Olympic silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu  has  appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring an end to the ongoing conflict between two communities in her home state of Manipur as soon as possible.

Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities since May 3 and over 150 people have lost their lives so far.

Chanu, who is currently training in the USA, said athletes in the northeastern state have been affected by the conflict as they can't train in view of the prevailing situation.

Chanu, who won a silver medal in the 49kg weight category in Tokyo Olympics, said she could not stop herself from thinking about the situation in her home state despite staying far away from there.

Q1) Name the veteran Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister who has passed away recently ?

1. K  Karunakaran
2. V. S. Achuthanandan
3. Pinarayi Vijayan
4. Oommen Chandy 
5. None of These

Q2) Name  the country which has returned a total of 105 antiquities, spanning a period from 2nd-3rd Century CE to 18th-19th Century CE , to India  recently  ?

1. France
2. UK
3. US
4. Portugal
5. None of These

Q3) Name the state which is ranked as the top state in Niti Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2022

1. Gujarat
2. Tamil Nadu 
3. Karnataka
4. Maharashtra
5. None of These

Q4) Name the largest private sector lender which has reported a 29.13 per cent jump in consolidated net profit for the June quarter at Rs 12,370.38 crore ?

1. ICICI Bank
2. Axis Bank
3. HDFC Bank                    
4. IDBI Bank
5. None of These

Q5) Name the Olympic silver medallist weightlifter who   has  appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring an end to the ongoing conflict between two communities in her home state of Manipur as soon as possible ?

1. Mirabai Chanu
2. Sanamacha Chanu
3. Mary Kom
4. Kunjarani Devi
5. None of These

Answers

1  ------------------------------------4    Oommen Chandy 

2---------------------------------------3    US

3---------------------------------------2  Tamil Nadu 

4-----------------------------------------3   HDFC Bank       

5-----------------------------------------1    Mirabai Chanu

Three people found guilty of spying for the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Ahmedabad sessions court headed by Additional principal judge A.R Patel found the three accused Sirajuddin Karmatali Fakir, Mohammad Ayub, and Navsad Maksudali Saiyed, guilty under sections 121 (waging war against the government), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable under 121), 123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code. 75 witnesses have given testimony against the accused.

The Lt Governor administration in Jammu and Kashmir  has sacked three government employees including a Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the University of Kashmir and a policeman by invoking Section 311 (2) of the constitution for allegedly furthering the secessionist agenda.

In a boost to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhar announced his return to the ruling National Democratic Alliance following a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah.

Shah  has tweeted a picture of their meeting and welcomed the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) founder-leader to the NDA. Rajbhar was accompanied by his son Arvind Rajbhar.

India and the UAE on Jul 15 agreed to start trading in their local currencies and interlink their payment and messaging systems during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s day-long visit to Abu Dhabi. Besides, an IIT Delhi campus will be set up in UAE’s capital.

The warmth of the bilateral ties was on full display as UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed Modi with an embrace at the presidential palace. They also exchanged friendship bands.

Modi’s wide-ranging talks with the UAE President, covered trade and investment, fintech, energy, renewables, climate action, higher education and people-to-people ties. The discussions also covered regional and global issues.

India-UAE trade rose to $85 billion in 2022, making the UAE India’s third-largest trading partner for the year 2022-23 and India’s second-largest export destination. India is the UAE’s second-largest trading partner. In February 2022, India became the first country with which the UAE signed a CEPA. Bilateral trade has increased by about 15% since the CEPA came into force on May 1, 2022.

The two leaders reaffirmed their joint commitment to fight extremism and terrorism, including cross-border terror, at both the regional and international levels.

In yet another feather in the IITs' cap, IIT Delhi is going global as it is all set to start an overseas campus in Abu Dhabi.

The Ministry of Education and Abu Dhabi's Education and Knowledge Department (ADEK) have signed an agreement for setting up the campus of IIT Delhi in the Gulf country.

The new offshore campus will offer Master's courses from January next year, while Bachelor's degree programmes will be offered from September 2024.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to the UAE.

Last week, IIT Madras signed an MoU for setting up its campus in Tanzania's Zanzibar. The next IIT which will be opening its campus overseas is IIT Kharagpur. It will be setting up its campus in Kuala Lumpur.

IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi will complement the academic, research and innovation ecosystem in Abu Dhabi through collaboration with key players such as Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Khalifa University, New York University Abu Dhabi, Technology Innovation Institute, and Hub71 to offer complimentary programs, conduct cutting edge research, and advance the local startup ecosystem.

The UK on Jul 15 formally signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc, a move it says will help grow the country's economy and provide access for British businesses to a market of over 500 million people.

UK Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who is also leading the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India, signed the pact agreed earlier this year during a visit to Auckland and hailed it as a major post-Brexit win for the country.

The UK will now seek to ratify the agreement, which will include parliamentary scrutiny as the CPTPP member countries complete their legislative processes to admit Britain into the trading bloc – of which India is not a member.

The signing comes as a new UK government report reveals one in every 100 UK workers was employed by a business headquartered in a CPTPP member nation in 2019, equating to over 400,000 jobs across the country.

Membership of the trade group is expected to spark further investment in the UK by CPTPP countries, already worth GBP 182 billion in 2021, by guaranteeing protections for investors.

The UK will be the first European member and first new member since CPTPP was created, which the government stresses would have been impossible without leaving the European Union (EU) economic bloc.

With the UK as a member, CPTPP will have a combined GDP of GBP 12 trillion and account for 15 per cent of global GDP.

The agreement for the UK's membership is expected to come into force by next year after all member nations ratify the deal.

British whisky and cars have been flagged as among 99 per cent of current UK goods exports to the CPTPP countries set to be eligible for zero tariffs as UK businesses gain “unparalleled access” to the new trans-Pacific free trade market which includes 11 countries around the Pacific rim: Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan.