A 39-year-old Indian money lender was shot dead with a stolen AK-47 assault rifle by an off-duty police constable in Uganda's capital city of Kampala over a 2.1 million shillings (Rs 46,000) loan.

Kampala Metropolitan Police said that 30-year-old Ivan Wabwire was arrested after he opened fire at Uttam Bhandari on May 12.

Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Geoffrey Tumusiime Katsigazi, met the Indian community in Uganda and assured them of their safety.

Sudan’s army chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan has ordered the freezing of all bank accounts belonging to a rival paramilitary force. The two sides have battled for weeks across Sudan, pushing the troubled country to the brink of all-out war.

The decree, issued on May 15   will target the official accounts of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudanese bank, as well as the accounts of all companies belonging to the group.

It remains unclear what immediate effect the freezing would have on the RSF and how Burhan’s orders are to be enforced.

The army chief also announced the replacement of the governor of Sudan’s Central Bank, a move likely tied to the freezing decree. Over the past decade, the RSF amassed great wealth through the gradual acquisition of Sudanese financial institutions and gold reserves.

Since mid-April, the Sudanese army, led by Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have been locked in a power struggle that has forced thousands to flee to neighbouring countries.

Chaos has taken over much of the country since the conflict broke out. The capital, Khartoum, has been reduced to an urban battlefield and the western Darfur region is rocked by deadly tribal clashes. The violence has also killed over 600 people, including civilians.

China sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison May 15   on spying charges, in a case that could exacerbate the deterioration in ties between Beijing and Washington over recent years.

Details of the charges against John Shing-Wan Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, have not been publicly released.

Leung was detained April 15, 2021, by the local bureau of China’s counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou, according to a statement posted by the city’s intermediate court on its social media site. His detention came after China had closed its borders and imposed tight domestic travel restrictions and social controls to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Such investigations and trials are held behind closed doors and little information is generally released other than vague accusations of infiltration, gathering secrets and threatening state security.

Ballots tallied on May 15   showed voters in Thailand wanted to change after nine years under a former general who took power in a coup, with the main opposition parties easily besting other contenders in the general election.

The opposition Move Forward Party outperformed even optimistic projections and appeared poised to capture almost all 33 House seats in the capital Bangkok. Along with the Pheu Thai Party, the favored opposition group, Move Forward campaigned for reform of the military and the monarchy.

Move Forward put those issues closer to the heart of its platform, earning a more radical reputation. Its outspoken support for minor reforms of the monarchy, while winning younger voters, antagonized conservatives committed to the royal institution.

Incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who came to power in a 2014 coup, was blamed for a stuttering economy, pandemic response shortcomings and thwarting democratic reforms — a particular sore point with younger voters.

SEBI told the Supreme Court on May 15  that a six-month extension for a probe into the Adani Hindenburg issue is being sought for ensuring carriage of justice.

Denying the allegation levelled by the petitioners that SEBI has been investigating Adani since 2016, the affidavit says that the investigation actually pertained to the issuance of Global Depository Receipts by 51 Indian listed companies, which did not include any listed company of Adani Group.

SEBI also submitted that for ascertaining possible violations related to misrepresentation of financials, circumvention of regulations and/or fraudulent nature of transactions in respect of the 12 suspicious transactions, given the complexity of the matter, SEBI in the normal course would take at least 15 months for completion of the investigation of these transactions, but is making all reasonable endeavours to conclude the same within six months.

Wholesale inflation rate eased to a 34-month low of (-) 0.92 per cent in April on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items.

The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation has been on a declining trend for 11 months in a row and entered the negative zone in April.

In June 2020 WPI was at (-) 1.81 per cent. WPI inflation was 1.34 per cent in March and 15.38 per cent in April last year.

Inflation in food articles too eased to 3.54 per cent in April, against 5.48 per cent in March.

Fuel and power basket inflation eased to 0.93 per cent in April from 8.96 per cent in March.

In manufactured products, the inflation rate was (-) 2.42 per cent, as against 0.77 per cent in March.

The deceleration in WPI comes in line with the easing of April retail inflation, which came in at an 18-month low of 4.70 per cent.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is exploring options for further tie-ups to strengthen the global acceptability of RuPay debit cards.

Currently, RuPay cards are accepted at the points of sale (PoS) machine powered by Discover of the US, Diners Club, JCB of Japan, Pulse and Union Pay of China.

In March 2012, RuPay went global by tying up with Discover Financial Services to bring international services to Indians.

It has strengthened its network capabilities by launching RuPay JCB Global Card in association with JCB International Co Ltd in July 2019.

The RuPay JCB Global card can be used as RuPay card accepting points in India and JCB card accepting points outside India for PoS, E-Commerce and ATM.

RuPay, a product of NPCI, is the domestic card payment network of India, with wide acceptance at ATMs, POS devices and e-commerce websites across India.

Earlier this year, the Union Cabinet approved a scheme worth Rs 2,600 crore for the promotion of RuPay debit cards and low-value BHIM-UPI (Bharat Interface for Money- Unified Payments Interface) transactions.

Under the scheme, the banks are provided financial incentives to foster Point of Sale (PoS) devices and e-commerce transactions using RuPay and UPI.

The scheme is aimed at building a robust digital payment ecosystem and promoting UPI Lite and UPI123PAY as economical and user-friendly digital payment options.

Q1. How many members are in Arab League ?

1. 10
2. 17
3. 22
4. 35
5. None of These

Q2. Name the army chief of Sudan who has  ordered the freezing of all bank accounts belonging to a rival paramilitary force ?

1. Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan
2. Gen Mohamed Hamdan Daglo
3. Colonel Jaafar Nimeir
4. Gen Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir
5. None of These

Q3. Subsidies mean

1. payment by government for purchase of goods and services
2. payment made by business enterprises to factors of production
3. payment made by companies to shareholders
4. payment made by the government to business enterprises, without buying any goods and services
5. None of These

Q4. In India, which one among the following formulates the fiscal policy?

1. NITI  Ayog
2. Ministry of Finance
3. Finance Commission
4. The Reserve Bank of India
5. None of These

Q5. Paper currency first started in India in

1. 1861
2. 1542
3. 1601
4. 1880
5. None of These