RAJASTHAN
- Rajasthan’s Sundar Singh Gurjar wins gold medal at World Para Athletics
- Sundar Singh Gurjar (21) won gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event at World Para Athletics Championships held in London, United Kingdom. In the F46 category, Sundar recorded his personal best effort of 60.36m ahead of Dinesh Priyantha Herath (Sri Lanka) who emerged second with 57.93m, followed by defending champion Guo Chunliang (China) with 56.14m.
- Sundar Singh Gurjar hails from the Karauli district in Rajasthan.
INTERNATIONAL
- 15 July: World Youth Skills Day
- The World Youth Skills Day is observed globally on 15 July every year to raise awareness about the importance of investing in youth skills development. Observance of the day aims to create more awareness on training and the development of skills for the youth of today and also create better employment opportunities for the youth. 2017 Theme is “Skills for All”.
- India, European Union establish Investment Facilitation Mechanism.
- India and European Union (EU) have established Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) for EU Investments in India. The mechanism will allow for a close coordination between EU and India with an aim to promote and facilitate EU investment in India.
- The key objective of IFM is to pave the way for identifying and solving problems faced by EU companies and investors with regard to their operations in India. It will cover both new investors as well as those already present in India.
National
- India’s first solar powered DEMU train launched.
- Indian Railways has launched India’s first solar powered diesel multiple unit (DEMU) broad gauge train. It is 1600 Horse Power (HP) train with all solar powered coaches. The train will run from Sarai Rohilla in Delhi to Farukh Nagar in Haryana. It will replace an existing non-solar powered rake on the same route.
- India tops global index of countries with most confidence in their government: OCED Report
- India has topped in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Government at a Glance 2017 report. It states that Narendra Modi led NDA coalition has secured 73% trust of people, highest in the world. OECD’s Government at a Glance report presents an index of countries that trust their governments the most. It determines government’s trust levels by whether or not people consider their government stable and reliable, if it’s able to protect its citizens from risk and whether it can effectively deliver public services.
- Government sets up new wing to provide intelligence inputs
- The Union Government has set up Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), a new wing to provide intelligence inputs taking action against tax evaders. It has been has been set up will be under the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). It will also do big data analytics for taxmen for better policy formulation.
- The DGARM was set up on 1 July 2017, coinciding with rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST). It will function as an apex body of CBEC for data analytics and risk management and will report to the chairman of CBEC.
- Cabinet approves SASEC Road Connectivity Investment Program
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister has given its approval for upgradation and widening of 65 kms of Imphal-Moreh Section of NH-39 in Manipur.
- The project is being developed with ADB’s loan assistance under the South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Investment Program which aims at upgradation of road infrastructure in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India (BBIN) in order to improve the regional connectivity among BBIN nations.
- The project corridor is also a part of the Asian Highway No. 01 (AH01) and acts as India’s Gateway to the East.