Iran hanged two men in public over an October attack on a shrine in the southern city of Shiraz that claimed over a dozen lives.

The October 26 attack on the highly revered Shiite Muslim shrine of Shah Cheragh, which left 13 people dead and 30 wounded, was claimed by the Sunni Muslim extremist Islamic State (IS) group.

The pair were hanged at dawn on a street near the shrine in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province.

They were identified as Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali.

Iran executes more people annually than any nation other than China, according to rights groups including the London-based Amnesty International.

The Supreme Court (SC) has  directed budget airline SpiceJet to pay the entire arbitration award of Rs 380 crore to its former promoter Kalanithi Maran. The top court’s decision relates to the long-drawn-out dispute of seven years between the founders - Ajay Singh and Maran. 

The court observed that the application for extension of time by two more months after the 3-month period had expired on May 13, by the airline is nothing but a delay tactic to not pay money even when there are Court orders directing the same.

It had passed an order on February 13, 2023, directing the airline to pay Rs 75 crore to Kal Airways and Kalanithi Maran within a period of three months towards its interest liability under the arbitral award. Meanwhile, it had also made it clear that in the event of failure by SpiceJet to pay, the entire award would become executable in entirety in favour of Kal Airways and Maran.

Microsoft India president Anant Maheshwari has stepped down from his post to pursue other interests.

There has been rejig among top-level executives. As per reports, the company’s COO Irina Ghose has been promoted to managing director of India. It has over 20,000 employees across 10 cities in the country.

Maheshwari has done MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad, and he was the president at Honeywell India for two years from 2014 to 2016, before joining Microsoft India.

Nasscom in April announced the appointment of Anant Maheshwari as its Chairperson for 2023-24. 

Q1. Name the former Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) director who has been appointed by the Russian energy giant Rosneft to its board in signs it may be looking at boosting trade links with India.

1. G K Satish
2. Govind Kottis Satish
3. M A Pathan
4. Rakesh Mohan
5. None of These

Q2. The Ministry of Defence on Jul 7  signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for procurement of two Dornier Aircraft for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) along with an associated Engineering Support package at an overall cost of

1. Rs 238.84 crore
2. Rs 356.83 crore
3. Rs 458.82 crore                      
4. Rs 523.81 crore
5. None of These

Q3. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited has merely a few takers for its "take home two 5 kg cylinders in exchange for 14.2 kg metallic cylinder" offer under the

1. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
2. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana
3. Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana
4. PM Poshan Shakti Nirman Abhiyaan
5. None of These                      

Q4. Name the Shiv Sena (UBT)  party leader and Deputy Chairperson of Maharashtra Legislative Council joined the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ?

1. Yamini  Jadhav
2. Madhuri  Misal
3. Manda  Mhatre
4. Neelam Gorhe
5. None of These                      

Q5. Name the satirist and Bhojpuri singer who has been by the Bhopal police for allegedly linking the RSS with the recent peeing on a tribal man case of Madhya Pradesh’s Sidhi district ?

1. Khesari Lal Yadav
2. Dinesh Lal Yadav
3. Neha Singh Rathore
4. Pawan Singh
5. None of These                      

Answers

1----------------------------------1  G K Satish

2----------------------------------3   Rs 458.82 crore        

3--------------------------------2   Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

4----------------------------------4   Neelam Gorhe

5----------------------------------3   Neha Singh Rathore

K M Vasudevan Namboothiri, popularly known as Artist Namboothiri, whose iconic illustrations gave life to many mythical characters in Malayalam literature passed away at Kottakkal in Malappuram district in the wee hours of  Jul 7.

The 97-year-old artist who inspired a golden era of painting and sculpture three-dimensional sketches was undergoing treatment for age-related ailments at a private hospital in Kottakkal where he breathed his last.

The Punjab Regiment of the Indian Army will march past the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 14. The regiment will be part of the 269-member tri-services contingent of the Indian Armed Forces who would march alongside their French counterparts on the National Day of France. The contingents left for France on  Jul 6 .

The Indian Army contingent of 77 marching personnel and 38 band members are being led by Captain Aman Jagtap.

The Army contingent is represented by the Punjab Regiment, which is one of the oldest regiments of the Indian Army. The troops of the regiment have participated in both the world wars as well as post-Independence operations. In World War I, they were awarded 18 Battle and Theatre Honours.

The gallant soldiers fought in Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, Palestine, Egypt, China, Hong Kong, Damascus and France. In France, they took part in an offensive near Neuve Chapelle in September 1915 earning the battle honours ‘Loos’ and ‘France and Flanders’. In World War II, they earned 16 battle honours and 14 theatre honours.

The Congress  has appointed former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar as the AICC in-charge of its students’ wing, the National Students Union of India (NSUI).

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed Kanhaiya Kumar as AICC in charge of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) with immediate effect, according to a statement issued by KC Venugopal, the Congress general secretary organisation.

The NSUI is headed by Neeraj Kunadan. Kumar had participated in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra and walked the entire distance from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Kanhaiya Kumar left CPI to join the Congress in 2021. NSUI is the student wing of the Indian National Congress. It was established on 9 April 1971 with the purpose of representing students both within the institutions and externally, including on local and national issues.

Over the years, student unions have played a crucial role in shaping democracy by mobilizing large numbers of students to press demands and influence policymaking.

Japan's former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is leading a 100-member trade delegation to India to look at ways to boost investments in the country to reach their target of 5 trillion yen by 2027.

He met Prime Minister Modi along with the Ganesha group of Japanese MPs and Keidanren (Japanese Business Federation) CEOs.

Suga expressed optimism of enhanced investment in India as it is now the world’s fifth largest economy and is growing rapidly at a rate of 7.2 per cent.

Suga is also the President of the Japan-India Association.

Japan is a key global investor and player in supply chains, which are central to reshaping the future of global trade. India also plays an important part in this segment.

With robust trade ties between the two nations, the investment target will surely be achieved. Bilateral trade between the two nations was $20.57 billion in 2021-22.