Stockholm police on July 14  said they have authorized a protest this weekend by a man who has stated that he wants to burn the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm.

Israeli officials called on the Swedish government to stop the protest, which is scheduled to take place  July 15 outside the diplomatic mission.

Sweden recently faced strong criticism from Muslim countries for allowing protesters to burn the Quran at small anti-Islam demonstrations.

The man who filed the request for  protest said he wanted to burn the Torah and the Bible outside the Israeli Embassy in response to a Quran burning outside a Stockholm mosque last month by an Iraqi immigrant.

The right to hold public demonstrations is strong in Sweden and protected by the constitution. Blasphemy laws were abandoned in the 1970s. Police give permissions based on whether they believe a public gathering can be held without major disruptions or risks to public safety.

Last month, an Iraqi Christian immigrant burned a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque during the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, triggering widespread condemnation in the Islamic world. A similar protest by a far-right activist was held outside Turkey's Embassy earlier this year, complicating Sweden's efforts to convince Turkey to let it join NATO.

Scores of Indian Americans held a peace rally in front of the Indian Consulate at San Francisco to express solidarity with India following a recent attempted arson at the diplomatic facility by Khalistan supporters.

A video by Khalistan supporters, dated July 2 and posted on Twitter, showed the act of arson at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. It was the second such act of violence within months.

Many Indian Americans from in and around San Francisco came out in support of India as they held a peaceful rally in front of the Indian Consulate in San Francisco against the recent act of violence.

The protesters described it as an act of terrorism and demanded that those responsible for the violence be brought to justice.

India has asked its partner countries such as Canada, the UK, and the US not to give space to 'extremist Khalistani ideology' as it is ' not good' for bilateral relations.

The 'radical, extremist Khalistani ideology' is not good for India or its partner countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in New Delhi early this month.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) on  Jul 15 signed two agreements in Abu Dhabi to establish a framework for cross-border transactions in local currencies and interlinking of payment and messaging systems.

The agreements were exchanged between the two governors, in the presence of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE.

The memorandum of agreements (MoU) is for 'establishing a framework to promote the use of local currencies viz.

India has been promoting cross-border transactions in local currencies to reduce dependence on the US dollar.

The MoU on establishing a framework for the use of local currencies for transactions between India and UAE aims to put in place a Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS) to promote the use of INR and AED bilaterally.

The central bank said the MoU covers all current account transactions and permitted capital account transactions.

The use of local currencies would optimise transaction costs and settlement time for transactions, including for remittances from Indians residing in UAE.

Regarding the undertaking on 'Payments and Messaging Systems', the RBI said the two central banks agreed to cooperate on linking their Fast Payment Systems (FPSs) --- Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India with Instant Payment Platform (IPP) of UAE; and linking the respective Card Switches (RuPay switch and UAESWITCH); and exploring the linking of payments messaging systems -- Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS) of India with the messaging system in the UAE.

Further, the linking of Card Switches will facilitate the mutual acceptance of domestic cards and the processing of card transactions. The linkage of messaging systems is aimed to facilitate bilateral financial messaging between the two countries.

Sri Lanka would want to see the Indian rupee used as much as the US dollar, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, days ahead of his first official visit to New Delhi.

Wickremesinghe, also the cash-strapped country's finance minister, made this remark while addressing the Indian CEO Forum  this week.

Wickremesinghe is expected to visit New Delhi next week, his first since becoming president a year ago amidst unprecedented economic and political turmoil in the island nation.

Wickremesinghe's comments were in response to the chair of the Forum, T S Prakash, who in his address had called for the enhanced use of the Indian rupee in the Sri Lankan economy.

He also said that Sri Lanka benefits from its proximity to India, coupled with a rich history, cultural heritage and longstanding trading relationships spanning 2,500 years.

Wickremesinghe has steered the island nation out of the economic crisis and said the economy is recovering despite its slowness.

Wickremesinghe The 74-year-old Sri Lankan politician was elected through parliament to fill in the rest of the term of the ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

India had thrown a lifeline to the last days of the Rajapaksa presidency with an economic assistance package that amounted to 4 billion dollars.

Sri Lanka used the Indian credit lines to import essentials and fuel as the country was gripped in forex shortages which triggered massive street protests.

Meanwhile, the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Gopal Bagle who was at the July 13 event, said that the Indian government and the Indian business community have helped the island nation in recuperating from the last year's financial crisis.

Star Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning a silver medal in the Asian Athletics Championships with a second career-best effort of 8.37m  in Bangkok.

The 24-year-old Sreeshankar achieved the Olympic qualification with his final round jump of 8.37m.

Sreeshankar has already qualified for the Budapest World Championships in August with his career-best and world-second-ranked jump of 8.41m during the qualification round of the National Inter-State Championships last month.

Earlier, Santhosh Kumar won a bronze medal in men's 400m hurdles with a personal best time of 49.09 seconds on the fourth and penultimate day of competitions.

Santhosh clocked the fastest time by an Indian in men's 400m hurdles this year when he finished behind gold medal winner Mohammed Hemeida Bassem (48.64 seconds) of Qatar and Yusaku Kodama (48.96) of Japan.

India has never won a men's 400m hurdles gold in Asian Championships. Joseph Abraham's silver in the 2009 edition was the best performance by an Indian while he also won a bronze in 2007.

M P Jabir won a bronze each in the last two editions.

Q1) The Chandrayaan-3 mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota which is in the state of -----

1. Odisha
2. Kerala
3. Andhra Pradesh
4. Tamil Nadu
5. None of These

Q2) Bastille Day is the national day of

1. Britain
2. France
3. Spain
4. Denmark
5. None of These

 Q3) The Defence Acquisition Council  has cleared  the  proposal for acquisition of 26 Rafale combat jets from

1. Israel
2. US
3. Sweden
4. Russia
5. None of These

Q4) Name the central bank of UAE with which Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  has signed two agreements in Abu Dhabi to establish a framework for cross-border transactions in local currencies and interlinking of payment and messaging systems ?

1. Bank of UAE
2. Federal  Reserve
3. Central Bank of UAE
4. State Bank of UAE
5. None of These

Q5)  Name the state government  which will soon launch Mukhya Mantri Sarthi Yojana (MMSY) to enhance employment opportunities for its youth ?

1. Jharkhand
2. Bihar
3. Uttar Pradesh
4. Madhya Pradesh
5. None of These

Answers

1-------------------------3   Andhra Pradesh

2-------------------------2   France

3------------------------- 5  None of These

 Ans -  France

4-------------------------3    Central Bank of UAE

5-------------------------1   Jharkhand

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  Jul 14 joined President Emmanuel Macron for the Bastille Day parade as part of French National Day celebrations.

The French National Day, or Bastille Day, occupies a special place in the French consciousness as it commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison during the French Revolution in 1789.

The Bastille Day parade is the highlight of the celebrations. India is the guest of honour at this year's Bastille Day parade, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to watch in the VIP tribune alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.

A 269-member Indian tri-services contingent is participating in the parade. They lead the march down the Champs-Elysees before thousands of French forces, to the tune of 'saare jahan se achcha'.

Prime Minister Modi saluted the Indian contingent as it passed the dais where Macron, he and other dignitaries were seated.

The French-made Indian warplanes also joined the traditional flyby that wraps up the event.

Prime Minister Modi is in France for a two-day official visit.

Former Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Mohan Markam  was sworn-in as a cabinet minister at Raj Bhawan in Raipur, two days after he was replaced by Deepak Baij, the party's Lok Sabha member from Bastar.

Markam was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his cabinet colleagues in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhawan.

A cabinet reshuffle in Chhattisgarh was expected after the state school education minister Premsai Singh Tekam resigned.

Markam is an MLA from Kondagaon constituency in north Bastar. He was removed as the PCC chief by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, barely a few months ahead of the Assembly polls.

He was the first tribal president of the state Congress after Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in November 2000.

Markam came to the limelight when he defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party's powerful minister and prominent woman tribal leader Lata Usendi in the 2013 Assembly elections from Kondagaon.

He had contested the Assembly elections for the first time on a Congress ticket against Usendi in 2008, but at that time he had lost.

In 2018, he defeated Usendi for the second time from Kondagaon.

Born at Tedmunda village under Makdi tehsil of Kondagaon district on September 15, 1967, Markam has been active in politics since his student days.

As per the Constitutional provision, the strength of the cabinet of Chhattisgarh cannot exceed 13, including the chief minister.

The current strength of the state cabinet is 13.