July 2017 Daily News Current Affairs

1. July 8, 2017
   1. American Aerospace Firm SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully delivered super-heavy commercial communications satellite Intelsat 35e.
      1. With mass of 6,761kg, Intelsat 35e communications satellite is heaviest payload SpaceX has ever launched toward geostationary orbit, approx 36,000km above Earth’s surface.
   2. Punjab Government approved new transport policy that abolishes system of district transport officers (DTO) and restructures transport department. A special task force has been set up and the state police to crack down on all illegall buses. Permits will be valid for a 5 years from date of issue.
   3. Civil Aviation Ministry appprved anti -hijacking law, replacing a 1982 - vintage law. New law covers offences against an aircraft or personnel even when it is on ground. Defaulters of hijacking would now be punishable with Death penalty where such act results in death of any person. In other cases of hijacking, guilty will be punished with life imprisonment.
   4. National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) and Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) launched a joint venture company to set up an aluminium park at Angul (Odisha) with Investment of INR 180 crores. Odisha currently contributes about 54% of India’s total aluminium smelting capacity.
   5. First edition of WINGS 2017 - Sab Uden, Sab Juden Expanding Regional Connectivity Event hosted in New Delhi.
   6. Minister of State for Minority Affairs (IC) & Parliamentary Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurated first Gharib Nawaz Skill Development Centre in Hyderabad (Telangana) -
      1. Government will establish Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centres in 100 districts of country, aimed at implying employability skills in youth belonging to Minority communities.
   7. President Pranab Mukherjee launched 2 programmes to take education to remote areas with help of technology - Swayam and Swayam Prabha.
      1. Under Swayam, courses would be offered through digital classrooms with online study material available free of cost in videos
      2. SWAYAM Prabha is set of 32 DTH channels operationalised for telecasting high quality educational content free of charge using the GSAT-15 satellite transponders.
      3. Prez also launched a National Academic Depository where verified educational records would be digitally stored by universities or a board to counter forgery. National Digital Library is also launched as large online library containing 6.5 million books.
   8. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare signed MOU with Government of West Bengal to to set up a state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence in Transfusion Medicine at Kolkata.
   9. Researchers at University of Edinburgh (UK) stated that surface of Mars has chemical compounds called perchlorates that can kill bacteria, when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. This has given a blow to hopes of finding alien life on surface of Mars.
   10. Government Stated that Gifts up to a value of Rs 50,000 per year by an employer to his employee are outside ambit of GST. Gifts of value over INR 50000 made without consideration are subject to GST.
   11. Government Launched Aaykar Setu as a new tax payer service module, To enhance mobile access experience for Taxpayers.
       1. It is aimed at reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities and thereby minimizing chances of any tax harassment.
       2. The module compiles various tax tools, live chat, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within Income Tax Department in a single module.
   12. India and Bangladesh will construct a bridge over Mizoram's Khawthlangtuipui river (also known as Karnaphuli river) to improve trade and communication.
   13. India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu won South Australian Open squash title by defeating Rhys Dowling of Australia.
   14. India will invite 10 leaders of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as Chief Guests for 2018 Republic Day celebrations. Republic Day 2018 would be the first Republic Day event that will have so many leaders as the chief guests.
   15. India will soon join Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC), a newly-constituted forum of central bankers and experts working towards promotion of a robust and transparent foreign exchange (Forex) market. It has been set up under guidance of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). GFXC was established in London during a meeting in May 2017.
2. July 7, 2017
   1. PM Narendra Modi Visited Germany, after 3-day visit to Israel.
      1. In Germany, he attended 12th G20 Summit held in Hamburg (Germany) with theme Shaping an Inter-connected World. 5 BRICS nations also had an informal meeting on sidelines of G20 Summit in Hamburg (Germany). Note that 9th BRICS Summit will be held in September 2017 in Xiamen (China).
   2. Telangana will present a separate agriculture budget for state from next year (2018 - 19), aiming to boost Agriculture sector with more focus and funds.
   3. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated computerisation of PACS (Primary Agricultural Cooperative Socities) and launched RuPay Kisan Credit cards.
      1. Odisha is first state to implement an integrated Core Banking Solution Project for farmers, to ensure transparency. It will cover all 3 tiers of short term cooperative credit structure - state cooperative bank, district central cooperative banks and 2,708 primary agriculture cooperative societies.
   4. Punjab National Bank (PNB) will block all Maestro debit cards from 31st of July 2017 if card holders do not replace it with a more secure EMV chip based card by end of July.
   5. Karnataka Bank launched KBL-Image Debit Card, that will enable its cardholders to personalise their Debit card with an image of his/her choice.
   6. Australian Boxer Jeff Horn Defeated Manny Pacquiao (Philippines) to win WBO world welterweight title.
   7. M S Dhoni became first Indian batsman to hit 200 sixes in One Day International (ODI) cricket.
   8. Assam government will raise a new Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) for better protection of one-horned rhinos in Assam. Local youths hailing from the fringe areas of the Kaziranga national park will be considered for recruitment into proposed force.
   9. Kerala Government launched G-Ride app as a digital ride sharing platform. It will aim at bringing down number of vehicles used by people.
   10. Indian woman badminton player Ritika Thaker won singles title in Ivory Coast International badminton tournament. While, Ritika Thaker and Simran Singhi won women’s doubles title.
   11. Jehan Daruvala became first Indian Racing driver to win in FIA Formula 3 European Championship held in Germany.
   12. Noted Marathi actor-writer Madhukar Toradmal passed away.
   13. New ATC tower at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport will be tallest structure in Delhi and Highest ATC Tower in India, with Height of 101.9 metres.
   14. President Pranab Mukherjee approved a bill banning hookah bars in Gujarat, provisioning max Jail term of 3 years for violators.
   15. Microsoft signed an agreement with National Independent Schools Alliance (NISA) to offer Microsoft Aspire School Program (MASP) Pro Plus to over 55,000 member schools in India. It aims to equip schools with technology and innovative learning solutions.
   16. Pune Based Swayam Shikshan Prayog has been awarded United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Prize for devising an ecologically sustainable agriculture model to combat the adverse impacts of drought.
       1. It has helped empower over 20,000 marginal women farmers and their families in Marathwada by helping them make informed decisions about agriculture and environment.
   17. Mahesh Senanayake has appointed as New Army Chief of Neighbouring Nation Sri Lanka.
   18. Agricultural Festival Dree celebrated by Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.
   19. India's Yes Bank signed MoU with British Bank Santander to promote India-UK trade and business opportunities.
   20. Kolkata based Srei Infrastructure Finance signed MoU with Russia’s Vnesheconombank to create a $200 million IT and Innovation Fund.
3. July 6, 2017
   1. July 6 - World Zoonoses Day. Zoonoses are viral diseases like rabies and influenza, bacterial diseases such as Lyme disease and brucellosis, or parasitic diseases such as tapeworms.
   2. Rajkiran Rai G assumed charge as MD & CEO of Union Bank of India and Melwyn Rego assumed charge as MD & CEO of Syndicate Bank.
      1. Additionally, Kewal Handa has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Union Bank of India.
   3. Ministry of Power launched a portal for optimum utilization of domestic coal by independent power producer (IPP), that would estimatedly save the consumer close to Rs. 20,000 crore in 5 years.
   4. Sandeep Chakravorty has been appointed as head of Indian consulate in New York (USA). Note that he is also India's Ambassador to Peru.
   5. Indian Origin Person Guruswamy Jayraman has been awarded Order of Australia for community work, highest civilian award in Australia.
   6. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to sell and market new pension scheme (NPS). Profit Making NBFCs with asset size of Min 500 crores are now permitted to sell NPS after registration with pension regulator.
   7. Private life insurance company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance signed bancassurance agreement with Kerala-based Dhanlaxmi Bank, for marketing its various life insurance products to Bank's customers.
      1. As name depicts, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance is Joint venture of Canara Bank, HSBC and Oriental Bank of Commerce.
   8. Government launched GST Rates Finder appn to verify accurate tax rate on commodity and services under Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
   9. Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das inaugurated India’s largest fresh water aquarium Ranchi Machchli Ghar in Ranchi. It is spread in over 36,000 sq feet area with 58 fish tanks.
   10. Former Indian Footballer Subrata Bhattacharya will be honored as Mohun Bagan Ratna for year 2017 by Kolkata Based FC Mohun Bagan.
   11. According to the Zurich-based SNB, money parked by Indians in Swiss banks has nearly halved to 676 Swiss francs (approx INR 4,500 crores) in 2016. Data release comes ahead of a new framework for the automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India to check menace of black money.
   12. 21st India-Myanmar National Level Meeting held in Myanmar, attended by Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. 
4. July 5, 2017
   1. India contributed USD 500,000 to the UN Peacebuilding Fund, expressing hope that more funding by nations will boost efforts by world body to build and sustain peace.
   2. 14 day long joint military exercise Maitree 2017 between Indian and Thailand Armies commenced in Himachal Pradesh.
   3. Germany passed Network Enforcement Act law, under which social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube could face a hefty fine of €50 million if they fail to remove hate speech within 24 hours.
   4. Writer Preeti Shenoy has been honoured with Indian of the Year Award by Brands Academy, a reputed branding company in India.
   5. 2017 Aegon International Eastbourne Tennis Title (UK) -
      1. Men's Singles - Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
      2. Women's Singles - KarolIna Pliskova (Czech Republic)
      3. Men's Doubles - USA's Bob Bryan AND Mike Bryan
      4. Women's Doubles - Chan Yung-jan (Chinese Taipei) AND Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
   6. NASA launched Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket that created colourful artificial clouds visible in skies. Rocket during 8-minute flight had released 10 canisters about the size of a soft drink into space. Canisters deployed blue-green and red vapour that formed artificial clouds visible in the skies of USA.
   7. PM Narendra Modi Visited Israel -
      1. It is First Visit of an Indian Head of State to Israel Since Indian Independence. This visit also marks 25 years of establishment of diplomatic relationship between India and Israel.
      2. 7 Important MOUs Signed -
         1. To help grow business relationship between both countries, $40 million Israel India Innovation Initiative Fund (I4F) has been launched.
         2. Conservation of water in India
         3. State Water Utility Reform in India India-Israel Development Cooperation- 3-year work program in Agriculture (2018-2020)
         4. Cooperation in atomic clocks
         5. Cooperation in GEO-LEO optical link.
         6. Cooperation in electric propulsion for small satellites.
      3. A new fast-growing Israeli Crysanthumun flower will now be called ‘MODI’.
      4. Other Highlights
         1. India assured faster facilitation of OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cards for Jewish Citizens of Indian origin in Israel.
         2. Launch of a new Air India flight connecting Delhi/Mumbai with Tel Aviv (Israel) is announced
         3. PM Modi announced establishment of an Indian Cultural Centre in Israel to enhance people-to-people contacts.
   8. Goa Government has set up GST facilitation centres in ward offices across state, to assist taxpayers in resolving their technical issues related to migration to GST - registration, amendments, return filing and payments.
   9. UN appointed Catherine Marchi-Uhel (France) as head of panel to investigate and prosecute those responsible for most serious violations of international law in Syria.
   10. Manipur Government declared present Flood situation in State as a Severe State Calamity.
   11. Chinese Mobile Maker Xiaomi signed agreement for business collaboration and patent licencing with Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, to acquire key patent assets from Nokia.
   12. National Book Trust (NBT) launched Har Haath Ek Kitaab (One Book for Every Hand) scheme, that allows people to make donations to children between age 6 - 12 in the form of books with a simple method. NBT has tied up with e-Commerce site Smapdeal for this purpose.
   13. Italy passed a bill making torture a crime under national law, making torture punishable by 4 - 10 years in prison and 12 years for members of security forces.
   14. Somesh Goyal has been appointed as Director General of Police (DGP) of Himachal Pradesh.
   15. Researchers at UK's Cardiff University have produced world's most detailed scan of brain's internal wiring -
       1. Scan shows fibres in white matter called axons (brain's wiring which carry billions of electrical signals).
       2. Scan showed direction of messaging and also density of brain's wiring.
       3. This detailed scan of brain’s wiring will help increase understanding of a range of neurological disorders and can be used instead of invasive biopsies.
   16. Indian city of Ahmedabad (Gujarat) has been declared as India’s first World Heritage City by UNESCO, recognising heritage value of walled city’s unique heritage.
   17. Government will open residential schools for scheduled caste girls in educationally backward districts. Schools will have classes from VI to XII and 70 % seats will be reserved for SC girls and remaining for Girls from BPL families in other categories.
   18. Saima Wazed Hossain has been appointed as WHO's Goodwill Ambassador for Autism in South-East Asia region.
   19. A global treaty that bans nuclear weapons was adopted at United Nations by 122 Nations, with Netherlands voting in against.
       1. None of 9 countries that possess nuclear weapons - USA, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel took part in negotiations or vote. Nuclear states argue Nuke Weapons serve as a deterrent against a nuclear attack and say they remain committed to nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
       2. Treaty will be open for signature to Nations at UN Headquarters in New York (USA) on September 19, 2017. It will enter into force 90 days after 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession has been deposited.
       3. Current Nuclear Stockpile of nations is approx -
          1. Russia - 7000
          2. USA - 6800
          3. France - 300
          4. China - 270
          5. UK - 215
          6. Pakistan - 130
          7. India - 120
          8. Israel - 80
          9. North Korea - 2 to 3
   20. Consumer Affairs Ministry amended Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 (PCR), To benefit consumers and protect them from paying different prices at different locations. Rules will be known as Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Amendment Rules 2017.
       1. In accordance with new rules to come into effect from 1 January 2018, price of packed goods would no longer depend on where the product is purchased - A mall / five-star hotel / airport or a local Kirana store.
       2. Retail sale price of any packed product will be Maximum Retail Price (MRP) inclusive of all taxes, with provision to round off price to nearest rupee or 50 paise.
       3. New legal provision will make sure that no person is able to declare different MRPs on an identical pre-packed commodity, curbing possibility of any vendor charging differential prices for same product.
       4. e-commerce marketplaces will ensure that declarations (except month and year of manufacturing) shall be displayed on digital and electronic network used for e-commerce transactions. It include companies like Grofers and BigBasket, who stock the inventory. Other e-Commerce entities like Amazon and Flipkart who do not own an inventory, responsibility of correctness of declarations will be of manufacturer / seller / dealer / importer.
5. July 4, 2017
   1. Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam visited India.
   2. A massive plantation campaign of planting 6 Crore Plants in 12 Hours organized Madhya Pradesh, to save environment and conservation of the Narmada river.
   3. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) announced exemption of fees for its transgender students of all programmes.
   4. FINO Payments Bank commenced operations as a payments bank.
      1. FINO Payments Bank is 4th entity to start functioning as a Payments Bank in India, after Airtel, India Post and Paytm.
   5. Government lowered interest rate on small saving schemes by 0.1 % for July- September quarter. However, Interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 % annually. New Rates are -
      1. PPF - 7.8%
      2. KVP (Kisan Vikas Patra) - 7.5% (mature in 115 months)
      3. Sukanya Samriddhi - 8.3%
      4. Five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme - 8.3%
   6. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani along with venture capitalist Sanjeev Aggarwal has launched a $100 million venture fund called Fundamentum to back mid-stage startups that solve unique Indian problems in consumer technology space.
   7. Nagaland has been declared as disturbed area for 6 more months under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere without any prior notice to civil administration.
   8. International body Financial Stability Board (FSB) has placed India in league of countries that are compliant or largely compliant on implementation of priority area reforms, in FSB reform report card to G20.
      1. Report listed India as compliant with regard to Basel III reforms in risk-based capital and largely compliant on liquidity coverage ratio.
   9. Karnataka government launched Elevate 100 scheme to identify and nurture innovative start-ups. It aims to identify 100 most innovative start-ups in state and elevate them to higher success. 
   10. South Indian Bank tied up with Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) Forex for remittance facility for Indian expatriates from Australia. Under this, NRIs can enjoy fast remittance services using SIB’s Express facility.
   11. Tata Global Beverages appointed Natarajan Chandrasekaran as Its Chairman.
   12. Pradeep Kumar Rawat is appointed as Indian Ambassador to Indonesia.
   13. 9th edition of Delhi Dialogue held With Theme India-ASEAN relations: Charting the Course for the Next 25 Years. Under this, annual track 1.5 event to discuss multi dimensional engagement between India and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Delhi.
   14. China based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved USD 329 million loan to build access roads to 4,000 villages in Gujarat. 
   15. India team (consisting of Pankaj Advani and Laxman Rawat) won Asian Team Snooker Championship in Kyrgyzstan, by defeating Pakistan.
   16. Pakistan test-fired short-range (70 KMs) surface-to-surface ballistic missile Nasr.
   17. European Parliament approved Its first-ever cooperation deal between European Union and Cuba.
   18. Odisha government signed MOU with International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to establish a High-Performance Academy in Bhubaneswar.
   19. Domestic android-based mobile operating system Indus OS partnered with YES Bank to launch OS-integrated UPI (Unified Payment Interface) payment platform in India.
       1. It will enable users to use UPI payment platform on SMS, dialler interface, and on third party apps like WhatsApp. It means P2P transactions, as well as utility payments, can be made via SMS or messaging.
   20. Global Conglomerate Siemens opened its first digital factory in India in Thane, (Maharashtra). Its Siemens' third digital factory globally after one each in Germany and China.
6. July 3, 2017
   1. Vietnam granted India's ONGC Videsh a 2 year extension to explore oil block 128 in South China Sea.
      1. Part of the oil block 128 is in U-shaped ‘nine-dash line,’ which is claimed by China. This area is also route for over $5 trillion in trade every year and is also claimed by  Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
   2. UNESCO World Heritage Committee has amended list of world heritage sites in danger -
      1. West Bank city of Hebron has been included in list,  triggereing a new Israeli-Palestinian spat at international level.
      2. Historic Centre of Vienna (Vienna) is included in List.
      3. Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been removed from List.
   3. HRD Ministry will remove no-detention policy from Right to Education Act 2009 from next academic year.
      1. Under this, no child is detained or held back in any class or expelled till completion of elementary education covering classes 1 to 8.
      2. As per records, this policy has resulted in improvement in enrollments but has brought down academic standards.
   4. RBI issued revised directions on Customer Protection in case of authorised / failed online Transactions -
      1. It aims at Limiting Liability of Customers in unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions. 
      2. In cases of negligence caused by the customer by sharing of payment credentials, the customer is liable to bear the entire loss.
      3. Customers will be entitled to zero liability when authorised transaction occurs due to contributory fraud/negligence/deficiency on part of bank irrespective of whether or not unauthorised transaction has been reported by customer.
      4. If Fault is at Third Party End -
         1. If customer reports to bank within 3 days - All amount involved will be credited to their accounts within 10 days by bank.
         2. If customer reports to bank within 3 - 7 days - All Amount or INR 25000 (whicheever is less) within 10 days by bank.
         3. If customer reports to bank after 7 days - as per bank's policy.
   5. As per UK’s Department for International Trade, India is now 4th largest foreign investor into UK in 2016-17.
      1. Top 4 foreign investor into UK in 2016-17 - US (577 new projects),  China (160 new projects), France (131 new projects), India (127 new Projects).
      2. Australia and New Zeland share the 4th spot with India.
   6. RP Sanjiv Goenka is named as Chairman of Board of Governors at IIT-Kharagpur.
   7. Updated FIFA world football rankings have ranked Indian national football at 96th spot, best position for India in 29 years.
   8. As per research by Centre for International Development at Harvard University (CID) -
      1. Economic pole of global growth has moved from China to India and it is likely to remain over India in coming decade. India’s exports base now includes more complex sectors such as chemicals, vehicles and certain electronics and India is also well-positioned to continue diversifying into new areas. Study also found decline in China’s exports and Its economic complexity.
   9. Supreme Court asked Union government to formalise appointment of election commissioners through law.
      1. SC stated that there is expectation in Constitution that Election Commissioners, who are charged with important duty of conducting free and fair elections must be appointed through a process formalised by a law enacted by Parliament.
      2. At present, there is no transparency in the eligibility, criteria required for a person to be appointed as an election commissioner.
   10. North Korea successfully test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 into Sea of Japan. It is North Korea’s most successful missile test since its ballistic missile programme gathered pace in 1990s.
       1. To qualify as an ICBM, a missile must have a minimum range of 5,500km.
   11. USA rolled out pre-approved expedited entry clearance for low-risk Indian travellers under its Global Entry programme (GEP).
       1. India became 11th country whose citizens are now eligible to enroll in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initiative.
       2. Under this, International GEP member traveller can enter in US through automatic kiosks, rather than queueing up to clear immigration check by meeting an immigration officer at selected airports.
   12. University of Hyderabad and IIT Bombay stated that extreme El Nino conditions and warming of Bay of Bengal had resulted in unprecedented heavy rainfall in Chennai between November 30th to December 2nd in 2015.
       1. El Nino causes less than normal rainfall in case of south-west monsoon but does reverse in case of the northeast monsoon.
   13. Second Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) by UN telecommunications agency International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - 
       1. This Report measures commitment of nations to cyber security.
       2. India has been ranked well at 23rd position out of 165 nations.
       3. Top 5 - Singapore (1st), USA (2nd), Malaysia (3rd), Oman (4th), Estonia (5th).
       4. Equatorial Guinea is the worst performer among all nations with a score of zero.
   14. Tata Steel won Prime Minister’s trophy for ‘Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant’ in country for years 2014-2015 and 2015- 16.
       1. It is 3rd consecutive time that Tata Steel has won this award. Overall, company has been recognised as best integrated steel plant for 12 times and has won the PM’s Trophy 10 times.
   15. Ministry of Power announced that approx 97% of outstanding debt of all state power distribution companies (approx 3.95 lakh crores) has been covered under the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
       1. As of now, 26 states and 1 UT which have joined UDAY scheme, accounting for total outstanding debt of Rs. 3.82 lakh crores.
   16. Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) signed agreement with 4 private banks (ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank) and Bank of Baroda for collecting provident fund dues from employers and payments to its subscribers.
       1. This is the first time that EPFO has joined hands with private banks for this purpose. It will save INR 300 crores annually for EPFO as these five banks have agreed up on zero transaction charges.
   17. According to BMI Research, India is expected to register a growth of 6.9% in financial year 2017-18. While RBI predicted 7.3 % GDP Growth Rate for current fiscal year (2017-18).
       1. BMI Research was founded in 1984 by Business Monitor International and was acquired by Fitch Group later in 2014.
   18. Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Minister of Food Processing Industry) laid foundation stone for First Maize (मक्का) based Mega Food Park in Kapurthala (Punjab).
   19. Meeting of BRICS Education Ministers Held in China's Beijing (attended by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar) and 2nd Meeting of BRICS Culture Ministers held in Tianjin (China).
   20. Yarub Qudah (Industry and Trade Minister of Jordan) Visited India for 10th India-Jordan Trade and Economic Joint Committee (TEJC) Meeting held in New Delhi.
7. July 2, 2017
   1. July 2 - World Sports Journalists Day.
   2. India declared itself free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1 and H5N8).
   3. 4th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems held at Indore (Madhya Pradesh).
   4. Sanjay Kumar appointed as Director General (DG) of National Disaster Response Force. 
   5. Student- scientist connect programme Jigyasa has been officially launched in Delhi, jontly by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).
   6. India - China Current Military Standoff in Sikkim at Doko-La (called Donglong by Chinese) -
      1. Doko-La region lies at tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan. Tensions esclated when China started Building a strategic road in this region which is claimed by Bhutan as its territory. Both countries have deployed around 3,000 troops each in region.
      2. This area has huge strategic significance for both India and China as it is in close proximity of sensitive Chicken’s Neck (Siliguri Corridor), the extremely narrow stretch of land that connects north-eastern region to the rest of India. 
      3. India-China Border disputes-
         1. India and China share approx 3,488 km border - Western sector, Middle sector, and Eastern sector. 5 Indian states - Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh share border with China.
            1. Western Sector - India shares about 2152 km long border with China, between Jammu and Kashmir and Xinjiang Province of China. In this sector, there is territorial dispute over Aksai Chin region that was resaon for Sino-Indian war in 1962.
            2. During British Empire, 2 borders between India and China were proposed - Johnson’s Line and McDonald Line. Johnson’s line (proposed in 1865) shows Aksai Chin under India’s control whereas McDonald Line (proposed in 1893) places it under China’s control.
            3. Middle sector - It is approx 625 km long boundary with states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It does carry kuch disputes.
            4. Eastern Sector - It is 1,140 km long boundary that runs from eastern limit of Bhutan to a point near the Talu Pass at the trijunction of Tibet, India and Myanmar, called McMahon Line. China considers McMahon Line illegal and claims India's Arunachal Pradesh as its territory.
   7. Carrie Lam appointed as first female Chief Executive (CE) of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of China.
   8. Germany won First FIFA Confederation Cup Football title by defeating Chile in St Petersburg (Russia).
   9. Reliance Jio Infocomm launched Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) submarine cable system as world’s longest 100 Gbps technology-based submarine system. It stretches over 25,000km from Marseille (France) to Hong Kong, with 21 cable landings across Asia and Europe.
      1. A submarine cable system is a cable system that consists of telecom and internet cables, which are laid on the seabed between land-based stations. These cables carry telecommunication and data signals across stretches of oceans.
      2. AAE-1 is a combination of leading telecom service providers from Europe, Middle East and Asia. It will link with other cable systems and fibre networks to deliver direct access to all global markets.
   10. Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat, IPS officer from Telangana has been conferred with 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report Heroes Award by USA Goverment.
   11. Scientists from Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Germany developed world’s Most sharpe and Precise laser, that can be useful for various applications such as optical atomic clocks, radioastronomy, precision spectroscopy, testing theory of relativity and carry out new precision measurements on ultracold atoms.
       1. Theoretically, laser light has only 1 colour, wavelength or frequency. In reality, however, there is always a certain linewidth. This newly developed laser has linewidth of only 10 miliHertz (0.01 Hz), closer to ideal laser than ever before.
   12. NASA is developing Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) as first-ever mission that will deflect a near-Earth asteroid, to be built and managed by John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
       1. It will work on kinetic impactor technique, that involves sending one or more large, high-speed spacecraft into path of an approaching near-earth object to shift its orbit to defend against future impact.
       2. Target for DART is an asteroid called Didymos that will have a distant approach to Earth in October 2022 and then again in 2024. Asteroid Didymos (Greek word for twin) is an asteroid binary system that consists of Didymos A (780 metres), and Didymos B (160 metres).
   13. World Health Organization (WHO) declared end of most recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in African Nation Congo.
   14. National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE) will merge with Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) to form India's third biggest commodity exchange.
       1. This is first merger in commodity exchange space in India. In merged entity, ICEX will hold 62.8% stake and NMCE will own the rest.
       2. New exchange will offer a wide range of contracts and will also offer world’s first diamond futures contract, which has already received approval from SEBI.
   15. As per Latest Data by Zurich based SNB (Swiss National Bank) -
       1. India is now ranked 88th place in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks. Indians' Money in Switzerland's banks is now only 0.04% of total funds kept by all foreign clients in Swiss banking system.
       2. Top 2 - United Kingdom (CHF 359 billion (25%)), US (CHF 177 billion (14%).
       3. BRICS - Russia 19th (CHF 15.6 billion), China 25th (9.6 billion), Brazil 52nd (2.7 billion) and South Africa 61st (2.2 billion).
       4. Neighbours - Pakistan 71st place (CHF 1.4 billion), Bangladesh 89th (667.5 million), Nepal 150th (312 million), Sri Lanka 151st (307 million).
   16. President Pranab Mukherjee approved promulgation of The Prevention of cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 by Governor of Karnataka in pursuance of Article 213 of Constitution.
       1. It now legalises Kambala, bullock cart races and bull runs as traditional sports involving animals and exempt them from Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
   17. Government laid Foundation stone of India’s biggest Global Skill Park was laid in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). It park will come up on 37 acre land allotted in Narela Shankari area of Bhopal, with support of Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education and Education Services (ITEES).
   18. New Delhi-based The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) is ranked 2nd among world’s best climate think tank by International Centre for Climate Governance (ICCG) in category 2016 Top Climate Think Tanks in the Rest of the World-Absolute Global Rankings. It was announced during ICCG’s 23rd annual conference of European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) in Athens (Greece). 
   19. World’s oldest emergency helpline number 999 completed 80 years of its services in United Kingdom.
8. July 1, 2017
   1. July 1, 2017 - International Day of Cooperatives (First Saturday of July). 2017 Theme is Co-operatives ensure no-one is left behind.
   2. July 1 - National Doctor’s Day in India. Observed in honour of former noted Physician and West Bengal CM Bidhan Chandra Roy.
   3. July 1 - Chartered Accountants' Day in India. It marks enacting of Chartered Accountants Act on July 1, 1949.
   4. Government imposed 10% basic customs duty (BCD) on Cellular mobile phones and specified parts of cellular mobile phones like charger, battery, wire headset, Microphone and Receiver, Key Pad, USB Cable etc.
   5. Book President Pranab Mukherjee – A Statesman has been released.
   6. India signed $220 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for improving connectivity as well as transport efficiency and safety on State Highways of Rajasthan.
   7. Sanjay Gupta has been appointed as Chairman of Indian Institute of Management Amritsar.
   8. Home Ministry will examine Structure and Operations of Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN) before giving it security clearance.
      1. GSTN is IT backbone of Goods and Service Tax (GST). It is a not for profit and private limited company incorporated in 2013.
      2. Government holds 24.5% equity in GSTN. It has been set up primarily to provide IT infrastructure and services to the Central and State Governments, tax payers and other stakeholders for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
   9. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Textiles India 2017 as India’s first ever mega textiles trade fair at Gandhinagar (Gujarat). This 3 day fair will aims to showcase India as a global sourcing hub and investment destination for manufacturers world-wide.
   10. K K Venugopal has been appointed as new (15th) Attorney General of India.
   11. Government named Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Joti as next Chief Election Commissioner of India, to take charge on July 6. He will succeed Nasim Zaidi.
   12. Ministry of Science & Technology launched National Biopharma Mission as first ever Industry-Academia mission to accelerate biopharmaceutical development in India. Under this mission, ministry also launched Innovate in India (i3) program to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in sector.
       1. Innovate in India (i3) program i3 is a flagship program of India that will witness an investment of $250 million with $125 million as a loan from world Bank. It is committed to make India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products and solutions.
       2. It will strive to increase India’s global biopharmaceutical market share from current 2.8% to 5%.
   13. Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) signed MoU with National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) for redevelopment of 10 railway stations on global standards - Tirupati, Nellore, Puducherry, Sarai Rohilla (Delhi), Madgaon, Lucknow, Gomtinagar, Kota, Thane (New) and Ernakulam. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be formed as a Joint Venture (JV) company between RLDA and NBCC on 50:50 basis.
   14. 2 Indian-Americans - Adobe Chief Shantanu Narayen and former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy are among 38 persons named for this year's Great Immigrants: The Pride of America Award 2017.
   15. Goods and Services Tax (GST) Came into Effect, bringing in One Nation, One Indirect Tax.
       1. GST simplifed Indirect Taxes by abolishing set of Different Indirect Taxes at State and Central Level. Tax Slabs are - 0 %, 5%, 12 %, 18% AND 28%.