The US Embassy in India has announced an important update for students. The embassy said that the interview slots are now open for students having I-20 who need to apply for visa categories F, M and J at the Embassy and Consulates for interviews taking place after August 14.

The Embassy said if anyone need to arrive at school by mid-August they should book an appointment now. The US had opened the first tranche of interview slots, for dates in June and the first half of July 2022 in May. Many students who were planning to attend US universities and who had already received their student I-20 documents from US universities were waiting for their interviews.
The Ministry of External Affairs held discussions with foreign countries including Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, the UK and the USA to streamline the visa appointments for Indian students.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of nine National Highway Projects in Rajasthan costing 1,357 crore rupees. Addressing the event virtually, Mr Gadkari said that 11 hundred crore rupees have been sanctioned for the repair of Delhi-Jaipur-Kishangarh highway. This will remove the shortcomings of this highway. 

The Minister said, an allocation of nine hundred crores in CRIF for Rajasthan and 700 crore rupees for Setu Bandhan Scheme has been approved by the Central Government. He said that projects would also be run to repair the roads in the marginal districts of the state like Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer. 

Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar has inaugurated the newly set up incubation facility at Nirma University in Ahmedabad today. Speaking on this occasion, he said that this new incubation facility of Nirma University will boost the startup ecosystem. He said that India has shown its capabilities to the world in recent years. He said that we have been on the backfoot since the last 65 years, but now we are on the front foot and building our economy through empowering the youth. He also felicitates & honours the Rising Change makers and Startups at Nirma University. Mr. Chandrasekhar is scheduled to visit Mehsana, Anand and Vadodara and interact with students and start-ups during his two day visit to Gujarat. This visit is a follow up to the earlier visit to Ahmedabad last month, where he interacted with over 100 Startups and 1000 students

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Munich yesterday on a two-day visit to Germany during which he will attend the G7 summit. Mr Modi is expected to particpate in two sessions today that will focus on issues concerning environment, energy, climate, food security, counter-terrorism, health, gender equality and democracy. 

The 47th meeting of the GST Council will be convened from tomorrow in Chandigarh. The meeting will be chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The two-day meeting of the GST Council will be attended by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Ministers of States and Union Territories and Senior officers from Union Government and States.

Last GST Council’s meeting which was held in New Delhi had recommended to defer the decision to change the rates on textiles. The GST council had decided to retain the status quo on GST rate on textile to five per cent.

The dates for the conduct of the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) 2022 have been announced. The UGC NET December 2021 and June 2022 Exam dates have been merged this year. The UGC NET 2022 Exam will begins on July 8 and conclude on August 14. In a tweet, UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said, the detailed notice regarding dates will be announced on
nta.nic.in
, the official website of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandavia said the Centre will roll out the “One Nation, One Dialysis” programme to help patients undergoing dialysis get the procedure done anywhere in the country at any time. Dr Mansukh Mandaviya participated in the cycle rally organised by the National Health Mission on the iconic Marina Beach this morning. Later, he inspected the Tamil Nadu Government Multi-Super Specialty Hospital in the city.

He inspected the robotic surgery facility and the early pregnancy anomalies screening centre in the hospital. He also laid the foundation stone for the Central Government Health Scheme wellness centre at Avadi, a Chennai suburb, through video conferencing.

Retired IAS officer and former Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of Niti Aayog. Mr Iyer will succeed Amitabh Kant who is completing tenure on 30th of this month.

Indian Railways has taken steps to bring Commercial Earning and Non-Fare Revenue contracts under the ambit of electronic auction through Indian Railway e-Procurement System IREPS, in line with prevailing e-auction of scrap sale. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today launched e-auction for Commercial earning, Non-Fare Revenue NFR contracts in New Delhi today. This will not only increase Railways earning but also bolster efforts being taken by the Government for ease of doing business.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vaishnaw said, this policy is in line with the vision of the Prime Minister to change the experience of common man by the use of technology. He said, with this new policy, tedious process of tendering would get simplified. The Minister said, it will also give opportunities for youth to join the e-auction process. He said, this policy enhances ease of living, promotes transparency and adds to Digital India initiatives in Railways.

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has approved the Draft GSR Notification to introduce Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), wherein automobiles in India shall be accorded Star Ratings based upon their performance in Crash Tests.

In a series of tweets, Mr Gadkari, said Bharat-NCAP will serve as a consumer-centric platform allowing customers to opt for safer cars based upon their star-ratings, while promoting a healthy competition among OEMs in India to manufacture safer vehicles.

The Minister said Star Rating of Indian Cars based on Crash Tests is extremely crucial not only to ensure structural and passenger safety in cars, but to also increase the export-worthiness of Indian automobiles. He said, the testing protocol of Bharat NCAP shall be aligned with Global Crash Test Protocols factoring in the existing Indian regulations, allowing OEMs to get their vehicles tested at India’s own  in-house testing facilities.