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Deshna Jain (20), who is from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh, has been crowned the 2018 Miss Asia (Deaf) title and was the 3rd runner-up in the 2018 Miss International (Deaf) contest held in Taipei, Taiwan, from July 8-July 16. At 20, she is also the youngest contestant to take part in the event. It’s the first time since 2009 that an Indian has won any title in the much coveted Miss and Mister Deaf International pageants. Earlier, Deshna became the Miss India (Deaf) 2018 in Jaipur, Rajasthan and represented the country at international platform.

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Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri was named the 2017 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year in the men’s category. Recently, Chhetri became the 2nd Indian footballer to play 100 international games after Baichung Bhutia. He is a star striker for both India and Bengaluru FC. Beside him, Kamala Devi was adjudged the 2017 AIFF Woman Player of the Year and Young Anirudh Thapa was declared as the 2017 Emerging Player of the Year. E Panthoi was named as the 2017 woman Emerging Player of the Year.

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The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched the South East Asia’s first-ever Centre for Climate Change (CCC) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The purpose of the centre is to accelerate concerted climate action by various stakeholders in government, private, financial and non -government actors. The Lucknow Centre would help NABARD in increasing its capacity building efforts manifold. Besides, the new institution would also extend professional support to stakeholders for designing climate related projects and take up collaborative studies and action research projects in area of climate change. It would also support capacity building and project preparation effort in developing countries in the region as also in Africa.

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The Odisha police has launched a drive to bust an international syndicate that peddles “endangered” pangolin, one of the world’s most illegally traded mammals. Through Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), the Odisha police will crack the international pangolin smuggling racket. MLAT is an agreement between nations to exchange information or provide legal assistance for enforcing laws. Pangolins are the only known mammals with large keratin scales and they use those scales to protect themselves from predators in the wild. They are toothless, nocturnal, live in burrows and feed mainly on ants and termites. Of the 8 species found worldwide, two are found in India: Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla). Both the species are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Hence, hunting, trade or any other form of utilisation of the species or their body parts and derivatives is banned. Beside this, In the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List, Chinese pangolin are listed as “critically endangered” and Indian Pangolin as “endangered”.

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Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Environment Minister, has launched a state-of-the-art Air Quality and Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting) at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on July 21, 2018. The system, first of its kind in India, was developed indigenously in record time by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune and operationalized by India Meteorological Department (IMD). The new system will be able to track UV-Index, PM1, Mercury and Black carbon in real time. SAFAR will monitor all weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed and wind direction. In addition to regular air quality parameters like PM2.5, PM10, Sulfur Dioxide, Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Monoxide, the new system will also monitor the existence of Benzene, Toluene and Xylene. It will be an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning System operational in Delhi and will strengthen the existing air quality network of SAFAR, Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

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According to the Public Affairs Index (PAI) for 2018, Kerala stands as the best-governed state in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat. Apart from this, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha ranked the lowest on the index, indicating higher social and economic inequalities. The Bengaluru-based think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC ) has been releasing the index annually since 2016 and ranks the states according to their socio-economic development. The think tank PAC was founded in 1994 by renowned Indian economist and scholar late Samuel Paul. It works to mobilize a demand for better governance in the country.

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On July 22, the official mascots for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have been unveiled during a ceremony in the Japanese capital Tokyo. The Olympic mascot “Miraitowa” is a blue-checked pointy-eared figure, which fuses the Japanese words ‘mirai’, which means future, and ‘towa’, which means eternity. Its Paralympic counterpart “Someity” is derived from a type of cherry blossom ‘Somei-yoshino’. It is represented as a pink-checked and wears a cape and is sounds similar to English phrase “So mighty”. The Tokyo Olympics are schedule to run from July 24 to August 9, 2020. The Paralympics will take place between August 25 and September 6.

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India won 8 medals in the 2018 Junior Asian Wrestling Championship (JAWC) which concluded in New Delhi on July 22. The medals comprised 2 gold, 3 silver and as many bronze. Here, Indian wrestler Sachin Rathi won gold in 74 kg freestyle category by defeating Bat-Erdene of Mangolia in the final on July 22. Beside him, Deepak Punia also clinched gold in 86 kg weight category in the event. Suraj Rajkumar Kokate and Mohit have won bronze in the 61Kg and 125kg category, respectively. Iran with 189 points topped the team championship. India with 173 points finished second while Uzbekistan with 128 points came third.

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On July 22, Typhoon Ampil hit Chinese financial hub Shanghai that brought heavy rainfall and disrupted transport and shipping. More than 600 flights from the city’s two airports were cancelled and high-speed rail services also impacted. The National Meteorological Centre stated that the typhoon first hit the island of Chongming, 45 km east of the city, with winds of up to 100kmh near its eye. As per reports, the city had already relocated 190,000 people from coastal areas. It said that Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China, has suspended rooftop sightseeing. In neighbouring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, more than 42,500 people were relocated. More than 28,000 ships, including 22,900 fishing boats, have returned to port in Zhejiang.

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The Government of India (GoI) has reduced the minimum annual deposit requirement for accounts under Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 250. The move will enable more people to take advantage of the girl child savings scheme. The government has amended the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Rules, 2016 for the purpose. The interest rate on Sukanya Samriddhi account is revised every quarter, just like other small savings schemes and PPF. For the July-September quarter, the rate has been fixed at 8.1%. Under the scheme, a parent or legal guardian can open an account in the name of the girl child until she attains the age of 10 years. As per the government notification on the scheme, the account can be opened in any post office branch and designated public sector banks. The deposits made to the account, and also the proceeds and maturity amount, would be fully exempted from tax under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Deposits can be made up to 14 years from the date of opening of the account. After this period, the account will only earn interest as per applicable rates.