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CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
1
TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – JULY 2018
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY Vellore & Tiruvannamalai
ENGLISH MEDIUM
www.chennaiiasacademy.com
chennaiiasacademy
Contact : 9043 211 311 / 411
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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Current Affairs For TNPSC Examinations
JULY 2018
SI.NO CONTENTS PAGE.NO
1. TAMILNADU 03 - 05
2. NATIONAL 05 – 35
3. INTERNATIONAL 36 – 42
4. APPOINTMENTS &
RESIGNS
42 - 45
5. AWARDS 45 - 48
6. SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
48 - 53
7. BOOKS AND AUTHORS 53 - 53
8. SPORTS 54 - 59
9. IMPORTANT DAYS 59 - 61
10. PRACTICE QUESTIONS 61 - 76
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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TAMIL NADU The climate change is the main factor that
threatening the Nilgiri tahr according to
recent study published by international
journal Ecological Engineering. There are only around 2,500 Nilgiri Tahrs left in
the wild and their population is small and
isolated. In 2030‘s , it is estimated that
endangered wild goat could lose approximately
60% of its habitat. Nilgiri tahr is the state animal
of Tamil Nadu. It is endemic to Western Ghats
from the Nilgiris to Kanyakumari. IUCN in its
red data book has classified it as Endangered
(number fewer than 2,500 mature individuals).
Thiru Ramasaamy Padatchiyar.
Tamil Nadu State Government announced birth
anniversary of freedom fighter Thiru Ramasaamy
Padatchiyar as State Celebration
Tamil Nadu Lokayukta Bill 2018
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly finally passed
the Tamil Nadu Lokayukta act 2018 through
voice vote.
The Act would look into graft charges against
government Servants including current and
former elected representatives (including Chief
Ministers and Cabinet Ministers).
Features of Act:
Lokayukta consists of Chairperson and four
members.
Chairperson would be current or former judge of
High Court or person with 25 years of experience
in any field in anti-corruption policy, public
administration, vigilance, finance and law.
Chairperson and Member will be appointed by
Governor by recommendation of the selection
committee comprising the Chief Minister,
Assembly Speaker, opposition leader of
assembly.
Local administration and government
contracts do not comes under the purview of
Lokayukta.
Chairperson or members will be removed by
order of Governor.
India's first transgender lawyer Sathyasri
Sharmila created history by becoming India's
first transgender lawyer Sharmila, who hails
from Tamil Nadu, enrolled her name in the
Bar Council Of Tamil Nadu And Puducherry
and became the first transgender lawyer in
India. On a related note, the Rajasthan Police
had appointed Ganga Kumari, its first
transgender constable, last year, after the state
High Court‘s directive. Meanwhile, West
Bengal‘s Joyita Mondal was appointed the
Lok Adalat judge of Islampur in North
Dinajpur district, thus giving India its first
transgender judge.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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Private Universities in Tamilnadu
Two bills adopting the establishment of Shiv
Nadar Univesity and Sai University were
passed in the Tamilnadu assembly.
Shiv Nadar University would be established
by SSN Trust of Industrialist Shiv Nadar
Sai University is the backed by NASSCOM
founder – mentor K.V.Ramani.
As per the provisions of the two bills adopted
in the assembly, the two universities will be
self- financing institutions and would be
allowed to establish constituent colleges,
regional centres, and additional campuses and
study centres.
The decision of the TN Government to establish
two private universities assumes significance as
there are currently no private universities in the
state. The state government took over the control
of Annamalai University, a reputed private
university in 2013. However, there is any number
of deemed universities in the state.
The universities ―shall reserve 35% of seats in each
course of study for resident students of Tamil
Nadu‖ and this shall be made following the
communal reservation as per law in force.
Father‘s name in Birth Certificate The Madras High Court has ruled that there is no
legal obligation on the part of a mother to disclose
the name of the father at the time of registering her
child‘s birth.
The judgement is aimed to benefit single mothers
and those going in for intrauterine insemination.
It is sufficient for her to file a sworn affidavit that
the child was born from her womb.
Fossil Museum - Ariyalur
The fossil museum at Varanavasi near Ariyalur
town is set to open.
The 100-acre museum will showcase the natural
formation of rocks that provide evidence of the
existence of dinosaurs and other associated
reptilians in the Ariyalur region
Upgradation of 7 monuments in Tamil Nadu
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has
planned to upgrade infrastructural and tourist-
friendly facilities at seven sites, which are
approved under Adarsh Smarak Scheme for
Conservation of Monuments, in Tamil Nadu.
The Adarsh Monuments proposed to be upgraded
by the Ministry of Culture include Shore Temple
Mamallapuram ,Gingee Fort,Kailasanathar Temple
Kanchipuram Brihadeeswarar Temple Thanjavur
Sithannavasal caves,Vellore Fort,Moovar
Koil,Kodumbalur.
Tamil Nadu‘s forest policy unveiled Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K.
Palaniswami released the State‘s forest policy The
norms stipulated by the Forest (Conservation) Act,
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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1980, would be strictly enforced to preserve the
existing forest cover for ecological security.
The Forest Department would also develop
mangroves in the state as 'bio-shield' along the
coast. The policy also looks to increase forest and
tree cover to at least 30% by 2025 and enhance
participation of women in village forest
committees(VFCs).Tamil Nadu has about 30.92%
of the forest declared as 'protected areas' and has
15 wildlife sanctuaries,five National parks,15 bird
sanctuaries,3 biosphere reserves,four project tiger
areas.
Definition of hydrocarbon amended
Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has
amended Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules 1959 to
include shale in the definition of petroleum.This
change will allow private companies to explore
and produce the resource in the blocks they already
operate.
Earlier, definition excluded shale and therefore
barred companies from exploiting it from fields
that are producing conventional oil and gas or coal-
bed methane.Shale is distinguished from other
mudstones due to laminated and fissile nature.
Shale gas is natural gas formed from being trapped
within shale formations.Shale gas is cheaper than
natural gas,releases 50% less CO2,hence better
source for generating electricity. In India, potential
shale gas sites are Cambay, Gondwana, Krishna-
Godavari and Cauvery Basins.
NATIONAL
The 9th Heads of Mission Conference
inaugurated by External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj was held in New Delhi from
June 30-July 2, 2018.
The theme of three-day annual conference was
‗Unprecedented Outreach: Unparalleled
Outcomes‘.
Four cultural sites namely Victorian Gothic
and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai (India),
Sassanid Archaeological Landscape of Fars
region (Iran), Hidden Christian Sites in
Nagasaki Region (Japan) and Sansa, Buddhist
Mountain Monasteries in Korea (South Korea)
has inscribed on the World Heritage List
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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At the 42nd session of World Heritage
Committee (WHC) meeting of United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) held in Manama,Bahrain.
As per the provision of bilateral agreement on
consular access signed between both countries
in May 2008, India and Pakistan have
exchanged lists of civilian prisoners and
fishermen lodged in each other‘s jails.
In the latest exchange, Pakistan has shared with
India list of 53 civilian prisoners and 418
fishermen in its custody, who are Indians or
believed to be Indians. India handed over to
Pakistan list of 249 civilian prisoners and 108
fishermen from Pakistan lodged in Indian jails.
Under the bilateral agreement, the lists of
prisoners have to be exchanged twice every year
– on January 1 and July 1.
Kerala Government has declared Kozhikode
and Malappuram districts free from Nipah
virus infection. NiV infection is zoonotic disease (disease
transmitted to humans from animals) that causes
severe disease in both animals and humans. The
organism which causes Nipah Virus encephalitis
is RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of family
Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is
closely related to Hendra virus.
The Union Government has constituted 13-
member Committee for Sub-National
Accounts headed by Ravindra H Dholakia, a
retired professor of IIM Ahmedabad to
upgrade the norms for computation of
economic data at states and districts level in
backdrop of plans to revise the base year for
National Accounts or Gross Domestic
Production (GDP) calculation. The committee will review concepts, definitions,
classifications, data conventions, data sources and
data requirements for preparation of State
Domestic Product (SDP) and District Domestic
Product (DDP) and to lay down revised
guidelines. It will submit its report within one
year.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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The Uttar Pradesh Government launched
'Commercial Tax at your door steps' on the
occasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Day celebration at the offices of commercial
tax on July 1, 2018.
During these days, officials will meet the small
and medium traders and resolve their issues
related to commercial taxes. The scheme will run
from July 1 to August 31, 2018.
The Conference of Ministers for Power, New
& Renewable Energy of states & union
territories will be held on July 3, 2018 in
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The one-day conference aims to review the
implementation of various ongoing schemes/
programmes & deliberate on a host of issues
relating to power and renewable energy sectors.
Indian Naval officer Commander Abhilash
Tomy has been selected to participate in the
prestigious Golden Globe Race (GGR), which
commenced from Les Sables d‘Olonne
harbour in France on July 1, 2018. The GGR requires all the participants to sail
around the world, single-handed and non-stop.
Abhilash Tomy is the only invitee from Asia to
participate in the prestigious and unique voyage.
The uniqueness of the race is that it forbids the
use of boat designs and technology newer than
1968.
The Supreme Court Bench comprising justices
Ranjan Gogoi and R. Banumathi asked the
government to file an affidavit within 10 days
giving details of the steps which are likely to be
taken for appointing the Lokpal. The court was hearing a contempt petition filed
by NGO Common Cause, which had raised the
issue of non-appointment of the ombudsman
despite the apex court‘s verdict on April 27,
2017.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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15 executive directors to be elevated as
managing directors (MD) at various public
sector banks (PSBs) were recommended by the
Banks Board Bureau (BBB). These recommendations were based on
interactions held by BBB and are subject to
various clearances. The Appointments Committee
of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister will
take the final decision in this regard. BBB is
advisory authority (autonomous and self-
governing body) of Central Government
comprising eminent professionals and officials to
improve governance of PSB‘s.
For the first time, the Income Tax Department
has launched instant Aadhaar-based e-PAN
allotment service for individuals seeking PAN
(Permanent Account Number) service. It was introduced because of increasing number
of people applying for PAN. A. This facility is
free of cost and is available for a limited period
on first-come, first-served basis for valid Aadhaar
holders. The e-PAN will be allotted on basis of
one-time password (OTP)
sent on mobile number linked to Aadhaar number
of a person. It will have the same name, date of
birth, gender, mobile number and address as in
Aadhaar. The process can be done at the official
portal of the
department:https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.go
v.in.
India‘s manufacturing growth jumps to six-
month high in June 2018 according to Nikkei
Manufacturing Purchasing Managers‘ Index
(PMI), compiled by IHS Markit. This is the 11th consecutive month that the
manufacturing PMI remained above the 50-point
mark. Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.1 in June
2018 from 51.2 in May 2018, the highest since
December 2017. PMI is an indicator of business
activity-both in the manufacturing and services
sectors. It is a survey-based measure that asks
respondents about changes in their perception of
some key business variables from month before.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) extended the deadline for the PAN-
Aadhaar linking to March 31, 2019.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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This is the fifth time the government has
extended the deadline for individuals to link their
Permanent Account Number (PAN) to their
biometric ID (Aadhaar). The Central
Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had last extended
the deadline on March 27.
Supreme Court has extended deadline for
publication of final draft of Assam‘s National
Register of Citizens (NRC) from earlier June
30, 2018 to July 31,2018. The NRC is being
prepared to identify illegal migrants in Assam. The major northeastern state had faced influx of
people from Bangladesh since early 20th century.
It is the only state having an NRC, which was
first prepared in 1951. The report had mentioned
that it would be not be possible to release final
draft of the NRC as scheduled on June 30, 2018
due to the floods in state.
‗Happiness Curriculum‘ which includes
meditation, moral values and mental exercises
for its school students was launched by the
Delhi government. It was launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal in the presence of the Dalai Lama. It
involves ‗Happiness‘ period of 45 minutes for all
students studying in nursery up to class VIII at all
Delhi government schools. Each class will begin
with 5 minute meditation practice. The
curriculum focuses on meditation, moral
teachings, and mental exercises, with the aim of
turning students into good human being.
Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam
decided to adopt an online legal compliance
system by introducing ‗Legatrix‗.
Legatrix is cloud-based compliance management
system to serve as onestop solution for effectively
managing organisations legal and regulatory
compliances through monitoring control at
different levels. This initiative aims to induce
greater transparency NRL‘s operations and
augment its contribution towards Digital India
Mission of the Government. With this,
Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam
became first oil public sector undertaking (PSU)
in India.
‗The Flying Daggers‘ - Indigenous fighter
aircraft Tejas of No 45 Squadron has formally
commenced operations from Sulur Air Force
Station near Coimbatore. No 45 Squadron has been entrusted with the
responsibility of integrating Tejas fighter aircraft
in Air Force‘s Concept of Operations. It has been
involved in training aircrew of fighter aircraft
Tejas. It will now undertake operations and
maintenance of the indigenous fighter aircraft.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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‗National Workshop on Skill Development for
Persons with Disabilities
(Divyangjan)‘ organised by the Department of
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
(DEPwD) under Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment was held in New Delhi on July
3, 2018. The workshop was organised with a view to
provide a platform to all stakeholders ranging
from training partners to the policymakers as well
as employers.
The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief
Justice Dipak Misra, comprising A M
Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, ordered
all the States and Union territories to not
appoint any police officer as acting Director
General of Police (DGP) on July 3, 2018. The court also directed all the states to send
names of senior police officers to the Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC) for being
considered as probable candidates to be appointed
as DGPs.
The Rajasthan government has clarified that
five castes, including Gujjars, under the most
backward classes (MBC), are also entitled to
the 21 per cent quota under the OBC category
for admission to educational institutions and
recruitment in government jobs in the state. The candidates of these five castes of MBC if not
selected on the basis of merit in the general
category will be considered first under the OBC
(21 per cent) and then under the MBC (1 per
cent) in admissions and recruitments. The five
castes under the most backward class (MBC)
include Banjara/Baldia/Labana; Gadia-
Lohar/Gadalia; Gujjar/Gurjar; Raika/Rebari and
Gadaria (Gaadri), who were initially enlisted in
the OBC since 1994.
The Chhattisgarh government will set up a
tribal museum in the state's upcoming new
capital Naya Raipur with a view to exhibit
culture and tradition of scheduled tribes. It will be named after Shaheed Veer Narayan
Singh, a freedom fighter from the state who had
made a tremendous contribution in the freedom
struggle of 1857. A Tribal Culture and Language
Academy will also be set up in the state.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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Mahi Talat Siddiqui-a Muslim teacher and
author has translated the Ramayana into Urdu
to spread the message of communal harmony
and brotherhood. It took her two years to complete the work. She
hoped more people from the Muslim community
would now become aware of the goodness of
Ramayana. Talat has written seven books
including 'Yadon ke jharokon se', 'Adabi-sangam',
'Gantav ki aor', 'Mukhrit hote shabd' and 'Main
bhi hazir tha wahan".
IPS officer Sundari Nanda becomes the first
woman DGP of the Union Territory
Puducherry. She assumed charge as Puducherry Director
General of Police on July 2, 2018.
Punjab state cabinet decided to recommend to
the Centre death penalty for drug peddlers
and smugglers on July 2, 2018.
This move was aimed to act as a deterrent to the
heinous crime, which was destroying the lives of
youth in Punjab and many other places.
The Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences
(MAIDS) under the Government of NCT of
Delhi has been ranked the ‗Best Dental College
in India‘ for the seventh year in a row out of
310 dental colleges. The institute is the first and only dental hospital
in India to be accredited by the National
Accreditation of Board for Hospitals and
Healthcare Providers (NABH).
The growth of eight core infrastructure
industries has dropped to 10-month low of
3.6% in May 2018 due to decline in production
of crude oil and natural gas according to Index
of Eight Core Industries released by Ministry
of Commerce and Industry. In India, there are eight core sectors comprising
of coal, crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery
products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.
This is the lowest growth rate since July 2017
when eight core infrastructure industries had
expanded by 2.9%. The growth rate recorded in
April 2018. The eight industries recorded 4.1%
growth compared to 3.3% in same period in 2017.
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India has agreed to provide tariff concessions
on 3,142 products to Asia Pacific Trade
Agreement (APTA) members, from July 1,
2018. The tariff concessions are implementation of
results of fourth round of negotiations under
APTA, which were formally concluded and
signed by the ministers of member countries
during meeting of APTA Ministerial Council in
January, 2017. APTA is an initiative under
United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN
ESCAP) for trade expansion through exchange of
tariff concessions among developing country
members of Asia Pacific Region.
The committee led by Punjab National Bank
Chairman Sunil Mehta has submitted its draft
report titled 'Sashakt' to the Finance Ministry
with a strategy to tackle stress in the banking
sector. The 'Sashakt' Report highlights nine guiding
principles aimed at the operational turnaround of
the banking sector in a manner that will create
jobs and enhance the value of public sector
banks. The Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal
on July 2, 2018 approved the Sunil Mehta
Committee‘s suggestions of a 5-pronged strategy
to tackle the Non-Performing Assets (NPA).
A single-umbrella e-marketing system named
Khadi Institution Management and
Information technology launched by the Khadi
and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in
New Delhi.
KIMIS will serve as in-house single umbrella
billing software for sale and purchase that could
be monitored, round-the-clock, from any part of
India. It has been developed by KVIC IT team.
The system can be accessed from anywhere in the
country for sale and purchase of Khadi and
Village Industries products.
Cvigil mobile application for citizens to report
any violation of the Model Code of Conduct
(MCC) during elections has been launched by
the Election Commission of India.
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At present its beta version has been released and
will be made available for use during forthcoming
Assembly elections Chhattisgarh, Madhya
Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan.
NITI Aayog in collaboration with various
ministries and industry partners announced to
organise ‗MOVE: Global Mobility Summit‘ in
New Delhi on September 7-8, 2018.
It will help drive Government‘s goals for vehicle
electrification, renewable energy integration and
job growth, thus, speeding up India‘s transition to
a clean energy economy.
The DNA Technology (Use and Application)
Regulation Bill 2018 approved by the Union
Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on July 4, 2018. The main objective behind the enactment of the
bill is to expand the application of DNA-based
forensic technologies to support and strengthen
the justice delivery system of the country. It states
that all DNA data, including DNA samples, DNA
profiles and records, will be only used for
identification of the person and not for any other
purpose.
A five-judge Supreme Court bench on July 4,
2018 unanimously held that the Lieutenant
Governor (LG) of Delhi is bound by the ―aid
and advice‖ of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) Government and both
have to work harmoniously with each other.
The Supreme Court refused to put a stay on
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular
prohibiting banks and financial institutions
from dealing in virtual currencies, thus
upholding the ban on the virtual currencies
such as Bitcoin. With this ruling, all virtual currency transactions
through banks would be blocked with effect from
July 6, 2018, thus, resulting in a ban.
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The Department of Environment's proposal
for a real-time study of air pollution in the
national capital has approved by the Delhi
Cabinet.
The project, to be completed within a period of
18 months from the date of award of the study,
has been granted to the Department of Energy,
Environmental and Chemical Engineering, the
University of Washington in the US on
nomination basis.
The Rajasthan government announced 1
percent reservation for five communities–
Gujjar, Banjara, Gadia-Lohar, Raika, and
Gadariya– under the Most Backward Classes
(MBC) category.
The move comes after Gujjar leaders threatened
to launch protests during PM Narendra Modi‘s
upcoming Jaipur visit.
Gujarat government decided to form a high
powered committee that will offer solutions for
imported coal fired power plants that are
underutilised due to viability issues.
The committee chaired by former Supreme Court
judge Justice RK Agrawal will look into the
possibility of ―contribution by each stakeholder
including banks, project developers and procurers
by way of concessions for mitigating hardship‖.
The committee will be assisted by SBI Capital
Markets Ltd and NTPC Ltd.
The continuance of 8 existing schemes of
Ministry of Home Affairs for relief and
rehabilitation of migrants and repatriates upto
March 2020 under Umbrella scheme Relief
and Rehabilitation of Migrants and
Repatriates has approved by the Union
Cabinet. The 8 schemes are i) Central Scheme for
Assistance to Civilian Victims, Family of Victims
of Terrorist, Communal, LWE Violence and
Cross Border Firing and Mine and IED blasts on
Indian Territory ii) Rehabilitation of Bru and
Reang families from Tripura to Mizoram iii)
Grant-in-Aid to Tripura Government for
maintenance of Brus lodged in relief camps of
Tripura iv) Grant of enhanced relief of Rs. 5.00
lakh per deceased person, who died during 1984
Anti-Sikh Riots v) Grant-in-Aid to Central
Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) for 5 years for
administrative and social welfare expenses of
Tibetan settlements vi) Central Assistance for
one-time settlement of displaced families from
Pak Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and
Chhamb settled in J&K vii) Relief assistance to
Sri Lankan refugees staying in camps in Tamil
Nadu and Odisha viii) Rehabilitation Package and
up-gradation of infrastructure of Bangladeshi
Enclaves and Cooch Behar District after transfer
of enclaves between India and Bangladesh under
Land Boundary Agreement (LBA). The schemes
will provide relief and rehabilitation assistance to
refugees, displaced persons, civilian victims of
terrorist, communal, Left Wing Extremism
(LWE) violence and cross border firing and mine
and IED blasts on Indian territory and riot victims
of various incidents etc.
CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411
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The proposal of renaming Agartala Airport in
Tripura as ‗Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya
Kishore Airport, Agartala was approved by
the Union Cabinet. He is considered the father of modern architecture
in Tripura, as entire planning of present-day
Tripura was initiated during his rule. He was the
king of Tripura from 1923 to 1947 before its
merger with India. Agartala Airport was
constructed in 1942 on the land donated by
Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya Kishore. Due to
his initiative, an aerodrome at Agartala w as
constructed that has evolved as second busiest
airport in North East and provides crucial air
connectivity to Tripura.
The creation of one post each of Vice-
Chairperson and Member in the National
Commission for Safai Karmacharis (NCSK)
has approved by the Union Cabinet. At present, it has sanctioned strength of four
members and a chairperson. With these posts,
sanctioned strength of NCSK will be one
Chairperson,one Vice-Chairperson and five
members. NCSK is statutory body established
under National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis Act, 1993.
India‘s accession to WIPO Copyright Treaty,
1996 and WIPO Performers and Phonograms
Treaty, 1996 which extends coverage of
copyright to the internet and digital
environment has approved by the Union
Cabinet. The approval is step towards objective laid in
National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy
adopted by Government which aims to get value
for IPRs through commercialization by providing
guidance and support to EPR (End Point
Royalties) owners about commercial
opportunities of e-commerce through Internet and
mobile platforms.
The proposal for expanding the scope of
Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA)
by tasking it to mobilise Rs 1,00,000 crore for
Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in
Education (RISE) by 2022 approved by the
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
July 4, 2018. The proposal also called for enhancing the capital
base of the Higher Education Financing Agency
to Rs 10,000 crore.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga
(NMCG) organised a workshop on
‗Collaboration for Ganga Rejuvenation‘ on
July 5, 2018 in New Delhi on the occasion of
the World Environment Day 2018. The workshop paved way for discussions over
issues including the urgent need for International
Cooperation for integrated water
management.During the event, DG, NMCG Rajiv
Ranjan Mishra while giving an overview of the
Namami Gange programme, talked about the
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paradigm shift that has been brought about by the
use of the Hybrid Annuity model in the waste
water sector by NMCG.
Do It Yourself (DIY)- an Online Guidance
System for determining notifiability of merger
& acquisitions (combinations) in terms of the
Competition Act, 2002 launched by the
Competition Commission of India (CCI) on
July 4, 2018. The online guidance system has been launched as
part of CCI‘s outreach initiatives and measures to
simplify compliance requirements regarding
combinations.
A list of fuels permissible for industrial use
within the National Capital Territory (NCT) of
Delhi notified by the Delhi Pollution Control
Committee (DPCC) a move which has been
hailed by the Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE). All existing industrial units and commercial
establishments who are currently using fuels that
are not approved under the notification
have been asked to switch over to the approved
fuels within 90 days.
A formal process to empanel public and
private hospitals to implement AB-NHPM, in
order to achieve universal health coverage
launched by the National Health Agency
(NHA), the apex body for the implementation
of Centre's ambitious Ayushman Bharat-
National Health Protection Mission (AB-
NHPM). The main objective is to improve medical access
for the most vulnerable sections of the population
and holistically address healthcare by covering
prevention, promotion and ambulatory care at
primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
The extension of scheme of recapitalization of
Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) for next three
years (upto 2019-20) has approved by the
Union Cabinet. The scheme of Recapitalization of RRBs was
started in 2010-11 and was extended twice in the
year 2012-13 and 2015-16. The last extension
was upto March 2017. This scheme will enable
RRBs to maintain minimum prescribed Capital to
Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9%. This
will facilitate financial stability of RRBs and
enable them to play greater role in financial
inclusion and meeting credit requirements of rural
areas. It will ensure strong capital structure and
minimum required level of CRAR.
The IBBI (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board
of India) notified the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency
Resolution Process for Corporate Persons)
(Third Amendment) Regulations, 2018 Revised norms for insolvency resolution process
paving the way for home buyers to seek relief as
financial creditors, detailing clear timelines to be
followed by resolution
professionals and permitting withdrawal of
insolvency applications, subject to certain
conditions.
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‗Sambal yojana‘ -an outstanding power bill
waiver scheme and subsidised power scheme
launched for labourers and poor families by
Madhya Pradesh state government on July 3,
2018.
The Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and
registered labourers of unorganised sector from
the state would be provided electricity at a cost of
Rs 200 per month under this scheme. The
beneficiaries will be provided with power free of
cost connection. People not using air-
conditioners, electric heaters and whose power
consumption is below 1000 watts would be
eligible for this scheme. So far, around 1 crore 83
lakh workers are registered under the scheme. In
case the bill is lower than Rs 200, beneficiaries
will have to pay actual bill amount and if bill
amount is crossing Rs 200 then, difference
amount will be subsidised by state government.
UNESCO delegation has entered into an
agreement with Andhra Pradesh Economic
Development Board (APEDB) is going to set
up ‗Design University for Gaming‘ in
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
For this UNESCO has requested State
Government to provide 100 acres of land in
Visakhapatnam for developing the city as
International Gaming and Digital Learning Hub.
It will help UNSECO to develop edutech gaming
in state, with the target of providing 50,000 jobs
in 10 years.
The Law Commission of India (LCI) has
recommended that gambling and betting on
sports be allowed as regulated activities in its
report ―Legal Framework: Gambling and
Sports Betting including Cricket in India‖.
It recommended number of changes in law for
regulating betting for making it taxable under
direct and indirect tax regimes and used as source
for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).
The entire animal kingdom i.e. all animals,
including avian and aquatic species as legal
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entities with rights, duties and liabilities of
living person .
This declaration was made by the Uttarakhand
High Court Bench consists of Justice Rajiv
Sharma and Justice Lok Pal.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Chief
Justice of India is the ‗Master of Roster‘ who
has the authority to decide on allocation of
cases.
The ruling was given by a bench comprising
Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM
Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud. CJI is an
individual judge and not the powerful collective
of five senior-most judges of Supreme Court
called the ‗Collegium‘. CJI has exclusive
authority to allocate cases to fellow judges and is
spokesperson of the court.
A mandatory dope test for all government
employees, including police personnel, from
the time of their recruitment through every
stage of their service has ordered by Punjab
CM Captain Amarinder Singh.
Drug screening will be mandatory in cases of
promotions, and also be a part of annual medical
examinations.
The study conducted by researchers from US
based Earth Institute, Columbia University
and Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
recommended that Indian farmers can make a
big switch from growing rice and wheat to
alternative cereals such as maize, sorghum and
millet
It could reduce demand for irrigation water by
33%. This could also improve nutritional
availability to consumers.
Satyarup Siddhanta has become second
Indian mountaineer after Malli Mastan Babu
to climb Mt Ojos del Salado (6893 m), the
highest volcano in the world.
He is certified mountaineer from Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling. He has
skied last degree to South Pole by covering
distance of 111 km. In December 2017 he
summited Vinson Massif, becoming only fifth
Indian civilian to complete the seven summits
(Messner‘s List).
India‘s most popular competitive exams, Joint
Entrance Examination (JEE) (Main) and
National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET)
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will now be held twice a year and over multiple
days. This announcement was announced by the Union
Ministry of Human Resource Development
(HRD). Both exams will be conducted by newly
formed National Testing Agency (NTA). It will
also conduct National Eligibility Test (NET).
The 67th plenary meeting of North Eastern
Council (NEC) chaired by Union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh was recently held in
Shillong, Meghalaya.
The meeting was attended by Union Minister of
Development of NER and Governors and Chief
Ministers of the north-eastern States. The meeting
discussed development projects of Northeast
States.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has granted
Status of Revenue Village to three villages
inhabited by the Tongia Scheduled Tribe in
and around forests in Saharanpur district
under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA). The granting of Revenue Status to villages means
that these villages will now come under the
revenue department instead of forest department.
The Forest Rights Act, 2006 has a provision for
turning forest villages into revenue villages so
that civic facilities reach these areas. These
villages are - Kaluwala, Sodhinagar and
Bhagwatpur.
The Himachal Pradesh government issued a
fresh notification banning the use of thermocol
cutlery across the state on July 7, 2018. This announcement was made by state‘s Chief
Minister Jai Ram Thakur on the occasion of the
World Environment Day on June 5. The
government has issued fresh notification
reiterating that no person including shopkeepers,
vendors, wholesalers, retailers, hawkers,
rehriwalas will use thermocol cutlery in any form
manufactured from non-biodegradable material as
listed in Schedule under Himachal Pradesh Non-
Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 1995.
The Haryana government announced on July
7, 2018 that it has decided to enrol family
members of nomadic tribes so no person living
in the state remain deprive of an Aadhaar
card. Under the campaign, 20 Aadhaar enrolment kits
would be provided in the three sub-divisions of
Gurugram to all nomadic tribe 'bastis'. A special
enrolment campaign for nomadic tribes is being
run till July 10 in all 22 districts.
The Telangana government has allotted 200
acres to three different women entrepreneurs'
associations in the state. It has allocated 50 acres to FLO at Sultanpur, 30
acres to Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs
(COWE) at Toopran and 120 acres to the
Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India
(ALEAP) and also 10 per cent of land in all the
140 various industrial parks in the state are
earmarked for women entrepreneurs.
The Haryana Excise and Taxation Department
has identified a total of 6,091 value-added tax
(VAT) dealers in the state having arrears over
Rs 5 lakh and uploaded the photographs of the
defaulters on its website. The action has been taken on the directions of the
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the report
of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)
2012-13. It was also suggested by the PAC that
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the names of these defaulters should be published
in the newspapers.
Six global aircraft manufacturers have
responded Indian Air Force‘s (IAF) Request
for Information (RFI) to supply
110 fighter aircrafts to replace its ageing fleet
of MiG-21s and MiG-27s, which are being
phased out of service.
The bids now will be evaluated after which IAF
will issue Request For Proposal (RFP) with exact
specifications of aircraft to be procured. The RFP
is expected by early 2019. It has not specified
exact requirement of fighter jets, opening up
contest to both single-and twin-engine jets.
National Information Security Policy and
Guidelines (NISPG) will be upgrading by the
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
To secure government data and control access to
it inorder to prevent sensitive information making
its way to internet. The upgraded and updated
policy will cover issues pertaining to the Official
Secrets Act.
IFFCO (Indian Farmers Fertiliser
Cooperative Limited) has entered into
strategic partnership with two leading South
Korean firms LS Mtron Ltd, a South Korean agriculture
equipment manufacturer and NH Capital co. Ltd.,
South Korea‘s leading financial services
provider) to explore business opportunities in
agri-machinery and farm credit sectors. Under
this strategic partnership, IFFCO together
South Korean firms will explore business
opportunities involving supply, sales and
distribution of agricultural machinery and finance
to fulfil the market demand in India.
Gujarat became third state in India to grant
religious minority status to Jews after West
Bengal and Maharashtra. In this regard, State‘s Department of Social
Justice and Empowerment has issued GR to this
effect.
Institution of Eminence (IoE) status to six
educational institutions which includes 3
Institutions from Public Sector and 3 from
Private Sector has granted by the Union
Ministry of Human Resource Development
(HRD). Public Sector institutes are Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), Bengaluru (Karnataka); Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay
(Maharashtra) and IIT, Delhi. Private Sector
institutes include Birla Institute of Technology &
Sciences, Pilani (Rajashtan); Manipal Academy
of Higher Education, Manipal (Karnataka) and
proposed Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation in
Pune (Maharashtra) under Green Field Project.
They were selected by Empowered Expert
Committee headed by former Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) N Gopalaswami.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was
signed with Korea Trade-Investment
Promotion Agency (KOTRA) by Gujarat
Government‘s Industries and Mines
Department with aim to recognize mutual desire to further
enhance and strengthen India (Gujarat) and South
Korea trade and industrial investment relations
and encourage ongoing dialogue and cooperation.
KOTRA is national trade and investment
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promotion organisation operated by South Korea
Government.
The Eat Right Movement‘- a national
campaign to improve public health and
combat lifestyle diseases has launched by the
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI). FSSAI also launched Eat Right tool kit and Safe
and Nutritious Food at Workplace campaign. The
kit aims serve as supplementary engagement
resource to be mainstreamed in national nutrition
and public health programmes at grassroots level
Safe and Nutritious Food at Workplace campaign
is nation-wide campaign to help people eat safe,
eat healthy and eat right at their workplaces. It
promotes safe and healthy diets through The
Orange Book (its resource book) and through
FSSAI-trained Food Safety Supervisors (FSS)
and Health and Wellness Coordinators (HWC) at
every workplace across the country.
The India-Korea Technology Exchange Centre
was inaugurated at National Small Industries
Corporation premises in New Delhi
By Minister of State (I/C) MSME Giriraj Singh
and Minister of SMEs and Start-ups of South
Korea, Hong Jong- hak. The purpose of centre is
to create platform for MSMEs of India and South
Korea where they can be assisted to identify and
exchange latest technologies, share management
expertise, product development and technology
applications for product development.
Andhra Pradesh Government has launched 60
Anna Canteens across the state in the first
phase to provide subsidised food to urban
poor. They will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner at
Rs 5 a meal. They will be run by Akshaya Patra
Foundation. The first Anna Canteen named
former undivided Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
N T Rama Rao was launched in March 2016. It
was opened on pilot basis close to Government
Transitional Headquarters at Velgapudi in
Amaravati.Note : Tamil Nadu is first state to
launch ‗Amma‘ canteens in February 2013 in
Chennai. It success had inspired other states to
adopt the concept of subsidised food canteens.
Rajasthan (Annapurna Rasoi Yojana), Madhya
Pradesh (Deendayal canteens), Delhi (Aam
Aadmi canteens), Odisha, and Karnataka have
started their own versions of subsidised food
canteens.
The Lining Project of Son canal in Shahabad-
Bhojpur region of Bihar has approved by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB). This project on completion will bring immense
benefits to agriculture sector of Shahabad –
Bhojpur region of Bihar. The estimated cost of
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this project is US $503 million (Rs 3272.49 crore)
out of which US $352 million is being provided
by ADB.
India was ranked 57th among 130 countries
according to the recently released Global Innovation Index (GII) 2018.
This year, India has moved up 3 places as
compared to 60th rank in GII 2017 and emerged
as top-ranked economy in Central and South
Asia. Top 10 countries includes Switzerland (1),
Netherland (2), Sweden (3), UK (4), Singapore
(5), USA (6), Finland (7), Denmark (8), Germany
(9) and Ireland (10) Italy.It was 11th edition of
GII and was jointly released by Cornell
University, INSEAD and World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO).
India was formally inducted as 69th
shareholder of European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
after entire membership process completed
recently After EBRD‘s board of governors, which
represents all existing shareholders voted
unanimously in favour of India‘s application in
March 2018. India had applied for EBRD
membership in December 2017.
India has become world‘s sixth-biggest
economy surpassing France to seventh place
according to updated World Bank figures on
GDP of countries for 2017. India‘s gross
domestic product (GDP) amounted to $2.597
trillion at the end of 2017, as against $2.582
trillion for France.
At end of 2017, United States was world‘s largest
economy with size of US $19.39 trillion,
followed by China (US $12.23 trillion) at the
second place. Japan (US $4.87 trillion) and
Germany (US $3.67 trillion) are at third and
fourth places, respectively. Britain is still world‘s
fifth-biggest economy with a GDP of $2.622
trillion.
Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (
Urban), over 51 lakh houses have been
approved by the Union Ministry of Housing
and Urban Affairs. It is new version of Prime Minister‘s Housing For
All by 2022 vision. It aims provide affordable
houses to all poor in urban areas by 2022. Out of
51 lakh sanctioned houses, over 28 lakhs houses
are already in various stages of construction.
Over 8 lakh houses have already been completed.
Global Housing Construction Technology
Challenge is going to launch by the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) as part
of technology sub-mission of Pradhan Mantri
Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U). Through this global challenge, MoHUA will
invite ideas for innovative technologies for mass
housing projects that can help build houses faster,
cheaper and of better quality with sustainable
green materials. Four parameters in challenge are
time, cost, quality, and sustainability. The
winning technologies will be used to build 1,000
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houses, multi-storey or otherwise, depending on
area type, in each of these places.
The first India Tourism Mart (IMT) organized
by Ministry of Tourism in partnership with
Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism
and Hospitality (FAITH) will be held in New
Delhi from 16 September 2018 to create a
global tourism mart for India on lines of major
international travel marts. It will provide platform for all stakeholders in
tourism and hospitality industries to interact and
transact business opportunities.
The threshold monetary limit for tax
departments has hiked by the Union Finance
Ministry to file appeals all three levels of
appeal — Appellate Tribunals,
High Courts, and Supreme Court. The move is aimed at significantly decreasing
taxpayer greivances and litigation burden of tax
departments in courts and tribunals across the
country. Under new limits tax departments CBDT
and CBIC can file appeals in ITAT/CESTAT
only if the tax amount involved is Rs 20 lakh or
more, up from Rs 10 lakh at present.The new
threshold limits will result in 41% reduction
litigation from CBDT‘s side, including 34% cases
in ITAT, 48% of cases in case of High Courts and
54% of cases in case of Supreme Court.
Similarly, in case of CBIC, it will result in
reduction in 18% of cases as 16% of cases will
be withdrawn in CESTAT, 22% in High Courts,
and 21% in Supreme Court. This decision will
give relief to taxpayers.
The factory output measured in terms of the
Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has
slipped to seven-month low of 3.2% in May
2018 according to the data released by the
Central Statistics Office (CSO). It was mainly due to sluggish performance of
manufacturing and power sectors coupled with
poor off take of fast moving consumer goods
(FMCG).
A first consolidated Bridge Management
System (IR-BMS), a web-enabled IT
application to store data on its 1.5 lakh bridges
has launched by Indian Railways.
It is web-based platform that will show bridge
master data, works data, information regarding
inspection and monitoring and maintenance of
bridges and other essentials.
Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018 (SSG
2018)- a rural cleanliness survey to rank all
states and districts on basis of qualitative and
quantitative evaluation has launched by Union
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
(MDWS) in New Delhi.
The criteria of SSG-2018 include survey of public
places, citizens‘ perspective of cleanliness, their
recommendations and data from SBM-G. As part
of it, 6,980 villages in 698 districts across India
will be covered. The
SSG 2018 will be conducted by independent
survey agency in all districts from 1st to 31st
August 2018. It will also take feedback from over
50 lakh citizens on SBM related issues through
direct interaction as well as online feedback. The
top performing states and districts are expected to
be awarded on 2nd October 2018.
A draft fee regulation to put in place uniform
fee framework to check frequent and arbitrary
increases in school fees by unaided private
schools has made by the National Commission
for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). It proposes 10% yearly cap on the fee hike
permissible by private, unaided schools. It
suggests setting up district fee regulatory
authority in states. It will recommend these draft
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regulations to Union Ministry of Human
Resource Development (HRD).
An order allowing photography within
premises of protected monuments and sites has
issued by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI). Under the new order, photography will
be allowed within premises of Centrally
protected monuments maintained and
managed by ASI.
However photography will remain prohibited
near Ajanta Caves, Leh Palace (both housing
paintings that can be damaged by camera flash)
and mausoleum of Taj Mahal. The order was
issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi
questioned ASI‘s rules prohibiting visitors from
taking photographs at certain monuments while
inaugurating ASI‘s new headquarters Dharohar
Bhawan in Delhi‘s Tilak Marg area.
A high-level task force under Chairmanship of
Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha to identify
various items and policy interventions to
reduce dependence on imports has constituted
by the Union Government. It will suggest ways to cut import of those items
which can be manufactured or explored in the
country.
India becomes world‘s fifth largest area
cultivated under genetically modified (GM)
crops in 2017 with 11.4 million hectares (mh)
according to the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications
(ISAAA) latest ‗Global Status of
Commercialized Biotech/ GM Crops in 2017
report. United States has highest area under transgenic
crops, at 75 mh. It is followed by Brazil (50.2
mh), Argentina‘s (23.6 mh) and Canada (13.1
mh). India‘s entire GM crop area is under single
crop BT Cotton incorporating genes from
Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt soil bacterium coding
for resistance against heliothis bollworm insect
pests.
A fortnightly video contest ―Jal Bachao, Video
Banao, Puruskar Pao‖ has launched by the
Union Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
For running this contest, Ministry has joined
hands with MyGov portal (www.mygov.in). The
contest will last till 4th November 2018 and three
winners will be chosen every fortnight. In this
contest, participants can make and upload videos
by capturing efforts, significant contributions,
best practices in the field of water conservation,
water resource development and management and
optimum water utilization in different parts of the
country. They can also submit any innovative
advertisement or commercial on water
Conservation. It should be uploaded on YouTube
and share publicly accessible link of it on video
link section of MyGov contest page. The prize
amount for first, second and third positions is Rs
25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively.
A MoU has signed by Indian Army with State
bank of India (SBI) on Defence Salary
Package. Currently Indian Army has MoUs on Defence
Salary Package with 11 public and private sector
banks. These MoUs are considered for inception
and renewal with banks on analyzing their utility
and suitability to requirements of serving soldiers,
pensioners and families.
The new headquarters building of the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI
‗Dharohar Bhawan‘ has inaugurated by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at 24, Tilak Marg in
New Delhi. It houses Central Archaeological Library, with a
collection of 1.5 lakh books and journals. It
houses authentic records related to archaeology,
such as ASI reports, etc., diary of Alexander
Cunningham (founder of ASI), John Marshall,
etc. It also has original collection of religious
books and books on cultural heritage of India,
such as sacred books on Hindus, Manusmiti,
Kautilya‘s Arthasastra.
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United States President Donald Trump has
invited to be the chief guest at 2019 Republic
Day celebrations by the Union Government. If President Trump accepts the invitation, he will
be second serving US President after Barack
Obama to be invited as chief guest of Republic
Day Parade. It will indicate importance of the
Indo-U.S. relationship
The Bansagar canal project (171 km long) has
inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Bansagar Dam project is a joint venture (JV)
between Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar Governments. It is multipurpose river valley project built on Son
River situated in Ganges Basin in Madhya
Pradesh. The canal network will bring waters
from Shahdol district in Madhya Pradesh for
Adwa Barrage, Meza Dam and Jirgo reservoir.
PM also laid foundation stone of Mirzapur
Medical College. He also inaugurated 100
Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras and bridge
over Ganga River at Balughat, Chunar, which
will facilitate connectivity between Mirzapur and
Varanasi.
Former MP Ram Shakal, RSS ideologue
Rakesh Sinha, classical dancer Sonal
Mansingh and stone artist Raghunath
Mohapatra has nominated as members of
Rajya Sabha by President Ram Nath Kovind
as per Article 80(1)(a) of the Constitution. Prior to these four nominations, there were eight
nominated members in Rajya Sabha.
India became Vice-Chair or regional head of
Asia Pacific Region of the World Customs
Organisation (WCO) for two years from July
2018 to June 2020. By becoming Vice Chair, India will be able to
take up leadership role at the WCO.
The Goa IT Policy 2018 was unveiled at the
Inox complex in Panaji on July 15, 2018, on
the final day of Goa IT Day celebrations by the
Union minister for electronics, IT and law &
justice Ravi Shankar Prasad. The Goa IT Policy focuses on infrastructure
development, fiscal incentives, governance and
human resource development. The policy offers
special incentives for solar power-based units,
internet subsidy and assistance for campus
recruitment. Besides, there is a special provision
for capital investment subsidy for the people of
Goa.
A 10 Member Committee to review the penal
provisions in the Companies Act, 2013
has constituted by the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs (MCA). The Commerce Ministry seeks to review offences
under the Companies Act, 2013, as some of the
offences may be required to be decriminalised
and handled in an in-house mechanism, where a
penalty could be levied in instances of default.
The decision will allow the trial courts to pay
more attention on offences of serious nature.
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The Life Insurance Corporation of India's
(LIC's) board has approved acquiring up to 51
per cent stake in state-run IDBI Bank.
Since Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India (IRDAI) has already given its
approval to LIC for the stake purchase, the
corporation will now approach the regulator for
the securities market India, Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI).Till end of June
2018, LIC owned about 8 per cent of IDBI Bank,
while the federal government owned 86 per cent.
NMCG Organised ―Ganga Vriksharopan
Abhiyan‖ in Five Ganga Basin States
On July 19, 2018, National Mission for Clean
Ganga (NMCG) organised ―Ganga
Vriksharopan Abhiyan‖ in five main stem
Ganga basin states – Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
9th
July to 15th
July 2018 was observed as
‗Shubharambh Saptah‘ .
Chhattisgarh: CM Raman Singh launches
online pension system ‗Aabhar-Aapki seva ka‘
On July 19, 2018, Chhattisgarh CM Raman
Singh launched an online portal and mobile app
called ‗Aabhaar-Aapki seva ka‘ for the online
pensioners of the state.
i. This
would be implemented by Online Pension
Management System.
80,000 pensioners would get information related
to pension through the app and portal.
Pensioners will get the benefit of senior pension
with the State government‘s 7th pay scale before
January 1, 2016.
According to which an increased Basic Pension
of 2.57 per cent would be received by them.
This online management system has been
prepared by the Department of Finance for the
pensioners by the Directorate of Funds, Accounts
and Pension.
This will entail an additional expenditure of Rs
500 crore on the State Government.
Additionally, the Gratuity of officers-employees
had been hiked from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
Udaipur ranked 3rd among world‘s best cities
for second successive year: Travel + Leisure
On July 19, 2018, According to Travel +
Leisure‘s World‘s Best Cities report, The city
of Udaipur has ranked 3rd
among the 15 of the
world‘s best cities.
The top 2 cities are both in Mexico: San Miguel
de Allende and Oaxaca.
The ranks were given based on sights and
landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness,
shopping, and overall value.
Earlier in 2009 it has ranked 1st in the list making
it ‗best city in the world to visit‘. And
in 2017 also it has received the 3rd
rank.
Nicknames of Udaipur: City of Lakes,
Venice of the East.
Infosys Foundation, Bangalore Metro sign
MoU for construction of a station at
Konappana.Agrahara
On 19th
July 2018, Infosys Foundation signed a
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Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited
(BMRCL) for the construction of a station
at Konappana Agrahara in Electronics
City,Bengaluru.
All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) & IIT
Delhi sign MOU to give scientific validation to
Ayurveda
On July 17, 2018, IIT Delhi signed an agreement
with All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) to
launch projects to give scientific validation to the
ancient medical science of Ayurveda and
integrate it with technology.
Nitin Gadkari launches development projects
worth over Rs 5000 crore in MadhyaPradesh
On July 23 2018, Road Transport and Highways
Minister Nitin Gadkari launched the foundation
for National Highways projects in Guna district
of Madhya Pradesh.
The total project worths over Rs 5485 Crores.
He laid the foundation stone for 5 NH projects of
total length 226 km, worth Rs 3583 Crore and
also inaugurated 188 km of NH projects worth
Rs 1902 Crores.
Regional Rail Training Institute inaugurated
at Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh On 22
nd July 2018, Minister of State for
Railways Manoj Sinha inaugurated Regional Rail
Training Institute (RRTI) in Ghazipur,
UttarPradesh. The Rail Training Institute (RRTI) was
inaugurated with an aim to strengthen the
expertise and capabilities of the employees of
North-Eastern Railways.
He also inaugurated the newly constructed
washing pit at Ghazipur City station.
Manoj Sinha said that, the RRTI was constructed
within stipulated time. It will highly boost the
development of the area.
Lok Sabha passes National Council for
Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017
On 23rd
July 2018, the Lok Sabha passed the
National Council for Teacher Education
(Amendment) Bill 2017 to grant retrospective
recognition to Central/State institutions that are
conducting teacher education courses without
NCTE approval.
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‘#Childline1098‘ Contest- ‗Spot the Logo and
Suggest a Tagline‘ launched by Ministry of
Women and Child Development On July 24, 2018, To mark World Day against
Trafficking in Persons on July 30, The Ministry of
Women and Child Development launched a
contest named – ― #Childline1098‖.
3 states UP, Jharkhand and Maharashtra
launched SwachhSurvekshan Grameen
2018
On July 24, 2018, 3 states namely, UP,
Jharkhand and Maharashtra launched the
Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018
(SSG 2018) announced by the Ministry of
Drinking Water and Sanitation on July
13th, 2018.
A MoU signed amongst BRICS Nations (viz.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)
has approved by the Union Cabinet on
Regional Aviation Partnership Cooperation.
The areas of cooperation under MoU are public
policies and best practices in regional services;
airport infrastructure management and air
navigation Services; regional airports; technical
cooperation between regulatory agencies;
innovation; environment sustainability;
deliberation of global initiatives; Qualification
and Training and other fields as mutually
determined.
Committee to review offences under
Companies Act.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has
constituted a 10 Member Committee for review
of the penal provisions in the Companies Act,
2013. This Panel, headed by the Secretary of
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, is expected to
examine ‗de-criminalization‘ of certain offences.
The MCA seeks to review offences under the
Companies Act, 2013 as some of the offences
may be required to be decriminalized and
handled in an in-house mechanism. The
Committee shall submit its report within thirty
days to the Central Government for
consideration.
Secretary of Ministry of Corporate Affairs-
Injeti Srinivas
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As a part of commemoration of 150th birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to be
observed in 2019, the grant of Special
Remission to Prisoners has been approved by
the Union Cabinet.
The following five categories of prisoners will be
considered for special remission.
Women and Transgender convicts (55 years of
age and above and who have completed 50% of
their actual sentence period).
Male convicts (60 years of age and above and
who have completed 50% of their actual sentence
period).
Physically challenged/disabled convicts (convicts
with 70% disability and more and who have
completed 50% of their actual sentence period).
Terminally ill convicts.
Convicted prisoners who have completed two-
third (66%) of their actual sentence period.
A bill providing for stringent punishment,
including death penalty, for those convicted of
raping girls below the age of 12 years has
cleared by the Union Cabinet.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced
that the bill will be introduced in the ongoing
Monsoon Session of Parliament.
National Database of Arms Licenses system is
going to create by Union Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) from April 2019.
The move is aimed at keeping tab on
authorised private gun holders, many of whom are
often found involved in crimes and celebratory
firing leading to loss of lives. It will include
names of all arms licence holders, new or old and
they will be issued a unique identification number
(UIN). Any arms licence without UIN will be
considered invalid.
The assent for Assam Witch Hunting
(Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill,
2015 passed by State Assembly in August 2015
has given by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The law aims to eliminate superstition from
society by making such offences under it as non-
bailable, non-compoundable and cognizable.
A MoU has signed with Saab (Swedish
aerospace and defence firm) by Bharat
Electronics Ltd (BEL) for jointly marketing
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L-Band 3D air surveillance radar (RAWL-03)
which is co-developed by the companies.
RAWL-03 is long range air surveillance radar for
early detection and tracking of air and surface
targets. Its system is based on state-of-the-art
GAN TR module technology and incorporates
the latest signal processing techniques. It can be
fitted in both ship-borne and land-based
configurations.
Elphinstone Road suburban railway station in
Mumbai, Maharashtra was renamed to
Prabhadevi Station in honour of local deity
Prabhadevi by Western Railways.
The station code of Prabhadevi station will be
PBHD. The station was initially named after
Lord Elphinstone, who was Governor of Bombay
Presidency from 1853 to 1860.
A MoU to enhance research in the field of
Ayurveda was signed between All India
Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and IIT (Indian
Institute of Technology)-Delhi on sidelines of
two-day conference on ‗Raising towards
Excellence‘ held at New Delhi.
As of part of MoU, AIIA will invite
technological experts from IIT Delhi for research
in ancient Indian medicine. It was the idea of
Ministry of AYUSH to utilize technological
expertise of IIT Delhi for further research in
ancient Indian medicine. IIT Delhi does not have
medical facility and has lined up 10 projects in
Ayurveda research.
A draft amendment to Central Motor Vehicles
Rules, 1989
Making Vehicle Tracking System device and
FASTags mandatory for all commercial vehicles
obtaining national permit has been issued by
Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
(MoRTH).
‗Paudhagiri campaign‘- an unique program to
increase green cover in the state has launched
by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar by planting ‗maulsari‘ sapling in Tau
Devi Lal Sports Complex premises of
Gurugram.
Under this campaign, 22 lakh students studying
in Class 6th to 12th of all government and private
schools will plant sapling each, during three
month s of monsoon(July,August and
September). State forest department will provide
sapling to every student. The campaign aims
increase green cover in the state, help in
stabilising environment and improve overall
climatic conditions, thus help in checking global
warming. State Government will give incentive
of Rs 50 in every six months from government,
after student upload his selfie with his or her
plant on App planted by him or her. Student will
get total Rs 300 in three years for looking after
sapling.
The trials of US-made M777 ultralight
howitzer is going to resume by Indian Army
in the Pokhran firing range, Rajasthan.
M777 is 155-mm, 39-calibre towed artillery gun.
It is manufactured by US based BAE Systems‘
Global Combat Systems division.
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World‘s first remotely operable LEAP
microscope has commissioned by the Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras. LEAP is high-performance microscope that can
provide a precise atom-by-atom view of
materials. It provides atomic-scale insights into
metallic, which will influence wide spectrum of
industries ranging from steel to automobiles and
energy to transportation sector.
A MoU signed amongst BRICS Nations (viz.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)
has approved by the Union Cabinet on
Regional Aviation Partnership Cooperation. The areas of cooperation under MoU are public
policies and best practices in regional services;
airport infrastructure management and air
navigation services; regional airports; technical
cooperation between regulatory agencies;
innovation; environment sustainability;
deliberation of global initiatives; Qualification
and Training and other fields as mutually
determined.
The Supreme Court on July 18, 2018 observed
that banning the entry of women in Kerala‘s
Sabarimala temple by the temple authorities
is unconstitutional and questioned the
authorities regarding the same. The court stated that women have the right to
enter and pray like men at the Sabarimala temple
in Kerala as the fundamental right of freedom to
practice religion is provided to all persons by the
Constitution.
The Requisitioning and Acquisition of
Immovable Property (Amendment) Bill,
2017 seeks to amend the regulations governing
the compensation payable for acquisition of
immovable property by the Centre for defence
and security purposes passed by the Parliament.
A bill to amend the Right to Education (RTE)
Act to abolish the 'no detention policy' in
schools was passed in the Lok Sabha on July
18, 2018.
Under the current provisions of the RTE Act, no
student can be detained till class 8 and all
students are promoted to the next grade.
The 10th edition of the Delhi Dialogue got
underway in New Delhi on July 19, 2018.
The theme for this year is 'Strengthening India-
ASEAN Maritime Co-operation'. This will be the
first major event to be organised after the
ASEAN-India commemorative Summit, which
was held in New Delhi in January 2018.
The Rajya Sabha Chamber has become Wi-
Fi-enabled.
This announcement was made by Chairman M
Venkiah Naidu in the House during the Zero
Hour , he added that members can now browse
all the government websites including that of
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Parliament. This facility is accessible on all the
mobile phones, tablets, Laptops.
The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018
was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 18,
2018. The offences involving 100 crore rupees or more
will fall under its purview. The bill has been
brought to help the government in confiscating
properties of economic offenders who have
absconded the country to avoid prosecution.
A financial assistance of 300 crore rupees to
the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi for
effective solid waste management and dust
control has sanctioned by the Centre. The orders for various projects worth 236 crores
were issued and the North and East MCDs were
asked to prepare other proposals worth 64
crores. The execution of proposals was on fast-
track so that there was effective implementation
of solid waste management. This announcement
was made by Union Housing and Urban Affairs
Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra in New Delhi.
A MoU was signed with the Bangalore Metro
Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) by
Infosys Foundation for the construction of a
station at Konappana Agrahara in Electronics
City, Bengaluru. As per the MoU, the station will be
named Infosys Foundation – Konappana
Agrahara Metro Station. The station will be
developed on an area of more than 2 lakh square
feet. An area of 3,000 square feet within the
station will be dedicated to Infosys Foundation.
Infosys Foundation has committed to maintain it
for the next 30 years. The roof of the station will
be designed to support solar panels that will offer
power for lighting. The station would be
operational by 2021.
A remote sensing instrument- LiDAR for
assessment of offshore wind resource at Gulf
of Khambat, off the Gujarat Coast has
installed by the National Institute of Wind
Energy (NIWE). A total of 31.67 GW of renewable energy
capacity has been installed through
implementation of various renewable energy
programmes in the past 3 years and current year
(up to June 2018) in India including Uttarakhand.
Combined Task Force (CTF 151) led by
Commander Rear Admiral Saw Shi Tat of the
Singapore Navy visited Indian Naval Ship Teg
in Djibouti to carry out anti-piracy
operations.
Discussions on various aspects of anti-piracy
operations including CTF 151 modus
operandi were made. The Indian Ambassador to
Ethiopia, Anurag Srivastav, and Nalin Kothari,
Consulate General, Djibouti, also visited the
ship. The Indian Navy has been participating in
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the anti-piracy operation by sending ships to Gulf
of Aden.
India‘s first National Skill Training Institute
(NSTI) for Women Launched by Dharmendra
Pradhan in Mohali. On July 29, 2018, The Union Minister
for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill
Development &Entrepreneurship Shri
Dharmendra Pradhan, laid the foundation
stone of National Skill Training Institute
(NSTI) for Women at Mohali, Punjab.
Mumbai Weather Live : a mobile application
that to provide information on extreme
weather events in Mumbai launched by The
Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). On July 29, 2018, The Union Ministry of Earth
Sciences (MoES) launched a mobile application
named Mumbai Weather Live that will provide
information on extreme weather events
in Mumbai.
Manipur hosts 11th state-level pineapple
festival cum Sellers & Buyers Meet and Youth
Festival, 2018
On 14th
to 19th
July 2018, the 11th state-level
pineapple festival cum Sellers & Buyers Meet
and Youth Festival, 2018, was held in
Thambalnu Market Complex under Andro
constituency in Thoubal district of Manipur.
Odisha government approved a proposal for
setting up a riverine port on river Mahanadi
in Kendrapara district On 28
th July 2018, Odisha government approved
a proposal for setting up a riverine port on river
Mahanadi in Kendrapara district, Odisha.
Odisha to implement its own food security act
from Oct 2, 2018
On July 29, 2018, Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik announced that the state
government would implement its own food
security act from October 2 . PM Modi‘s 2 day Visit to Uttar Pradesh: PM
launches 81 projects worth Rs 60,000 crore
Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his 2
day tour of Uttar Pradesh from July 28-
29th
2018. he was welcomed by Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
The Prime Minister inaugurated 81 investment
projects worth Rs 60,000 crore in Lucknow.
ii. The Prime Minister laid the foundation of
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India‘s first Mobile Open Exchange Zone
(MOX) at World Trade Centre, Noida
Rs.215 crore project of Meghalaya Milk
Mission launched in Shillong by Union Minister
for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Radha
Mohan Singh
On July 30, 2018, Union Minister for Agriculture
and Farmers Welfare Radha Mohan Singh
launched the Rs. 215 crore Meghalaya Milk
Mission in Shillong through National Cooperative
Development Corporation (NCDC).
A High Level Empowered Committee headed
by Cabinet Secretary set up to address stressed
thermal power assets On July 30, 2018, Government set up a High
Level Empowered Committee headed by Cabinet
Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha to address the
issues of Stressed Thermal Power Projects.
Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF)
in Finance Ministry domain: President‘s order
On July 30, 2018, Central Road and
Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) has been taken away
from the Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways and brought under the domain of
the Finance Ministry.
It will now be under the Department of Economic
Affairs (DEA), Finance Ministry.This move
would use proceeds of the road less under CRIF to
finance other infrastructure projects like
waterways, railway infrastructure etc. Unified Commanders‘ Conference (UCC) 2018
in New Delhi
On 30th
and 31st July 2018, Unified Commanders‘
Conference (UCC) 2018 is held in New Delhi.
2nd Conference of Young Superintendent of
Police held in New Delhi
On 26th
July 2018, Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh, inaugurated the 2nd Conference
of Young Superintendent of Police, organized
by Bureau of Police Research & Development
(BPR&D), in New Delhi.
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Fortnight celebration of Swachhta Pakhwada
across the country by Ministry of Petroleum &
Natural Gas
On July 31, 2018, Ministry of Petroleum &
Natural Gas (MoPNG), Oil & Gas CPSEs and
its offices celebrated Swachhta Pakhwada
from 1st
to 15th
July, 2018.
The theme of MoPNG initiatives in this Pakhwada
were ―Innovation‖ and ―Sustainability‖.
Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri
Dharmendra Pradhan led a cleaning drive
in Satyanagar, Bharatpur and
Khandagiri areas of Bhubaneswar which have
been adopted by Indian Oil .
Union Ministry of Earth Science unveils
blueprint of Deep Ocean Mission for
exploration
On July 31, 2018, The Union Ministry of Earth
Science unveiled a blueprint of Deep Ocean
Mission (DOM) to explore deep ocean.
To promote exploration in the deep ocean to meet
energy requirements of India.
E-Aksharayan a desktop software to enable
editing of text printed on scanned documents
launched by IT Ministry
On July 31, 2018, The IT ministry launched a
desktop software e-Aksharayan in a
conference for Indian Languages Technology
Industry ‗Bhashantara‘, in New Delhi.
SBI raises retail fixed deposit rates by 5-10 bps
with effect from 30th
July 2018.
On July 31, 2018, State Bank of India raised its
interest rates on fixed deposits by 5-10 basis
points on deposits of below Rs 1 crore.
This will be effective from 30th
July 2018.
These changes will apply to senior citizens as
well.
Interest rates on recurring deposits of SBI are the
same as that on FDs.
GDP predicted to go from 7.8% (April-June)
to 7.2% in second half of 2018: Nomura
On July 31, 2018, According to Nomura , GDP
growth to peak to 7.8% in April-June quarter
and then moderate to 7.2 per cent in the second
half of 2018.
This is owing to tighter financial conditions,
slowing global growth and adverse terms of trade.
The GDP growth was at 7.7 per cent in January-
March quarter 2018.
Also global oil prices and higher minimum
support prices predict a hike of 25 basis
points rate hike in August in the RBI‘s third bi
monthly meeting to be held in August 1,2018.
Reserve Bank of India had increase its retail
inflation projection by 0.30 per cent.
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INTERNATIONAL
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won
Mexico‘s presidency in a landslide victory
on July 1, 2018
setting the stage for the left-wing to form the
government at a time of tense relations with the
Trump administration.
The 5th Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) intersessional
ministerial meeting co-chaired by
Singapore‘s Minister of Trade and Industry
Chan Chun Sing and his Japanese
counterpart Hiroshige Seko was held in
Tokyo, Japan. It was first RCEP ministerial gathering to be
held outside ASEAN countries. RCEP is a
proposed proposed free trade agreement (FTA)
or comprehensive regional economic
integration agreement between the 10-ASEAN
countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand, Vietnam) and its six FTA partners
(Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan
and Korea).
The United Nations has placed Colombia's
Chiribiquete national park on its list of
world heritage sites. It is the ninth site in Colombia to be given
world heritage status. The park, which
straddles the southern provinces of Caquetá
and Guaviare, is the country's largest and has
one of the highest rates of plant diversity in the
northern Amazon.
North Korea and South Korea on July 1,
2018 reopened a maritime communication
channel for the first time in 10 years with
vessels from the two countries making radio
contact for the first time in a decade. The Ministry said that the move showed the
two Koreas were taking practical steps to
uphold agreements made last month when their
leaders decided to defuse military tensions in a
gradual manner.
The 42nd World Heritage Committee
meeting concluded with 19 new sites
inscribed to the World Heritage List in
Bahrain's capital Manama on July 4, 2018. The World Heritage List now contains 1,092
sites in 167 countries.The meeting, which
opened on June 24, added 13 cultural sites,
three natural sites and three mixed ones to the
World Heritage List, including Germany‘s
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Naumburg Cathedral, Kenya‘s Thimlich
Ohinga Archaeological Site, Oman‘s Ancient
City of Qalhat, China‘s Mount Fanjingshan and
France‘s Chaine des. The next session of the
World Heritage Committee will be held in
Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.
An accountability court in Pakistan on July
6, 2018 sentenced ousted Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison in one of
the three corruption cases against him in the
high-profile Panama Papers scandal. His daughter Maryam was sentenced to seven
years and son-in-law Captain (retired) Safdar
was sentenced one year imprisonment. While
Nawaz Sharif was fined 10 million dollar, his
daughter Maryam was handed down a 2.6
million dollar fine. The ruling came weeks
before the general elections of Pakistan that are
scheduled to be held on July 25.
US $6.69 billion dollar budget for 13
peacekeeping operations for year 2018-19
has approved by the Fifth Committee
(Administrative and Budgetary) of United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The budget approved for missions include
MINUJUSTH (UN Mission for Justice Support
in Haiti), MINUSCA (Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Central
African Republic), MINURSO (Mission for
Referendum in Western Sahara), MONUSCO
(Stabilisation Mission in Democratic Republic
of the Congo) and UNIFIL (Interim Force in
Lebanon).
The 17th World Sanskrit Conference was
held at Vancouver, Canada from 9th July to
13th July, 2018. It was inaugurated by Human Resource
Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. So
far it has been held thrice in India. The World
Sanskrit Conference is being held in various
countries across the globe once in every three
years under the auspices of the International
Association of Sanskrit Studies. The purpose of
this conference was to promote, preserve and
practice Sanskrit language all over world by
the people.
The sixth edition of biennial World Cities
Summit was jointly organised by
Singapore‘s Centre for Liveable Cities and
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Urban Redevelopment Authority was held
in Singapore from July 8 to 12, 2018. Its theme was ―Liveable & Sustainable Cities:
Embracing the Future through Innovation and
Collaboration. The summit was held together
with Singapore International Water Week and
CleanEnviro Summit Singapore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his
Bhutanese counterpart Dasho Tshering
Tobgay during their meeting in New Delhi
agreed to take the exemplary bilateral
partnership to new heights for benefit of the
people of both the countries. Both leaders expressed happiness over the
commemoration of Golden Jubilee of the
establishment of formal diplomatic relations
between India and Bhutan.
US officials have ordered DNA tests on
'3,000' detained children who remain
separated from their migrant parents in an
effort to reunite families at the centre of a
border crisis. The Department of Health and Human
Services, HHS is doing DNA testing to confirm
parentage accurately. The department is
seeking to meet a court- imposed deadline of
next Tuesday to reunite some 100 detained
children less than five years of age.
Regular citizens and NGOs will have the
right to sue polluting companies in civil
courts, as per a new bill proposal approved
on July 8, 2018 by the Israeli Ministerial
Committee for Legislation. Israel suffered two significant pollution
disasters in nature reserves during recent years,
where Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co and Israel
Chemical Ltd were held accountable. The
Israeli government hopes the new bill will put
more pressure and deterrence toward big
companies that do not care about the state
supervision against pollution.
China has announced that it has clinched
deal with India on reduction of tariffs
(import duties) on Indian medicines
including anti-cancer drugs. However, it is not yet clear whether it has
agreed to grant licences to Indian companies to
sell cancer drugs in its huge market. Indian
drugs, especially cancer-curing medicines are
in big demand in China as they are far cheaper
than their western counterparts.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
for promoting inter-parliamentary dialogue
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39
capacity building and cooperation has
signed between India‘s upper house of
parliament Rajya Sabha and Senate of
Rwanda. The MoU has 6 articles of cooperation and
seeks to promote inter-Parliamentary dialogue,
capacity building of parliamentary staff,
organisation of conferences, forums, seminars,
staff attachment programmes. It was signed
between Vice President and Rajya Sabha
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu and visiting
President of Senate of Rwanda, Bernard
Makuza in New Delhi.
The United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) has adopted Resolution 2427 aimed
at providing legal framework for
mainstreaming protection, rights, well-being
and empowerment of children throughout
the conflict cycle. The resolution has won unanimous approval of
the 15 members of the council. The resolution
strongly condemns recruitment and use of
children in armed conflicts as well as their re-
recruitment, killing and rape, maiming and
other forms of sexual violence and abductions.
It also condemns attacks against schools and
hospitals and denial of humanitarian access by
parties to armed conflict and all other
violations of international law committed
against children in situations of armed conflict.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
has signed between India and United
Kingdom on cooperation in the sphere of
Law & Justice and establishing Joint
Consultativ e Committee. The MoU aims to enhance bilateral cooperation
in legal affairs which would provide
framework for promoting greater cooperation
between judicial and legal professionals in both
countries through exchange of expertise and
training.
World‘s first-ever 3-D, colour X-ray on
human has performed by scientists from
New Zealand. The new device is based on the traditional
black-and-white X-ray but incorporates
particle-tracking technology called Medipix. It
is developed by European Organization for
Nuclear Research (CERN). This colour X-ray
imaging technique can produce clearer and
more accurate pictures and help doctors give
their patients more accurate diagnoses. The
images very clearly show difference between
bone, muscle and cartilage and also the
position and size of cancerous tumours.
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The Resolution 2428 (2018) has adopted by
the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) to impose an arms embargo on
South Sudan almost five years after the civil
war was started in the country. The Resolution calls upon all UN member
states to prevent supply, sale or transfer to
South Sudan — from or through their
territories till 31 May 2019.
A panel on digital cooperation which aimed
at addressing concerns of cyber security
threats and rise in hate speech has
established by United Nations (UN)
Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The panel will have 20 members in total and
include leaders from technology, public policy,
science and academia etc. The high-level panel
on digital cooperation will be co-chaired by US
philanthropist Melinda Gates and China-based
Alibaba founder Jack Ma.
US President Donald Trump and his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold
their first summit at Helsinki, Finland on
July 15, 2018. Trump arrived in Finland on July 15 with his
wife, First Lady Melania Trump and a host of
other dignitaries for the Helsinki summit. The
host and President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto is
scheduled to meet Trump before Trump and
Putin sit down to a bilateral meeting first
without aides and then with their teams of
support staff. Trump's meeting with Putin
comes days after a federal grand jury indicted
12 Russian intelligence officials on charges of
hacking the servers of the Democratic National
Committee and that of its 2016 presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton.
India on July 15, 2018 signed a revised
travel agreement with Bangladesh to ease
visa restrictions for citizens from the
neighbouring country in Dhaka in the
presence of visiting Home Minister Rajnath
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Singh and his counterpart Asaduzzaman
Khan. Under the Revised Travel Arrangement (RTA)-
2018, freedom fighters and elderly Bangladeshi
nationals will get five-year multiple visa from
India. Besides this, both the leaders also held
the 6th Home Minister Level Talks between
India and Bangladesh.
The United States has rejected requests
from the European Union to grant
exemptions to European companies from its
sanctions against Iran. The letter further read that the US is not in a
position to make exceptions to this policy
except in very specific circumstances. It also
said that Washington will seek to provide
unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian
regime.
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
was signed between European Union (EU)
and Japan at EU-Japan summit in Tokyo.
It is biggest ever trade deal negotiated by the
EU and creates free trade zone covering nearly
third of the world‘s GDP.
A‘Mhoine peninsula on north coast of
Scotland at Sutherland has selected by UK
Space Agency for its first spaceport to
launch rockets vertically and put satellites in
orbit.
The first rocket launches from this spaceport
are planned for early 2020s. The site was
selected in part due to its beneficial geography.
For development of this spaceport, UK
Government is going to provide $3.3 million
funding and will be built with help of
consortium of companies.
To monitor impacts of human activity on
global ecosystems by using sophisticated
online tools, UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) has entered into partnership with
search engine giant Google during High-
Level Political Forum on Sustainable
Development at United Nations (UN)
headquarters in New York.
The aim of the partnership is to develop
platform to enable governments, NGO‘s and
public to track specific environment-related
development targets with user-friendly Google
front-end. Its initial focus will be on freshwater
ecosystems including mountains, forests,
wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. Google
will periodically produce geospatial maps and
data on water-related ecosystems by employing
massive parallel Cloud computing technology.
3rd BRICS Film Festival held in Durban,
South Africa from July 22-27, 2018. On 22-27
th July, 2018, The 3rd BRICS Film
Festival was held in Durban, South Africa,
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along with the International Durban Film
Festival (DIFF).
India a Strategic Trade Authorization-1
(STA-1) country: US
On July 31, 2018, The US has elevated India‘s
status in the export control regime and
designated it as a Strategic Trade
Authorization-1 (STA-1) country.
India ranks 96th
in UN‘s E-Government
index 2018; jumps 11 places since 2016
On July 31, 2018, India ranks 96th
in the
biannual United Nation‘s E-Government
Index 2018 among 193 countries released
by UN.
NASAMS-II: India plans to procure
advanced air defence system from US worth
$1 billion to defend NCR of Delhi.
On July 31, 2018, Defence acquisitions
council (DAC), chaired by India‘s Defence
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, approved the
acquisition of the National Advanced Surface
to Air Missile System-II (NASAMS-II) worth
around $1 billion.
APPOINTMENTS &
RESIGNS
Renowned journalist Rajat Sharma was
elected as the President of Delhi & District
Cricket Association
After polling 54.40 percent of the total votes
cast and surpassed former World Cup winning
Indian cricketer Madan Lal by 517 votes to
register his win.
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Vishwas Patel was appointed as the new
Chairman of Payments Council of India
(PCI). PCI also has appointed Loney Antony,
Managing Director, Hitachi Payment Services,
as its new co-Chairman. PCI is an apex non-
governmental body representing companies in
payments and settlement system.
Major General José Eladio Alcain of
Uruguayan Army has appointed as Head of
Mission and Chief Military Observer for UN
Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP) by United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. UNMOGIP has been established by UN
Security Council (UNSC) Resolution and
started its operations in 1949. It has been
tasked with monitoring the ceasefire line or
tasked with monitoring the ceasefire line
between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan in
Jammu and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
Justice AK Goel has appointed as the new
Chairperson of National Green Tribunal
(NGT) by the Appointments Committee of
the Cabinet (ACC). His appointment comes after he retired as
Supreme Court Judge. He will have tenure of
five years from date he assumes office or till he
reaches age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.
Britain's Brexit minister David Davis has
resigned Two days after the cabinet approved a plan to
retain strong alignment with the European
Union even after leaving the bloc.
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Former Information and Broadcasting
secretary Uday Kumar Varma has been
appointed as a member of the Broadcasting
Content Complaints Council,
A self-regulatory body for general
entertainment channel.
Dr. TCA Raghavan was appointed as the
Director General (DG) of Indian Council of
World Affairs (ICWA).
Hima Das to be Assam sports ambassador
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda
Sonowal has named Indian Athlete Hima Das
as the first sports ambassador of Assam.
Analjit Singh appointed as Non-executive
Chairman on board of Max Financial
Services Ltd
On 23rd
July 2018, the Board of Max Financial
Services (MFS) named Mr. Analjit Singh,
Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Max
Group, as the non-executive Chairman of
Max Financial Services (MFS).
Justice Tahira Safdar to be first woman
chief justice of any court in Pakistan On 23
rd July 2018, Justice Tahira Safdar was
made the Chief Justice of the Balochistan high
court, Pakistan, by Chief Justice Mian Saqib
Nisar. This makes her the first woman chief
justice of any court in Pakistan.
Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe has been
reappointed as the chairman of the All India
Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
(ACC). He was joined AICTE as Chairman in July
2015.
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Renu Satti quits as Paytm Payments
Bank CEO, to head ‗New Retail‘
initiative at company
Paytm Payments Bank CEO Renu
Satti has resigned from her position. Now,
she will lead as COO (Chief Operating
Officer)of the ‗New Retail‘ initiative.
Anil Kumar Chawla appointed as FOC-
in-Chief of Southern Naval Command
Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla has been
appointed as the next Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern
Naval Command.
HSBC India appoints Surendra Rosha as
CEO
On 30th
July 2018, Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation (HSBC) announced
that, Surendra Rosha has been appointed
as Chief Executive Officer for HSBC India.
AWARDS
The prestigious National Kalidas Samman
on noted artist Anjolie Ela Menon (78)
Madhya Pradesh Government has conferred
by Madhya Pradesh Government for her
contribution to visual arts. She is a well-known muralist and one of
India‘s leading contemporary artists. Her
preferred medium is oil on masonite, but she
also has worked in other media, including glass
and water colour.
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Milan Shankar Tare, a fisherman from
Maharashtra‘s Palghar district, has been
selected for this year‘s National Maritime
Search and Rescue Award.
A Coast Guard press release issued in Mumbai
stated that the fisherman had saved the lives of
12 people from a sinking fishing boat named
Shivneri in May 2018. The award recognises
Tare‘s act of bravery at sea and selfless duty in
sync with the highest traditions of maritime
fraternity.
2018 Sangita Kalanidhi award of Music
Academy has been awarded to renowned
Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam for her
contribution to Carnatic music.
Under this recognition, she will preside over
92nd annual conference to be held between
December 15, 2018 and January 1, 2019.
The award will be conferred to her on January
1, 2019 the day of Sadas of the conference.
Mridhangist Thanjavur R. Ramadoss and
vocalist K. Oman Kutty will be awarded
Sangita Kala Acharya award. Veena player
Kalyani Ganesan and nagaswaram player
S.R.G. Rajanna will be awarded T.K. Awards.
Dr. Premeela Gurumurthy, the Vice
Chancellor, Tamil Nadu University will be
awarded Musicologist award. veteran danseuse
Shanta Dhananjayan will be awarded Nritiya
Kalanidhi award.
Sahapedia‘s India Heritage Walk fete wins
PATA award India Heritage Walk Festival, a collaboration
of Sahapedia and YES Arts & Culture, has
been awarded the PATA Gold Award
2018.The award has been announced by the
Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in
Bangkok under the ‗Heritage-Culture‘
category. It was sponsored by Macao Government
Tourism Office (MGTO).
The PATA Awards achievements of
recognised achievements of 27 organisations
and individuals in the field of travel and
tourism. PATA Awardswill be presented to the
winners on September 14 during the PATA
Travel Mart in Malaysia.The month-long,
multi-city IHWF 2018 was organised in
February 2018.
YES Arts & Culture is the cultural division of
YES Global Institute, a practicing think tank of
YES BANK.
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2017 AIFF Awards: Sunil Chhetri wins 2017
AIFF player of the year award On 22
nd July 2018, Indian football team captain
Sunil Chhetri was named the 2017 All India
Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year.
This was announced by AIFF after its
Executive Committee meeting in Mumbai.
Michael Ondaatje named in Man Booker
Prize long list On July 24, 2018, Canadian author Michael
Ondaatje has again made the Man Booker
Prize list with his latest novel ―Warlight‖.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi to receive 24th
Rajiv
Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award Gopalkrishna Gandhi has been chosen for the
24th
Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award
for his contribution in promoting communal
harmony, peace and goodwill.
HDFC awarded best performing primary
lending institution in CLSS scheme HDFC has received the best performing
primary lending institution in Credit Linked
Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) for the EWS
(Economically Weaker Section) and LIG (Low
Income Group) category.
Shivangi Pathak from Haryana scales
Mount Kilimanjaro Haryana‘s Shivangi Pathak has successfully
scaled Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of
Africa.
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Scientists from several organizations in the US,
including NASA, are planning to use remote-
operated submarines to hunt for the remains of
an outer space object. The object splashed down into the Pacific Ocean
on March 7, 2018. The Nautilus Research Ship of
the non-profit group Ocean Exploration Trust
(OET) will aid in the scavenger hunt Digital
trends.
The standing committee of National Board for
Wildlife (NBWL) has recently added four
species into Centre‘s Recovery Programme for
Critically Endangered Species on the
recommendation by Wildlife Division of
Ministry of Environment and Forests and
Climate Change (MoEFCC). The four species are namely Northern River
Terrapin, Clouded Leopard, Arabian Sea
Humpback Whale and Red Panda.
The Coal Mine Surveillance & Management
System (CMSMS) and Mobile Application
‗Khan Prahari‘ launched by the Union
Minister of Coal, Railways, Finance &
Corporate Affairs, Piyush Goyal.
Khan Prahari is a tool for reporting any activity
taking place related to illegal coal mining like rat
hole mining, pilferage etc.The CMSMS is a web
based GIS application through which location of
sites for unauthorised mining can be detected.It
aims to report, monitor and take suitable action on
unauthorised coal mining activities.
The test of Crew Escape System that provides
escape mechanism for astronauts if the launch
operation is aborted has successfully conducted
by ISRO. The crew escape system is being developed as part
of the he proposed human spaceflight programme.
India at present does not have human space flight
programme. Only three countries United States of
America (USA), Russia and China have human
space flight programmes. The only Indian scientist
to ever travel to space was fighter pilot Rakesh
Sharma who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 (spacecraft
of former USSR) in 1984.
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The Centre of Excellence for Data Science and
Artificial Intelligence (CoE-DSAI) has opened
by Indian IT industry apex body NASSCOM
(National Association of Software & Services
Companies) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The centre aims to support small and mid-sized
businesses (SMB) by fast-tracking their product
developing, providing market access and assist
them by co-creating programs along with other
industry partners and start-ups.
Saathi - a mobile help centre to reach out to
people undertaking annual pilgrimage to 3,880-
metre high holy cave shrine of Amarnath has
launched by the Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF).
It will provide help and information to yatris
staying in camps outside the Bhagwati Nagar base
camp in Jammu. This will be in addition to
security provided by CRPF to the yatra routes. In
addition, they will also provide first aid treatment
to people in need and would also be distributing
medicines.
China successfully launched two remote sensing
satellites PRSS-1 and PakTes-1A of Pakistan on
board of Long March-2C rocket from Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Centre. It is China‘s first international commercial launch
in nearly two decades after it carried Motorola‘s
Iridium satellites into orbit in 1999 and overall
279th mission for the Long March rocket series
(mainly used to send satellites into low Earth or
Sun-synchronous orbits).
Technology Challenge: Identifying solutions for
cleaning of Sewerage Systems and Septic Tanks
to promote suitable techniques for cleaning
sewers and septic tanks it to eliminate need for
human entry in them has launched by Union
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(MoUHA) The challenge will be conducted for two separate
categories. Category A: technological solutions for
cleaning and maintenance of sewerage systems to
eliminate need for human entry, Category B:
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technological solutions for cleaning and
maintenance of septic tanks to eliminate need for
human entry. The challenge will be part of
Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation
Convention that will be held on October 2, 2018.
Century‘s (2001 AD to 2100 AD) longest total
lunar eclipse of 1 hour 43 minutes will occur on
July 27-28, 2018.
This announcement was made by the Union
Ministry of Earth Sciences. The entire eclipse will
be visible from all parts of India.
An e-commerce platform IFFCO iMandi (an
mobile application and web portal) has
launched by Fertiliser major IFFCO to address
all needs of the farming community associated
with it. The e-commerce platform is one stop shop for agri
inputs and produce, FMCG, electronics, loans,
insurance etc. It has features like buy-sell,
communication (chat and calling), entertainment
and information/advisory content to keep farmers
engaged. Through this e-commerce platform,
IFFCO is targeting to reach GMV (gross
merchandise value) of $5 billion in the next two
years by catering needs of 5.5 crore farmers
already associated with it.
ISRO has successfully conducted ground test of
its high thrust version of Vikas Engine at ISRO
Propulsion Complex (IPRC) in Mahendragiri,
Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu for duration
of 195 seconds. Vikas belongs to family of liquid fuelled rocket
engines conceptualized and designed by ISRO‘s
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre in the 1970s.
India's indigenously developed surface-to-
surface supersonic cruise missile- BrahMos was
successfully test-fired from the Chandipur Test
Range, off the coast of Odisha on July 16, 2018. The previous test firing of the missile was
conducted on May 21, when it was launched from
a mobile launcher under life extension
program. BrahMos is the first Indian missile
whose life has been extended from 10 to 15 years.
China has announced that it plans to launch
300 low-orbit satellitesKnown as the Hongyan
constellation to provide worldwide
communication services, with the first in the
series to be launched later this year. The constellation will be built in three
stages. China‘s Aerospace Science and
Technology Corporation said, once completed,
the satellite communication network will take the
place of the ground-based network and allow a
mobile phone to be connected everywhere on the
planet, even in a remote desert or at sea.
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World‘s beaches eroding in protected marine
areas: NASA On July 19, 2018, According to Landsat satellites
data from NASA and the US Geological Survey
taken between 1984 and 2016 (30 years), the
world‘s sandy shorelines are declining in
protected marine areas.
This could threaten plant and animal species and
cultural heritage sites.
About 24 per cent of sandy beaches worldwide
are eroding, while 27 per cent are growing.
A third (31 per cent) of all ice-free shorelines are
sandy or gravelly and Africa has the highest
proportion of sandy beaches (66 per cent) and
Europe has the lowest (22 per cent).
Beaches in Australia and Africa are experiencing
more erosion than growth while Asia is
experiencing the highest rate of overall growth.
Reasons could be : artificial coastline
development in China, land reclamation, or
draining land for human use.
ISRO partners with 3 vendors to assemble 27
satellites by 2021 On July 19, 2018, ISRO signed contracts
with three vendors to outsource Spacecraft
Assembly Integration and Testing (AIT)
activities.
It is aimed at industry participation in satellite
building activities.
They will help ISRO assemble about 27 satellites
over the next three years.
The U R Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO has signed
the agreements with Alpha Technologies Private
Limited, Bengaluru, and its consortium partners;
Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru, and Tata
Advanced Systems Limited, Hyderabad.
Commander of Combined task force (CTF-
151) visits Indian naval ship Teg in Djibouti On July 18, 2018, Combined Task Force (CTF
151) led by Commander Rear Admiral Saw Shi
Tat of the Singapore Navy visited Indian Naval
Ship Teg in Djibouti to carry out anti-piracy
operations .
The Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Anurag
Srivastav, and Nalin Kothari, Consulate General,
Djibouti, also visited the ship.
Discussions on various aspects of anti-piracy
operations including CTF 151 modus
operandi were made.
The Indian Navy has been participating in the
anti-piracy operation by sending ships to Gulf of
Aden.
13th
launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 Sets New
Record of launching heaviest satellite ever SpaceX conducted their 13th launch of the
year with a Falcon 9 rocket launching the Telstar
19V communications satellite for Canada‘s
Telesat.
It has set a record as the heaviest payload that a
Falcon 9 has ever carried to a GTO.
The satellite weights over 7000 kg.
Telstar 19 VANTAGE will offer coverage across
the Americas and the Atlantic.
The satellite has been produced by Space
Systems Loral (SSL).
The goal is to provide high-throughput broadcast
and internet services from Brazil to the
northernmost regions of Canada.
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World‘s fastest man-made spinning object
Scientists have developed the world‘s fastest
rotor,which will help in studying quantum
mechanics.The rotor can spin at more than 60
billion revolutions per minute,making it the
world‘s fastest man-made object.It is more than
100,000 times faster than a high-speed dental
drill.To produce the fastest rotor, scientists had
synthesized nanoscale dumbbell made from silica
and had levitated it in a high vacuum using a
laser.
Earth Overshoot Day 2018
Earth Overshoot Day will fall on August 1,the
earliest date since ecological overshoot began in
the early 1970s.It is calculated by Global
Footprint Network and World Wide Fund for
Nature(WWF).
It is the date when,humanity's annual demand on
nature,exceeds what Earth can regenerate over
the entire year.In 2018,nature‘s budget for the
entire year has already been used up in just span
of 8 months only.It means humanity is currently
using nature 1.7 times faster than Earth‘s
ecosystems can regenerate.This year the
overshoot day falls two days earlier than the last
year‘s.Every day after August 1 will now be
considered a strain on Earth‘s natural resources.
As a part of the service life extension
programme for Indian Army, DRDO has
successfully test-fired supersonic cruise
missile under extreme weather conditions
from the Integrated Test Range at Balasore,
Odisha.
The test was conducted on the heels of earlier
two trials conducted on May 21 and 22, 2018 in
which the major sub-systems manufactured
indigenously under the ‗Make in India‘ campaign
were successfully tested to increase missile‘s life
from 10 to 15 years.
ISRO has signed contracts with three vendors
namely Alpha Technologies Private Limited,
Bengaluru, and its consortium partners;
Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru, and
Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Hyderabad
to outsource Spacecraft Assembly Integration
and Testing (AIT) activities.
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The vendors are expected to help ISRO assemble
about 27 satellites over the next three years. The
U R Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO has signed the
agreements with these three vendors.
China launches high-resolution Earth
observation satellite ―Gaofen-11‖, to monitor
On 31st July 2018, China successfully
launched Gaofen-11 satellite, an optical remote
sensing satellite, as part of its high-resolution
Earth observation project.
Rare bloodgroup ‗pp‘ or ‗P null‘ phenotype
identified by doctors in Mangaluru
A rare blood group named ―pp‖ or ―P null‖
phenotype has been identified by doctors from
Kasturba Medical College (KMC) in
Mangaluru, Karnataka.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Non-stop India- Mark Tully
The Mad Tibetan:Stories from then and
now- Deepti Naval
The Best thing about you is you-Anupam
Kher
Nirbasan-Taslima Nasreen
I witness:Partial Observations-Kapil Sibal
Origins of Love-Kishwar Desai
The day i stopped drinking Milk-Sudha
Murthy
A better India:A better World-NR Narayan
Murthy
India:My Beloved- Dominique Lapierre
Dare to Do:For the new generation-Kiran
Bedi
Kashmir:The Unwritten history-
Christopher Snedden
The Hanging of Afzal Guru-Arundhati Roy
India:The Future is now-Shashi Tharoor
One Indian Girl-Chetan Bhagat
India Central Asia Relations:The Economic
Dimension-Amiya Chandra
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SPORTS
India clinched Kabaddi Masters title by
defeating Iran 44-26 in the summit clash in
Dubai on July 1, 2018. India is the reigning world champions and they
now hold the title of the Kabaddi Masters too.
The team will now focus on the Asian games.
International Cricket Council (ICC) will
impose a ban of minimum six Tests or 12
ODIs on ball tampering offenders as it has
now been upgraded as a Level 3 offence as
per it's new code of conduct. The ball tampering incident involving Steve
Smith and David Warner has forced ICC to
upgrade it as Level 3 offence, which will carry
12 suspension points. This decision was taken
at its Annual Conference in Dublin, Ireland on
July 2, 2018.
Major General V D Dogra becomes the first
Indian Army officer to complete the
Ironman Triathalon event, considered one of
the most difficult one-day sporting events in
the world, in Austria. The Ironman Triathlon comprises three
consecutive events 3.8 km swim, 180km
cycling and 42.2 km marathon - all completed
in a day without a break. The competitors have
to complete the events in sequence within 17
hours to earn the title of 'Ironman'. The
competition was held in the scenic town of
Klagenfurt and it saw participation from over
3000 athletes. Major General V D Dogra
completed the full Ironman at Klagenfurt in 14
hours and 21 minutes.
Andres Iniesta, the elegant Spanish
midfielder who was a symbol of Spain's
golden generation, retired from
international soccer following the team's loss
to Russia in a penalty shootout at the 2018
FIFA World Cup on July 1, 2018.
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Overall, Iniesta played 131 matches for Spain.
Indian Cricket Jambawan Sachin
Tendulkar has launched #KitupChallenge to
encourage people to start playing sports.
As part of the challenge, Tendulkar called upon
the viewers to post a short video of themselves
on social media while getting ready to play a
sport and use the hashtag to nominate others in
the process. Tendulkar‘s new initiative aims to
promote overall fitness and encourage Indians
to inculcate an active lifestyle through the joy
of playing sports. Posting a video of himself
putting on his cricketing gear and getting ready
to play, Tendulkar asked the viewers to take up
a sport of their choice.
Sports Authority of India (SAI), will now be
known as ‗Sports India‘.
This announcement was made by Union
Ministers of Youth Affairs and Sports
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
India‘s leading gymnasts Dipa Karmakar
won gold medal in the vault event of FIG
Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup
at Mersin, Turkey. This is her first medal in World Challenge
Cup. She created history by becoming first
Indian gymnast to win gold medal in the vault
event of FIG Artistic Gymnastics World
Challenge Cup.
The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) of Union
Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has
included entire Men‘s Hockey team of India
under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme
(TOPS). The decision to include hockey was taken after
India‘s performance had improved as they had
finished runners up in Champions Trophy in
Netherlands. This is first instance that entire
team has been made beneficiary of the scheme
as earlier only individual athletes from
different sports were included as beneficiaries
of the scheme. the 18 team members will be
provided with monthly allowance of Rs.
50,000 each under the Target Olympic Podium
Scheme (TOPS). The women‘s team may be
also included in the TOPS after reviewing its
performance in the upcoming World Cup and
following Asian Games.
The 2018 Wimbledon Championships was a
tennis tournament held from2 July to 15
July 2018 at the All England Lawn Tennis
and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London,
United Kingdom. Serbia‘s Novak Djokovic (World Number 21) won the 2018 Wimbledon
title in men‘s singles category by defeating
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Kevin Anderson (South Africa). It was his
fourth Wimbledon title (earlier won in 2011,
2014 and 2015). Overall, it was his 13th career
Grand Slam crown.: It was by Mike Bryan
and Jack Sock pair from United States
won Men‘s Doubles by defeating Raven
Klaasen (South Africa) and Michael Venus
(New Zealand)pair. Angelique Kerber
(Germany) won the 2018 Wimbledon title
in women‘s singles category by defeating
Serena Williams (United States).Barbora
Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková pair
from Czech Republic won Women‘s
Doubles by defeating Kveta Peschke (Czech
Republic) and Nicole Melichar (United
States). Mixed Doubles was won by
Alexander Peya (Austria) and Nicole
Melichar (United States) pair had defeated
Jamie Murray (United Kingdom) and Victoria
Azarenka (Belarus).
2018 FIFA World Cup Football has won by
France by defeating Croatia by 4-2 goals in
the final match held at the Luzhniki
Stadium in Moscow, Russia. It was France‘s second World Cup crown after
it had own it in 1998 (by defeating Brazil) on
home soil. It was Croatia‘s first World Cup
final appearance and smallest country ever to
reach final in the modern era. With this, victory
France joins Uruguay and Argentina in
winning World Cup for a second time. Qatar
will be hosting next FIFA World Cup in 2022.
It will be the first Arab country to host World
Cup and it will also for first time it will be held
in Middle East region. 2018 FIFA World Cup
Awards: Top 4 team rankings:France (1st,
Winner), Croatia (2nd, Croatia), Belgium (3rd)
and England (4th).Golden Ball award: Luka
Modric (Croatia). Golden Boot award: Harry
Kane (England captain) for scoring six goals
across six games. Golden Glove
award: Thibaut Courtois (Belgium). FIFA
Young Player award: 19-year-old Kylian
Mbappe (France). FIFA Fair Play
Award: Spain for superb disciplinary record.
Former Indian off-spinner Ramesh Powar
has been named as the interim coach of the
Indian women's cricket team. Powar has been asked to coach the team by
BCCI until they find a replacement for Tushar
Arothe, who resigned as the coach of the
women's team five months after being
appointed. The BCCI has invited applications
for the post of the coach of the women's cricket
team, with the last date to submit an
application being July 30,2018.
Indian boxers ruled the ring at the Golden
Glove of Vojvodinayouth tournament at
Subotica in Serbia, finishing at the top with
seven gold medals.
Overall, the Indian medal tally included 17
medals, which comprised 7 Gold, 6Silver and 4
Bronze. Kazakhstan came second with a gold
medal count of 5 in their overall haul of 7
medals, while Russia with 11 medals including
3 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze finished third.
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The Central Government will soon launch
an ambitious scheme to test sports ability of
two to three crore children across the
country. This announcement was made by the Union
Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports
Rajyavardhan Rathore while addressing a
function at Ahmedabad in Gujarat on July 15,
2018. The Minister said that around one
thousand children will be selected every year
under the physical capability mapping
programme. Each of the selected children will
be provided with a scholarship of five lakh
rupees per annum for eight years to help groom
their sports talent.
The International Cricket Council released
its ODI rankings; VIrat Kohli tops the chart
with 911 points On July 19, 2018, The International Cricket
Council (ICC) released the latest ODI rankings
and India captain Virat Kohli has topped with
a score of 911 points a career high for him.This
is the highest since Australia‘s Dean Jones tally
of 918 points in March 1991.
Lewis Hamilton won German Grand Prix
2018 On 22
nd July 2018, Lewis Hamilton won the
German Grand Prix 2018 held at
Hockenheimring track in Germany.
Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton secured the first
position in the German Grand Prix 2018. He
was followed by Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes
in the second position.
Ferrari‘s Kimi Raikkonen secured the third
position. The first part of the F1 season ends in
Hungary next weekend.
Badminton Asia Junior Championship 2018
held in Jakarta, Indonesia On 14
th to 22
nd July 2018, Badminton Asia
Junior Championship 2018 was held
in Jakarta, Indonesia.The tournament was
played in a mixed team format and individual
format. From 14th
to 17th
July 2018. The
individual events were played from 18th
to
22nd
July 2018.
On 22nd
July 2018, Indian badminton
player Lakshaya Sen defeated Indonesia‘s
Kunlavut Vitidsaran 21-19, 21-18 in the finals
and won gold medal in the Badminton Asia
Junior Championship.
Lakshaya Sen has won a gold medal for India
at the Badminton Asia Junior Championship
after a gap of 6 years. He is 16 years old.
India‘s Mannu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy
win Lagos International title (Badminton)
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On 22nd
July 2018, India‘s Mannu Attri and
Sumeeth Reddy won the men‘s doubles title
at Lagos International Badminton in Lagos,
Nigeria.
Russian Open 2018 held in Vladivostok,
Russia from July 24-29th
2018. The 2018 Russian Open, was a badminton
tournament which took place at Sport Hall
Olympic in Vladivostok, Russia from 24 to
29 July 2018.
It has a total prize of $75,000.
3 day Yasar Dogu International wrestling
2018 tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey On July 27-29, 2018, The Yasar Dogu
International Wrestling was held
in Istanbul, Turkey.
It was conducted in two events namely Free
Style and Women Wrestling.
International Army Games 2018 in Moscow On 28
th July 2018, the International Army
Games 2018 was inaugurated by Russian
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, at Patriot
Park in Moscow, Russia.
Prabhat Koli became the 1st Asian Teen to
Swim UK-France Channel On 26
th July 2018, Prabhat Koli became the
first Asian to swim the choppy water from
Jersey (an Island in the UK) to Francein cold
weather.
Dustin Johnson won 2018 RBC Canadian
Open (Golf) On 29
th July 2018, Dustin Johnson won
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the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at the Glen
Abbey Golf Club in Oakville in Canada.
Neeraj Chopra wins gold medal in javelin
throw at Savo Games in Finland On 29
th July 2018, Indian javelin
thrower Neeraj Chopra, won a gold medal in
the Savo Games in Lapinlahti, Finland.
IMPORTANT DAYS
1. July 1 Goods and Services Tax (GST) Day.India
on1st July observed the 1st GST day to
commemorate the first year of the
unprecedented reform of Indian
taxation. Earlier on June 30, 2018, the Union
Finance Ministry announced to observe July
1, 2018 as the ‗GST Day‘. The GST is a
single indirect tax that subsumes most of the
Central and State taxes such as the Value
Added Tax (VAT), excise duty, service tax,
central sales tax, additional customs duty
and special additional duty of customs.
2. July 7 The International Day of Cooperatives
(IDC) was observed on first Saturday of
July across the world to promote co-
operative model as it contains core aspects
of sustainable development and is based on
ethical values and principles. The 2018
theme of the Day was ‗Sustainable societies
through cooperation‘.
3. JULY 11 World Population Day The World
Population Day is observed across the world
on July 11 to attention on the urgency and
importance of population issue.The theme
for the World Population Day 2018 is
―Family Planning is a Human Right‖.
The World Population Day was established
by the then Governing Council of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
in 1989.It was inspired by the public interest
in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987.On this
date world‘s approximate population had
reached five billion people.
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4. JULY 17
International Justice Day.
Every year on July 17, World Day for
International Justice is observed all around
the world.The aim of this day is to unite
everyone who wants to support justice as
well as promote victims‘ rights. It is to help
prevent serious crimes and those that put the
peace, security and well-being of the world
at risk.
5. JULY 18 Nelson Mandela International Day was
observed all over the world. This year marks
the 100th birth anniversary of Nelson
Mandela, who was born on 18th July 1918.
Nelson Mandela is the late President of
South Africa. He had spent 27 years in
prison in his struggle against racism, poverty
and social injustice
6. JULY 26 Kargil Vijay Diwas The 19th anniversary of
Kargil Vijay Diwas was celebrated across
India to commemorate the success of
Operation Vijay and remember the brave
sacrifice of Indian soldiers during the 1999
India-Pakistan Kargil War. It is being
celebrated every year for three days from
24th July - 26th July at the Drass War
Memorial in Jammu and Kashmir. The war
took place between May and July of 1999 in
Jammu and Kashmir‘s Kargil district
7.JULY 29
July 29 is celebrated as International tiger
day or Global Tiger day. It is done to raise
awareness for tiger conservation.
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7. JULY 30 World Day against Trafficking in Persons
On 30th
July 2018, World Day against
Trafficking in Persons was observed all over
the world.
8. JULY 31 World Ranger day On 31st July
2018, World Ranger Day was
celebrated all over the world.
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JULY MONTH QUIZ
1. The Income Tax Department has launched instant Aadhaar-based e-PAN allotment service for
individuals seeking PAN (Permanent Account Number) service for the first time. How many
digits does the PAN contains?
A) 9 B) 11 C) 10 D) 12
2. ―National Workshop on Skill Development for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan)‖ was
inaugurated by Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment _____?
A) Thaawarchand Gehlot B).Anant Geethe
C).Jual Oram D) Rajnath Singh
3. The ―National Policy on Marine Fisheries, 2017‖ was announced in the inter-session meeting of
the consultative committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare on ―Marine
Fisheries-Mariculture in India‖ held in ____?
A) Chennai,Tamil Nadu B) Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
C) Nagpur,Maharashtra D) Mumbai,Maharashtra
4. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is conducting a two-day ―National Consultation on
Accessible Elections,‖ from the 3rd July, 2018 in ____?
A) Mumbai B) Kolkata C) Chennai D) New Delhi
5. Which Bank has said that, its emPower app will get enhancements like Chatbot and artificial
intelligence based e-commerce payments?
A) Indian Overseas Bank B) Oriental Bank of Commerce
C) Allahabad Bank D) Punjab National Bank
6. Name the refinery that has become the first oil public sector undertaking (PSU) to adopt an
online legal compliance system by introducing ‗Legatrix‘?
A) Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL), Assam
B) Mangalore Refineries Private Ltd, Karnataka
C) Manali PetroChemicals Ltd, Tamil Nadu
D) Reliance Refineries, Gujarat
7. Whic state has been named first among states for its performance under the Pradhan Mantri
Surakshit Matritav Abhiyan (PMSMA) in India?
A) Madhya Pradesh B) Himachal Pradesh
C) Tamil Nadu D) Uttar Pradesh
8. Who was appointed the new chairman and managing director (CMD) of SAIL (Steel Authority
of India Limited), on 30th June 2018?
A) P K Sharma B) R K Agarwal C) Saraswati Prasad D) Rithvik Sharma
9. Who took charge as the new director general and chairman of the Ordinance Factory Board
(OFB) with effect from 1st July 2018?
A) V M Shrinivas B) P K Shrivastava C) Rajesh Kumar D) Amit Pawar
10. Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) named _____ as its president?
A) Rajat Sharma B) Sumit Rawat C) Amit Bharghav D) Aman Mittal
11. India is currently in the process of inducting the first batch of its intercontinental ballistic
missile system _____?
A) Agni-V B) Agni-II C) Agni-VI D) Agni-IV
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12. which country won the six-nation Kabaddi Masters Dubai title in Dubai?
A) Japan B) India C) Italy D) France
13. who won the Austrian Grand Prix in Austria?
A) Lewis Hamilton B) Sebastian Vettel C) Max Verstappen D) Kimi Raikonen
14. where was the ―National Workshop on Skill Development for Persons with Disabilities
(Divyangjan)‖ held?
A) New Delhi B) Chennai C) Mumbai D) Kolkata
15. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the ―____ Curriculum‖ for students of nursery
to Class 8 in government schools?
A) Happiness B) Creative C) Collaborative D) Inclusive
16. The first meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) was held at Central
Water Commission (CWC) office in Delhi. Name the Chairman of CWC?
A) S Masood Hussain B) Ravi Kumar C) Naveenathan D) Murali Baskar
17. On July 2, 2018, it was announced that which state will have the first ‗Khadi Mall‘ of India?
A) Himachal Pradesh B) Madhya Pradesh C) Uttar Pradesh D) Jharkhand
18. The Chhattisgarh government set up a tribal museum in the state‘s upcoming new capital
____?
A) Naya Raipur B) Bilaspur C) Bhilai D) Jagdalpur
19. The Centre announced a state-of-the-art e-waste recycling unit for which city. This will be
India‘s first such unit in the government sector?
A) Mumbai B) New Delhi C) Bengaluru D) Hyderabad
20. where was the 5th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional
Ministerial Meeting held?
A) Tokyo, Japan B) Beijing, China C) Paris, France D) Dublin, Ireland
21. Which is India‘s top investment bank for equity issuance by private sector companies as per
report of Prime Database Investment Bankers League table for FY 2017-18?
A) IIFL
B) ICICI Lombard General Insurance
C) HDFC Life
D) Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management
22. SoundLogic has named which Indian cricketer as a partner-evangelist?
A) M.S.Dhoni B) Virat Kohli C) R Ashwin D) Yuvraj Singh
23. Indian cricketer _____ and Australian Ricky Ponting have been inducted into the ICC Cricket
Hall of Fame for their achievements in international cricket, at an event in Dublin, Ireland?
A) Virat Kohli B) Rohit Sharma C) Rahul Dravid D) Suresh Raina
24. Fleet Space Technologies, an IoT (Internet of Things) startup, disclosed last week that its first
10-kg nano-satellite _____ would fly to space on a PSLV later this year?
A) Centauri I B) Galaxy I C) Limelight II D) Spot Light II3
25. which country won the Champions Trophy hockey 2018 in Breda, the Netherlands?
A) India B) France C) Brazil D) Australia
26. Admiral JG Nadkarni died at naval hospital in Mumbai. He was a former ____?
A) Chief of Naval Staff B) Director General of Border Roads Organization
C) Director Roads of Indian Coast Guard D) Chief of Air Staff
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27. Rajmata of the erstwhile ____ principality and former MP, Krishna Kumari, passed away
following a heart attack in Jodhpur, Rajasthan?
A) Mathura B) Marwar C) Karwar D) Ambala
28. Union Minister of Coal, Railways, Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Piyush Goyal launched
the Coal Mine Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS) and Mobile Application _____
on Swami Vivekananda‘s death anniversary in New Delhi to pay tribute to integrity?
A) Khan Prahari B) c-surveillance C) Unnat D) Prahar
29. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated a three day 9th Heads of Mission
Conference of all Indian ambassadors and high commissioners in _____?
A) Mumbai B) Kolkata C) New Delhi D) Pune
30. The apex body for implementation of the Centre‘s ambitious Ayushman Bharat-National
Health Protection Scheme, has launched a formal process to empanel public and private
hospitals to achieve universal health coverage?
A) National Health Agency (NHA) B) Indian Health Agency (IHA)
C) Central Health Organisation (CHO) D) Universal Health Organisation (UHO)
31. The Centre and the state governments of Tripura and Mizoram signed an agreement for
repatriation of thousands of people belonging to the ____ community from Tripura to
Mizoram?
A) Bohra B) Bru C) Baduga D) Coorgi
32. RBI issued licence to which Chinese Bank to launch operations in India?
A) Bank of China
B) Investment Bank of China
C) Industrial and Construction Bank of India
D) Chinese National Bank
33. which credit card issuer, announced the launch of ELA‘ (Electronic Live Assistant), a virtual
assistant for customer support and services?
A) SBI Card B) Axis Card C) ICICI Card D) Canara Card
34. Yes Bank said it has received approval from SEBI to start mutual fund business after RBI‘s
approval. The name of the Mutual Fund business is Yes Asset Management (India) Limited
(YAMIL). It will have its Headquarters in which city?
A) Hyderabad B) Lucknow C) Mumbai D) New Delhi
35. International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) has issued the first BS-VI
certification for a heavy duty engine model for which firm?
A) M/s Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicle Limited
B) Maruti Automobiles
C) Nissan Automotives
D) Ford Private Limited
36. Minister of State (Independent Charge), Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh
distributed the Swachhata Awards 2018 of MSME Ministry at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in
____?
A) New Delhi B) Jaipur C) Indore D) Bhopal
37. who became the first serving Indian Army officer and the only General in the world to have
completed ‗Ironman‘ competition held in Austria?
A) Major General VD Dogra B) Major General Amit Bhatia
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C) Major General Tanmoy Singh D) Major General Praful Bhattacharya
38. Who was elected the President of Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) on 2nd July
2018?
A) Ravi Varma B) Rajat Sharma C) Ravi Shastri D) Amal Thomas
39. Name the person who has been appointed the Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad
(UoH) by President Ram Nath Kovind?
A) Justice P K Naidu B) Justice L Narasimha Reddy
C) Justice Alok Sharma D) Justice Ranjit Bhargav
40. Wipro has promoted its head of digital business ____ as a president?
A) Navjot Roy B) Rajan Kohli C) Kavin Murali D) Larry Thomas
41. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced that, the first ____ test was
performed successfully on 5th July 2018 at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota?
A) pad abort B) mission abort C) mission restart D) safe abort
42. The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has approved to include how many species recently
in the recovery programme for critically endangered species?
A) 5 B) 6 C) 4 D) 2
43. Name the shot putter who was given a 4 year suspension by anti-doping disciplinary panel of
NADA for testing positive for anabolic steroids in a dope test before the 2016 Rio Olympic
Games?
A) Inderjeet Singh B) Ravinder Singh C) Kavinder Sharma D) Amool Yadav
44. Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, hosted the Monsoon session of the state
Legislature after a gap of how many years?
A) 25 B) 20 C) 15 D) 47
45. An MoU was signed between British Council in India Director Alan Gemmell OBE and state
Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya to promote cultural, educational and skill development
exchanges between UK and which Indian state?
A) Rajasthan B) Gujarat C) Tamil Nadu D) West Bengal
46. The chief minister of which state released the policy document of the five year jackfruit
mission at Jackfruit Festival 2018?
A) Kerala B) West Bengal C) Tamil Nadu D) Meghalay
47. The Chief Minister of which state launched a state-wide plantation campaign from the
Narwana sub-division of the district. It would be carried out from July to August 2018?
A) Chhattisgarh B) Haryana C) Madhya Pradesh D) Jharkhand
48. The _____ administration in Uttar Pradesh launched an android based smart phone
application named ‗Stop JE/AES‘ to combat encephalitis?
A) Muzaffar nagar B) Ghaziabad C) Gorakhpur D) Noida
49. The 17th World Sanskrit Conference will be inaugurated by Human Resource Development
Minister Prakash Javadekar at _____ from 9th July to 13th July, 2018?
A) New York, United States B) Vancouver, Canada
C) Sydney, Australia D) New Delhi, India
50. which country launched the new UKRI Science, Research and Academia scheme for overseas
scientists and researchers, including Indians, to enhance the growth of the country‘s research
sector?
A) Russia B) Germany C) United Kingdom D) Ireland
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51. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that the license of which bank in Alwar,
Rajasthan has been cancelled due to its bad position to pay its depositors in full and the present
financial position of the bank leaves no scope for its revival?
A) Rajasthan Co-operative Bank B) Alwar Urban Co-operative Bank
C) Kota Urban Co-operative Bank D) Jodhpur Rural Bank
52. Who has been appointed a member of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC)?
A) Ravi Shastri B) Mridula Palkar C) Uday Kumar Varma D) Shankar Narayanan
53. Which Indian squash player was appointed Asia‘s representative in the Athletes Advisory
Commission of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF)?
A) Joshna Chinappa B) Aman Mittal C) Vasuki Soni D) Dipika Pallikal
54. On 6th July 2018, who retired as a Supreme Court judge?
A) Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel B) Justice K K Venugopal
C) Justice Radhika Kumaresan D) Justice Debashish Banerjee
55. Indian Gymnast _____ bagged gold medal in FIG Atistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at
Mersin, Turkey?
A) Sharmila Rithvik B) Dipa Karmakar C) Pooja Bindra D) Minnu George
56. MM Jacob died due to age-related ailments, at a private hospital in Pala near Kottayam,
Kerala. What was his profession?
A) Cricketer B) Golf player C) Writer D) Politician
57. Name the Indian warship that reached Sri Lanka on a goodwill visit on 8th July 2018?
A) INS Trikand B) INS Vikram C) INS Tarini D) INS Sathya
58. Who emerged as winner of the Euro JK 18 category at the 21st JK Tyre FMSCI National
Racing Championship in Coimbatore on 7th July 2018?
A) Karthik Tharani B) Nirmal Uma Shankar C) Manav Sharma D) Vishnu Prasad
59. Venkaiah Naidu became the first Chairman of Rajya Sabha to sign MOU with the visiting
President of the Senate of the Republic of Rwanda, _____ on his visit during 09 to 11, July
2018?
A) Bernard Makuza B) Edward Razazzi C) Nathanial Bennet D) Daniel Reccardio
60. the Energy Minister of which state government announced that the state government will
launch ―one farmer one transformer‖ scheme for the farmers from August 2018?
A) Madhya Pradesh B) Maharashtra C) Kerala D) Gujarat
61. Education Minister of which state announced the launch of a scheme for electrification of
schools in the state. Under the scheme, state-run schools will be provided electricity at
government rates and the bill amount will be directly deposited in their accounts?
A) Maharashtra B) Telangana C) Andhra Pradesh D) Tamil Nadu
62. Which state government has given religious minority status to its Jewish Community?
A) Gujarat B) Telangana C) Andhra Pradesh D) Tamil Nadu
63. It was announced that the next Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in which city in January
2019?
A) New Delhi B) Bengaluru C) Shillong D) Varanasi
64. According to a report by US venture capital and startup data base CB Insights, which 2 Indian
cities had among the highest number of startup investment rounds greater than $100 million
since 2014?
A) Mumbai, Bengaluru B) Bengaluru, New Delhi
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C) New Delhi, Mumbai D) Mumbai, Hyderabad
65. The Foreign Ministry announced that, India and which country have reached an agreement
regarding reduction of tariffs on the import of Indian medicines, cancer drugs?
A) United States B) China C) Russia D) Saudi Arabia
66. Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy R.K Singh with the
officials from ADB and Finance Ministry reviewed the progress of lining project of the Son
canal in Shahabad – Bhojpur region of which state and ADB approved it?
A) Assam B) Chhattisgarh C) Bihar D) Tamil Nadu
67. Microsoft signed an MoU with which state government to provide free digital training to 9,500
college students for one year?
A) Tamil Nadu B) Kerala C) Telangana D) Rajasthan
68. Name the software giant that announced Launchpad Accelerator India, a new mentorship
program that has been developed exclusively for startups based in India, utilising Machine
Learning/AI to develop solutions for India‘s local needs on 10th July 2018?
A) Mircosoft B) Google C) Accenture D) TCS
69. _____, Chairman of Foresight Group International Ltd., received a lifetime achievement
award at the Seatrade 30th Anniversary Award Ceremony held at the Landmark, London?
A) Dr Ravi Mehrotra B) Siddharth Malhotra
C) Shekar Das D) Varun Karthik
70. Who has become the second Indian mountaineer after Malli Mastan Babu to climb Mt Ojos del
Salado, the highest volcano in the world?
A) Karthik Tharani B) Satyarup Siddhanta
C) Arpith Shukla D) Praful Patel
71. Dhanlaxmi Bank Limited has appointed ____ as the Managing Director & CEO?
A) Maheshwari Ravi B) T Latha
C) Vijay Narayanan D) Ananth Kumar
72. Drug firm Lupin said that, it has appointed ____ as President, Global Human Resources?
A) Yashwant Mahadik B) Vinay Kumar
C) Pawan Kumar Singh D) Vivek Kumar Singh
73. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has conditionally approved the merger of
Vodafone India with ____, the largest M&A deal in the sector, which will displace Bharti Airtel
from the No. 1 spot after over 15 years?
A) Aircel B) Reliance Jio C) BSNL D) Idea Cellular
74. Hockey India announced that _____ will lead the 18-member Indian Men‘s Hockey Team at
the 18th Asian Games, to be held in Jakarta and Palembang from August 18,2018?
A) R Abhilash B) Sunil Tapas C) Rajath Seth D) P.R. Sreejesh
75. which Indian lifter bagged the bronze medal in the 2018 IWF Junior World Weightlifting
Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan?
A) Dinesh Kumar B) Jhilli Dalabehera C) Sandeep Vaishnav D) Suraj P S
76. Indian shuttler ____ finished runners-up at the White Nights International Challenge in
Gatchina, Russia?
A) Ajay Jayaram B) Prajwal Das C) Ranjith Kumar D) Dhruv Singh
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77. Who has become the oldest Indian woman to complete an Ironman Triathlon which is one of
the toughest one-day sporting events?
A) Sunitha Sharma B) Pavani Reddy C) Anju Khosla D) Madhu Chawla
78. J N Sadhu died following a long term illness in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. He was a ____?
A) Politician B) Singer C) Scientist D) Journalist
79. Who has written the book ―Winning Like Sourav: Think & Succeed Like Ganguly‖?
A) A S Kiran Kumar B) Payal Kumar
C) Abhirup Bhattacharya D) Sanjay Bhadra
80. Inspector General of the CRPF, Jammu Sector, launched ____ initiative to reach out to people
undertaking the annual pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high holy shrine of Amarnath through a
mobile help centre?
A) Samiksha B) Samrithi C) Saathi D) Nidaan
81. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated ‗Dharohar Bhawan‘, the new Headquarters
building of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in which city?
A) New Delhi B) Mumbai C) Hyderabad D) Chennai
82. Niti Aayog has proposed 15-point action plan named ―_____‖ for combating air pollution in
ten most polluted cities in India?
A) Healthy Breathing B) Breathe India C) Pure Breathing D) Healthy Breathing
83. The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in
collaboration with which portal has launched a video contest titled ―Jal Bachao, Video Banao,
Puruskar Pao‖?
A) MyGov B) NewIndia C) CitizenConnect D) IndiConnect
84. Which Ministry has launched a technology challenge with an aim to eliminate human entry
into septic tanks and drains for cleaning, seeking suitable solutions from individuals and
NGOs?
A) Ministry of Agriculture B) Ministry of Science and Technology
C) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs D) Ministry of Home Affairs
85. _____ approved the net neutrality rules implying internet will remain open to everybody in
India?
A) Ministry of Communications B) Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
C) Telecom Commission D) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
86. which state government approved amendments in stringent provisions of the Prohibition and
Excise Act 2016?
A) Bihar B) Assam C) Gujarat D) Rajasthan
87. which state Cabinet approved Information Technology policy 2018?
A) Maharashtra B) Assam C) Chhattisgarh D) Goa
88. Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & IT, India, Ravi Shankar Prasad visited United
Kingdom from 6th to 10th July 2018 at the invitation of Mr. David Gauke, Secretary of State
for Justice, UK. The two Ministers signed a MoU for improving bilateral cooperation in _____?
A) Customs matters B) Defence C) Maritime issues D) Legal affairs
89. India has ranked ____ in the Global Innovation Index (GII) developed by Cornell University,
the Paris-based business school Insead and the World Intellectual Property Organisation
(WIPO) in Geneva?
A) 61 B) 68 C) 69 D) 57
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90. a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Indian Army and which bank on
the Defence Salary Package?
A) ICICI Ban B) YES Bank C) State Bank of India D) Canara Bank
91. India has become the _____ shareholder of the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD)?
A) 72nd B) 50th C) 101st D) 69th
92. India‘s first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and Light
Bullet Proof Vehicles (LBPV) will be set up by DCM Shriram Industries Group on the campus
of Shriram Rayons in ____?
A) Nagpur, Maharashtra B) Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
C) Kota, Rajasthan D) Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
93. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan inaugurated the state-run power
giant NTPC‘s 250 MW Solar Power Plant in Suwasra, in which district?
A) Bhopal B) Indore C) Mandsaur D) Chhindwara
94. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra appointed _____ as the advocate general of Jammu
and Kashmir?
A) Anil Kumar B) Sumeet Singhania C) Pawan Singh D) D C Raina
95. Scientists have developed a computer named ―_____‖ that mimics human brain‘s neural
networks, and would overcome the speed and power consumption problems of conventional
supercomputers?
A) Simunoid B) SpiNNaker C) Rapidex D) EXpro
96. Dada JP Vaswani who died due to old age related ailments in Pune, Maharashtra, was a ____?
A) Politician B) Musician C) Freedom Fighter D) Spiritual Leader
97. When was International Malala Day celebrated to commemorate Malala Yousafzai‘s birthday?
A) July 12 B) July 13 C) July 11 D) July 9
98. India and South Korea have decided to join forces to work towards Industrial Revolution
_____?
A) 2.0 B) 3.0 C) 5.0 D) 4.0
99. Who has been appointed the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Madhya Pradesh?
A) Shantha Kumar B) Kamalesh Yadav C) V L Kantha Rao D) Ranjith Bhargav
100. India Women‘s Cricket Team Coach ____ resigned from his position citing personal reasons?
A) Harpal Singh B) Rajinder Singh C) Tushar Arothe D) Diana Edulji
101. Indian Navy‘s _____ long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Indian Naval Ship
(INS) Rajali has inducted at Hawaii to take part in the Rim of Pacific Multinational Naval
exercise (RIMPAC-18) for the first time?
A) VI8 B) P8I C) TG9 D) VI6
102. which Indian naval ship became the first-ever warship to enter port of Sabang in Indonesia?
A) INS Trikend B) INS Sumitra C) INS Kalvari D) INS Mantra
103. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) constituted a 10 Member Committee to review
Companies Act 2013. The committee is headed by the Secretary of Ministry of Corporate
Affairs _____?
A) Sathish Krishnan B) Praful PAtil C) Ranjith Srivats D) Injeti Srinivas
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104. Which country will head the Asia Pacific Region of World Customs Organisation (WCO) for
two years as its Vice Chair from July, 2018 to June, 2020?
A) China B) India C) Japan D) Singapore
105. Where was the 2nd National Tourism Conclave organised by Elets held?
A) Mumbai,Maharashtra B).Guwahati,Assam
C) Leh,Jammu and Kashmir D) Jaipur,Rajasthan
106. ‗Sulabh Jal‘, the first of world‘s cheapest drinking water project was launched by Sulabh
International in Darbhanga district, of which state?
A) Bihar B) Gujarat C) Rajasthan D) Assam
107. The Education Department of which state launched ‗I am not afraid of English‘ initiative from
Class 1 in the state‘s primary schools, on July 15, 2018?
A) Haryana B) Punjab C) Maharashtra D) Assam
108. State Bank of India (SBI) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
(NABARD) have joined hands to provide collateral-free credit in which state?
A) Maharashtra B) Jharkhand C) Chhattsgarh D) Telangana
109. Militaries of India and Pakistan will be part of a mega anti-terror drill in _____ in August
which is being organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)?
A) China B) Pakistan C) India D) Russia
110. The University of Houston and which Indian university signed an MOU on mutual
collaboration on various fields?
A) Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy(IIPE)
B) Indian Institute of Metallurgy(IIME)
C) Indian Institute of Mines and Coal Engineering(IIMC)
D) Indian Institute of Ocean Sciences(IIOS)
111. Name the 8 year old Indian origin school boy who has been named the ―British Indian of the
Year‖ for his achievements in Yoga?
A) Ishwar Sharma B) Kishwar Singh C) Pawan Kunha D) Srijeet Kapoor
112. Who was presented the Special Jury ‗NRI of the Year Award‘ at the 5th edition of Times
NOW & ICICI Bank NRI of the Year Awards 2018, in Mumbai?
A) Prem Watsa B) Aniket Singh C) Raju Srinivas D) Preethi Biswas
113. Haryana Governor _____ was handed the additional charge of Himachal Pradesh by President
Ram Nath Kovind?
A) Kaptan Singh Solanki B) N N Vohra C) Kesari Nath Tripathi D) Vajubhai Valla
114. which Indian cricketer became the fourth Indian to achieve the mark of 10,000 runs in ODIs,
during the second match of the three-game series against England, at Lord‘s cricket ground in
London?
A) Mahendra Singh Dhoni B) Rohit Sharma
C) Shikhar Dawan D) Dinesh Karthik
115. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has praised which bank for its effective
communications strategy?
A) State Bank of India (SBI) B) Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
C) ICICI Bank D) HDFC Bank
116. In a first of its kind initiative, which state government will appoint girls as a district Brand
Ambassador who have recorded significant achievements in any field under the Beti Bachao-
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Beti Padhao scheme?
A) Haryana B) Odisha C) Bihar D) Madhya Pradesh
117. Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan laid the
foundation stone for National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) at Barang, in ______ , to be
established at a cost of Rs 160 crore?
A) Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh B) Bhubhaneswar,Odisha
C) Guwahati,Assam D) Pune,Maharashtra
118. India‘s first Defence Incubator will come up in T-Hub in which city as proposed by the
Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao?
A) Hyderabad B) Warangal C) Karimnagar D) Kamam
119. Union Home minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the largest Indian visa centre in the world in
_____?
A) Kathmandu,Nepal
B) Dhaka,Bangladesh
C) Colombo,Sri Lanka
D) Kuala Lampur,Malaysia
120. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired 2nd India-Bahrain High Joint
Commission with her counterpart Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa in _____?
A) New Delhi, India B) Mumbai, India C) Manama, Bahrain D) Hyderabad, India
121. Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, co-chaired the
8th session of India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) along with Minister of Industry,
Investment, Trade and Digital Economy of Oman,Dr. Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, in _____?
A) Muscat,Oman B) New Delhi,India C) Kolkata,India D) Bengaluru,India
122. which entity signed an MOU with Swedish firm SAAB to market air-surveillance radar?
A) Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)
B) Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
C) Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL)
D) Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)
123. which institute launched a remotely operable microscope worth Rs. 40 crore, claimed to be the
world‘s first remotely operable Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) microscope, which will
allow precise view of atoms of a material?
A) Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc)
B) Birla Institute of Technology
C) Raman Research Institute
D) Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M)
124. NASA‘s Juno spacecraft using its Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument has
discovered a volcano close to the south pole of Jupiter‘s moon ____?
A) Mo B) Leo C) Io D) Tuarax
125. National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) organised ―Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan‖ in how
many main stem Ganga basin states?
A) 4 B) 5 C) 6 D) 7
126. The chief minister of which state launched an online portal and mobile app called ‗Aabhaar-
Aapki seva ka‘ for the online pensioners of the state?
A) Bihar B) Assam C) Rajasthan D) Chhattisgarh
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127. According to Travel + Leisure‘s World‘s Best Cities report, which Indian city has ranked 3rd
among the 15 of the world‘s best cities?
A) Mysore B) Shimla C) Udaipur D) Kochi
128. National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) has installed a remote sensing instrument- LiDAR
for assessment of offshore wind resource at Gulf of Khambat, off the Coast of _____?
A) Odisha B) West Bengal C) Gujarat D) Karnataka
129. The UK Space Agency said that, it had chosen _____, a peninsula on Scotland‘s north coast as
the site for UK‘s first space port?
A) Portland B) Sutherland C) Maryland D) Costa Rica
130. Senior security officials of India and the United States held a meeting on Homeland Security
Dialogue in ____?
A) Mumbai B) Bengaluru C) Chennai D) Delhi
131. _____ was awarded the NABARD 2018 award for its service to self-help group (SHG) linkage
in Tamil Nadu for the fiscal year 2017-18?
A) Repco Micro Finance Ltd B) Muthoot Finance Limited
C) Mangalam Finance Limited D) Shriram Chit Funds Limited
132. Combined Task Force (CTF 151) led by Commander Rear Admiral Saw Shi Tat of which
Navy visited Indian Naval Ship Teg in Djibouti to carry out anti-piracy operations?
A) Malaysian B) Singapore C) Russia D) France
133. ‗K-Tech Innovation Hub‘ (K-TI Hub), the first of its kind in Karnataka was inaugurated by K
J George, Karnataka Minister for IT/BT & ST, Large and Medium Scale Industries in which
city?
A) Bengaluru B) Mangalore C) Mysore D) Belagavi
134. Scientists from International Union of Geological Science (IUGS) have classified a new chapter
in Earth‘s history as the ______ Age?
A) Himalayan B) Meghalayan C) Arunachal D) Sikkim
135. Which state government has set a 24-hour helpline to assist and protect inter-caste couples?
A) Haryana B) Uttar Pradesh C) Kerala D) Tamil Nadu
136. Which state government has approved implementation of Market Intervention Scheme (MIS)
for procurement of apple?
A) Uttarakhand B) Arunachal Pradesh C) Himachal Pradesh D) Jammu and Kashmir
137. The 7 day long ―Kharchi Puja‖ began at Puran Habeli, in ____?
A) Nagaland B) Tripura C) Assam D) West Bengal
138. Which state police has decided to hire digital volunteers to control the issue of rumors and
eliminate illegal activities?
A) Tamil Nadu B) Karnataka C) Andhra Pradesh D) Uttar Pradesh
139. Which city has launched ‗Walking Action Plan‘ to become the world‘s most walkable city in
the world?
A) New York, United States
B) New Delhi, India
C) London, United Kingdom
D) Sydney, Australia
140. which country joined International Solar Alliance (ISA) and became the 68th member of the
association?
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A) Saudi Arabia B) Egypt C) Myanmar D) Sri Lanka
141. National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) launched the Centre for
Climate Change in which city?
A) Shimla B) Lucknow C) Hyderabad D) Pune
142. Science& Technology, Earth Sciences; Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Dr
Harsh Vardhan inaugurated first of its kind Air Quality and Weather Forecast System–
SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting) in ______?
A) Hyderabad B) Bengaluru C) Delhi D) Chennai
143. Facebook announced that it is aiming to launch, ‗_____‘, its own internet satellite, early in
2019?
A) Avira B) Athena C) Jaasos D) Miracle
144. The Government set up a four-member committee headed by Home Secretary _____ to suggest
measures and legal framework to effectively deal with incidents of mob violence?
A) Subash Chandra Garg B) Injeti Shrinivas
C) Rajiv Gauba D) Ravi Subramaniam
145. Canadian author Michael Ondaatje has again made the Man Booker Prize list with his latest
novel ____?
A) Moonlight B) Warlight C).Graveyard D).Flowers of Sin
146. _____ platform, a collaboration between the Atal Innovation Mission and MyGov was
launched by NITI Aayog to create and encourage a structured ecosystem for innovation in
India?
A).#InnovateIndia B).#NewIndia C).#CelebrateIndia D).#ThinkIndia
147. On July 29, 2018, The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development
&Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan, laid the foundation stone of National Skill Training
Institute (NSTI) for Women at ______?
A).Patiala,Punjab B).Mohali,Punjab C) .Guwahati,Assam D) Raipur,Chhattisgarh
148. The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) launched a mobile application named _____
that will provide information on extreme weather events in Mumbai?
A) MumbaiNow B) Mumbai Weather Live
C) Know Your Mumbai D) Mumbai Times
149. The high-level panel on data protection framework headed by _____ submitted its report to the
government, that included recommendations on changes to the Aadhaar Act, amending the
Right to Information Act etc.?
A) Justice B N Srikrishna B) B M Deosthalee
C) Malhom Roy D) Sunil Mehta
150. Which state government approved a proposal for setting up a riverine port on river Mahanadi
in Kendrapara district?
A) Assam B) Gujarat C) Odisha D) West Bengal
151. The Chief Minister of which state announced that the state government would implement its
own food security act from October 2?
A) Gujarat B) Telangana C) West Bengal D) Odisha
152. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman handed over two types of indigenously built high-power
multi-fuel engines named V92S2 and V-46-6, to the Vice Chief of Army Staff Devaraj Anbu.
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The engines were manufactured by the Engine Factory in _____?
A) Avadi,Tamil Nadu B) Pune,Maharashtra
C) Nagpur,Maharashtra D) Dehradun,Uttarakhand
153. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) hunting probe of which space agency has
started operations to look for new worlds?
A) ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)
B) NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
C) CNSA (Chinese National Space Agency)
D) European Space Agency
154. Mohun Bagan ‗Ratna‘, the highest honour of Mohun Bagan club was awarded to former India
international _____ at its foundation day programme?
A) Liakhat Khan B) Pradip Chowdhury C) Sourav Chatterjee D) Sudeep Das
155. Which hospitality firm signed MoUs with State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda
for extending financial support to the company’s hotel partners?
A) OYO B) GoIbibo C) MakeMyTrip D) Trivago
156. which state government signed a MoU with a private trust for the first cow
sanctuary in the state?
A) Uttar Pradesh B) Gujarat C) Rajasthan D) Madhya Pradesh
157. What was the theme of World Day against Trafficking in Persons that was
observed all over the world on 30th July 2018?
A) Responding to the trafficking of children and young people
B) Eliminate trafficking of children and young people
C) Safeguard the victims of human trafficking
D) Welfare of human trafficking victims
158. Name the Indian swimmer who has become the first Asian to swim the choppy
water from Jersey (an Island in the UK) to France in cold weather?
A) Prabhat Koli B) Prithviraj R C) Satheesh Reddy D) Bharath Singh
159. Where was the International Army Games 2018 inaugurated on 28th July 2018?
A) Beijing, China B) Moscow, Russia C) New Delhi, India D) Tokyo, Japan
160. The 2018 Russian Open badminton tournament was held in Vladivostok, Russia
from 24 to 29 July 2018. Who won the men’s singles title of the tournament?
A) Koki Watanabe B) Sourabh Verma
C) Alexandr Zinchenko D) Rohan Kapoor.
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