State Bank of India (SBI), country’s largest lender, on Jul 31  raised Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.54% via its third infrastructure bond issuance. The 15-year infra bonds issuance saw strong response from investors with bids of Rs 21,698 crore and was oversubscribed by 4.34 times against the base issue size. Bonds received 115 bids from investors which included provident funds, pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and corporates.

Based on the response, the bank decided to accept Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.54% payable annually for a tenor of 15 years. The coupon of 7.54% reflects a spread of 13 basis points over the corresponding government securities (G-Sec) curve.

The strong response from investors may encourage other banks to issue longer-term bonds. This is the first issuance of long-term bond by any bank for this tenor in the current financial year. Prior to this, in January this year, SBI had raised another set of infrastructure bonds worth Rs 9,718 crore at a spread of 17 bps over the standard government bond rates. The bank’s first infrastructure bond issuance was in December 2022 through which it raised Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rat e of 7.51%. 

Aviation regulator Directorate DGCA has again renewed Jet Airways’ air operator certificate (AOC) after the same expired recently.  The renewal or an extension till September 3 is being done under certain conditions.

According to the watchdog, the conditions are: “Jet Airways shall be required to undergo re-certification in accordance with the procedure… for issuance of AOC and demonstrate compliance of all the applicable regulatory requirements afresh before commencement of flight operations.”

The Jalan Karlock consortium, the successful bidder of the airline, said renewal of AOC validated confidence of the aviation regulator about the revival of Jet Airways.

Max Verstappen's dominance is so total that it already feels like he's won his third straight Formula One title, even with 10 races remaining following the mid-season break.

With a lead of 125 points over his nearest rival, the Red Bull driver is already in a position to watch a highlights reel of his season and list his favourite wins. There have been 10 out of 12 races so far, plus a further two victories when including sprint races.

After winning the Belgian Grand Prix with another emphatic drive on July 30 , Verstappen was asked which of the victories he likes the most. "It's difficult to choose. There have been a lot of nice ones," he said. "I think the one actually which I really enjoyed was like back in time in Miami."

FIFA says ticket sales for the Women's World Cup have reached 1.678 million over the first 38 matches of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

It said in a statement that total attendance across those matches had reached 982,975 and it would surpass the 1 million mark for spectators at Tuesday's final Group E match between the United States and Portugal at the 50,000-capacity Eden Park stadium at Auckland, New Zealand.

The tournament has already broken attendance records for a Women's World Cup.

The previous record was around 1.35 million who attended a 52-game tournament in Canada in 2015. The 2023 edition has been expanded to 32 teams and will include 64 matches.

Liverpool lost another midfielder to the emerging Saudi Pro League on Jul 31  when Brazil midfielder Fabinho joined Al-Ittihad, the team where Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté now play.

Fabinho moved for a reported 40 million pounds (USD 51.5 million) to end his five-year stay at Liverpool, which he joined from Monaco.

His exit comes a week after Jordan Henderson left Liverpool after 12 years to join another Saudi team, Al-Ettifaq. Roberto Firmino also moved to the oil-rich kingdom after his contract expired at Liverpool.

Former Uruguay defender Diego Godin retired from professional soccer on Jul 31 , ending a 20-year career at age 37.

Godin played in four World Cups and spent much of his club career in Spain, notably at Atlético Madrid from 2010 to 2019. This season, he played in Argentina for Velez Sarsfield.

Q1. Who among the following has been given  Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune recently ?

1. Sharad Pawar
2. Narendra Modi
3. Rahul Gandhi
4. Eknath Shinde
5. None of These

Q2. Name the gangster  who was allegedly involved in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and who  was extradited from Azerbaijan recently ?

1. Lawrence Bishnoi
2. Vijay Singh aka Pehalwan
3. Sachin Bishnoi
4. Devender Bambiha
5. None of These

Q3. Name the  YouTuber from Jharkhand who  was arrested from Gharwa  for allegedly sharing objectionable and defamatory content against chief minister Hemant Soren and others on his YouTube channel ?

1. Manish Kashyap
2. Tipu Sultan Khan alias Samar
3. Ajeet Anjum
4. Sanjay Sharma
5. None of These

Q4. Name the commission which was constituted to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and which  has submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu recently ?

1. Kaka Kalelkar Commission
2. Sarkaria Commission
3. Mandal Commission
4. Rohini Commission
5. None of These

Q5. Name the country which has amended three laws governing sexual harassment in a special session of the legislature after a wave of #MeToo accusations hit the nation d in June ?

1. Singapore
2. South Korea
3. Taiwan
4. Thailand
5. None of These

Answers

1---------------------2  Narendra Modi

2----------------------3     Sachin Bishnoi

3---------------------2   Tipu Sultan Khan alias Samar

4-----------------------4    Rohini Commission

5--------------------------3 Taiwan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi  has announced a mega campaign to honour martyrs. Called Meri Mati Mera Desh (my soil, my country), the campaign seeks to honour the country’s martyred bravehearts of the country in the run-up to Independence Day.

Through the mega campaign, Modi is putting soldiers, who are upset not only about the revised pension scheme but also about Agnipath, on a pedestal. It is seen as an attempt to bring back a wave of nationalism that gave him a second mandate after the 2019 Pulwama attack.

Announcing the launch of the campaign in the 103rd episode of his monthly radio bulletin Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said an Amrit Kalash Yatra will be organised under the campaign and 7,500 pots carrying soil from different corners of the country.

The PM said special inscriptions will be installed in lakhs of villages and panchayats of the country in memory of the braveheart men and women. Besides, a slew of programmes will be organised across the country in memory of martyrs, he added.