International Affairs
ASEAN and India's 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue in New Delhi
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will address 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue in New Delhi on 4.7.2017. The theme of the two day dialogue is "ASEAN-India Relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years".
Political leaders, policy makers, senior officials, diplomats, business leaders, think tanks and academicians from India and ASEAN countries will participate in the discussions. It is a premier event to discuss politico-security, economic and socio-cultural engagement between ASEAN and India. This Dialogue has been held annually since 2009.
India-Thailand military exercise "Maitree 2017" begins in Himachal
A 14-day long joint military training exercise Maitree 2017 between India and Thailand started in Himachal Pradesh. The joint exercise of the Indian Army with the Royal Thailand Army commenced at Bakloh in Chamba district.The previous edition of the exercise was held at Krabi in Thailand in 2016.
India-Thailand military exercise "Maitree 2017" begins in Himachal
French judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel to lead UN Syria war crimes probe
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a French judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel to lead an international panel tasked with gathering evidence of war crimes in Syria's six-year war.
Uhel, who has served as an international judge in Kosovo, Cambodia and at the war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia, was named to head the Geneva-based panel on 3.7.2017.
BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) announces 5-year strategy
The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by the BRICS countries, will devote about two-third of its loans to sustainable infrastructure development in the next five years.
Announcing this in Beijing the bank in its General Strategy 2017-2021 said the physical infrastructure is a critical enabler of economic growth and sustainability is essential for the physical and social environment of current and future generations.
Poland is hosting the 41st annual UNESCO World Heritage Committee conference 2017
41st session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee has started in Krakow, Poland from July 2 to 12, 2017. During the session, the Committee will notably consider requests for the inscription of new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and examine the state of conservation of sites already inscribed on the List as well as many other issues concerning the implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
Carrie Lam, become the first female Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Carrie Lam has become the first woman chief executive of Hong Kong on July 1, 2017 after winning the 2017 Chief Executive election. She is known as a tough and effective enforcer.
India donated $5 million amount to UN Peace Building Fund (PBF)
India has recently contributed $500,000 to the UN Peace building Fund (PBF) to boost efforts of United Nations for building and sustaining peace across the world. India has been a Member of the UN Peace Building Commission (PBC) since its inception in December 2005 and has so far contributed $5 million to the Peacebuilding Fund.
Swiss banks Money: India slips to 88th place
India has slipped to 88th place in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks, while the UK remains on the top. Also, the money officially held by Indians with banks in Switzerland now accounts for a meagre 0.04 per cent of the total funds kept by all foreign clients in the Swiss banking system, as per an analysis of the latest figures compiled by the SNB (Swiss National Bank) as on 2016-end.
India was placed at 75th position in 2015 and at 61st in the year before that, though it used to be among top-50 countries in terms of holdings in Swiss banks till 2007.
National Affairs
Prime Minister Modi adopts Wrestlers’ Village Kakrahia in UP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will adopt Kakrahia, a village known for its wrestlers and wrestling arenas, under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said.
This will be the third village to be adopted by the Prime Minister in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi. In the previous two years, Modi adopted Jayapur and Nagepur, as his first and second villages.
Prime Minister Modi adopts Wrestlers’ Village Kakrahia in UP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will adopt Kakrahia, a village known for its wrestlers and wrestling arenas, under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said.
This will be the third village to be adopted by the Prime Minister in his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi. In the previous two years, Modi adopted Jayapur and Nagepur, as his first and second villages.
India's new Chief Election Commissioner is "Achal Kumar Jyoti"
Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti has been appointed the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India by the Narendra Modi government.
Achal Kumar Jyoti will take charge as the CEC on July 6 after Nasim Zaidi retires. Zaidi had taken over as the 20th CEC on April 19, 2015. Jyoti, former Chief Secretary of Gujarat, was appointed as the Election Commissioner on May 7, 2015.
Vijay Gokhale appointed as the new Economic Relations Secretary in the MEA
Vijay Gokhale, a 1981 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has been appointed as the new Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
K K Venugopal appointed as the new Attorney General of India
K K Venugopal appointed as the new Attorney General of India
Kottayan Katankot Venugopal (86), a noted constitutional expert and senior advocate, has been appointed as the new Attorney General of India with effect from June 30, 2017 and shall have a tenure of 3 years. He succeeded Mukul Rohatgi.
RK Pachnanda, appointed as the new Director General of the ITBP
RK Pachnanda, the 1983 batch IPS officer of the West Bengal cadre, has taken charge as the new Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and will have tenure with ITBP till October 31, 2018.
Madhya Pradesh plants record 6.63 crore saplings in 12 hours on the banks of river Narmada
The Madhya Pradesh government has claimed a record 6.63 crore saplings were planted on the banks of river Narmada as part of its river conservation efforts.
12-hour plantation drive was undertaken across the state and may find a place in the Guinness World Records. The current record of planting maximum saplings in least time is five crore in 24 hours which is held by Uttar Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh plants record 6.63 crore saplings in 12 hours on the banks of river Narmada
The Madhya Pradesh government has claimed a record 6.63 crore saplings were planted on the banks of river Narmada as part of its river conservation efforts.
12-hour plantation drive was undertaken across the state and may find a place in the Guinness World Records. The current record of planting maximum saplings in least time is five crore in 24 hours which is held by Uttar Pradesh.
India’s economic growth rate has forecasted at 7.3% in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) June 2017
According to RBI’s Financial Stability Report (FSR) June 2017, India’s economic growth rate has forecasted at 7.3% in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) in the current fiscal year FY 2017-18.
India’s tallest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower will be operational at IGIA, Delhi
India’s tallest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower has installed at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi. The new 101.9m ATC tower has built at a cost of Rs 350 and is likely to start operations by December 2017.
GST comes into force after 17 years of debate
The Goods and Services Tax (GST), India's biggest tax reform since independence came into force on July 1 after 17 tumultuous years of debate.The new tax regime was ushered in at a late night event in the historic Central Hall of Parliament.Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the new levy as "good and simple tax" that marks economic integration of India.
India is 161st country to launch GST. GST day will be celebrated on July 01 every year.
Chennai Metropolitan Area will be expanded to 8,878 square KMs
Housing and Urban Development Minister K Radhakrishnan announced in the Assembly today that the whole of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts besides Arakkonam taluk in Vellore would included in Chennai Metropolitan Area.
He said the expansion will ensure equitable growth and integrated urbanisation adding that the measure would also help de-congestion in Chennai city.
India’s largest fresh water aquarium inagurates in Ranchi
India’s largest fresh water aquarium Ranchi aquarium was unveiled by CM Raghubar Das for public at the Birsa Munda Zoological Park about 12 kms from the city.
As many as 58 technically planned tanks have been installed at the aquarium so as to provide an ambient environment to 120 species of fishes.
Mumbai's 'Vikrikar Bhavan' renamed as GST Bhavan
'Vikrikar Bhavan' the headquarters of Maharashtra government's erstwhile Sales Tax department, was renamed as 'GST Bhavan’ as the new tax regime rolled out, to assist traders and business community who have queries about GST implementation and modalities.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan launches "G-Ride" a digital ride sharing platform
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has launched 'G-Ride', a digital ride sharing platform specially designed and deployed for the IT industry, by the Group of Technology Companies (GTech), the industry body of IT companies in the state.
He said that the state government would accelerate the deployment of digital resources in development initiatives and also in addressing challenges faced by people.
India’s biggest "Global Skill Park" will be set up in Bhopal
Shivraj Singh Chouhan (the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh) and Rajeev Pratap Rudy (the Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) has laid the foundation stone of the India’s biggest Global Skill Park in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh on July 3, 2017.
"TransStadia multi-purpose sports complex" launched in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Indian Prime Narendra Modi formally inaugurated TransStadia in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.The multi-purpose sports complex also hosts a 20000 seater state-of-the-art football stadium, the first of its kind in the state.The facility's formal inauguration comes nearly eight months after it first hosted a global sports event.The Arena by TransStadia is a Rs. 550 crore project, built on a unique Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, and is hailed as India's first convertible stadium.
National Doctors’ Day (NDD) on July 1
The National Doctors’ Day (NDD) is celebrated every year in India on July 1 to honour the legendary physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.
2017 International Co-operative Day (IDC) on July 1
The United Nations (UN)’ International Co-operative Day (IDC) is observed every year on the first Saturday of to recognize and reaffirms the role of cooperatives in economic, social and cultural development and in the achievement of social policy objectives. This year, in 2017, the day is observed on July 1 under the theme ‘Co-operatives ensure no one is left behind’.
Awards
Shantanu Narayen, Vivek Murthy, the Indian Americanswill be honoured with 2017 “Great Immigrants: The Pride of America” award
Two Indian-Americans, Adobe Chief Shantanu Narayen and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will be honoured with the prestigious 2017 Great Immigrants: The Pride of America” award on US’s Independence Day on July 4, 2017.
Adi Godrej awarded the 2017 USIBC Global Leadership Awards
Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveries have been awarded the 2017 Global Leadership Awards of the US-India Business Council (USIBC) at the USIBC 42nd Anniversary Leadership Summit in Washington DC for their role in integrating India in the global supply chain.
Indian football legend Subrata Bhattacharya honoured with 'Mohun Bagan Ratna'
Mohun Bagan has decided to honour its legendary former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya with its highest honour — the Mohun Bagan Ratna.
Bhattacharya will be the 17th recipient of the award, which was instituted in 2001, with late Sailen Manna being the first recipient.The club's executives, who met to decide the awardees to be honoured on its foundation day on 29 July, also chose Balwant Singh as the Mohun Bagan Player of the Year.
M M Bhagwat has been bestowed with the 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes Award
Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, an IPS officer from Telangana, has been bestowed with the 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes Award by the Unites States Department of State for his vital role in elevating human trafficking as a government priority and his innovative approach to investigating cases and dismantling trafficking operations.
Writer Preeti Shenoy bags "Indian of the Year award 2017"
Writer Preeti Shenoy was honoured with the Indian of the Year award at a function in New Delhi.
Shenoy, who is one of India's top five highest selling women authors, was awarded by Brands Academy.
Book Release
President receives first copy of book “PRESIDENT Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman”
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of a book “President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman” from Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi who formally released it at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The book “President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman” has been published by The Statesman, one of India’s oldest English-language newspapers.
Sports Affairs
Germany football team has won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup
Germany has won the 10th edition of FIFA Confederation Cup Football-2017 title by defeating Copa America Champion Chile by 1-0 goals in the final at St Petersburg, Russia.
Jehan Daruvala wins FIA F3 European Championship
Jehan Daruvala of Sahara Force India Academy created history by becoming the first Indian to win in the FIA F3 European Championship.
Jehan's victory in race 3 comes 18 years after Narain Karthikeyan won in the British F3 Championship. FIA Formula 3 is the toughest junior racing category in the world.