CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY · Sharmila created history by becoming India's first transgender lawyer...

CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY – 9043 2113 11/411

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TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS – JULY 2018

CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY Vellore & Tiruvannamalai

ENGLISH MEDIUM

www.chennaiiasacademy.com

chennaiiasacademy

Contact : 9043 211 311 / 411

http://www.chennaiiasacademy.com/


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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


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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.


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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,


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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


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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.


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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.


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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.

https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/




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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.


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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.


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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.


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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


18

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)


19

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


20

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


21

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


22

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


23

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


24

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.


25

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.


26

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


27

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.


28

‘#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


29

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


30

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.


31

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


32

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


33

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


34

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.


35

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.


36

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


37

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


38

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


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.


40

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


41

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,


42

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.


43

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.


44

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.


45

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.


46

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.


47

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.


48

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.


49

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:


50

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.


51

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.


52

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.


53

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


54

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.


55

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


56

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.


57

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)


58

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


59

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.


60

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


66

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


69

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


70

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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CHENNAI IAS ACADEMY · Sharmila created history by becoming India's first transgender lawyer...

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