International

G-20 discussed Climate Change
The Group of 20 Summit has ended without a consensus on the key issues of climate change and trade, leaving deep divisions between U.S. President Donald Trump and the rest of the developed world. This is the 12th summit of the group and was held on 7th and 8th July, in Hamburg, Germany. G20 backed free trade and pledged to “continue to fight protectionism”. On the side lines of summit India invited Norwegian pension funds to invest in India’s National Infrastructure Investment platform. In 2018 G-20 Summit will be held in Argentina, in 2019 in Japan and in 2020 in Saudi Arabia.

UNESCO opts against 'in danger' status for Great Barrier Reef
UNESCO opted to keep the Great Barrier Reef off of its official list of World Heritage sites 'in danger' at a meeting in Poland. There are currently 55 World Heritage sites on the 'in danger' list, including the Everglades National Park, the Syrian city of Palmyra, and Liverpool's historic docklands.

UN conference adopts a treaty banning nuclear weapons
Countries met at a United Nations conference in New York on 7th July adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years. The treaty – adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore) – prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.The treaty will be open for signature to all States at UN Headquarters in New York on 20 September 2017, and enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.
National

India’s first heritage city: Ahmedabad
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 8th July declared the 600-year-old walled city of Ahmedabad as a world heritage city, the first Indian city to make it to the list. The World Heritage Committee of Unesco met in Karlow, Poland.

Other cities added to the list of World Heritage city in the same summit-Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, Hebron-Al Khalil Old Town (Palestine) and W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (Benin, Burkina Faso), the site of Hebron-Al Khalil to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

Of the 287 world heritage cities across the globe, the only two cities in the Indian subcontinent which enjoy the status are Bhaktapur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka.

Draft National Policy for Women a
pprovedA Group of Ministers, headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj approved a draft national policy for women. It proposes..

Free education for girls from poor families
Health card for all women
A woman accused of a non-heinous crime, who has remained an under-trial for one-third of her jail time, should be given bail.

High speed rail Training centre to come up in Gujarat
India’s first high-speed rail training centre is to come up at Gandhinagar.The centre will provide for advanced training modules on cutting edge technologies. Being constructed over railway land measuring 4,400 metres at an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore, the training centre will have a sample track fitted with the overhead electrical systems to enable testing of bullet trains that will run on the Mumbai-Ahmedab-ad route.While India’s first bullet train is proposed to hit the track in 2023, the training centre is supposed to start operating by 2020.

Bilateral
India-US-Japan joint drill at Bay of Bengal
The US, Japanese and Indian Navies on 10th July began the Malabar Naval Exercise-2017 aimed at achieving deeper military ties between the three nations. The 21st edition of the exercise, conducted ashore and at-sea, would include professional exchanges on carrier strike group operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare.

e-visa facility extended to Uganda
India has added Uganda to the list of countries to which it extends the electronic visa (or e-visa) facility. At present, India offers e-visa facility to only 18 of the 54 African nations. The e-visa is an online pre-authorisation that allows visa on arrival through nine designated airports and three sea-ports for a 60-day stay. The Home Ministry implements the e-visa scheme. At present, India offers the   e-visa facility to 162 countries.
Economy

FM launched Aaykar Setu
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched Aaykar Setu, a new income tax payer e-service module, in New Delhi on 10th July. To enhance mobile access experience, a mobile responsive Android version was also released along with the desktop version. This app will reduce the physical interface between the Assessees and the tax assessing authorities.

5 States, a UT signed on  e-Marketplace
Five States and a Union Territory (UT) on 11th July adopted the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) that aims to ensure that public procurement of goods and services in India worth more than Rs.5 lakh crore annually is carried out through the online platform for transparency and to eliminate corruption. The States and the UT that signed an MoU with the Centre include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Telangana and Arunachal Pradesh. The only UT is Puducherry.

India to become largest milk producer in 2026: OECD
India will be the world’s largest milk producer by 2026 and will account for the biggest increase in wheat production globally, according to a report by the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 said the world’s population will increase from 7.3 to 8.2 billion over the course of the next decade with India and Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 56% of total population growth. Over the course of the outlook period alone, milk production in India will grow 49%; in 2026, India will be the world’s largest milk producer, with an output one-third above that of the second largest producer.

India @ 116 on SDG goals
India is ranked 116 out of 157 nations on a global index that assesses the performance of countries towards achieving the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Sweden leads the list, followed by Denmark and Finland. The SDG Index ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Science and Technology

Massive iceberg breaks away from Antarctica
A massive iceberg weighing more than one trillion tons has broken away from western Antarctica, according to a UK-based research team. Scientists from Project MIDAS had been monitoring a break in the Larsen C ice shelf - the fourth largest in Antarctica following the collapse of the Larsen A ice shelf in 1995 and had observed significant advances in the rift over the past 12 months.

Sports
Victory for Harinder Sandhu
India's Harinder Pal Sandhu has won the South Australian Open squash title, defeating Australia’s Rhys Dowling. The final was held in Adelaide on 8th July 2017.

Srinivas Gokulnath created history in Cycle Race
Srinivas Gokulnath created history by becoming the first Indian to complete the 4,900 km cycle Race Across America, RAAM in solo category. Considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world, he cycled for eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

Mithali Raj created Record
Mithali Raj scored 34 runs, in the match against Australia; with this she created history by becoming the leading run-getter in Women’s ODIs, going past England player Charlotte Edwards’ record of 5992 ODI runs.

Persons in News
John Joseph: He has been appointed as Director General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DG GSTI). The DG GSTI is the new name given to the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), mandated to check service tax and central excise duty evasion.

Ravi Shastri: The BCCI named Ravi Shastri as the new chief coach of the Indian cricket team till ICC World Cup 2019.  

Khaltmaa Battulga: He is elected as the President of the Mongolia. He replaces Tsakhia Elbegdorj.