates for 2021.

The Union Cabinet has approved a four per cent hike in Dearness Allowance – DA for 48 lakh Central government employees and Dearness Relief to 65 lakh pensioners. It will be effective from 1st of January this year. With this, the DA has gone up from 17 per cent to 21 per cent.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat celebrated the traditional harvest festival–Phool Dei–at his residence with children.

NCLAT Chairperson Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, who handled several big-ticket insolvency cases like Essar Steel during his tenure at the appellate quasi-judicial body, retired who turns 70 on March 15, 2020.

Greece’s first female president, a former high court judge Katerina Sakellaropoulou was formally sworn in to office, nearly two months after the country’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to elect her.

The Government has constituted new board of directors for Yes Bank. It will be led by former Punjab National Bank chairman Sunil Mehta.