General Knowledge(GK) (or) General Awareness

Correct Answer :   India-Mongolia

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An Indian Army contingent comprising 43 personnel left for Mongolia on Sunday (16th July 2023) to take part in a joint military exercise — 'Nomadic Elephant 2023' — between India and Mongolia, the Ministry of Defence stated in a release.

As reported by ANI, the Ministry of Defence stated in a release, “In Indian Army contingent comprising 43 personnel left for Mongolia on Sunday to take part in a joint military exercise — 'Nomadic Elephant 2023' — between India and Mongolia."

The ministry further stated that this will be the 15th edition of the exercise between the two nations.

The exercise is scheduled at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from July 17-31.

#IndianArmy contingent will participate in the 15th Edition of India-Mongolia joint military exercise #NomadicElephant at #Mongolia. The exercise aims to enhance interoperability between both Armies in conducting counter-terrorist operations in mountainous terrain under the #UN… pic.twitter.com/PbUqHo1Es7

— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) July 16, 2023

The exercise — 'Nomadic Elephant' — is an annual training event between India and Mongolia, which is conducted alternatively in the two countries, the release stated, adding that the last edition of the joint drills was held at Special Forces Training School, Bakloh, in October 2019.

Soldiers of the Mongolian Armed Forces Unit 084 and Indian Army jawans from the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment will be participating in the exercise.

Aim : This exercise aims to build positive military relations, exchange best practices, and develop inter-operability, bonhomie, camaraderie and friendship between the two armies, the release from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated, adding that the exercise will primarily focus on counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain under a United Nations mandate.

The scope of this exercise involves a Platoon level Field Training Exercise (FTX).

Indian and Mongolian soldiers will participate in a joint exercise called 'Nomadic Elephant 2023' aimed at improving their skills and capabilities. The activities during the exercise will include endurance training, reflex firing, room intervention, small team tactics, and rock craft training.

The soldiers will have the opportunity to learn from each other's operational experiences, strengthening the defence cooperation between the Indian Army and Mongolian Army.

The exercise signifies the commitment of India and Mongolia to regional security and cooperation and will contribute to the development of bilateral relations between the two nations..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   Parul Chaudhary

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Long-distance runner Parul Chaudhary has won the fifth gold for India in the ongoing Asian Athletics Championships 2023 in Bangkok.

The 28-year-old has obtained a huge lead at the fag end of the event to clinch the 3000m Steeplechase event in the women’s category. She leapfrogged her Chinese counterpart Xu Shuangshuang and finished the event in 9 minutes 38.76 seconds.

There’s clear daylight between her and Shuangshuang as the latter finished her run in 9 minutes 44.54 seconds.

Representing India, both Chaudhary and Priti fought for the top spot, but the latter missed the bronze by a whisker as Japan’s Yoshimura Reimi eclipsed her by 0.02 seconds, sealing the third place.

Yoshimura completed her run in 9 minutes and 48.48 seconds.

For the past three months, Parul has opted for “high-altitude training”, a type of endurance training for athletes to better their performance and ability to perform a task for a longer duration.  

She has trained in Colorado Springs, US, a site which is a go-to option for American middle-distance runners and steeplechasers. The base if situated at an altitude of 1,800m above sea level.

It’s good news that the triumphant athlete’s hard work has yielded success.

Athletics, #AsianAthleticsChampionships: All the doubts should be put to bed after this brilliant performance of Parul Chaudhary! You can import as many East Africans but she is still the best Steeplechaser in Asia! Well done Parul.

9:38.76 mins in trying conditions!🥇🇮🇳🇮🇳👏👏 pic.twitter.com/S30VDzPZpY

— Vishank Razdan (@VishankRazdan) July 14, 2023

Source : Outlookindia

Correct Answer :   $1.229 billion

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India's forex exchange (forex) reserves jumped by $1.229 billion in the week that ended on 7 July 2023, totaling $596.280 billion, as per RBI's data. Now, the country's reserves are at nearly a 2-month high. This will also be the second-consecutive weekly rise in reserves. In the week under review, except for a slight dip in SDRs, all other components of reserves picked up.

Data from RBI, forex reserves jumped by $1.229 billion to $596.280 billion in the week that ended on July 7, 2023. Prior to this week, reserves rose by $1.853 billion.

Foreign currency assets (FCA), which is the biggest component of reserves, zoomed by $989 million to $528.968 billion in the week that ended on July 7. In the previous week, the surge was much higher by $2.539 billion.

Furthermore, in the week that ended on July 7, 2023, gold reserves grew by $228 million to $44.060 billion, while reserve position in the IM came in at $5.017 billion up by $15 million on a week-on-week basis.

On the other hand, SDRs dipped by a meager $4 million to $18.235 billion in the week ending on July 7, 2023.

India's forex reserves were at an all-time high of $645 billion in October 2021. Meanwhile, the foreign exchange reserves stood at $578.4 billion as on March 31, 2023..

Source : Mint

Correct Answer :   July 14, 2023

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Chandrayaan-3 was successfully launched on July 14, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, using the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM3).

The spacecraft consists of a lander, a rover, and a propulsion module, collectively weighing 3,900 kg.

The GSLV Mark 3 heavy-lift launch vehicle, also known as the Bahubali rocket, supports the moon lander Vikram.

The craft is scheduled to touch down on the Moon’s South Pole on August 23, following a journey lasting over 40 days.

Correct Answer :   Yashasvi Jaiswal

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Yashasvi Jaiswal has become the 17th India batter to score a century on Test debut, and the first to do so outside Asia in more than 21 years.

The 21-year-old reached the milestone on the second afternoon of the Dominica Test, bringing it up with a standing sweep for a single off the part-time bowling of fellow debutant Alick Athanaze.

Jaiswal opened the batting alongside captain Rohit Sharma, with Shubman Gill moving down to the No. 3 spot vacated by Cheteshwar Pujara's axing. When he reached his hundred, off 215 balls, India were 205 for no loss after they had bowled West Indies out for 150 on day one.

"It was an emotional moment for me," Jaiswal said after the day's play. "I enjoyed it quite a bit. I am still batting so I will try to play for as long as possible. This is just the start of my career, so now it will be about how focused and disciplined I can be going forward.

"My effort [on the third day] will just be on how I can give a good start to the team. I will just focus on my process and trust on what I have practiced. I just have to go and keep playing."

Jaiswal has shown a remarkable appetite for runs in every format he has played. When he was called up for this West Indies tour as part of an India side picked with an eye on the future, he had scored 1845 first-class runs at an average of 80.21, with nine hundreds in just 26 innings. His List A career of 32 games already includes a double-hundred. And he was the fifth highest run-getter in IPL 2023, with his 625 runs coming at a strike rate of 163.61. Jaiswal has now brought that appetite to Test cricket.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw have achieved this feat as openers of the Indian team. With this, he has become the 17th Indian to score a century in Test debut. The first Indian batsman to score a century on Test debut was Lala Amarnath, who achieved this feat in 1933..

Source : Espncricinfo

Correct Answer :   Shubham Todkar

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India’s Shubham Todkar and Popy Hazarika won the gold medals in the men’s 61kg and women’s 59kg categories, respectively. T Madhavan, meanwhile, bagged a silver medal in the men’s 67kg event.

In the Thursday (13th July 2023) morning session, India’s Shubham Todkar topped the podium in the senior men’s 61kg with a total lift of 259kg (115kg snatch + 144kg clean and jerk).

Shubham Todkar finished first ahead of Sri Lanka’s Kamal Deshappriya Egodawatte, who lifted a total of 238kg (108kg snatch + 130kg clean and jerk). David Mok of Singapore bagged the bronze with a combined lift of 198kg (90kg snatch + 108kg clean and jerk).

Later, Popy Hazarika won India’s second senior gold medal of the day. The 24-year-old, who won a silver medal at the 2021 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, upgraded her medal’s colour to gold after lifting 189kg (84kg snatch + 105kg clean and jerk).

Popy Hazarika beat Malta’s Tenishia Thornton, who finished second with a total lift of 186kg (82kg snatch + 104kg clean and jerk). The third place went to Anneke Spies of South Africa, who lifted a total weight of 185kg (80kg snatch +105kg clean and jerk). A total of six lifters competed in the senior women’s 59kg category.

In the final event of the day, T Madhavan settled for silver in the men’s 67kg category. The Indian, who was also competing at the junior category, lifted a total weight of 268kg (125kg snatch + 143kg clean and jerk) to finish second.

Samoa’s Vaipava Nevo Ioane won the senior gold medal with a total lift of 280kg (120kg snatch + 160kg clean and jerk). The final podium place was bagged by Titus Ika of Nauru with a combined lift of 262kg (100kg snatch + 152 clean and jerk)

With three medals won on Thursday, India’s total medals count in the senior category rose to eight. Indian weightlifters had clinched a total of five medals, three golds and two silvers, on the opening day of the event on Wednesday (12th July 2023).  

On Friday, N Ajith (73kg) and Ajay Singh (81kg) will be in action in the men’s events while Harjinder Kaur (71kg) will compete in the women’s category..

Source : Olympics

Correct Answer :   China

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A private Chinese aerospace company has won the race to launch a giant rocket powered by methane and liquid oxygen.



The Zhuque-2, a carrier rocket from LandSpace, blasted off at 9am on Wednesday (12th July 2023) morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi desert.

The rocket successfully delivered a test payload into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), the first in the world to make such an achievement.

Earlier this year, two other liquid oxygen methane rockets – the Terran 1 from Relativity Space in the US and SpaceX’s Starship – failed in their maiden attempts to reach orbit.

This morning’s lift-off marks the second attempt for the Zhuque-2, after an unsuccessful launch on December 14.

Methane-powered engines – with their high performance and low operational costs – are particularly suited for the developing trend of reusable rockets. The technology is regarded as the front-running design in the new era of rocketry.

The Zhuque-2 team’s achievement is another success for China’s private aerospace sector this year, following the successful launch in April of Space Pioneer’s liquid-propelled Tianlong-2.

The Zhuque-2 is a two-stage liquid-propellant carrier rocket, with all independently developed engines.

According to China Space News, the 49.5 metres (162ft) long rocket with a diameter of 3.35 metres (10.9ft) has a carrying capacity of six tonnes for low Earth orbit and four tonnes for SSO..

Source : Scmp

Correct Answer :   Jammu and Kashmir

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The Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (JKRLM) has bagged the SKOCH Award 2023 under the theme “State of Governance India 2047” in Gold category for its outstanding efforts in creating marketing avenues for Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the Union Territory.

The SKOCH award marks a significant milestone for JKRLM, being the first award received since the inception of the scheme. This recognition represents a remarkable accomplishment for the organization.

The award is a recognition for the JKRLM to the hard work and dedication of the JKRLM team, especially its Mission Director, who has been instrumental in driving the Mission’s major goal of creating marketing opportunities from district-level avenues to national-level platforms.

The JKRLM has introduced several groundbreaking initiatives that have transformed the lives of countless women associated with Self Help Groups. The AVSAR scheme, Umeed Women’s Haat, and District Rural Haat, SHG products available on e-commerce platforms are prime examples of these initiatives, which have not only provided a platform for SHGs to showcase their products but have also opened up new marketing avenues for them..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Jyothi Yarraji

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Jyothi Yarraji opened India’s gold medal account in the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 by winning the women’s 100m hurdles race and clinching her maiden top finish in a major international event here on Thursday (13th July 2023).

The 23-year-old Yarraji clocked 13.09 seconds to win the final race ahead of two Japanese runners Terada Asuka (13.13s) and Aoki Masumi (13.26s) on a rain-drenched track at the Supachalasai Stadium.

Yarraji’s national record stands at 12.82 seconds.

On Wednesday (12th July 2023), Abhishek Pal had opened India’s medal account with a bronze in men’s 10,000m race..

Source : The Print

Correct Answer :   INS Sunayna

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INS Sunayna was at Seychelles from 10-12 Jul 23 to participate in Op Southern Readiness 2023 conducted by Combined Maritime Forces(CMF).



The visit was aimed at strengthening multilateral ties and enhancing cooperation through CMF exercise which is a multinational initiative aimed at enhancing maritime security, countering piracy to ensure safety and freedom of navigation in the region.

During the visit, personnel of participating Navies from USA, Italy, UK, Seychelles Defence Forces & Marine Police, member nations of EUNAVFOR were engaged in wide range of professional interactions, subject matter expert exchanges and visits.

The ship conducted lecture and practical demonstrations on varied aspects of Navigation, VBSS (Basic and Advanced training), Maritime Domain Awareness and mass casualty evacuation drills. A delegation of CMF from Bahrain headed by Cmde Oliver, Commander of CTF56 witnessed the training exercises onboard.

A combined yoga session was organised onboard with participation of personnel from Seychelles Defence Forces and CMF along with the ship's crew..

Source : PIB