1. European Union approves 7.16 billion euro loan to Greece
(i) 28 member states of the European Union (EU) have agreed to lend an emergency loan to Greece to help the country prevent an immediate default.
(ii) The short-term loan of 7.16 billion euros will come from European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), an emergency funding programme, which relies on funds raised on the markets and guaranteed by the European Commission using the budget of the EU as collateral.
2. India and Canada agree to co-operate in civil aviation
(i) The Union Cabinet approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Canada in the field of civil aviation on July 16th, 2015.
(ii) Some of the important features of the MoU are:
* A platform will be formalised for exchange of views to foster economic cooperation and sharing of technical experience between the two countries in the field of civil aviation.
* Cooperation programme for safety of aircraft operations and related issues will be developed. This will provide the Directorate General of Civil Aviation with up-to-date knowledge about best international practices and latest International Civil Aviation Organisation’s safety oversight programme requirements.
* Indian firms would also benefit from the technical know-how of Canadian companies. In turn, Canadian firms could gain from access to India’s fast developing civil aviation industry.
3. DoT releases Net Neutrality report
(i) On July 18, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), released the Net neutrality report. The panel led by AK Bhargava has recommended core principles to be adhered to by the concerned entities.
(ii) The committee stated that ‘over-the-top services’ such as WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, YouTube, etc should be actively encouraged. Citing Facebook’s Internet.org, the committee said that content and application providers (like Facebook) cannot be permitted to act as gatekeepers, “even if it is for a public purpose”.
(iii) Net neutrality advocates equal treatment of all Internet traffic without prioritising a company or entity based on payment for content or service providers such as telecom companies.
4. Central Bank of Sri Lanka, RBI ink Currency Swap Agreement
(i) RBI has signed a Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which would allow the latter to draw up to $1.1 billion.
(ii) The amount can be drawn for a maximum period of six months. This step is in addition to the existing Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for the SAARC member countries.
(iii) In March 2015, the RBI had signed a Currency Swap Agreement with the same bank for $400 million under the existing SAARC Currency Swap Framework within the overall limit of $2 billion.
5. Neeraj Kumar appointed as security advisor for 2016 World T20
(i) Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Advisor of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) of BCCI for the Twenty20 World Cup to be hosted in 2016 in India.
(ii) During the IPL matches Kumar had served in the BCCI’s anti- corruption unit for a year.
6. FlipKart appointed Eric Lange as the VP of Product Management
(i) FlipKart, India’s largest e-commerce firm has hired former Yahoo Inc. executive Eric Lange as the vice-president of product management for its customer experience division.
(ii) Lange has previously worked in Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. He was also the founder and CEO of ‘Flicket.tv’ – a video content provider.
7. India retains 2nd position in ICC ODI
(i) The Indian Cricket team managed to retain the second spot in the ODI ranking list after finishing as semifinalist in the recently-concluded ICC Cricket World Cup.
(ii) With 116 points, India stands six points behind world champion Australia, which has 122 rating points to its credit. India is followed by South Africa (112), Sri Lanka (108), New Zealand (107), England (101), Pakistan (95).
8. F1 driver Jules Bianchi passes away
(i) Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi, after battling for nine months, succumbed to severe head injuries that he suffered in the car crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.
(ii) The 25-year-old French motorsport star was hospitalised following the car accident in October.
(iii) Jules Bianchi played for Marussia, which now is known as Manor F1.
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