1. Which rule of Income-tax rules, 1962 has been amended for making an application to invoke the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP)?
a. 44B
b. 44C
c. 44G
d. 44D
S-c
EXPLANATION-
• Central Board of Direct Taxes has amended Rule 44G of Income-tax Rules, 1962 for making an application to invoke the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) in Form no. 34F.
• These rules will be called Income-tax (8th Amendment) Rules, 2020.
• Rule 44G deals with application and procedure for giving effect to MAP agreement.
• The revised Form 34F deals with respect to making application to the competent authority for invoking MAP.
• Indian authorities would "endeavour" to resolve MAP disputes within a timeframe of 24 months. This move is aimed at speedy settlement of cases of multinational corporations that have opted the alternative dispute resolution process.
• If a resolution is arrived, the same shall be communicated to the assessee, who shall communicate his acceptance or non-acceptance within 30 days.
• Upon acceptance of the resolution, the assessee shall withdraw any appeal filed in this regard and pay the tax determined by the assessing officer after giving effect to the resolution.
2. How much stake has been picked up by The Carlyle Group in SeQuent?
a. 67%
b. 74%
c. 29%
d. 90%
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• Private equity player The Carlyle Group will acquire a majority 74% stake in SeQuent Scientific for over Rs 1,500 crore.
• The deal will be executed through two investment vehicles-CA Harbor Investments, affiliated entity of CAP V Mauritius, which is an affiliated entity of Carlyle. The deal is the Carlyle's first majority transaction in an Indian publicly-listed company.
• The promoters of the company sold a 44.92% stake and Carlyle agreed to buy 5.69% of the existing private equity investor Ascent Capital.
• It was managed by Nomura acting as the Financial advisor for Carlyle and Law Firm Nishith Desai Associates was the advisor of Sequent and its Promoters.
• Under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) takeover regulations, a mandatory open offer by CA Harbor Investments and CAP V Mauritius will have to be offered for the purchase of a maximum up to 26% equity shares of SeQuent from public shareholders.
3. What is the name of India’s first indigenous ELISA Test Kit for COVID-19?
a. Covid Dhaal
b. Covid SURAKSHA
c. Covid KAVACH
d. Covid Jao
S-c
EXPLANATION-
• ‘Covid Kavach Elisa’ is the first indigenously developed IgG Elisa test for antibody detection.
• It has been developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
• This test will play a critical role in surveillance of proportion of population exposed to SARSCoV2 infection.
• ICMR-NIV’s test kit was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has been found to have high sensitivity and specificity.
• The kit can test 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours.
• Elisa-based testing is easily possible even at the district level.
4. Former Union Minister of State for Health Dalit Ezhilmalai passed away at 74. He belonged to which of the following states?
a. Punjab
b. Tamil Nadu
c. Andhra Pradesh
d. Madhya Pradesh
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• Former Union Minister of State for Health Dalit Ezhilmalai passed away at 74 in his residence in Chennai, Tamil Nadu due to a cardiac arrest.
• He was born on 24th July 1945 in Irumbedu village, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu
• He served in the Former Post & Telegraph Department of the Government of India Between 1963 and 1987 and deputed to the Army for five years.
• He participated in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 as an army officer and received Sainik Sewa Medal for his meritorious service.
• He was the last Dalit MP from the State who was elected from a general constituency.
• In 2001, the then general secretary of AIADMK, J Jayalalithaa, fielded Ezhilmalai from Tiruchy in the by-election.
5. Which of the following is incorrect for the new guidelines released by ICMR to tackle COVID-19 pandemic?
a. The immediate cause is the mode of dying.
b. The antecedent cause is the morbid condition(s) that “gave rise to the immediate cause”.
c. The other significant conditions are those that “contributed to the death but are not related to the disease or to the condition causing it”.
d. Deaths with inconclusive test results, but in which coronavirus symptoms are present will be recorded as "probable COVID-19" fatalities.
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• ICMR released fresh guidelines in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
• These outline a new standardised form where medical practitioners have to categorise the death’s immediate cause, antecedent cause, and other significant conditions in separate columns.
• These were issued as India’s Covid-19 death count surpasses 2,000 people.
• The immediate cause is the “disease, injury, or complication that caused the death, not the mode of dying”.
