A2Z July 2019 Current Affairs PDF
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A2Z Current Affairs PDF for upcoming exams July 2019
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MOU/Agreement Countries
The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Maldives for the establishment of passenger and cargo services by sea. India signed Rs 200 crore anti-tank missile deal with Russia. Boosting its capabilities in beyond visual range warfare, India has signed a deal worth around Rs 1,500 crore to acquire R-27 air-to-air missiles from Russia to be equipped on the Su-30MKI combat aircraft. Sri Lanka has signed an agreement with India to upgrade tracks in a key railway segment connecting the north and south at a cost of $ 91.26 million. Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Bolivian space agency for exploration and uses of outer space.
MOU Industry/States/Others
Jio and Facebook have joined hands to announce ‘Digital Udaan’ – a digital literacy program in India which is aimed at first-time internet users. The State Bank of India has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Investment and Infrastructure (NIIF) Fund to boost availability of capital for infrastructure projects. ICICI Bank has tied up with NBFC IndoStar Capital for vehicle financing for small and medium fleet owners to buy new as well as old commercial vehicles. The Centre has inked pact with IBM India for undertaking a pilot study to utilise Artificial Intelligence (AI) and weather technology solutions in agriculture in one district each in three states. Nasscom partners with National Skill Development Corporation to organise ‘World Skills India’s International Cloud Computing Challenge 2019’. NITI Aayog and Facebook-owned WhatsApp, under the aegis of its Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), have announced a partnership to support the growth of a robust ecosystem to promote women entrepreneurs in India. Appointments and Resignations
Name Post Other Info The Centre has extended the tenure of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan by one year. Girish Bapat Chairman of the “Estimates Committee” of Estimates committee is one the parliament of the three financial standing committees of the parliament apart from the public accounts committee and committee on public undertakings. Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri Ombudsman and Ethics Officer of Indian Federation of Sports Gaming (IFSG) Rajiv Kumar Finance Secretary Vikas Swarup Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs, in the
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Ministry of External Affairs K. Natarajan Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) M Nageswar Rao Additional Director of CBI as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guard Ajay Kumar Bhalla Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Ministry of Home Affairs Lieutenant General Manoj Vice Chief of Army Mukund Naravane VK Johri Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) Amita Prasad Chief of Inland Waterways Authority A K Jha Chief of National Productivity Council (NPC) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Farooq Khan Chief Security Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Satya Pal Malik B S Yeddyurappa Karnataka’s Chief Minister Succeeds Hardanahalli Devegowda Kumaraswamy Chandrakant Kavlekar Deputy CM of Goa Replaces Vijai Sardesai Kalraj Mishra Himachal Pradesh Governor Succeeds Acharya Devvrat Acharya Devvrat Gujarat Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan Governor of Andhra Pradesh Replace E S L Narasimhan, who is also Governor of Telangana Anusuiya Uikey Governor of Chhattisgarh Replace Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, who was holding additional responsibility of Chhattisgarh Fagu Chauhan Governor of Bihar Replaces Lalji Tandon Lalji Tandon Governor of Madhya Pradesh Replaces Anandiben Patel Anandiben Patel Governor of Uttar Pradesh Replaces Ram Naik RN Ravi Governor of Nagaland Jagdeep Dhankhar Governor of West Bengal Ramesh Bais Governor of Tripura Vipul Agarwal Interim Chief Operating Officer of investment information and rating agency ICRA P.K. Purwar Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Sunil Kumar Additional charge of chairman and managing Takes over from P K Purwar director of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) Rakesh Asthana Additional Charge of the post of Director
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General, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Nalin Shinghal CMD of BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) Vivek Kohli Chairman of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF) M P Singh Secretary General of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation (CTTF) Katrina Kaif and Varun Dhawan Reebok’s Brand Ambassador in India Anshula Kant (Indian banker) World Bank Group’s Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Ashutosh Gupta LinkedIn’s country manager for India B Harideesh Kumar Director of Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) Former Supreme Court judge, International judge of the Singapore Justice AK Sikri International Commercial court (SICC) David Lipton (US economist) Interim leader of the International Monetary Fund Priti Patel Britain’s first Indian-origin home secretary Julie Sweet CEO of Accenture Boris Johnson Prime Minister of UK Succeeds Theresa May Kyriakos Mitsotakis Prime Minister of Greece RESIGNATIONS: International Monetary Fund, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has resigned. Michael Lobo resigned from the post of Deputy Speaker of Goa Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has resigned as minister from the Punjab cabinet. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj abruptly resigned
Awards and Recognitions
Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge Champions of Empathy Award DD News For spreading awareness about hepatitis. Pride of the Nation Award Dr Vinayak S Hiremath He is known for his exemplary work in the field of medicine and is the youngest doctor of Gulbarga (Karnataka) Mrs Asia 2019 Anshu Gupta Miss Deaf World 2019 title Vidisha Baliyan From Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar city Sangita Kalanidhi award S. Sowmya President’s award for utilisation of National Aluminium Company Corporate Social Responsibility fund in Limited (NALCO) social development ‘Indian Woman of Influence Award’ Priya Priyadarshini Jain at the House of Lords, the
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United Kingdom Parliament, London. She is an eminent fashionista, social entrepreneur and philanthropist People’s Choice Prize at Boston Sudarsan Pattnaik He is sand artist from India International Sand Art Championship The Society Global Indian Icon Award Bollywood’s advocate Dinesh Tiwari For excellence in the field of 2019 law RECOGNITIONS The “Find the Incredible You” campaign of the Tourism Ministry, has won the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award, 2019. The campaign won the award under the “Marketing – Primary Government Destination” category. Aparna Kumar becomes first IPS officer to complete Seven Summit challenge by scaling Mt Denali. Mt Denali is the tallest mountain in North America. Director Kaushik Ganguly’s Bengali outing ‘Nagarkirtan‘, a love story of a transwoman and a flautist, has won big at this year’s SAARC film festival, bagging four awards, including ‘Best Feature Film’. Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar’s directorial ‘Gully Boy’ has won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award at the 23rd Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) in South Korea. The Aditya Birla World Academy is the Only Indian School to Feature in ‘The Commonwealth at 70’ Book Eminent artists Zakhir Hussain, Sonal Mansingh, Jatin Goswami and K Kalyanasundaram Pillai have been chosen in the Akademi Ratna category by the Sangeet Natak Akademi for the year 2018.
Conference and Summits
Summit Place . Extra Knowledge India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) New Delhi . in October 2019 DefExpo India 2020 Lucknow, UP 14th Conference of the Parties (COP) Greater Noida, UP from September 02 to 13 India-Nepal Logistics Summit between India and Kathmandu, Nepal Theme - “Transforming Nepal Logistics Landscape” Non Aligned movement ministerial meeting Caracas, Venezuela Global Conference on Media Freedom London, UK 19th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers London Meeting 2019 World Heritage Committee meeting Baku, Azerbaijan 2020 World Heritage Committee meeting Fuzhou, China
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International News
India has pledged to contribute USD 5 Million in 2019 to the UN Palestine refugee agency. The Indian Government is assisting 150 Palestinian professionals every year under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme. In a bid to promote tourism, Nepal Tourism Board is organising a program “Visit Nepal 2020” here in India to highlight the country’s many tourist destinations. A model village at Ranidugama in Gampaha built with Indian assistance as part of a housing project meant for war affected people and estate workers was inaugurated in Sri Lanka. India handed over 250 houses to the displaced Muslim minorities, who are currently residing in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, under the Rakhine State Development Programme (RSDP) for USD 25 million for a period of five years. The Mahatma Gandhi IT and Biotechnology Park in Cote d’Ivoire, a dedicated free trade zone built with India’s assistance to build development capacities, has been inaugurated. The MGIT-BP is being built with India’s assistance through EXIM Bank Lines of Credit of USD 20 million. The UAE debuted the world’s largest single solar plant, Noor Abu Dhabi, boasting a production capacity of nearly 1,177 MW. Noor Abu Dhabi is comprised of over 3.2 million solar panels, capable of providing enough capacity to 900,000 people. The UK has unveiled a green finance strategy, setting out plans to increase investment in sustainable projects and infrastructure. The world’s largest burn and plastic surgery institute in Dhaka, Bangladesh has started functioning. Named Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, the 500-bed hospital with 50 ICU and 12 operation theatres will provide advanced treatment to burn patients in Bangladesh. Sharjah has granted its first golden visa – to Indian businessman Lalu Samuel. A long-time resident of the UAE, Mr Samuel is chairman of the Sharjah-based Kingston Group, one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of electrical products in the Middle East. The World Health Organization announced that Sri Lanka has eliminated measles, interrupting transmission of the indigenous virus that causes the killer childhood disease. Ukraine has inaugurated the world’s largest movable metal dome encasing the destroyed reactor at the infamous Chernobyl plant. It is a 108-meter high dome which weighs 36,000 tonnes. In the United States, Tropical Storm Barry has begun hitting Louisiana with wind and rain, building towards hurricane strength. Palau, an archipelago of over 500 islands in Oceania, became the 76th signatory country to join the International Solar Alliance. In an attempt to ensure more footfalls, Dubai Tourism has announced visa fee exemption for the visitors under 18 while travelling with their parents between July 15 and September 15 this year. Benjamin Netanyahu has become Israel‘s longest-serving prime minister, snatching the title from the country’s founding father and first leader, David Ben-Gurion. Pakistan has announced that it will send its first astronaut to space in 2022 using close ally China’s satellite launching facilities. Pakistan has opened a 1,000-year-old Hindu temple in eastern city Sialkot for “worship” for the first time since partition on the demand of the local Hindu community.
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The Shawala Teja Singh temple, located in city’s congested Dhaarowal locality, some 100-km from Lahore, is more than 1,000 years old, according to the book ‘History of Sialkot’ by the late Rashid Niaz. Beijing-based startup “Interstellar Glory Space Technology” also known as iSpace successfully launched the china’s first commercial rocket. National News United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in India. The Prime Minister unveiled the statue of former Prime Minister Sh. Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi. India offered concessional financial assistance of USD 100 million to Benin with an aim to help the West African country meet its Sustainable Development Goals. India extended an assistance of USD 500,000 in support of skill development and cottage industry projects in Gambia. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has recently approved a new scheme called ‘Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan-dhan Yojana‘ that offers pension coverage to the trading community. The main feature of PMLVM Yojana 2019 is that each subscriber of the scheme shall receive minimum assured lifelong pension of Rs 3000/- per month after attaining the age of 60 years. ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme will be available across the country from July 1, 2020. The scheme will allow portability of food security benefits according to which the poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country as long as their ration cards are linked to Aadhaar. MHA has rolled out a scheme ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ for the period 2018-2020, to combat cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and effective manner. Government today said, under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), 9 crore 62 lakh individual household toilets have been constructed so far. Union Minister for Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar said that 52.04 lakh people were given employment under MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) in 2018-19. This showed an increase of 76.11%. In 2017-18, 29.55 lakh people were employed under the scheme. Meanwhile, 39.91 lakhs were given employment under MGNREGS in 2016-17. Union Minister of Human Resource Development released UGC Guide to Student Induction Programme “Deeksharambh” in New Delhi. The South Central Railway (SCR) has added yet another feather in its cap by commissioning the longest electrified tunnel of 6.6 km built at a total cost of ₹460 crore between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations. The tunnel is part of the recently completed Obulavaripalli-Venkatachalam new railway line. India’s first Design Development Center ‘Fashionova’ was launched in the Textile city Surat recently to promote the city in the field of the fashion design sector. The Walled City of Jaipur, known for its iconic architectural legacy and vibrant culture, has made its entry into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Tata Steel Kalinganagar (TSK) has been included in World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Lighthouse Network, a community of manufacturers showing leadership in applying Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to drive financial and operational impact. TSK in Odisha’s Jajpur district is the first and the only Indian manufacturing plant to be included in the WEF’s Lighthouse Network.
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The Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express is set to be the first train to be operated by private players, indicating that the Railways is going ahead with its 100-day agenda of handing over operations of two of its trains to the private sector, despite protests from its unions. Manav, a new human atlas initiative launched by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Persistent Systems, a biotechnology company towards improving knowledge on human biology. The main aim is to create a database of a molecular network of all the tissues in the human body. The Government of India has approved Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana with financial outlay of Rs 5,35,000 crore to develop 24,800 km Highways along with 10,000 km residual NHDP stretches over a period of five years. UN Development Programme released the 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty Index recently. India lifted 271 million people out of poverty between 2006 and 2016, recording the fastest reductions in the multidimensional poverty index values during the period with strong improvements in areas such as “assets, cooking fuel, sanitation and nutrition,” the report by the United Nations said. Believe Foundation in association with the Sunday Guardian Foundation and Dr Raman Bhai Patel Foundation (RBF) hosted the first edition of Gandhi-Mandela Peace Initiative at the Imperial, New Delhi. Government of India has launched “LaQshya” (Labour room Quality improvement Initiative) to improve quality of care in labour room and maternity operation theatres in public health facilities. It’s a multipronged approach focused at Intrapartum and immediate postpartum period. Union Government said that total 30 lakh 85 thousand 205 persons have been enrolled under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Scheme, PM-SYM, till 10th July. The government has plans to set up 4,200 Ayush wellness centres in the country in FY 2019-20 in several states. The Government of India has approved a project to build the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) at Pottipuram in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu. Government of India will provide 10,000 scholarships for heirs of the liberation war fighters of Bangladesh called ‘Muktijodhas’ over the next five years under the Nutan India-Bangladesh Maitree Muktijodha Sontan Scholarship Scheme. The Indian Navy commissioned its new Dornier Aircraft Squadron in Chennai. This is Indian Navy’s 5th Dornier Aircraft squadron. Maharashtra reported 233 cases of ATM fraud in 2018-19, the highest in the entire country, Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) data, revealed. The data showed that Delhi grabbed the second spot with 179 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu with 147 cases of ATM fraud. Over seven crore 32 lakh farmer families across the country have received the first and second instalments of 2 thousand rupees each under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana amounting to 14 thousand 646 crore rupees. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a draft notification to amend the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, allowing motor vehicles and their parts, components, assemblies and sub-assemblies to be affixed with permanent and nearly invisible microdots that can be read physically with a microscope and identified with an ultra violet light source. India’s fastest train, Vande Bharat Express‘s trial run from New Delhi to Katra was successfully conducted by the Indian Railways’ Northern Railway zone. This train is better than Shatabdi Express; it runs at a speed of 160 km per hour. Government has decided to set up two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu which would cover Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) needs.
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Union Cabinet has approved the merger of National Institute of Miners’ Health with Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Occupational Health. JATAN: Virtual Museum software has been developed by Human Centres Design and Computing Group, C-DAC, Pune, Maharashtra for the Digitization of Archaeological Museum. In the area of solar rooftop installations, Gujarat has stood first in the country with total 261.97 megawatts (MW) of installed rooftop solar capacity as on July 23, 2019. As per the Central government data, total rooftop solar installations in India is 1700.54 MW. Uttar Pradesh has become number one in implementation of Pradhanamntri Suraksha Beema Yojna in the country. As per the statement released by state government 1.95 crores people have been given insurance cover under the scheme till 31 march 2019. GST Council has decided to reduce GST rate on electric vehicles (EV) from 12% to 5% and 18% to 5% on EV chargers from August 1, the Finance Ministry announced. Moreover, the council also approved exemption from GST on hiring of electric buses by local authorities. This follows government announcing ₹1.5-lakh income tax deduction on loan interest for purchasing EVs. The Centre has proposed light urban rail transit system – ‘Metrolite’ – in small cities and towns having lower projection of ridership, with each train having three coaches and a restricted speed of 25 kmph. The Government of India began the 7th Economic Census from Tripura. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will conduct the census. It will be conducted after a gap of 5 years. The Western Railway General Stores Depot (GSD) has become the first in Indian Railways to opened a heritage gallery of the printing and allied machines used in the Western Railway Printing Press since (1948) at Mahalaxmi in Mumbai. Indian Railways ‘Northeast Frontier Railway zone’ has started a unique initiative to earmark a special portion of the SLR coach with pink colour. This is done to specially help the women passengers with better safety and security. Kaiga Atomic Energy station in Karnataka set a World Record in continuous operation of 962 days by Unit-1 of Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-1) among nuclear power plants of all technologies. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said an inter-ministerial panel has sanctioned 5,645 electric buses for operations in 65 cities, a move seen towards environment-friendly mobility. The Centre has been taking initiatives to popularise environment-friendly electric vehicles. The government has set a target to achieve 100 per cent digitization of waqf properties across the country in its first 100 days. Chhattisgarh and Telangana processed the largest percentage of solid waste they generated in 2018 (until November), according to data provided to Parliament. Chhattisgarh generated a total 601,885 MTPA (metric tonne per annum) of waste, and was able to process 84% of it. The corresponding numbers for Telangana were 2,690,415 MTPA and 73%. State News
Andhra Pradesh The World Bank said, it had withdrawn $300 million of funding for a new capital in Andhra Pradesh after the central government dropped support for the project.
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Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in the country to reserve jobs for locals. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in Industries/Factories Act, 2019.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh launched the statewide tree plantation programme ‘Clean-Green Arunachal Campaign 2019’ in Itanagar. Under this campaign State Forest department had planted 1-lakh tree saplings in 24 hours.
Bihar The foundation stone of India’s first dolphin research centre will be laid in Patna on the bank of river Ganga on October 5, after a delay of eight years.
Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel inaugurated ‘Jan Choupal’ programme in Raipur. Under this programme, public meetings will be held once every week to discuss the issues of the people. An Agri-Business Incubation Centre has started in Chhattisgarh. The centre is set up by the Union Agriculture Ministry in the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University of Raipur. The country’s first garbage cafe has been launched in Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh. Under this, the Municipal Corporation will provide food to the poor and homeless in lieu of plastic waste.
Delhi Shelving its previous plan to convert it into a waste-to-energy plant, the Delhi government announced that a solar park — of 5,000 KW capacity — will come up in the spot of the defunct Rajghat thermal power plant. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a Jan Jagrukta Abhiyaan in Delhi to accelerate measures for prevention and control of Vector Borne Diseases like Malaria, Dengue and Chikungunya.
Goa In a first, the Goa government is planning to ply ‘water taxis’ in its inland waterways, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced.
Haryana The Haryana government announced the launch of ‘Meri Fasal Mera Byora’ portal whereby farmers can avail benefits of several government schemes directly after uploading their crop-related details. The Haryana cabinet has approved the setting up of Haryana Sports University at Rai. BSE has inked a pact with Haryana government to encourage and support state’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to raise capital. National Stock Exchange has signed a pact with the Haryana government to help boost the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises sector in the state. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has invited Nepal to be the partner country for this year’s ‘Gita Jayanti Mahotsav 2019’ scheduled to be held at Kurukshetra.
Jammu & Kashmir In Jammu and Kashmir, District Administration Udhampur has launched a helpline, “Jeene Do”. The objective is to improve sex ratio and deal with defaulters of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques or PCPNDT Act under the Centrally sponsored Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme.
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Kerala
The Kerala government is working to set up the country’s first elephant rehabilitation centre in Kottoor, an ecotourism village near the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The Kerala government will set up the country’s first space tech park at Thiruvananthapuram’s Knowledge City. ‘Monsoon Ragas,’ a music festival, being organised by Kerala Tourism, marks the states successful entry into music tourism
Madhya Pradesh India’s first cow sanctuary, set up by the previous BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government in September 2017, will be privatised by the Congress-led government. -- Kamdhenu Gau Abhyaranya in Agar Malwa,
Meghalaya The Supreme Court of India has directed the Meghalaya government to deposit the Rs 100 crore fine. The fine was imposed by the NGT for failing to curb illegal coal mining with the Central Pollution Control Board. Amid the water crisis in the country, the Meghalaya cabinet became the first state to approve a draft water policy to address water issues, conservation, and protection of water sources in the state.
Odisha Odisha’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) grew by 8.4 per cent during 2018-19 compared to 7.4 per cent in previous financial year, highlighting that it has grown at a faster rate than states like Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The Hong Kong government has approved over $9 million for relief and rehabilitation work in cyclone-hit Odisha. Odisha has received the official recognition for its ‘Odisha Rasagola’ from the Geographical Indication (GI) of India. Odisha state secretariat or ‘Sachivalaya’ has been renamed as Lok Seva Bhawan, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced in the state Assembly.
Rajasthan The Walled City of Jaipur, known for its iconic architectural legacy and vibrant culture, has made its entry into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Keeping focus on farmers, cattle, youth and unemployed in the 2019-20 budget, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced free of cost ‘Janata Clinics’ for all, renewable energy projects for clean environment and moves to ensure ‘Ease of Doing Farming’.
Tamil Nadu Tamil yeoman (Cirrochroa thais) butterfly has been declared the state butterfly of Tamil Nadu. These butterflies are also known as Tamil Maravan, which means warrior, are found mainly in the hilly areas. The Government of India has approved a project to build the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) at Pottipuram in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu. The number of districts in Tamil Nadu will go up to 35 as the government announced its decision to carve out Tenkasi district from Tirunelveli district and Chengalpet district from Kancheepuram district.
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Telangana
The annual Bonalu festival kicked off at the Jagadamba temple in historic Golconda Fort, Telangana. Bonalu is celebrated every year in the state during the first month of the monsoon season. Bonalu is the “state festival” of Telangana. The World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network and the Telangana government announced they are set to launch an innovative project to deliver emergency medical supplies such as blood and vaccines via drones. The pilot project, called Medicine from the Sky, will run in partnership with the state government and HealthNet Global Limited. Hyderabad’s first private space museum in collaboration with Indian SpaceReserach Organisation (ISRO) has been inaugurated.
Tripura The Government of India has sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 358 crore for the construction of new roads in rural areas of Tripura.
Uttarakhand
The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated an Indian Coast Guard recruitment centre in Kuanvala. Uttarakhand hosted the first ever Himalayan states conclave on July 28 where the prime focus will be on sustainable development.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a 24×7 toll-free helpline to allow people from across the state to register their grievance via a phone call on number 1076 instead of travelling all the way to Lucknow. The Prime Minister unveiled the statue of former Prime Minister Sh. Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi.
West Bengal
The West Bengal government has decided to build 8.3 lakh new houses under Bangla Abas Yojana for the poor across rural Bengal in this ongoing fiscal. About 5.86 lakh houses were handed out to the people under the scheme of Aamar Bari, a project partially funded by the Centre, in the last fiscal. ‘Save Water Day’ was observed by the West Bengal government on 12th July and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee participated in a march in the city to raise awareness on conservation. Finance and Banking News Karnataka Bank Ltd has launched the web tool – ‘Vasool So-Ft’ (Vasool So-Fast) – for digitalising the NPA (non- performing asset) recovery process of the bank. State-owned Punjab & Sind Bank has set up a centralised hub - Centralised MSME & Retail Group (Cen-MARG) - for processing retail and MSME loans for better efficiency of branches in business acquisition.
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The government has taken away the powers of the National Housing Bank (NHB) to regulate housing finance companies (HFCs) and handed them to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). India’s state-owned banks had classified 1.50 trillion rupees ($21.76 billion) worth of loans as “wilful defaults” in 2018-19, with the biggest lender State Bank of India accounting for nearly a third. The government has infused over Rs 3.15 lakh crore into public sector banks (PSBs) in the 11 years through 2018- 19. Deposits in bank accounts opened under Jan Dhan scheme, launched about five years ago by the Modi- government, have crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. As per the latest finance ministry data, the total balance in over 36.06 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts was at Rs 1,00,495.94 crore as on July 3. The deposits in the account of the beneficiaries, which has been steadily rising, was Rs 99,649.84 crore on June 6 HDFC Bank and Common Services Centres (CSCs) launched a co-branded ‘Small Business Money Back Credit Card’ for small traders and village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs). ICICI Bank announced the launch of a new digital platform ‘InstaBIZ’curated specially for MSMEs and self-employed customers to enable them to undertake their business banking transactions digitally and instantly. Andhra Bank launched its Artificial Intelligence interactive assistant — ABHi. The Bank’s AI powered chatbot-ABHi uses latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithm to understand the customer query and fetch the relevant information from possible knowledgebase in a matter of milliseconds. UK-based Standard Chartered Bank has received in-principle regulatory approvals to set up its IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). It will be the first foreign bank to launch operations at International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). India is set to be the first recipient of local currency financing by the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB). India, which is the second largest shareholder of Beijing-based AIIB with a 7.5% stake, has received about $2-billion funding for various projects so far. China holds 20.06% in the over-three-year-old bank. Hoping to expand its international presence, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and JCB International, along with domestic banks, have launched RuPay JCB Global Cards. Aditya Birla Payments Bank, a venture between Idea Cellular and Aditya Birla Nuvo, has shut down its operations. Reserve Bank of India has assigned deputy governor B.P. Kanungo to run the monetary policy portfolio and forecasting department. After the exit of Viral Acharya, Kanungo has become the 6th member of the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Money Museum at Council House Street in Central Kolkata, which opened earlier this year, has been drawing a lot of attention for its unique initiative. The museum has been built with an aim to improve people’s knowledge of the banking system with the help of interactive displays. Business News HCL Technologies has completed the planned acquisition of select IBM products for security, marketing, commerce and digital solutions. Airtel Payments Bank has partnered with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer the Bharti AXA Life POS Saral Jeevan Bima Yojana through banking points across India. Bharti Airtel and Bharti Hexacom announced the merger of the consumer mobile businesses (CMB) of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (TTML) with the two Bharti Group companies. Online grocery delivery platform Milkbasket has acquired Bengaluru-based e-grocery distributor PSR Supply Chain.
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Popshot, the world’s first ever interactive browser built for smart phones, has been launched in India. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp said that it has closed its $34 billion acquisition of software company Red Hat Inc, as it looks to ramp up its cloud computing business. OYO Hotels & Homes has formally announced its acquisition of co-working venture Innov8. Reliance Jio, the newest entrant in the telecom sector, has pipped Bharti Airtel to become the second-largest mobile operator with 32.29 crore subscribers in May, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Vodafone Idea — born last year from the merger of older operators Vodafone India and Idea Cellular — continues to be the largest operator with 38.75 crore consumers. The brand “Tata” has become India’s most valuable brand for the second straight year in 2019, according to the Brand Finance India 100 2019 report. Apple has announced the acquisition of chip-maker Intel”s smartphone modem business for $1 billion. Microsoft has acquired data privacy, governance service firm BlueTalon. Economy News Asian Development Bank lowered India’s GDP growth rate from 7.2% to 7% for the current fiscal year. IMF cut India’s GDP growth forecast to 7 per cent for FY20 (2019-20). The growth is expected to rise to 7.2 per cent points in FY21. India’s GDP growth to be flat at 6.8% in FY20: Report by Singaporean lender DBS The interest rate on the general provident fund (GPF) has been cut by 10 basis points (bps) to 7.9 per cent from 8 per cent with effect from July 1. India’s current account deficit (CAD) totalled 4.6 billion dollars or 0.7 per cent of the GDP in the fourth quarter (January to March) of 2018-19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. India’s current account deficit (CAD) is expected to remain largely steady at 16 billion to 17 billion dollars or 2.3 per cent of GDP in the first quarter (April to June) of the current fiscal year 2019-20 despite recent contraction in merchandise exports and imports, according to investment information firm ICRA. Industrial production grew at 3.1 per cent in May, mainly on account of improvement in power generation, according to official data released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Retail inflation increased marginally to 3.18 per cent in June over the previous month, mainly due to the rise in food prices according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board, which met in New Delhi, finalised a three- year roadmap to improve regulation and supervision, among other functions of the central bank. This medium term strategy — named Utkarsh 2022 — is in line with the global central banks’ plan to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory mechanism. Science & Technology India successfully launched its second moon mission Chandrayaan-2, a feat which comes 11 years after the launch of Chandrayaan-1, from its most powerful rocket with a plan to land the rover on September 7 in the unexplored lunar south pole. The Rs 978-crore unmanned mission also brought woman power to the fore as it was helmed by two woman scientists of the ISRO–Ritu Karidhal and M Vanitha, the Mission and Project directors respectively. It was launched by GSLV MkIII-M1 Vehicle, dubbed as ‘Baahubali’.
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Indian Space Research Organisation has signed a contract with Russia’s Glavkosmos for selection support, medical examination and space training of Indian astronauts. U.S. space agency NASA prepares to send “first woman and next man” on Moon as part of its ambitious Artemis programme in 2024. NASA has marked the 50th anniversary of the historic first Moon landing. The Russian space agency has launched Proton-M rocket carrying the Spektr-RG(Spectrum Roentgen Gamma) space telescope from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Targeting teenagers, Google-owned content sharing app YouTube is bringing a new education feature called Learning Playlists with dedicated landing pages for educational videos on topics like math, science, music and language, free from algorithmic recommendations. Ecommerce and tech giant Amazon has forayed into the edtech space with the launch of an IIT JEE preparation app called JEE Ready. The app, which is Amazon’s first product in the edtech sector in India has already been installed more than a thousand times. Defence News Abu Dhabi to host first ISA’s (International Security Alliance) joint security exercise ISALEX19. The Indian and French Air Force has started Garuda VI exercise at Mont de Marsan in France. The exercise is scheduled to take place from 1 July to July 12, 2019, in France. BSF has launched the operation ‘Sudarshan’ to fortify the ‘anti-infiltration grid’ along the Pakistan border in Punjab and Jammu. India and China will carry out a major military exercise called ‘Hand-in-Hand’ in December, 2019. The exercise will take place at Umroi, Meghalaya. Sports News
Tournament Winner Other Info Copa America football trophy Brazil Defeated Peru FIFA Women’s World Cup USA Defeated Netherlands CONCACAF Gold Cup Mexico Defeated USA ICC World Cup England Defeated New Zealand Intercontinental Cup football tournament North Korea Beat Tajikistan. Held at TransStadia Arena in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Bengal Open squash tournament Abhay Singh Bengal Open squash tournament Tanvi Khanna U-19 title at the Asian Junior Squash Veer Chotrani (India) Championship 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Harmeet Desai Championships (men’s single) 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Ayhika Mukherjee Championships (women’s single) 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis G Sathiyan and Archana Kamath Championships (mixed double pair) World Deaf Youth Badminton Championships Jerlin Anika
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held in Taipei Indonesia Open Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi She defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu in the finals Israel Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships Rani Banga WBC Asia Silver Welterweight Champion Vaibhav Yadav (India) WBC international welterweight title Amir khan (India) US professional circuit Vijender Singh (Indian Boxer) Tatyana Kolpakova International athletics M. Sreeshankar Yasar Dogu International (53kg category) Vinesh Phogat Yasar Dogu International Bajrang Punia Yasar Dogu International (55kg category) Pinki Grand Prix of Spain (53kg category) Vinesh Phogat Grand Prix of Spain (68kg category) Divya Kakran Dutch Junior Open squash Anahat Singh and Neel Joshi President’s Cup (men – 63kg category) Shiva Thapa Held in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia President’s Cup (women – 51kg category) Mary Kom Junior world Golf Championship 2019 India’s Arjun Bhati Held in Palm Desert, California. Canada Open Badminton (Men) Li Shi Feng Defeated India’s Parupalli Kashyap 2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour title Magnus Carlsen German Tennis Championships Nikoloz Basilashvili German Grand Prix Max Verstappen Austrian Grand Prix Max Verstappen British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton Wimbledon title (women) Romanian Simona Halep Wimbledon title (men) Serbian Novak Djokovic
Sports Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar became the latest cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. With this, he has become sixth Indian after Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid to be bestowed the recognition. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani has been appointed Chairperson of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Financial and Commercial Affairs Committee. Odisha Government is set to host the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship at the Jawaharlal Indoor Stadium in Cuttack, scheduled for July 17 to 22. FIFA U-17 World Cup 2019 to be hosted by Brazil. The ISSF World Cup will be held in New Delhi from March 15 to 26 next year. The 3rd edition of Khelo India Youth Games 2020 will be held in Guwahati. Nigeria to host 2020 U-20 World Cup Indian women’s, men’s team won the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha. Indian bodybuilder Ravinder Kumar Malik has clinched Mr. South Asia title. He has crowned the overall champion at 12th South Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship in Kathmandu.
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Rohit Sharma has set a world record of maximum hundreds in the single World Cup. Australia’s Mitchell Starc broke all-time World Cup record as the pacer now has the most number of wickets, 27, in a single edition of a World Cup. Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry became the first cricketer of either gender to reach the rare milestone of scoring 1000 runs and taking 100 wickets in the T20 format. Sprinter Dutee Chand won the 100m gold medal in the World University Games in Napoli, Italy. Deepika Kumari clinches silver at 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games test event The 18-year-old Narender Gahlot became the second youngest player to score an international goal for the Indian football team. Chandigarh received affiliation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after nearly four decades. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a new sponsor for the Indian team. BYJU’S will be taking over the sponsorship from OPPO. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed former cricketer Rahul Dravid as the head of National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru. Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) led by World Cup-winning former captain Kapil Dev has been entrusted with the responsibility of selecting India’s new coach. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has suspended India batsman Prithvi Shaw for “doping violations”. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has appointed the Canadian Dejan Papic as the head coach of the Indian table tennis team. Former India stumper Kiran More, who was appointed USA’s director of cricket last month, will take the additional responsibility of coaching the senior national team on an interim basis. Former India batsman and Andhra Pradesh skipper Venugopal Rao has announced retirement from all forms of the game. Ambati Rayudu, the Indian middle-order batsman announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik announced his retirement from ODI cricket. Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Kulasekara has announced retirement from international cricket. Sri Lanka’s unorthodox fast bowler Lasith Malinga announced his retirement from international cricket. Pakistan left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir announced his retirement fromTest cricket South African Jean-Paul Duminy announced his retirement for ALL Proteas cricket. South African Imran Tahir announced his retirement from ODI cricket. Ian Gould (from UK) announced retirement from umpiring. The International Cricket Council has named Michael Gough of England and Joel Wilson of the West Indies in the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Umpires for 2019-20 season. They will replace retired umpire Ian Gould and Ravi Sundaram who were part of the previous panel. Arjen Robben, the former Bayern Munich and Netherland forward, announced his retirement from football. Nigerian footballer John Obi Mikel announced his retirement from international football. Indian men’s footballer Sunil Chhetri and women’s footballer Ashalata Devi won the biggest prizes in their respective categories as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced awards for the 2018-19 season. Chhetri was declared as the men’s footballer of the year whereas in the women’s category Devi was announced as the footballer of the year.
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Kuwait has been cleared to compete in the 2020 Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it was lifting the suspension it imposed on the Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC) four years ago. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Zimbabwe Cricket with immediate effect for failing to fulfil their obligation of ensuring that there is no government interference in its administration. For the first time in the Olympic Games’ history, men and women will compete together in a new Table Tennis mixed doubles event in Tokyo 2020. Romanian Presidential Administration announced that Wimbledon champion Simona Halep will be given Steaua Romaniei- the highest distinction of Romania. Sharath Kamal was voted the Sportsperson of the Year in the annual Indian Oil Sports Conclave. Sports and Youth Affairs Minister conferred Arjuna Awards to tennis player Rohan Bopanna and Women cricketer Smriti Mandhana. Indian men’s football team dropped two places to settle at 103 in the FIFA rankings updated recently. Belgium still top the rankings.
Indian sprinter Hima Das won 5 medals in a month –
Women’s 200m Poznan Athletics Grand Prix, Poland. Women’s 200m at Kutno Athletics Meet, Poland. Women’s 200m event at the Kladno Memorial Athletics Meet in at Kladno, Czech Republic. Women’s 200m race Tabor Athletics Meet in Czech Republic. Women’s 400 meter race in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Muhammad Anas wins men’s 400m race at Tabor Athletics Meet
Keshav Dutt, Prasun Banerjee chosen for Mohun Bagan Ratna
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Keshav Dutt and former India Football Captain Prasun Banerjee will be conferred the ‘Mohun Bagan Ratna’ during its annual day celebrations on the 29th of this month. Mohun Bagan will also felicitate pacer Mohammed Shami, India’s hat-trick hero of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, while Ashok Chatterjee will be given the Lifetime Achievement award. The Mariners will also give Life Memberships to Sourav Ganguly, ChuniGoswami, Dr Vece Paes, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Deb Shankar Halder. This is for the first time Mohun Bagan’s executive committee has decided to confer their highest honour to a non- footballer. July 29 is celebrated as the ‘Mohun Bagan Day’ because on this day in 1911, the Mariners became the first club to defeat a British club, East YorkshireRegiment, and lift the IFA Shield.
Commonwealth Senior Weightlifting Championships Gold for India
Mirabai Chanu wins gold in the senior women’s 49 kg event. Jhilli Dalabehra wins gold in the senior women’s 45 kg event. Soroikhaibam Bindyarani Devi wins gold in the senior women’s 55kg event. Rishikanta Singh grabbed the gold in the senior men’s 55kg event.
5 Gold medals in Qasanov Memorial Meet at Almaty in Kazakhstan.
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Mohammed Afsal won the men’s 800m gold. Gagandeep Singh won gold in men’s discus throw. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon won the third gold for India recording discuss throw covering 54.80m. MD. Salahuddin secured gold in men’s triple jump event. Sahil Silwal won Gold in the men’s javelin throw event.
Sports Journalists Federation of India 2019 Awards
SJFI Medal (Highest Honour): Prakash Padukone (Badminton). Sportsperson of the Year Award: Pankaj Advani (Billiards and Snooker) and Bajrang Punia (Wrestling). Emerging Talent of the Year Award: Saurabh Choudhary (Shooting). Team of the Year Award: Vidarbha Cricket Team.
Committee
Head of Committee Purpose Aruna Sundararajan Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad constituted a committee chaired by Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan to spell out revival plans for Telecom sector. Devendra Fadnavis Prime Minister Narendra Modi constituted a high-powered committee of chief ministers for the transformation of agriculture and raising farmers’ income. Tapan Ray The Reserve Bank of India has set up a working group to review the regulatory and supervisory framework for core investment companies (CIC). Subhash Chandra Garg “Inter-Ministerial Committee” on legality of cryptocurrencies and blockchain has submitted its report to the Finance Ministry. The Committee recommends that all private cryptocurrencies, except any cryptocurrency issued by the state, be banned in India. Amit Shah The government reconstituted a group of ministers tasked with working out the modalities for sale of Air India.
Rankings
Index India’s Rank Other Information Henley Passport Index 2019 86 Top – Japan and Singapore. (Most Powerful Passport index 2019) Global Innovation Index (GII) 52 Top – Switzerland. 2019 It is released by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Money parked in Swiss banks: India slips one place to 74th, UK remains on top. India will overtake the UK to become the world’s fifth biggest economy in 2019, and is poised to surpass Japan to be the third largest in 2025, according to IHS Markit. German online moving company, Movinga has revealed its International Moving Price Index for 2019. The 2019 Moving Index, a study of 85 cities, found which are the costliest cities to start afresh in. According to its International Moving Price Index for 2019, San Francisco is the most expensive city to move to.
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Delhi is among the world’s cheapest cities to move to. Delhi was ranked 85th in terms of individual relocation. Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others)
Maharashtra achieves first rank in NITI Aayog launched “Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index (AMFFRI)”. “Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey” -- New Delhi’s Connaught Place—commercial business district (CBD)– is among the top 10 most expensive office markets around the globe. Retaining its place as last year, it has has been ranked at 9th position in the list, according to a report by CBRE, a real estate consulting firm. Hong Kong’s Central district retained the top spot Bengaluru has topped the list of “most digitised cities” accounting for highest card payments in a study conducted by payments solution company Razorpay. According to the Era of Rising Fintech Report, released by Razorpay Software Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru is followed by Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. The top five digitised states as per the report are Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and New Delhi. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has become the top-ranked Indian company to feature in the latest “Fortune Global 500 list 2019” with a jump of 42 places. It ranked 106 in the list. According to the latest “Women Entrepreneur Cities Index 2019”, sponsored by Dell and conducted by London- based global information provider, IHS Markit, Singapore tops in Asian city ranked at 21st position, while Indian cities Bengaluru(Karnataka) and Delhi were ranked 43rd (7th in Asia) and 50th (10th in Asia) respectively. Debuting at 81st position globally, Bengaluru has been ranked India’s best city for students in the global ranking agency QS’ (Quacquarelli Symonds) latest Best Student Cities Ranking 2019. However, in terms of affordability, Bengaluru is ranked 7th globally. Globally, London emerged the world’s best student city for the second consecutive year, followed by Tokyo and Melbourne. Loans from Banks
From To Amount Purpose Asian L&T USD 100 Loan for on-lending to wind and solar power infrastructure Infrastructure Infrastructure million projects in the country. Investment Bank Finance (AIIB) Company Asian Tripura Rs 1925 Cr Loan for up-gradation of power generation and Development distribution in Tripura. Bank As part of innovative modes of financing to meet India’s huge infrastructure appetite, insurance giant LIC has agreed to offer Rs 1.25 trillion line of credit by 2024, to fund highway projects, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
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Deadlines/ Important Dates
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that that Railways will install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in over 7,020 coaches of mainline passenger trains during Phase-I which is targeted to complete by March 2021. They are already installed in 1,300 coaches of mainline passenger trains. Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the government has set a target to raise health services expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2025. India’s first highway corridors with charging stations for electric vehicles are expected to come up along the Delhi- Jaipur and Delhi-Agra highways by 2020. To ensure seamless traffic and prevent congestion at toll plazas, the government has decided to declare all lanes at toll fee plaza on national highways as ‘FASTag lanes’ from December 1. The date for filing income tax returns (ITR) for the assessment year 2019-20 has been extended from 31st July, 2019 to August 31, 2019 The government has set a target for the installation of Rooftop Solar projects of 40,000 MegaWatt by 2022 in the country.
Books
Book Author Other Info War over Words: Censorship in India, 1930-1960 Devika Sethi Vivekadeepini Adi Shankaracharya It is a summary of Prashnottara Ratnamalika Kargil: Untold stories from the War Rachna Bisht Rawat Chandra Shekhar – The Last Icon of Ideological Harivansh, Deputy Politics Chairman, Rajya Sabha; and Shri Ravi Dutt Bajpai New-Age Technology and Industrial Revolution 4.0 Dr Narendra Jadhav
Obituaries
Name Profession Other Info Subir Gokarn Economist Former RBI Deputy Governor Lt Gen Joginder Singh Gharaya Retired C.Kapur Sports Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India secretary Soumendranath Kundu Sports Former Bengal and Railways leg-spinner A. U. Celestine Sports Former India football goalkeeper from Tamil Nadu Basant Kumar Birla Businessman Chairman of the B K Birla Group of
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companies S Jaipal Reddy Politician Former Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheila Dikshit Politician Former Delhi Chief Minister Dikshit was the longest-serving Chief Minister of Delhi, having served in office for 15 years from 1998 Donkupar Roy Politician Meghalaya Assembly Speaker and former CM of Meghalaya Mange Lal Garg Politician Former Delhi BJP President Ram Chandra Paswan Politician Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP Younger brother of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, passed away recently. Santosh Rana Politician One of the foremost leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Sudershan Agarwal Politician Former Uttarakhand Governor Wilfred Mesquit Politician Former Goa minister Vitthal Radadiya Politician Former Gujarat MP A.K. Roy Politician Barun Haldar Newsreader Veteran Newsreader of All India Radio Raja Dhale Indian writer, artist and One of the founders of the radical outfit activist Dalit Panther M. K. Seetharam Kulal Poet and Lyricist M.J. Radhakrishnan Cinematographer in Malayalam cinema Swarup Dutta Bengali Actor Yukiya Amano Chief of International Atomic Japanese diplomat Energy Agency (IAEA) Fernando Corbato American Scientist Computer password inventor Pernell whitaker (from US) Boxer Peter McNamara Australian tennis player Joao Gilberto Brazilian musician and songwriter Russi Taylor American voice actress She is the voice behind famed Minnie Mouse character Rip Torn American actor David Hedison American actor Lee Iacocca Businessman US auto industry legend Carlin Dunne Professional motorcycle From USA racer Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Saudi Prince Fernando de La Rua Former Argentine President Hussain Muhammad Ershad Former Bangladesh President Beji Caid Essebsi Tunisia’s first democratically elected president
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Important Days
Date Day Extra Info 1 July National Doctors’ Day Theme 2019: Zero tolerance to violence against doctors and clinical establishment 1 July GST Day On 1st July 2018, Indian Government celebrated the 1st Anniversary of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as GST day. 1 July International Joke Day 2 July World Sports Journalists Day 6 July (First International Day of Cooperatives Theme 2019: COOPS 4 DECENT WORK Saturday of July) 7 July World Chocolate Day 7 July Global Forgiveness Day 11 July World Population Day 12 July World Malala Day Celebrated on birthday of Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai 14 July International Shark Awareness Day Theme 2019: The sharks in crisis: a call to action for the Mediterranean 15 July World Youth Skills Day Theme 2019: Learning to learn for life and work 17 July World Day for International Justice 18 July Nelson Mandela International Day Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 23 July National Broadcasting Day 24 July 159th Income Tax Day i.e. Aaykar Diwas 26 July Kargil Vijay Diwas 20th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwa 28 July World Hepatitis Day Theme 2019: Invest in eliminating hepatitis. The host country for World Hepatitis Day 2019 is Pakistan. 28 July World Nature Conservation Day 29 July International Tiger Day 30 July World Day against Trafficking in Theme 2019: Call your government to action Persons 30 July Hospital Day in Tamil Nadu On the birth anniversary of one of the country’s prominent successful woman doctors in the early 20th century and the State’s first woman legislator Muthulakshmi Reddy 30 July International Day of Friendship 31 July World Ranger Day
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