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Hima Das wins Gold in 400m of World U20 Championships
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has congratulated athlete Hima Das on winning Gold in 400m of World U20 Championships.
- “India is delighted and proud of athlete Hima Das, who won a historic Gold in the 400m of World U20 Championships. Congratulations to her! This accomplishment will certainly inspire young athletes in the coming years”, the Prime Minister said.
Commerce Minister Meets World Bank Team
- Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, met with the World Bank team in New Delhi.
- The team was led by Ms. Caroline Freund, Director of Trade, Regional Integration and Investment Climate and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director for the World Bank in India.
- Aim: Discussions were held to explore ways to strengthen World Bank support towards India’s development with collaboration in specific areas of trade, logistics and investment.
- In the meeting it was agreed that a workshop will be conducted with World Bank and concerned Ministries in order to identify specific interventions required to streamline logistics in the country with an aim to integrate Indian products into Global value chains.
Century’s Longest Total Lunar Eclipse on July 27-28
- A total lunar eclipse will occur on July 27-28, 2018 with a totality duration of 1 hour 43 minutes. The duration makes it the longest total lunar eclipse of this century (2001 AD to 2100 AD).
- On July 27, the red planet Mars, will also be at opposition, meaning that the Sun and Mars will lie opposite to each other, keeping the Earth in the middle. This will result in Mars coming close to the Earth, causing it to appear brighter than normal and it will be seen from evening to dawn towards the end of July.
- Such long duration of total lunar eclipses had earlier occurred on July 16, 2000 for totality duration of 1 hour 46 minutes and another one on June 15, 2011 for totality duration of 1 hour 40 minutes.
- The entire eclipse will also be visible from all parts of India. The eclipse will also be visible in the region covering Australia, Asia, Russia – except the northern part, Africa, Europe, east of South America and Antarctica.
182 School Drops out and Madrasa students have successfully completed the Bridge Course
- Ministry of Minority Affairs, in collaboration with Jamia Millia Islamia University, had started “Bridge Course” to bring Madrasa students and school drop outs into mainstream education system.
- This year, a total of 260 students had been trained under “Bridge Course” out of which 182 students have successfully completed the course and they will be given their certificates tomorrow.
- Minority Affairs Ministry, in collaboration with Jamia Millia Islamia University, has been organising residential training programme for Madrasa teachers. These teachers are providing mainstream education like- Science, Maths, Computer, Hindi, English etc.
ASI issues order to permit photography within the premises of centrally protected monuments/sites
- The Archaeological Survey of India, an organisation under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India decided to allow photography within the premises of all centrally protected monuments/sites (except 3).
- The 3 monuments/sites in which the photography would not be permitted are Ajanta Caves and Leh Palace having paintings, and Mausoleum of Taj Mahal, Agra.
- The above comes in the wake of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi observing in his Speech at the Inaugural Event of ‘Dharohar Bhawan’ in New Delhi that Space Technology in the modern era has developed to such an extent that one can photograph even minute objects from far off distances, and in this background, it is indeed ironical to restrict the tourists/visitors from taking photographs of their experiences at heritage monuments and sites.
Widening of NH-16 between Icchapuram and Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh
- Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will lay the foundation stone for, and inaugurate National Highways and Port Connectivity projects worth Rs 6688 Crores in Andhra Pradesh at an event in Vishakhapatnam.
- These projects will improve connectivity between Chennai and Kolkata, reduce travel time between the two cities and also lower traffic congestion in Vishakhapatnam city.
- The Port Connectivity projects for which Shri Gadkari will lay the foundation stone include 12.7 km long 4-lane connectivity from NH-16 to Vishakhapatnam Port under Bharatmala and 0.85 km Grade Separator from H7 area to port connectivity road bypassing convent junction in Vizag.
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