1) World Youth Skills Day 2022 celebrates globally
•World Youth Skills Day 2022 is observed annually on July 15. It focuses on the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. This day is to equip young people around the world with essential skills for employment, work, and entrepreneurship. This day is meant to commemorate, acknowledge and celebrate the importance of equipping young people with skills for employment and entrepreneurship.
World Youth Skills Day 2022: Theme
•Every year, World Youth Skills Day is marked with a certain theme set by the United Nations. The theme for 2022 is ‘Transforming youth skills for the future’.
2) Maharashtra Gov presents Mother Teresa Memorial Award to Dia Mirza & Afroz Shah
•The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) National Goodwill Ambassador Ms Dia Mirza, and Environmental Activist Mr Afroz Shah were felicitated with the prestigious Mother Teresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice 2021. The award is given by the Governor of Maharashtra Hon. Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. Both were awarded for their commendable and notable achievements in Environmental Sustainability.
3) India’s first Monkeypox case reported in Kerala
•The first case of monkeypox was confirmed in India after a person who had returned to Kerala from UAE developed symptoms of the disease. His samples were sent to National Virology Institute in Pune which confirmed the disease. It was first found in monkeys in 1958.
•According to the WHO, monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe. It is usually a self-limited disease with symptoms lasting two to four weeks.
4) Center extends State and Central Tax and Levies Rebate Program
•The government has approved the continuation of the Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) with the same rates as announced by the Ministry of Textiles for exports of apparel/garments and made-ups until March 31, 2024 in an effort to increase exports and create jobs in the textile industry. RoSCTL is a growth-oriented, forward-looking programme that has helped increase exports and jobs by establishing a stable and predictable policy environment.
•The programme enhanced cost effectiveness and export competitiveness on the global market. Additionally, it has aided in the development of startups and entrepreneurs in the industry and encouraged a significant number of MSMEs to enter the garment export market. The RoSL (Rebate of State Levies) scheme was superseded by the new RoSCTL (Rebate of State and Central Taxes Levies) plan in March 2019 following the implementation of GST in 2017.
5) SpaceX: Cargo Dragon supply mission to the ISS launched
•A hydrazine leak on a SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft caused the launch of the spacecraft to be delayed by more than a month. The spacecraft is now on its way to the International Space Station. Seven and a half minutes after takeoff, the Falcon 9 first stage landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. The stage successfully launched the Turksat 5B communications satellite, as well as NASA’s Crew-3, Crew-4, and CRS-22 missions. This was the stage’s fifth flight overall. SpaceX has conducted 30 launches so far this year compared to 31 over the entirety of 2021.
6) Google Parent Alphabet appoints Goldman Sachs Veteran, Marty Chavez to Board
•Wall Street veteran Marty Chavez is joining the board of Google parent Alphabet Inc., adding significant finance muscle to the technology giant. His appointment marks the first change to the Alphabet board since 2020 when former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt departed.
•Chavez, a vice chairman and partner with Sixth Street Partners, has worked as an investor and software executive but is best known for his 20-year tenure at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chavez, 58, originally joined Goldman Sachs in the J. Aron trading unit. He then held various other roles at the firm, including chief financial officer, chief information officer, and head of its trading division, the bank’s largest unit.
7) To encourage agricultural trade, Narendra Tomar Launches e-NAM Platform
•On the eve of the State Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers’ Conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, unveiled the Platform of Platforms (POP) under the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). A total of 1,018 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) received equity grants totaling more than Rs 37 crore, which will help 3.5 lakh farmers.
8) British Parliament felicitated BCCI President Sourav Ganguly
•Former India captain and current BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly was felicitated by the British Parliament. The Indian cricket legend was felicitated on the same date July 13 when he led India to Natwest final win in 2002 and exactly 20 years later on the same day he was honoured in the same city. He was elected as the President of BCCI in 2019.
