Today’s current affairs for government job aspirants:
NATIONAL
1. India-UK CETA comes into force today
- The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between India and the UK comes into force on 15 July.
- Under the agreement, 99% of Indian exports will enter the UK tariff-free, benefiting sectors such as textiles, garments, leather, gems and jewellery, marine products, and engineering goods.
- The pact aims to boost trade, investment, services and economic cooperation.
- It will also lower India’s average tariff on UK imports from 15% to 3%, while 85% of UK goods will become completely tariff-free within 10 years.
- Import duties on products such as Scotch whisky, gin, chocolates, biscuits and cosmetics will also be reduced.
- The agreement is expected to improve global market access for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
- India and the UK began FTA talks in 2022 and completed 14 rounds of negotiations over three years.
- Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds signed the agreement on 24 July 2025 in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Keir Starmer.
- The agreement aims to double bilateral trade to about ₹8.6 lakh crore by 2030.
SPORTS
2. Manav Thakkar-Manush Shah rise to World No. 2
- On 14 July, Indian men’s doubles pair Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah climbed to World No. 2 in the ITTF men’s doubles rankings, the highest-ever ranking achieved by an Indian men’s pair.
- The duo has 3,390 ranking points, behind China’s Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng, who lead with 5,160 points.
- They moved up from World No. 3 after a series of strong performances, including reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 Singapore Smash and the quarter-finals of the 2025 China Smash and 2025 Europe Smash.
ITTF rankings are issued by the International Table Tennis Federation.
DEATH
3. Former Karnataka Minister Ramachandra Gowda dies aged 88
- Former Karnataka Minister and senior BJP leader Ramachandra Gowda died on 14 July at the age of 88.
- Known as the ‘Bhishma of the BJP’, he began his political journey with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
- He played a key role in strengthening the BJP in Karnataka during the 1980s and served as the party’s Karnataka General Secretary for several years.
- Gowda was a Cabinet Minister in the Karnataka government and served as Medical Education Minister from 2008 to 2010.
- He was Vice-Chairman of the Karnataka State Planning Board from 2010 to 2012.
Ramchandra retired from politics in 2017.
INTERNATIONAL
4. 3,000-year-old tomb discovered in Egypt
- On 13 July, archaeologists in Egypt discovered a 3,000-year-old tomb dating to the New Kingdom period (c.1550 BC-1069 BC).
- According to Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), inscriptions identify the tomb’s owner as ‘Paser’, believed to have been a royal official.
- The rock-cut tomb features an open courtyard, an inverted T-shaped prayer hall, underground burial chambers, a mud-brick ritual platform, and well-preserved entrance steps.
- Archaeologists are examining the tomb to learn more about Paser’s role and the religious and cultural traditions of the time.
- Egypt hopes the discovery will boost interest in its archaeological heritage and tourism.
According to experts, this matches the traditional style of private palaces of high-ranking officials of that era.
5. Ukraine, nine European nations form defence alliance
- On 13 July, Ukraine and nine European countries agreed to form a new defence alliance to counter Russia’s ballistic missile threat.
- The decision was taken at a meeting in Paris attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders from France, Germany, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
- The alliance aims to build a shared European ballistic missile defence system, establish a missile warning network, share intelligence and strengthen joint military exercises and defence cooperation.
- Ukraine’s experience from more than four years of war with Russia will also contribute to the initiative.
In the future, other European countries will also join this alliance.
MISCELLANEOUS
6. Mascot unveiled for 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships
- On 14 July, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta unveiled the official mascot for the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships.
- Named ‘Mayur’, the mascot is inspired by the peacock, India’s national bird.
- Delhi Minister Ashish Sood and officials of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) were also present.
- The championships will be held in New Delhi from 27 July to 2 August and will be jointly organised by the Delhi Government and the TTFI.
- More than 25 Commonwealth nations are expected to participate.
Top players from more than 25 countries will participate in this game.
Today in History
- In 1916, Boeing, which is the world’s largest aerospace company, was started on this very day.
- In 1926, the first motorbus service was started in Bombay (now Mumbai).
- In 2011, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched GSAT-12A from Sriharikota through PSLV C-17.
