1) Cabinet Approves Revamped Khelo India Program
•The Union Cabinet has approved the revamped Khelo India program at a cost of Rs.1,756 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20. This marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the Programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development, economic development and national development.
•Important features of the Program include:
1.An unprecedented Pan Indian Sports Scholarship scheme, which would cover 1,000 most talented young athletes.
2.Each athlete selected under the scheme shall receive an annual scholarship worth Rs. 5.00 lakh for 8 consecutive years.
3.This is the first time ever that a long-term athlete development pathway would be made available to gifted and talented youngsters to excel in competitive sports.
4.The Program aims to promote 20 universities across the country as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sportspersons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports.
5.The Programme would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive.
2) World’s Fastest Commercial Bullet Train in China
•China restored the maximum speed of bullet trains on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line to 350 kilometres per hour, making it the fastest commercially run train, six years after it reduced the speed due to a fatal accident.
•The speed was reduced to 300 kilometres per hour following the deadly accident in July 2011 that killed 40 people.
3) 50 Nations Ink UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
•Fifty countries have signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, a pact that the world’s nuclear powers spurned but supporters hailed as a historic agreement nonetheless.
•More than 120 countries approved the new nuclear weapons ban treaty in July 2017 over opposition from nuclear-armed countries and their allies, who boycotted negotiations. Among 50, Brazil was the first country to sign onto the ban yesterday, followed by nations from Algeria to Venezuela.
4) B Sambamurthy Appointed as NPCI Interim Chairman
•National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has appointed B Sambamurthy as interim Chairman of the board. He will replace M Balachandran, who was Non-Executive Chairman of NPCI.
•Sambamurthy was formerly Director and CEO of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) and Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank prior to that.
5) World Trade to Grow at Higher 3.6% in 2017: WTO
•World trade in goods is estimated to grow at a higher 3.6 percent in 2017 compared to 1.6 percent increase in 2016, according to revised estimates circulated by the World Trade Organisation.
•Growth in global trade was earlier projected at 2.4 percent in 2017 by the WTO, which attributed the improved outlook to a resurgence of Asian trade flows. This was mainly due to intra-regional shipments picking up and a recovery in import demand in North America.
6) Official Slogan and Emblem of FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 launched
•The official emblem and slogan for FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 were unveiled in Paris, France. The emblem features the competition trophy wrapped in blue and white, with eight shards of light around football at the top of the trophy symbolizing the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
•The slogan of the tournament "Dare To Shine" reflects the development of football, especially women's football. FIFA President Gianni Infantino and French Football Federation (FFF) President Noel le Graet attended the unveiling event.
