2.       June 29 - The National Statistics Day is celebrated every year in India to create public awareness about the importance of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. The 2018 theme is “Quality Assurance in Official Statistics”. The day also acknowledges notable contribution of Late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in fields of statistics, statistical system and economic planning.

3.       June 29 - The International Day of Tropics is observed every year  across the world with an aim to raise awareness to specific challenges faced by tropical areas and the far-reaching implications of issues affecting world’s tropical zone.

1.       A five separate Statement of Intent (SoIs) has signed by  NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurs Platform (WEP) with Financial Institutions & Social Organisations namely Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank Limited, Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited, SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited, Sreemanta Sankar Mission and the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) to create opportunities and support women entrepreneurs. WEP was launched by NITI Aayog on the occasion of International Women’s day (March 8, 2018).

2.       The State Government of Haryana  has inked agreement  with World Union of Wholesale Markets(WUWM) to host 2018 World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) Conference at Gurugram in 10-13 October 2018 organized by Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board. The main aim of the conference is to provide common unified structure of mandis all across the world and take advantages of the improvements in the mandis in the world for India’s domestic requirements.

3.       To launch Cotton Mission to empower cotton farmers in the state, Maharashtra Government has signed MoU with India’s largest commodities exchange platform, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX). Under this mission,  MCX will partner with state agriculture department and other agencies to work closely with Farmer Producer Organisations and help them connect to its organised market network for building their capabilities.

4.       The Indian Railways has eliminated all unmanned level crossings (UMLC) from its four zones viz. West Central Railway, Central Railway, Eastern Railway nd South East Central Railway. These four zones aggregating 11,545 route kilometers have now become UMLC free on broad gauge route. So far, all UMLCs on routes having speed more than 100 kmph and on suburban routes have been eliminated, except 13 such crossings in South Central Railway which will be completed by July 2018.

5.       The foundation stone for National Centre for Ageing at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Centre will provide state of art clinical care to elderly population and shall play key role in guiding research in field of geriatric medicine and related specialties. The Centre will be developed at cost of Rs. 330 crores and shall be completed by February 2020. It will provide multi-specialty health care and will have 200 general ward beds, which will include 20 medical ICU beds.

6.       For the first time, the three phase energy efficient eight car Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train set built with stainless steel bodies has rolled out by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF)  in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. MEMU is suburban train system that caters to needs of medium distance inter-city passengers. It runs on self-propelled 25 kv AC Overhead Traction, supported by Regenerative braking system. It saves energy consumption up to 35% as compared to conventional EMU and MEMU trains. Its maximum speed is 110kmph.

7.       A MoU was signed with Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES) by Odisha Government  to enhance effective management of all kinds of disasters like flood, drought, heat wave, lightning and road accidents in the state. Initially, the MoU will be in force for 5 years with cost involvement of about Rs. 8 crore. Under it, efforts will be made to create open-source software platforms and public domain data sets using weather and climate information, sourced from the India Meteorological Department (IMD.

8.       A Statement of Intent (SOI) with Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GNFC) has signed by NITI Aayog to work together for implementing Proof-of-Concept (PoC) application for fertilizer subsidy management using Blockchain Technology. PoC’s learnings, insights and outcomes will enable NITI Aayog to suggest policy recommendations and actions in strengthening subsidy mechanism, making it more transparent and immune to leakages.

9.       Ayush Ministry is in the process of introducing Ayurvedic medicine as a subject for Sanskrit students. This subject will help in identifying the medicines and ayurvedic practices from the Sanskrit scriptures that are un explored.Students who have completed Plus Two in Sanskrit will be introduced to Ayurveda as a subject. 

2.       The US State Department categorised North Korea as the "worst human trafficking country" for the 16th straight year in its annual '2018 Trafficking in Persons Report'. North Korea has been named in the lowest ranked Tier 3 category along with China, Russia and Iran. However, South Korea has been ranked at the highest category in the list of Tier 1 countries for the 16th consecutive year along with the US, UK, France and Canada.