15 July

International News Affairs

• Today (15th July 2017) is World Youth Skills Day.
  • The United Nations General Assembly in November 2014, declared 15th July as World Youth Skills Day.
  • The 1st World Youth Skills Day was observed on 15th July 2015.
  • This day is celebrated all over the world to raise awareness about the issue of unemployment among youth.
  • Theme of World Youth Skills Day 2017 : “Skills for All”
• Indonesia today renamed part of the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea.
  • Although Indonesia said it is a non-claimant state in the sea, it added that China’s maritime boundary overlaps its exclusive economic zone around the Natuna islands.
• France has celebrated its 228th Bastille Day.
  • This is President Emmanuel Macron’s first celebration as the President.
  • Note: US President Donald Trump presided over the event as the guest of honour.

New Appointments

• An 18-year-old ragpicker Bilal Dar has been appointed as Srinagar’s civic ambassador.
  • Dar will get a special uniform and vehicle to go and meet people and sensitise them about environmental issues, cleanliness and garbage disposal.

Science & Technology

• Russian space agency Roscosmos today successfully launched ‘Kanopus-V-IK‘ Earth-imaging satellite and 72 microsatellites into orbit on a single rocket.
  • The microsatellites include 62 CubeSats developed by US and others made by Japan, Germany, and Canada.
  • Note: This comes after ISRO launched a world record 104 satellites at once earlier this year, breaking Russia’s previous record of 37 satellites.
• With 24.1 crore active users, India has overtaken the United States to become Facebook’s largest country audience, according to data shared by the platform for July.
• Nepal will get Internet services through Chinese optical fibre starting next month, ending its reliance on India for the service.
• France and Germany today announced plans to develop a “new generation” European fighter jet, in an effort to strengthen the European Union and increase cooperation between the two countries.
  • Note: The two nations aim to come up with a joint roadmap by 2018 to replace the existing fleet of rival warplanes, which includes the Rafale and Eurofighter.

Awards & Honours

• Actress Priyanka Chopra has been nominated at the Teen Choice Awards 2017 in the ‘Villain’ category for her Hollywood debut film ‘Baywatch’.
  • This is Priyanka’s second nomination after she bagged one for her role in American television series ‘Quantico’ in 2016.

Banking, Business & Economic News

• The Finance Ministry has received around 90 applications for the post of RBI Deputy Governor as SS Mundra’s three-year term is coming to end this month.
  • Several private bankers have also applied for the post as the position was open to private sector.
  • Note : This post will have a fixed salary of ₹2.25 lakh per month plus allowances.
• The US House of Representatives has passed a $621.5 billion defence policy billwhich includes proposals of boosting defence cooperation with India.
  • US officials now have 180 days to develop a strategy on the cooperation between the countries.
  • The proposal then needs to be passed by the Senate before US President Donald Trump signs it into a law.
• Swami Vivekananda Airport of Raipur was ranked first in Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI)Survey among 49 airports in the country.
  • It was followed by Udaipur (2nd), Amritsar (3rd) and Dehradun (4th) airports.
• 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.

Current Sports Affairs

• Indian Para-athlete Sundar Singh Gurjar became only the second Indian to win a gold at the World Para Athletics Championships, winning one in javelin at the 2017 edition in London today.
  • Note: Rio gold medalist Devendra Jhajharia was the first Indian to win gold in 2013.
• 35 year-old Roger Federer has become the oldest men’s singles Wimbledon finalist since 1974, after defeating Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals today.
  • Now Federer will face first-time Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic in the final tomorrow.