Djokovic Longest Wimbledon Match & RBIs 32000 Cr Auction

1. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Kuwait during his visit to countries

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has embarked on an official visit to 6 countries from July 5 to July 15.

NATIONAL

2. Approval for import of medicines from Navi Mumbai International Airport

• On July 8, the Central Government approved the import of drugs through Navi Mumbai International Airport.
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has granted this approval by issuing a notification.
• Rule 43A of the Drugs Rules, 1945 has been amended for the import of drugs through the airport.
• Following this decision, the number of approved ports/airports for drug imports in India has reached 42.
• The objective of this decision is to strengthen the pharmaceutical supply chain and improve logistics.
• The approval of Navi Mumbai International Airport is significant for promoting business and ensuring fast and smooth availability of drugs.
• This step by the government will also reduce the transportation costs for pharma companies.
• Special customs and health offices will also be established at the airport for quality inspection of medicines.
• Navi Mumbai International Airport was inaugurated on 5th July 2026 itself.
• After its domestic flights, international passenger services will commence from 15th July 2026.

Navi Mumbai International Airport is one of India’s largest greenfield airport projects.

Sports

3. Tennis player Novak Djokovic played the longest match at Wimbledon

• On 8 July, Novak Djokovic became the player to win the longest men’s singles quarter-final in Wimbledon history.
• Djokovic defeated Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who is 14 years younger than him, in 5 hours and 15 minutes on the Centre Court of the All England Club.
• Previously, the quarter-final between Rainer Schuttler and Arnaud Clement in 2008 had lasted 5 hours and 12 minutes.
• With this, Djokovic has also become the player to play the most 5-set Grand Slam matches in the Open Era.
• By playing his 50th 5-set singles match in his Grand Slam career, Djokovic also broke the record of Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka (49 times).
• Djokovic also became the third player in the Open Era to play 15 men’s singles semifinals at a single Grand Slam.
• Roger Federer achieved this feat at the Australian Open and Rafael Nadal at the French Open.

Open Era

• The Open Era in tennis refers to the historic period that began in 1968 and continues to this day.
• Since the beginning of the Open Era, both professional and amateur, that is, non-professional players have been allowed to compete together in all major Grand Slam tournaments.
• Until 1968, amateur players competed in Grand Slams (Wimbledon, French Open, etc.), where they did not receive prize money.
• Whereas professional players played for money in separate exhibition tours and were prohibited from playing in Grand Slams.

Novak also became the third player to play 15 men’s singles semifinals in Grand Slams.

National

4. RBI will sell government securities worth 32 thousand crores to raise funds

• On 8 July, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will auction government securities worth Rs 32,000 crore to raise funds for the Government of India.
• This auction will be conducted on July 10 and their settlement will be on July 13.
• It should be noted that the government issues government securities and treasury bills for its borrowing.
• The RBI conducts their auction as the government’s banker and debt manager.
• According to the RBI, the auction will be conducted from the Mumbai office using the ‘Multiple Price Method’.
• Both competitive and non-competitive bids will be submitted electronically on July 10 through RBI’s e-Kuber platform.
• Personal investors can participate in this through RBI’s Retail Direct portal.
• This auction is part of the government’s market borrowing program to meet its expenses by issuing sovereign debt instruments.

Miscellaneous

5. All states will have the same khaki police uniform

• On July 8, a uniform khaki dress was decided for police across the country under One Nation One Uniform.
• This decision on khaki uniform was made after the process of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D).
• After this decision, police uniforms in all states will be of khaki color and the same design.
• The idea of One Nation One Uniform was presented by PM Narendra Modi on October 28, 2022.
• Its objective is to establish a uniform identity for police across the country.
• Currently, the color, design and badge of police uniforms in every state of India are different.
• According to BPR&D, instead of keeping various shades that come under khaki, a specific color and design will be fixed for it.
• This will ensure that all types of police personnel will be seen in khaki uniforms of the same color and design.
• This rule will be for all states but this proposal will not be imposed on the states, rather it will be implemented on the basis of consensus.
• In India, ‘Police’ is part of the State List, therefore the final decision will be taken only with the consent of the states.
• Along with this, the police uniform in Kolkata used to be white. Changes are being made there as well.
• In 1847, British Indian Army officer Sir Harry Burnett Lumsden first introduced the official khaki-colored uniform in the then Punjab region (present-day Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan).
• After the 1857 rebellion, the British government reorganized the police system throughout India.
• The Police Act was implemented in 1861. It was after this Act that organized police forces were established in most provinces of India.
• After the Police Act, the khaki uniform was widely adopted as the standard identification for police.

5. CM Yogi launched cashless health facility

• On July 8, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the Chief Minister Teacher Cashless Medical Scheme from Varanasi.
• Through this scheme, eligible teachers and their families will be provided cashless treatment up to 5 lakh rupees at Ayushman Bharat affiliated hospitals across the country.
• Employees of the Basic Education Department and Secondary Education Department will benefit from this.
• Through this scheme, the government’s objective is to provide better health security to teachers and reduce the financial burden of treating serious illnesses.
• Chief Minister Teacher Cashless Medical Cards will be issued to beneficiaries, through which treatment can be availed at empaneled hospitals.
• In the same program, the Chief Minister also released an assistance amount of 1,200 rupees per student through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for approximately 1.1 crore students of council schools in the state, so that they can purchase uniforms, shoes, bags and other educational materials.
• In the future, teachers and employees of the Higher Education Department will also be connected to this.
• It is expected that the financial burden of expensive treatment will be reduced to a great extent.
• The Basic Education Department has prepared a portal to collect online data of teachers.
• So far, 7,89,032 beneficiaries have registered their details on this.
• India’s first national cashless health facility (PM-JAY) started on 23 September 2018.

Today in History

• The Bombay Stock Exchange was established in 1875.
• Hindi cinema actor and excellent director Guru Dutt was born in 1925.
• The country’s first Five-Year Plan was published in 1951.