1 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar unveils first postage stamp on Ram Lalla in Vientiane
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar unveiled the first postage stamp on Ram Lalla of Ayodhya during his three-day visit to Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, from 25 to 27 July 2024. He was in Vientiane to attend ASEAN-related Foreign Minister’s events. Dr Jaishankar left for Tokyo to attend the Quad Foreign Ministers ’ meeting. During his visit to Vientiane, S Jaishankar and Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Selumxay Kommasith jointly unveiled two sets of postage stamps. The theme of the stamps was “ Celebrating the shared cultural heritage of Lao PDR and India. ” One stamp depicted the idol of Ram Lalla from Ayodhya , and the other stamp commemorated Lord Buddha of Luang Prabang . Luang Prabang is the ancient capital of Lao .
2 Digital India Initiative: National e-Governance Division partners with IIM-Bengaluru for Digital Government Senior Leaders Programme
In line with the vision of Digital India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is pushing a unified and standardized approach to digital governance through the Capacity Building Scheme of the National e-Governance Division (NeGD). A key initiative under this mission is the Digital Government Senior Leaders Programme (DGSLP) which aims to empower senior government officials with the knowledge required to lead digital transformation in the public sector. The latest edition of this programme, a 6-day intensive workshop, is being organised in collaboration with Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-Bangalore) from July 29 to August 3, 2024. Officials from both central line ministries and state departments are participating in this workshop.
3 CWC wins the GEEF Global WaterTech Award under the ‘Water Department of the Year’ category at the Global Water Tech Summit – 2024
The Central Water Commission (CWC) has been awarded the GEEF Global WaterTech Award under the ‘ Water Department of the Year ’ category at the prestigious Global Water Tech Summit-2024 organised by the Global Energy and Environment Foundation (GEEF) in New Delhi . The Global Awards recognise the most significant achievements in the water sector across multiple categories, and honour and reward initiatives related to innovation, technology, conservation and sustainable development in the water, sewerage and desalination sectors. The Global Energy and Environment Foundation acknowledged the important role of the Central Water Commission (CWC) in hydro-meteorological data collection, flood forecasting, reservoir storage monitoring, water quality monitoring, coastal zone management, appraisal and monitoring of water resources projects, and resolution of inter-state water issues.
4 Department of Atomic Energy inaugurates ‘One DAE One Membership’
The inaugural ceremony of ‘ One DAE One Subscription ‘ (ODOS) was held at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai . ODOS is a unique idea that enables Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and all its units/sub units (around 60) to read and publish national and international research papers as well as scientific journals under one roof . With this initiative it is now possible to digitally share and collectively develop resources. DAE has signed consortium agreements with M/s Wiley India Pvt Ltd and M/s Springer Nature Group for further expansion. The first ODOS agreement with M/s Wiley India Pvt Ltd will provide access to the entire DAE community to a collection of 1353 Wiley journals including archives from 1997. This access is comparable to the present access provided to only 12 DAE units to 166 unique journals without any price increase. Perpetual rights will be given to all DAE units for all journals for the year 2024. DAE will also get the right to publish more articles in ‘Open Access’ journals. The agreement covers ‘Article Processing Charges (APC)’. The second ODOS agreement with M/s Springer Nature Group will provide access to around 2,686 Springer Nature titles, including 553 journals, in fully Open Access (FOA).
5 Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur becomes the director of IFFI festival
Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, known for films such as “ Mr India ”, “ Bandit Queen ” and “ Elizabeth ” , has been appointed as the Festival Director for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) . Mr Kapur will head the 55th and 56th editions of the festival, held every year in Goa , the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said in a notification .
6 Indian delegations achieved remarkable success at the 54th International Physics Olympiad 2024 held in Isfahan
The Indian delegation has achieved remarkable success at the 54th International Physics Olympiad 2024 held from July 21 to July 29 in Isfahan , Iran . All five Indian participants won medals, including 2 gold and 3 silver medals . Rhythm Kedia of Chhattisgarh and Ved Lahoti of Madhya Pradesh won gold medals, while Akarsh Raj Sahay of Maharashtra, Bhavya Tiwari of Uttar Pradesh and Jaiveer Singh of Rajasthan were awarded silver medals . A total of 193 students from 43 countries participated in the competition.
7 Nicolas Maduro wins Venezuela’s presidential election again
Nicolas Maduro has once again won the presidential election in Venezuela and will rule the country until 2031. This will be his third term as the President of Venezuela. This information was given after the counting of votes was completed at 80 percent of the polling stations. Maduro has received 51 lakh fifty thousand 92 valid votes.
8 World Education Conference 2024: Tech Leaders Forum of India launched
The Tech Leaders Forum of India-Telfi was officially launched at the World Education Summit 2024 organised by the Federation of Economic Development Associations at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai . This is a new initiative aimed at empowering engineers. It aims to provide engineers with the resources, knowledge and networks necessary to excel and advance technological progress in India and internationally. Dr. E. Syed Mohammed, Chairman of Telfi in India, said that Telfi has an important contribution in encouraging India’s engineering talent.
9 Yashasvi Jaiswal became the first player to reach the 1,000-run mark in international cricket this year
Indian batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal became the first player to touch the 1,000-run mark in international cricket this calendar year. Jaiswal achieved the feat during the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Pallekele . Chasing a target of 78 in 8 overs in a rain-affected match, Jaiswal smashed a quickfire 30 off just 15 balls with three fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 200.00. In just 13 matches this year, Jaiswal has scored 1,023 runs at an average of 63.93 and a strike rate of 94.54, including two centuries and five fifties. His best score is 214*. Notably, all these runs have come from his performances in Tests and T20Is as he is yet to make his ODI debut. At number two is Sri Lankan player Kusal Mendis (888 runs in 26 matches, with six half-centuries) and at number three is Afghanistan’s Ibrahim Zadran (844 runs in 25 matches, with one century and eight half-centuries).
10 Cricket was included in Olympics
Former India head coach Rahul Dravid has lauded the inclusion of cricket in the sports programme of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, calling it truly unprecedented. Not just that, he called it a big moment for India and cricket. Dravid was part of a special panel discussion organised by Dream Sports titled ‘ Cricket at the Olympics – The dawn of a new era ‘, which was held at India House for the first time at the ongoing Paris Olympics. Nita Ambani recently inaugurated the India House in Paris a day after the Paris Olympics began.
11 International Tiger Day
International Tiger Day is a day dedicated to promoting a global system to protect the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues. International Tiger Day is celebrated every year on July 29 to highlight the importance of tiger conservation. The celebration of this day was announced on July 29, 2010 in St. Petersburg , with the aim of uniting all tiger range countries in a concerted effort to enhance tiger conservation and management worldwide. If we talk about the efforts and initiatives being taken for the conservation of tigers in our country, you will be very happy to know that India is now home to more than 70 percent of the world’s wild tigers. According to the 5th cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2022 Summary Report released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the commemorative event of Project Tiger, India has a minimum of 3167 tigers and is now home to more than 70 percent of the world’s wild tigers. Tiger reserves were established in India by Project Tiger in the year 1973. They are managed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.