Table of Contents
MCQ 1.
- Ministry of Communication & Google tied up to Build for Digital India
- This will work under Make in India as a component
Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
MCQ 2
- A hurricane is a Extra-tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and the northeastern Pacific Ocean
- a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean; in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean
Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
MCQ 3
- Indian Space Research Research Organisation (ISRO) has outlined a road map to put a three-man crew in a low earth orbit for five to seven weeks by December 2021 by an indigenous GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle.
- NASA is going to help ISRO in training crew members for Gaganyaan Project for four or five critical areas
Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
MCQ 4
Choose correct regarding Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI)
- Reduces the possibility for tax evasion
- Reduces terror financing & money laundering directly
- To be carried out under Common Reporting Standard (CRS)
- Developed by IMF
(A) 1,2,3
(B) 1,3,4
(C) 1 & 3
(D) All
- War on Black Money: India to get Swiss Bank account details of Indians from tomorrow
- The first automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) under the provisions common reporting standard will start from September.
- Banking details of Indians with accounts in Switzerland will be available to tax authorities here from Sunday as the automatic exchange of information regime kicks off between the two countries. The move, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said, is a significant step in the government’s fight against black money and the era of “Swiss bank secrecy” will finally be over from September. The CBDT frames policy for the Income-Tax Department. Between August 29 and August 30, a Swiss delegation, led by deputy head of the tax division in the state secretariat for international finance Nicolas Mario Luscher, called on Revenue Secretary A B Pandey, CBDT Chairman P C Mody and CBDT Member (Legislation) Akhilesh Ranjan before the regime kicked in, it said. The first automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) under the provisions common reporting standard will start from September. “India will receive information of the calendar year 2018 in respect of all financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland,” the CBDT said in a statement. The information will include accounts that were closed during 2018.
- The new global standard on Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) reduces the possibility for tax evasion. It provides for the exchange of non-resident financial account information with the tax authorities in the account holders’ country of residence. Participating jurisdictions that implement AEOI send and receive pre-agreed information each year, without having to send a specific request.
- AEOI will enable the discovery of formerly undetected tax evasion. It will enable governments to recover tax revenue lost to non-compliant taxpayers, and will further strengthen international efforts to increase transparency, cooperation, and accountability among financial institutions and tax administrations. Additionally, AEOI will generate secondary benefits by increasing voluntary disclosures of concealed assets and by encouraging taxpayers to report all relevant information.
- As new information is brought to light by AEOI, the importance of the current standard of Exchange of Information on Request (EOIR) will also increase. The two standards of AEOI and EOIR are therefore complementary, working together to enhance the effectiveness of tax administrations’ efforts in addressing international tax evasion
A Global Standard on AEOI
- In order to most effectively tackle tax evasion while minimizing costs to governments and business, a single global AEOI standard for financial account information has been created: the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters. The OECD and G20 developed the Standard with the input of other jurisdictions and in consultation with the financial industry. The Standard is very similar to the Model 1 IGA that many jurisdictions will use for implementing the United States Foreign Account Taxpayer Compliance Act (FATCA).
- The Standard requires financial institutions to report information on accounts held by non-resident individuals and entities (including trusts and foundations) to their tax administration. The tax administration then securely transmits the information to the account holders’ countries of residence on an annual basis.
- The Standard specifies the financial account information to be exchanged, the financial institutions that need to report, and the different types of accounts and taxpayers covered. To capture a wide range of information, the Standard requires not only deposit-taking banks to report, but also custodial institutions, certain investment entities, and certain insurance companies. The type of account information to be reported on includes account balances, interest, dividends, and sale and redemption proceeds from financial assets.
- In order to ensure that the information is accurate and complete, the Standard also specifies the information gathering procedures to be followed by financial institutions, and these procedures draw on the existing international anti-money laundering standards.
- Confidentiality, data safeguards and proper use of the information is critical, and the Standard sets out clear requirements that must be met by all jurisdictions participating in AEOI.
- The Standard also includes a model agreement for government authorities to use to operationalize the automatic exchanges and a technical user guide to ensure the information is reported in a standardized format.
MCQ 5
India’s First Garbage Café to open in __________
- Jalandhar
- Amritsar
- Patna
- None
- India’s first ‘Garbage Café’ will soon be opened in Ambikapur city in north Chhattisgarh. It is initiative of Ambikapur municipal corporation. It aims to make Ambikar city plastic-free.
- In this unique Café, poor people and rag pickers will get free food in exchange for one kilogram of plastic. Besides they will also provided with breakfast in return for exchanging half a kilogram of plastic brought to the cafe. The collected garbage through this café will be sold at Solid Liquid Resources Management Centre. It will be further be turned into granules and will then be used in the construction of roads in the city.
- Ambikapur City and Waste management It is Chhattisgarh’s first dustbin-free city.
- It has efficient solid waste management system.
- It has been hailed as second cleanest city in the country in Swachhata rankings after Indore.
- It also has road made with plastic granules and asphalt.
- The Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women are involved in door to door collection of waste.
MCQ 6
- Narasimhan committee (1991 and 1998) suggested merger of strong banks both in public sector and even with the developmental financial institutions and NBFCs.
- Khan committee in 1997 stressed the need for harmonization of roles of commercial banks and the financial institutions.
- Verma committee pointed out that consolidation will lead to pooling of strengths and lead to overall reduction in cost of operations.
Choose correct
(A) 1 & 2
(B) 2 only
(C) All
(D) None
Concerns associated with merger:
- Problems to adjust top leadership in institutions and the unions.
- Mergers will result in shifting/closure of many ATMs, Branches and controlling offices, as it is not prudent and economical to keep so many banks concentrated in several pockets, notably in urban and metropolitan centres.
- Mergers will result in immediate job losses on account of large number of people taking VRS on one side and slow down or stoppage of further recruitment on the other. This will worsen the unemployment situation further and may create law and order problems and social disturbances.
- Mergers will result in clash of different organizational cultures. Conflicts will arise in the area of systems and processes too.
- When a big bank books huge loss or crumbles, there will be a big jolt in the entire banking industry. Its repercussions will be felt everywhere.
MCQ 7
- The IPCC does not conduct its own original research. It produces comprehensive assessments, reports on special topics, and methodologies. 2. It is a specialized body created by UNFCCC
Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations, dedicated to providing the world with an objective, scientific view of climate change, its natural, political and economic impacts and risks, and possible response options.
- The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and later endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. Membership is open to all members of the WMO and UN. The IPCC produces reports that contribute to the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main international treaty on climate change. The objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system”. The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report was a critical scientific input into the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement in 2015.
- IPCC reports cover the “scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.” The IPCC does not carry out original research, nor does it monitor climate or related phenomena itself. Rather, it assesses published literature including peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources.However, the IPCC can be said to stimulate research in climate science. Chapters of IPCC reports often close with sections on limitations and knowledge or research gaps, and the announcement of an IPCC special report can catalyse research activity in that area.
- Thousands of scientists and other experts contribute on a voluntary basis to writing and reviewing reports, which are then reviewed by governments.
- IPCC reports contain a “Summary for Policymakers”, which is subject to line-by-line approval by delegates from all participating governments. Typically, this involves the governments of more than 120 countries.
- The IPCC provides an internationally accepted authority on climate change, producing reports which have the agreement of leading climate scientists and the consensus of participating governments. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, between the IPCC and Al Gore.
- Following the election of a new Bureau in 2015, the IPCC embarked on its sixth assessment cycle. Besides the Sixth Assessment Report, to be completed in 2022,
- the IPCC released the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C in October 2018, will release an update to its 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories—the 2019 Refinement—in May 2019, and will deliver two further special reports in 2019: the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, and the Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) which was published online on August 7. This makes the sixth assessment cycle the most ambitious in the IPCC’s 30-year history.
- The IPCC also decided to prepare a special report on cities and climate change in the seventh assessment cycle, and held a conference in March 2018 to stimulate research in this area.
MCQ 8
Kalimantan is located
- North to Tehran
- East to Cambodia
- South to Bali
- East to Shanghai