Correct Answer :   Rs 1.65 lakh

---

The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collected in July 2023 was Rs 1,65,105 crore, slightly higher than the collections in July 2023, according to data released by the finance ministry on Tuesday (1st August 2023).

It is for the fifth time since the rollout of the regime that the gross GST collection crossed the Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark.

In April 2023, the GST collections had touched an all-time high of Rs 1.87 lakh crore.

Of the Rs 1.65 lakh crore July 2023 mop up, the central GST was Rs 29,773 crore and state was is Rs 37,623 crore and Integrated GST was Rs 85,930 crore (including Rs 41,239 crore collected on import of goods).

The cess was Rs 11,779 crore (including Rs 840 crore collected on import of goods), a release by the ministry said.

The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of July 2023 after regular settlement was Rs 69,558 crore for CGST and Rs 70,811 crore for the SGST.

Notably, the GST revenues for the month of July 2023 are 11% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year.

During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) were 15% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year (2022)..

Source : ToI

Correct Answer :   Max Verstappen

---

Defending Formula One champion "Max Verstappen" enters the mid-season break in unstoppable form, after emphatically winning the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday (30 July 2023) for an eighth straight win and 10th overall of a crushingly dominant season.

Despite starting from sixth place he finished 22.3 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez to give Red Bull an easy 1-2. It moved Verstappen ominously closer to a third straight world title and his own F1 record of 15 wins from last year.

Verstappen is 125 points ahead of Perez after just 12 races, and his next target is matching Sebastian Vettel’s F1 record of nine straight wins with a victory at the Dutch GP when the lopsided season resumes on Aug. 27. “I just want to have a nice time now, have a bit of time with family and friends,” Verstappen said.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished in third spot for a third podium of the season, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth for Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, with Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) completing the top 10.

Leclerc started on pole ahead of Perez, with Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. behind them. McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was on the next row alongside Verstappen — who was fastest in Friday’s qualifying but took a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and had to avoid early traffic.

“It was just about surviving turn one. I could see it was all getting really tight,” Verstappen said. “I’ve been in that position before myself so I am just going to stay out of that and it worked out. From there onwards I made the right overtakes.”

Last year (2022) Verstappen won from 14th, and once he overtook Perez on Lap 17 of 44 his 45th career win was seemingly inevitable.

“Really enjoyable to drive once I got in the lead,” Verstappen said. “It was again a great race.“

Red Bull extended its record to 13 straight wins, including the final race of last season.

Hamilton came in on the penultimate lap for a tire change and the move paid off as he took the bonus point for fastest lap from Verstappen — a very minor blip for the dominant Dutchman.

It was yet another stellar weekend for Verstappen, who also won Saturday’s sprint race. The only issue was some more bickering with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase over radio, as they continued their spat from Friday’s qualifying.

“Don’t forget Max, use your head, please,” Lambiase told Verstappen when he questioned why Perez was making his first tire change on Lap 14.

Verstappen defused any talk of tension with Lambiase..

Source : Outlook India

Correct Answer :   Sangampreet Singh and Avneet Kaur

---

In a remarkable display of talent and skill, Sangampreet Singh Bisla and Avneet Kaur emerged as the compound archery champions at the 31st World University Games in Chengdu, China on Monday (31st July 2023).

India has achieved its highest-ever tally in the sport, securing three gold, one silver, and three bronze medals in the prestigious event.

India has garnered a total of 9 gold, 3 silver, and 5 bronze medals, securing an impressive fourth position in the overall medal standings.

3️⃣ more 🏅for 🇮🇳 at the 31st World University Games, #Chengdu✅

🇮🇳 Archer and #KheloIndia Athlete Avneet Kaur wins 🥇as she defeats American Sturgill in thrilling Shoot-Off after being tied 144 a piece in the Compound Women's 🏹 Final🔥👌

This is her 2️⃣nd medal at #Chengdu 👍… pic.twitter.com/bKrk6liLJ7

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 31, 2023

China leads the table with 17 gold, 4 silver, and 4 bronze medals, followed by Korea with 10 gold, 10 silver, and 4 bronze medals, and Japan with 10 gold, 6 silver, and 7 bronze medals.

The gold medals for India all came in the compound section, with Bisla winning the men's individual title, Avneet clinching the women's individual gold, and the mixed team of Saini and Pragati claiming victory in their category.

Adding to their triumph, the Indian compound archery team also secured a silver medal in the women's team event with Avneet, Purvasha Shinde, and Pragati putting up an impressive performance.

In addition to the gold and silver medals, the compound archers from India also secured two bronze medals, one in the men's team event with Rishabh Yadav, Saini, and Bisla, and the other in the men's individual category with Saini's outstanding performance.

However, the recurve archers from India faced some disappointment, managing to secure only one bronze medal in the women's team event with Sangeeta, Tanisha Verma, and Reeta Sawaiyan.

Bisla displayed remarkable composure in the men's individual compound final, edging out Christian Beyers de Klerk of South Africa with a score of 149-147 to claim the gold medal. Bisla had earlier triumphed in a thrilling semifinal shoot-off against his compatriot Saini, with both archers tied at 147 points after the regulation five rounds..

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   Iga Swiatek

---

Polish Player "Iga Swiatek" secured her fourth Women’s Tennis Association title of the year 2023 by defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund  in Warsaw.

Iga Swiatek cruised to the title in her home tournament, the Warsaw Open with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over exhausted Laura Siegemund on Sunday (30 July 2023). The world No. 1 completed two busy days by sweeping aside her German opponent in 68 minutes for a second victory of the day.

"I wanted to put it all in and go for it. I'm pretty happy that I did," Swiatek said in her winner's speech. The rain delays in the tournament meant Swiatek started Friday by playing her quarter-final and ended it by starting her semi-final against Yanina Wickmayer.

She led 5-1 in the second set and had three match points before the Belgian fought back. Play was halted with the match finely balanced.

On Sunday(30 July 2023), Wickmayer won a fifth straight game and reached deuce on Swiatek's serve. The Pole wasted two more match points in the tiebreak before clinching a 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) victory.

In the final, Swiatek won the first nine games and never faced a break point as she overpowered the unseeded German.

"It's not easy to play in Warsaw, but I'm so happy that we could manage and do everything we could today, after a pretty tiring day yesterday," Swiatek said.

Siegemund had spent more than six hours on court on Saturday as she beat Lucrezia Stefanini and then compatriot Tatjana Maria, both in three sets, to reach a first final since 2017..

Source : NDTV

Correct Answer :   14

---

Indian contingent finished their Sri Lanka Athletics National Championships 2023,  30th July 2023 with 14 medals including 9 gold, 4 silvers and a bronze.

Indian athletes clinched six medals on the final day of the event at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The Indian 4x400 meter mixed relay team of Amoj Jacob, Aishwarya Mishra, Muhammed Anas and Himanshi Malik won the first gold medal of the day.

The event also featured a second Indian relay team comprising Nihal Joel William, Subha Venkatesan, Mijo Chacko Kurian and Vithya Ramraj, who bagged the silver medal.

Amoj Jacob, an Asian Athletics Championships gold medallist, then teamed up with Muhammed Anas, Rajesh Ramesh and Muhammed Ajmal to secure the gold medal in the 4x400 meter men’s relay event.
 
In the 4x400 meter women's relay event, the Indian quartet of Sonia Baishya, Aishwarya Mishra, Subha V and Himanshi Malik bagged the gold medal.

Interestingly, in the same event, Olympian Jisna Mathew and Vithya Ramraj of India teamed up with Sri Lanka’s WS Himaya Fernando and K Shanika Lakshani to come in third. India's T Santhosh Kumar also finished first in the men's 400 meter hurdles.

India’s javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena, who won the gold medal on Friday, was awarded the Best Male Thrower trophy..


Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Ratan Tata

---

The Maharashtra government has decided to confer the first 'Udyog Ratna' award on veteran industrialist and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, state Industries minister Uday Samant has said.

Awards for young entrepreneur, woman entrepreneur and Marathi entrepreneur will also be given, Samant announced in the state legislative council on Thursday (27th July 2023).

"Just like the Maharashtra Bhushan award, which is presented to distinguished persons, the state government has decided to confer the Udyog Ratna award to Ratan Tata," said on Thursday (27th July 2023).

He said a meeting was held regarding this by a committee comprising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and him as the industries minister..

Source : Business Standard

Correct Answer :   SpaceX

---

SpaceX's most powerful operational rocket Falcon Heavy successfully carried the world's largest commercial communications satellite into orbit high above Earth.

The three-fuselage Falcon Heavy took off with  the massive payload at 11:04pm local time Friday (28th July 2023) from the company's launchpad at Nasa's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The satellite was deployed about three and a half hours after liftoff.

Weighing more than nine metric tons and roughly the size of a bus, the Jupiter 3 satellite will provide wireless internet connectivity over North and South America.

It will be operated by Hughes Network Systems, a unit of satellite communications company EchoStar Corp.

Musk's SpaceX opted not to recover the center core of its Falcon to ensure it had enough fuel to ferry the hulking cargo to its intended orbit. The vehicle's two side boosters, however, did successfully touch down on SpaceX's dual landing pads in Florida..

Source : Times of India

Correct Answer :   Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar

---

Indian shooters and archers bagged six medals including four golds at the World University Games in Chengdu, China 31st July 2023.

Shooters Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Divyansh Singh Panwar and Arjun Babuta joined forces to outclass local favourites China to win the 10m air rifle men’s team gold. Aishwary also secured gold in the 10m air rifle men’s individual event.
 

Avneet Kaur pipped USA’s Alyssa Grace Sturgill in a thrilling shoot off to clinch the compound women’s individual gold.

Sangampreet Bisla and Aman Saini clinched the gold and bronze medals in the men’s individual event.

India have won 17 medals, 9 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze, and are second in the tournament.

Hosts China lead the standings with a haul of 21 medals..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   $200 million

---

The Government of India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed (28th July 2023) a $200 million loan as additional financing for the ongoing Rajasthan Secondary Towns Development Sector Project to expand water supply and sanitation systems and enhance urban resilience and heritage living in selected towns.

The signatories to the loan agreement were Mr. Vumlunmang Vualnam, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, for the Government of India, and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

After signing the loan agreement, Mr Vualnam stated that the additional financing will support the Government of Rajasthan in its commitment to reduce basic infrastructure gaps in its secondary towns by expanding water supply and sanitation services and improving livability in selected urban local bodies.

“The project will incorporate various innovative and climate-resilient solutions for expanding basic urban services and incorporate nature-based solutions to rehabilitate heritage structures besides piloting public-private partnerships in the state’s water and sanitation sector to deepen private sector engagement,” said Mr. Konishi.

The ongoing project—approved in September 2020—has so far laid 1,451 kilometer (km) of water supply pipes, 1,110 km of sewer pipes, and connected 68,098 households to water services in selected secondary towns in Rajasthan.

The additional financing will improve water supply systems in at least seven towns by converting all groundwater sources to surface water, replacing about 700 km of leaking water pipes, installing 1,400 km of new water supply pipelines, and providing 77,000 households connections with water meters. It will also establish three new water treatment plants.

At least eight towns will be covered for improvement to sanitation systems by rehabilitating at least 580 km of sewers, building seven sewage treatment plants with co-treatment units to process fecal sludge and septage, and connecting at least 54,000 households to the sewage system.

A new feature in ADB’s support is the water facility development for urban resilience improvement and heritage-sensitive urban development in at least eight heritage towns or towns with strong tourism potential. This includes the reconstruction of water structures with heritage value, incorporating nature-based solutions to improve climate resilience. It will also rehabilitate at least 20 heritage or heritage-like structures to improve the living environment and attract more tourists.

In addition, it will create a special purpose vehicle through a public–private partnership to address water security issues in Rajasthan’s manufacturing industry and to encourage private sector investments and financing. This will establish designated pipe networks to carry treated wastewater from the sewage treatment plants to industrial facilities..

Source : PIB

Correct Answer :   Amit Shah

---

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah released the 'Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Memories Never Die' book in Rameshwaram, 29th July 2023.

The Union Home Minister  visited Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam House, Mission of Life Gallery Museum and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam National Memorial. He also visited the Vivekananda Memorial. Shri Amit Shah also offered prayers at the world famous Rameshwaram temple.

In his tweet, he said that the Rameswaram temple is  symbol of the ancient and glorious Sanatan Culture. Lord Shri Ram worshiped Lord Shiva at Shri Rameshwaram which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. Having darshan here on the auspicious occasion of 'Aadi Thiruvizha', is a very fortunate and a great feeling. I have prayed to Bholenath for the well-being of the countrymen and the prosperity of the nation. Several dignitaries including Union Minister of State Dr. L. Murugan were present on the occasion of the release of the book 'Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: Memories Never Die'.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that this book would prove to be very helpful in understanding the struggle of an ordinary boy born in a poor household in Rameshwaram to reach the highest peak of Indian politics. He added that this book brings to the readers  Dr. Kalam's love for literature and art, his exhortations about the poems of Thirukural and Bharthiyar and many unknown aspects of his life. Shri Shah said that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was a great team player. He implemented the principles of management in his life.

Shri Amit Shah said that Dr. Kalam proved that humanity is the biggest religion. As President, Dr. Kalam set such examples that are worth emulating for people in public life for many years. Shri Shah said that once 52 members of Dr. Kalam's family stayed in Rashtrapati Bhavan for 9 days. The people who live in Rashtrapati Bhavan are state guests, but Dr. Abdul Kalam had deposited the bill of Rs 9.52 Lakh for their stay of 9 days in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

This gesture of Dr. Kalam is a shining example of transparency in public life. He said that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam never associated himself with His Excellency. This is the reason why the people of India still remember him with great respect as the People's President. He said that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had a lot of respect for the officers and brave soldiers of the army in his heart.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Minister said that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has said in his book Wings of Fire that my story will end with me as I have no family. But this is not true, 140 crore Indians are his family who will always be proud of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Shri Shah said that in the history of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam will always be remembered by every child of India as a visionary, scientist and simple living person and a great patriot..

Source : PIB