2014 CURRENT AFFAIRS-JULY

July 2014

1 July 2014 : The German Social Democrat Martin Schulz is reelected President of the European Parliament for another two and a half years.

2 July 2014 : African country Republic of Togo has taken a formal decision on the recognition of independent and sovereign state of Kosovo. Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia was enacted on 17 February 2008. Currently 107 countries recognise. India has consistently refused to recognise the independence of Kosovo.

6 July 2014 : Wimbledon Championships 2014 took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, from 23 June to 6 July 2014.

8 July 2014 : Germany won 7-1 against Brazil to go through to the final in the biggest margin of victory in the FIFA World Cup's semifinal history.

8 July 2014 : The United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration rules in favour of Bangladesh in a border dispute with India over the Bay of Bengal.

8 July 2014 : Presenting his maiden Rail Budget in Lok Sabha on July 8, 2014, Union Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda announced 58 new trains including 5 new Jansadharans, 5 premium trains, 6 AC express, 27 express trains, 8 passenger trains, 2 MEMU trains and 5 DEMUs. He further announced extension of 11 trains' route. Stating that bullet trains are a priority, the Railway Minister proposed the first bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmadabad route. Railways will also launch high-speed trains to connect major cities, he said.

13 July 2014 : Germany are the 2014 FIFA World Cup champions, lifting the Trophy for the fourth time in their history after overcoming Argentina 1-0 courtesy of an extra-time goal by Mario Gotze at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

14 July 2014 : On July 14, 2014 ruling was the first by the WTO panel in the steel case, and Washington has the right to appeal. The United States broke global trade rules by slapping import duties on Indian steel products, a WTO panel ruled on Monday, calling on Washington to fall into line. A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel, said that Washington had "acted inconsistently" with regulations set down for the international body's 160 member economies. "We conclude that the United States has nullified or impaired benefits accruing to India," said the panel, which is made up of independent trade and legal experts. "We recommend the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations," panel added.

India filed its complaint at the WTO in 2012, after Washington imposed duties of nearly 300 per cent on imports of products including steel pipes. The United States applied the duties because it felt Indian steel manufacturers were benefitting from unfair subsidies.

WTO members are allowed to impose so-called countervailing duties -- a special import tax -- if they believe that their domestic manufacturers are being hurt by subsidies granted by a trade partner to its companies.

The WTO regulations require the importing country to first conduct a detailed investigation that shows properly that domestic industry is hurt.

Legal sparring over the scope and depth of such investigations, and the legitimacy of subsidies and countervailing duties is commonplace at the WTO. The WTO polices global trade accords in an effort to offer its member economies a level playing field. Its panels can authorise retaliatory trade measures by the wronged party if its rival fails to fall into line. It disputes process can last for years however, owing to appeals, counter-appeals and compliance assessments.

15 July 2014 : Environmentalist and social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt has been awarded the prestigious Gandhi Peace prize for 2013. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the award to him at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 15, 2014. The annual award was instituted by the government in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It carries a plaque, citation and a cash prize of one crore rupees.

17 July 2014 : 6th BRICS summit will be the sixth annual diplomatic meeting of the BRICS, a grouping of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It will be hosted by Brazil, as the first host country of the current five-year summit cycle, the host city Fortaleza Brazil from 15–17 July 2014.

23 July-3 August 2014 :  2014 Commonwealth Games (officially the XX Commonwealth Games) will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014. There will be 71 participating nations at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with approximately 4,900 competing athletes making it one of the largest commonwealth games staged to date. On 7 October 2013, The Gambia, having withdrawn from the Commonwealth five days earlier, confirmed that it would not be taking part in the games.

24 July 2014 : The 2014 Human Development Report was released in Tokyo in Japan on July 24. Its general theme is “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerability and Building Resilience” in line with the World Development Report 2014 (WDR 2014) of the World Bank group, which has been doing the WDR since 1978. The theme for WDR 2014 is “Risk and Opportunity: Managing Risk for Opportunity.