Weekly CA Quiz: November 2017 1st week

Explanation: The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the Global Clubfoot Conference being organised by the CURE India in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in New Delhi.

Explanation: The Ministry of Finance increased the maximum age of joining the National Pension System (NPS) from the existing 60 years to 65 years under NPS – Private Sector (i.e. all citizen and corporate model).

Explanation: Uttar Pradesh cabinet decided to make India’s first conservation reserve for black buck in Allahabad’s Meja. It is believed that the decision taken for protection of black deer will also help in wooing tourists there.

Explanation: Troops of Indian and Kazakhstan armies will engage in a 14-day joint exercise ‘Prabal Dostyk 2017’ from November 2 in Bakloh belt of Himachal Pradesh to strengthen bilateral relations and exchange skills and experiences.

Explanation: The government gave ex-post facto clearance to implementation of the Special Banking Arrangement (SBA) of Rs10,000 crore for payment of outstanding claims towards fertiliser subsidy in 2016-17.

Explanation: The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has named a gate of the Feroz Shah Kotla ground after former India opener Virender Sehwag. The Gate No. 2 of the stadium, in Delhi, was named as the ‘Virender Sehwag Gate’.

Explanation: Pakistan will host the next Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Nations Cup in April 2018 and PCB chairman Najam Sethi hoped that India would send its team for the event.

Explanation: Hong Kong is set to become the first Asian city to host the Gay Games, after it won the right to host the Games in 2022, beating the likes of Mexico’s Guadalajara and Washington DC.

Explanation: Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) has appointed former ICICI Bank executive, Sudhanshu Jain as its Chief Financial Officer. He will play a key role in overseeing its finances and expansion plans.

Explanation: Yogesh Chander  Modi, a 1984-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer, took over the charge of the country’s premier anti-terror organisation — the National Investigation Agency (NIA) — as its new Director-General. Mr. Modi succeeds Sharad Kumar.

Explanation: The Inter-State Council, which is mandated to investigate and advise on disputes between states, has been reconstituted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairman and six Union ministers and all chief ministers as members.

Explanation: According to a joint study by Assocham and EY, India is home to the largest number of malnourished children in the world. The report found that towards the end of 2015, 40 per cent of the Indian children were undernourished.

Explanation: The restored Royal Opera House, located at Mumbai’s Charni Road, has received the Award of Merit from the 2017 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. The building, which was closed to the public in 1993 and reopened in 2016, was restored by architect Abha Narain Lambah.

Explanation: Bihar ranked the lowest at 30 while Goa ranked top in Gender Vulnerability Index (GVI) released by Child development NGO Plan India.  Goa is followed by Kerala, Mizoram and Sikkim. The highest ranking north Indian state is Himachal Pradesh at the sixth position with Uttar Pradesh at 29 and Delhi at 28.

Explanation: Fake news, a term heavily popularised by US President Donald Trump, has been named the word of the year by Collins dictionary due to its widespread use around the world. It was found that the use of this word registered a 365 per cent rise in the last 12 months.

Explanation: India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, ICICI Bank, announced the launch of India’s first voice-based international remittance service to enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to any bank in India.

Explanation: AU Small Finance Bank received approval from Reserved Bank of India (RBI) to operate as Scheduled Commercial Bank. AU Small Finance Bank’s name has now been included in the Second Schedule of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

Explanation: Eight core sectors grew to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent in September, helped by a robust performance in coal, natural gas, and refinery segments.

Explanation: India slipped 21 places on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index to 108, behind neighbors China and Bangladesh, primarily due to less participation of women in the economy and low wages. At the top of the Global Gender Gap Index is Iceland. It has been the world’s most gender-equal country for nine years.

Explanation: Indian ace shuttler Srikanth Kidmabi has risen to the zenith of his career as he established himself as world number 2 in the latest BWF men’s singles ratings.

Explanation: Ajay Bisaria has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Bisaria is the present Ambassador of India to Republic of Poland. He will be replacing current envoy Gautam Bambawale, who has been appointed as next Indian Ambassdor to China.

Explanation: The 2017 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list by Forbes is topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who retains the number one position for the seventh consecutive year and 12 times in total. She is followed by UK Prime Minister Theresa May (rank 2). CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar was named the most powerful woman in India as she ranked 32nd.

Explanation: The US Senate has confirmed by a voice vote the nomination of Kenneth Juster as the next US Ambassador to India.

Explanation: Eminent Hindi Litterateur Krishna Sobti has been awarded the 53rd Jnanpith Award for the year 2017 for her path-breaking contribution to Indian literature. Jnanpith is the highest literary award of the country

Explanation:  According to the Japanese financial services major, Nomura’s report, India’s current account deficit (CAD) for this financial year is expected to be around $40 billion, or 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).

Explanation: Popular mobile-based digital payment platform Paytm launched ‘Inbox’, a messaging service that will allow consumers to chat with friends and family, and send and request money at the same time.

Explanation:  Private sector lender Yes Bank signed an agreement with the government to provide Rs 1,000 crore financing for food processing projects.

Explanation:  The government has announced that India Post Payments Bank will become operational in all 650 districts of the country by April next year.

Explanation:  The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed theworld’s highest motorable road in the cold desert of Ladakh, which has boosted the troop movement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the eastern sector.

Explanation: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that Aadhaar and mobile number must be linked by February 6, 2018. The Centre said it was the SC which had mandated Aadhaar-mobile number linking on February 6, giving a window of one year.

Explanation:  A Pan India scholarship program for school children called Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana has been launched by the government to increase the reach of Philately.

Explanation: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the World Food India 2017 event, at Vigyan Bhavan, in New Delhi.The three day-long event, organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, is set to host a congregation of global investors and business leaders of major food companies from November 3 to 5 in New Delhi.

Explanation:  The financial allocation of the scheme will be Rs 15,722 crore, with an objective to make farming a remunerative activity through strengthening farmers’ efforts, risk mitigation and promoting agribusiness entrepreneurship.

Explanation: The government made installation of FASTag, a rechargeable card that uses passive radio frequency identification (RFID ) technology to debit toll charges automatically,mandatory for all four-wheel automobiles sold from December 1.

Explanation: The 1st Heli Expo India and International Civil Helicopter Conclave-2017is inaugurated in New Delhi. This two days 1st Heli Expo India & International Civil Helicopter Conclave-2017 is organised by Pawan Hans Limited with the theme of ‘Enhancing Connectivity’

Explanation: A team of 50 chefs in a government-led initiative created a world record by cooking 918 kg “khichdi” live at the World Food India 2017 event.

Explanation: Railways has launched the main arch of the world’s highest bridge on the River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district which will provide direct connectivity to the Kashmir valley.

Explanation: The Union Government announced on 3 November 2017 that an indigenously developed light weight ‘Glide’ bomb has been successfully tested in Chandipur in Odisha, marking a major milestone in developing such weapons. The bomb – SAAW (Smart Anti Airfield Weapon) – was dropped from an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur on November 1.

Explanation: The Minister of State (Independent Charge) Youth Affairs and Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore is going to attend World Youth Forum, scheduled to be held at Sharam El Shiekh, Egypt from 5th November.

Explanation: The Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, the sacred shrine temple has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation following the massive renovation and restoration work. It is the first temple in Tamil Nadu to be given the prestigious award from the UN body.

Explanation: Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom was named ambassador of the AIBA Women’s Youth World Championships to be held in Guwahati from November 19 to 26.

Explanation: The revenue department has announced that farmers do not need to quote PAN for cash sale of their produce up to Rs 2 lakh a day.

Explanation: Lauding India’s increasing per capita income, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgievasaid she has no doubt that India will be a high-middle income country by 2047when it completes its centenary year of independence.

Explanation: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed corporate borrowers having exposure of Rs 5 crore and above to mandatorily obtain 20-digit Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).

The World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed across the world on 5 November every year. The theme for 2017 WTAD is ‘Reduce the Number of Affected People’.

The Goa government executed a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Bio-Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India (GoI) and Nobel Media, Sweden to hold the ‘Nobel Prize Series — India 2018 (Science Impacts Life)’ to be held from February 1-28 next year.

Explanation: China has unveiled Asia’s largest artificial island-building ship. The 140-metre-long vessel, which has been dubbed as “magic island maker”, is capable of digging 6,000 cubic metres an hour, which is equivalent to three standard swimming pools.

Explanation:  The India women’s hockey team today qualified for next year’s World Cup by winning the Asia Cup hockey title. In a nail-biting final at Kakamigahara in Japan, they overcame China 5-4.

Explanation: Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company, a joint venture between integrated healthcare provider, Apollo Hospitals Group, and the Munich Re Group was conferred with the 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards in the “General Insurance Company of the Year” category.

Explanation: Young Indian golfer Aditi Ashok made a triumphant return to the Ladies European Tour (LET) by clinching the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open.

Explanation: Guinea handed over country’s instrument accession to the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA)

Explanation: The 2017 edition of Exercise Sampriti is being held at India’s Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram from November 6 to 18. The military combat exercise is organised to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in a semi-mountainous jungle terrain to bolster bilateral military ties.

Explanation: Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new Finance Secretary. Adhia is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre

Explanation: The annual ‘Balijatra’ festival was inaugurated at the Gadagadia ghat in Cuttack, Odisha on the banks of river Mahanadi.

Explanation: A Financing Agreement for IBRD loan of US$ 119 million for the “Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence & Equity (OHEPEE) Project”was signed with the World Bank.

Explanation: The 23rd Conference of Parties (COP-23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held at the Bonn, Germany from November 6-17, 2017.

Explanation: Nepal inaugurated a bridge built with India’s financial assistance of USD 430,626 on the Kaligandaki river near China border. The newly-constructed Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) bridge was inaugurated by Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri.

Explanation: Veteran Malayalam actor Vettoor Purushan, who had essayed roles in 70 odd films, has passed away.

Explanation: India successfully test-fired the indigenously-designed and developed long-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay from an Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha’s Balasore. It failed its last test in December 2015.

Explanation: The official mascot of the 2017 AIBA Youth Womens World Boxing Championship is Assams famed one-horned rhino. The official mascot, anointed Guppy, is a female version of Assam’s one-horned rhino.

Explanation: Manipur is to host the 10-day Sangai International Festival beginning November 21, that will feature polo and a 21-km half marathon among other activities, with most countries confirming their participation.

Explanation: India has pledged an additional USD 100 million towards the UN partnership fund, significantly scaling up its support to sustainable development projects across the developing world.

Explanation: According to Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), provisional figures of direct tax collections up to October, 2017 show that net collections are at Rs. 4.39 lakh crore which is 15.2 percent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

Explanation: Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways & Coal has launched ‘Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitaran App’ benefiting customers of Coal India Limited (CIL) lifting coal through road mode.

Explanation: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi launched ‘SHe-box’ (sexual harassment electronic box), an online portal for registering complaint related to sexual harassment in non-government and government organisations.