World Zoonoses Day: 6 July
World Zoonos Day is celebrated every year on 6th July.
Zoonoses are an infectious disease that can primarily be transmitted from animals to humans.
The day dates back to July 6, 1885, when French scientist Louis Pasteur successfully administered the first vaccine against the zoonotic disease rabies virus.
Theme of World Zoonoses Day 2021: “Let’s break the chain of zoonotic transmission”
Para athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu selected as flag bearer for Tokyo Paralympic Games
Tamil Nadu’s top para athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu has been chosen as the flag bearer of the Indian contingent for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
The Tokyo Paralympic Games are scheduled to be held from 24 August to 05 September.
Mariyappan Thangavelu won the gold medal in the high jump at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
He is the first player from India to win a gold medal in high jump in Paralympics.
Mariyappan is the third Indian para athlete to receive the country’s highest sporting honour, the Khel Ratna Award.
Before him, Devendra Jhajharia and Deepa Malik were honored with this.
India’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games: Mary Kom (boxer) and Manpreet Singh (hockey)
Flag bearer at closing ceremony: Bajrang Punia (Wrestler)
Invest India Wins Most Innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 Award
Invest India has been awarded the World’s Most Innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 released by OCO Global.
Invest India Established: 2009
MD & CEO: Deepak Bagla
HDFC Bank launches ‘Salaam Dil Se’ initiative to pay tribute to doctors across the country
HDFC Bank has launched ‘Salaam Dil Se’ initiative to pay tribute to doctors across the country to express their gratitude for their tireless service during the pandemic.
Establishment of HDFC Bank: 1994
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD & CEO: Shashidhar Jagadeesan
No change in interest rates on small savings schemes for the second quarter
The Central Government has not changed the interest rate of small savings schemes for the second quarter of the financial year 2021-22 (from July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021).
Various interest rates for the second quarter:
| S.No. | small savings scheme | Rate of interest |
| 1. | fixed deposit scheme | 5.5% |
| 2. | Sukanya Samriddhi Account | 7.6% |
| 3. | post office savings account | 4% |
| 4. | Senior Citizen Savings Scheme | 7.4% |
| 5. | National Savings Certificate (NSC) | 6.8% |
| 6. | Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) | 6.9% |
| 7. | 15 Year Public Provident Fund Account (PPF) | 7.1% |
| 8. | Post Office Monthly Income Scheme Account (MIS) | 6.6% |
Indian woman Sirisha Bandla to fly in space
Indian-American Sirisha Bandla will embark on a spaceflight on July 11 in Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft ‘Virgin Orbit’ of Richard Branson’s space company Virgin Galactic.
She will travel to the Age of Space with five other astronauts aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity.
Sirisha hails from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.
She will be the third woman of Indian origin to go into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman to go into space.
Book “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Woman in Medicine” by Kavita Rao
Kavitha Rao has authored a book titled “Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine”.
This excerpt from the book tells the story of Rukhmabai Raut, India’s first woman doctor.
World Bank increases COVID-19 vaccine funding from $8 billion to $20 billion
The World Bank has announced a total funding of up to $20 billion, adding another $8 billion for COVID-19 vaccines for developing countries.
Earlier the World Bank had announced $12 billion.
This funding will be available by 2022.
In addition, the World Bank disbursed $4.4 billion to 51 developing countries.
Formation of the World Bank: July 1944
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
President: David Malpass
MD & CFO (Chief Financial Officer): Anshula Kant
Chief Economist: Carmen Reinhart
Flipkart partners with PhonePe to digitize cash-on-delivery payments
Digital payments platform PhonePe has partnered with Flipkart to launch ‘Scan and Pay’ feature to enable cash-on-delivery service.
PhonePe Founded: December 2015
Headquarters: Bangalore
CEO: Sameer Nigam
Flipkart Founded: October 2007
Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka
CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
Founders: Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal
Nathuram Godse Biography “Nathuram Godse: The True Story of Gandhi’s Assassin” to be released in 2022
A book titled “Nathuram Godse: The True Story of Gandhi’s Assassin” by journalist Dhaval Kulkarni will be published by Pan Macmillan India in 2022.
United World Wrestling (UWW) bans Indian wrestler Sumit Malik for two years
Haryana wrestler Sumit Malik has been banned by United World Wrestling (UWW) for two years.
He qualified for the Tokyo Games in the 125 kg category.
Sumit is a Commonwealth Games 2018 gold medalist.
He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2018.
Formation of United World Wrestling: 1912
Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
President: Nenad Lalovic
