The Indian men's kabaddi team beat Iran 42-32 in a high-voltage final to defend its Asian Championships title.

It was India's eighth title in the continental championships.

Q1. India has defended its men's kabaddi Asian Championships title by defeating

1. Pakistan
2. Nepal
3. Bangladesh
4. Iran
5. None of These

Q2.  The Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has  clinched the prestigious Diamond League title for the second consecutive time by throwing his spear to

1. 55.66  M
2. 67.61  M
3. 87.66 M
4. 99.12 M
5. None of These

Q3. The government  has raised interest rates for the July-September quarter on select saving schemes by up to

1. 0.3%
2. 0.8%
3. 1.3%
4. 2.2%
5. None of These

Q4. The Central government’s fiscal deficit at the end of the first two months of FY24 stood at

1. Rs 1.1 lakh crore           
2. Rs 2.1 lakh crore
3. Rs 3.5 lakh crore           
4. Rs 4.8 lakh crore           
5. None of These

Q5. The Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman  has said  that the public sector banks' profit in the last nine years has tripled to

1. Rs 1.04 lakh crore
2. Rs 2.06  lakh crore
3. Rs 3.08  lakh crore
4. Rs 4.02 lakh crore
5. None of These

Answers

1--------------4   Iran

2-------------3   87.66 M

3--------------1   0.3%

4----------------2   Rs 2.1 lakh crore

5------------------1   Rs 1.04 lakh crore

Former Punjab Assembly deputy speaker Bir Devinder Singh died following a brief illness.

Singh was elected MLA for the first time from Sirhind in 1980 on a Congress ticket.

He again became a legislator after winning the election from the Kharar assembly constituency in 2002.

He served as the deputy speaker of the Punjab Assembly between 2003 and 2004 during the Amarinder Singh-led regime in Punjab.

Singh was expelled from the Congress in 2016 and joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) in 2019.

The United Peoples' Front (UPF) and Kuki National Organisation (KNO), two umbrella Kuki organisations, have withdrawn roadblocks in Manipur's Kangpokpi district on National Highway 2.

In a joint statement, the two organisations, which represent among others former militant groups that have signed suspension of operations pacts with the government, said the blockade on the highway has been lifted with immediate effect, following an appeal by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

However, Kuki civil society group Committee on Tribal Unity (COTU), which had announced a roadblock on NH-2 two months ago, has not officially withdrawn the agitation yet.

Manipur has two national highways -- NH-2 (Imphal-Dimapur) and NH-37 (Imphal-Jiribam).

The decision to lift the blockade comes following a recent meeting of the UPF, KNO and other Kuki groups with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati

More than 100 people have so far lost their lives in ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley.

Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill districts.

Former minister Jagarnath Mahto's wife Baby Devi will take oath as minister in the Hemant Soren-led UPA government in Jharkhand.

A ministerial berth in the Hemant Soren cabinet was vacant after the death of Mahto, who held charge of school education and literacy and excise.

Mahto, who was a four-time JMM MLA from Dumri in Giridih district, died during treatment at a Chennai hospital on April 6.

Sweden's government on  Jul 2 condemned this week's burning of a Koran outside Stockholm's main mosque, calling it an "Islamophobic" act, after an international Islamic body called for measures to avoid future burnings.

The condemnation came in response to a call for collective measures to avoid future Koran burnings from the Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The 57-member body met at its Jeddah headquarters to respond to incident in which an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden, Salwan Momika, 37, stomped on the Islamic holy book and set several pages alight.

The OIC urged member states to "take unified and collective measures to prevent the recurrence of incidents of desecration of copies of the" Koran, according to a statement released after the "extraordinary" meeting.

Countries including Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have summoned Swedish ambassadors in protest at the Koran-burning incident.

Swedish police had granted Momika a permit in line with free speech protections, but authorities later said they had opened an investigation over "agitation against an ethnic group," noting that Momika had burnt pages from the Islamic holy book very close to the mosque.

Iran will be formally approved as a member of the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with China, Russia, and Central Asian countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

SCO membership was already on the cards and Iran is also hoping to be quickly accepted into another grouping that excludes Western countries -- the BRICS group with Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The SCO, which has its headquarters in China, is a diplomatic organization with eight members, including India and Pakistan.

Kremlin ally Belarus is also applying to join.

The Central government’s total debt (provisional) by the end of 2022-23 crossed Rs 156 lakh crore, registering a growth of 11.5% over the previous year, government data showed. The government’s debt rose almost 5% from what it was on 31 December 2022.

Of the Central Government's total gross liabilities in end-March 2023, 95.2% were denominated in domestic currency while sovereign external debt constituted 4.8%. The external debt of the Central government at the end of March 2023 stood at R7.5 lakh crore (at the current exchange rate).

The Central government’s total debt comprises three large components – internal debt, external debt and other liabilities comprising small savings deposits, state provident funds, etc. At 156 lakh crore, the Central government’s debt/GDP ratio is around 57%, which is lower than 59% in the previous financial year. The central government’s debt as a proportion has started falling after rising to 60% in 2020-21.

There were concerns raised a couple of years ago when government debt (Central as well as state governments) was hovering around 90% in 2020-21, but after two years of decline in debt as a proportion to GDP, analysts feel the country’s debt burdens are at a manageable level.

In a recent note, rating agency Moody’s has said that India’s fast-growing GDP (which it assumes to average 11% in nominal terms) is a key driver of our projections of a downward trend in its debt burden.

The central government spends 26% of total revenue on interest payments. The Moody’s report further says that at 26% currently, it is a large proportion (interest payment as a proportion to revenue), which, if not further addressed through a continued broadening of the revenue base, will remain an important constraint on the government’s ability to provide more support for growth and address developmental needs.