The Daily Brief – 13th July, 2016

By Praveen Dwivedi -
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  • Najma Heptullah has resigned as the Union Minister for Minority Affairs. Her deputy, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, has now been given independent charge of the ministry.
  • The Delhi High Court set aside a trial court order summoning documents from the Ministries of Finance and Corporate Affairs, and the balance sheet of the Congress for 2010-11 in the National Herald case, in which Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Motilal Vora and others are facing trial. The petition was filed by Subramaniam Swamy, alleging that there were financial irregularities in the Congress’ dealings with National Herald, a newspaper set up by Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • The Kerala government has banned the manufacture,sale, distribution and display of plastic national flags.
  • The Indian Navy has commissioned INS Karna, an independent base of Marine Commandos (MARCOS) at Bheemunipatanam Naval Base, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
  • Bangladesh and India have signed an agreement for the construction of a 1,320 megawatt (MW) coal fired power plant near the Sundarbans. The agreement was signed between the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BIFPCL), a joint venture enterprise and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
  • The State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) at IIT Bombay to promote innovation by start-ups in the financial sector. The SINE is IIT Bombay’s technology business incubator to promote innovation by startups in the financial sector.
  • The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has received Reserve Bank approval to start an online bidding platform for sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme. So far, three tranches of the bonds have been issued amounting to about Rs.1,322 crore and the fourth one is expected from July 18.
  • India has remained on the second position in the recent ICC Test Rankings, while Ashwin has topped the all-rounders’ list besides being placed second in bowling in the ICC Test rankings.
  • The sixth World Cup kabaddi championship will be held from November 3 to 17 across 14 venues in Punjab.
  • Theresa May is set to become the United Kingdom’s second woman Prime Minister. Ms. May won the leadership contest when her closest rival Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the race.
  • Bernie Sanders has offered his support for Hillary Clinton, who won the Democratic nomination process in the run-up to the US Presidential election this year.
  • A five member panel from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands, has ruled in the matter of the South China Sea dispute between China and Philippines. The tribunal ruled that China has no legal basis for its claims in the South China Sea through its extensive construction of artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and infringed on the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. China has rejected the ruling and argued that it lacks binding force.
  • The just-released American children’s book It’s Ramadan, Curious George teaches children about the Muslim holiday. It comes amid rising tensions and worries about Islamist extremism, and a heated presidential campaign during which Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump has called for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.
  • Pokemon Go has become one of the most heavily downloaded games, rivalling the usage statistics of Twitter. The free application based on a Nintendo title that debuted 20 years ago has been adapted to the mobile internet age by Niantic Labs, a company spun out of Google last year.

Today’s Quiz

  1. Who has recently resigned as the Union Minister for minority affairs?





2. What game, made by Google’s Niantic Labs, has recently become one of the most heavily downloaded games in app history?





3. What international tribunal decided the dispute between China and Philippines regarding Chinese construction in the South China Sea?





4. Where is the Permanent Court of Arbitration based?





5. Who was the UK’s first woman Prime Minister?





6. Where will the World Cup of the Kabaddi Championship be held this year?





7. Which cricketer has topped the all rounder’s list at the ICC Test Rankings this year?





8. The State Bank of India recently entered into an agreement with a technology business incubator at _____ to bolster innovation in the financial sector.





9. Which state has recently banned the manufacture, sale and use of plastic national flags?





10. The Indian Navy recently commissioned INS Karna. Where has this been commissioned?









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