Hockey legend PR Sreejesh has been named a joint flag-bearer alongside shooter Manu Bhaker at the Paris 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony, scheduled for August 11.
While Manu Bhaker was named as flag-bearer earlier the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced PR Sreejesh’s addition after the Indian men’s hockey team bagged their second-straight Olympic bronze medal.
The 36-year-old PR Sreejesh, who represented India at four editions of the Summer Games, retired from the sport following the bronze medal win in Paris. Manu Bhaker, the 23-year-old pistol shooter, will be the co-flag bearer alongside Sreejesh at the Closing Ceremony. She bagged two medals at Paris 2024, becoming the second Indian woman after PV Sindhu to win two medals.
USA and China both won 40 gold medals each at Paris Olympics 2024 but the United States of America topped the medals table finishing above the Asian giant only under their 44 silvers.
China, the last nation apart from the U.S. to top the standings when they did it on home soil at the 2008 Beijing Games, managed only 27 silvers.
The final tally saw the United States finish with 126 medals, including 40 gold, 44 silver, and 42 bronze. China finished with 91 medals, also including 40 gold, 27 Silver, and 24 Bronze.
Team Gold Silver Bronze Total
USA 40 44 42 126
China 40 27 24 91
Japan 20 12 13 45
Australia 18 19 16 53
France 16 25 22 63
Japan, defying pre-Olympic predictions, finished third in the medal standings with 45 medals, including 20 gold. Australia secured fourth place with 18 gold medals, while hosts France rounded out the top five with 16 gold, showcasing a strong all-around performance at their home Games.
France won 16 golds to finish fifth on the table and their total tally of 64 medals was their best for more than a century. Great Britain, which had been expected to challenge for a top-three finish, ended the Games in seventh place with 14 gold medals.
India finished 71st at the Paris Olympics with one silver and five bronze.
Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Annpurna Devi chaired her first national-level meeting with the Ministers of Women and Child Development/ Social Welfare in the States and Administrators/ Lieutenant Governors in the Union Territories via video conferencing on 10th August 2024.
21 out of 28 State Ministers participated in the meeting which focused on reviewing the progress of ongoing programmes and future strategies for various key initiatives under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. During the meeting, Smt. Annpurna Devi emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts between the Central and State Governments,
To ensure that the benefits of these initiatives reach the grassroots level. She specifically highlighted the Ministry's flagship programs under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Mission Vatsalya and Mission Shakti. Ministers from the States highlighted the specific efforts being made towards empowerment and well-being of women and children in their respective State
The Ministry is committed to promoting an inclusive environment and pursuing policies that support the empowerment and well-being of women and children in the country.
India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, and the Maldives' Foreign Minister, Mr. Moosa Zameer, renewed the Memorandum of Understanding MoU for capacity building of 1000 Maldives civil services officers during the period 2024-2029 Malé as part of the development partnership discussions between both the nations in Malé, Maldives.
Under the guidance of the Ministry of External Affairs, the National Centre of Good Governance NCGG has successfully conducted capacity building programs for civil servants from Bangladesh, Tanzania, Gambia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia, along with multi-country programs for Latin American countries and FIPIC/IOR countries.
As part of the capacity-building initiatives, an MoU was signed between the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), the Government of India, and the Maldives Civil Service Commission, Republic of Maldives for capacity-building programs for 1000 Maldivian Civil Servants.
By 2024, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) achieved a remarkable milestone by fulfilling the mandate of training a total of 1000 Civil Servants including Permanent Secretaries, Secretary Generals, and High-Level Delegates from Maldives over a total of 32 Capacity Building Programmes in Field Administration for the Civil Servants of Maldives,
Including one programme for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and one for the Information Commission Office of Maldives (ICOM). Recognizing the success of this collaboration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives, requested the renewal of the MoU for another five years.
The MoU was officially renewed, committing to train another 1,000 Maldivian civil servants by 2029. This renewed partnership will continue to enhance the capabilities of Maldives civil servants in public policy, governance, and field administration, further strengthening the ties between India and the Maldives.
Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launched the ‘Amrit Gyan Kosh’ Portal and ‘Faculty Development portal’ at the Civil Service Training Institutions Convention at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
Dr. Jitendra Singh traced back the journey of the National Capacity Building Commission and Mission Karmayogi Bharat said,
It marks a paradigm shift in how we approach civil service training and it also envisions a future-ready civil service rooted in Indian ethos, with a global perspective. He highlighted that a practitioner does not automatically become a good teacher and The Faculty Development Programme will be key to ensuring practitioners and faculties are better able to deliver knowledge
Dr. Jitendra Singh also launched 13 Quality Improvement Plans (QIP), a roadmap for continuous enhancement of our training institutions. He also granted accreditation to 20 ministries. Dr. Singh highlighted that the core of the mission is continuous learning and competency-driven capacity building.
Dr. Singh said Mission Karmayogi and NCBC will play a pivotal role in achieving the vision of India @2047.
The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Army Welfare Association Society (AWES), in New Delhi. The signing ceremony took place under the chairpersonship of the Secretary (Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities - DEPwD), Shri Rajesh Aggarwal.
This collaboration is expected to bring benefits to the educational ecosystem, empowering educators and fostering an inclusive environment for students. By enhancing the capabilities of Army Public School faculty in Indian Sign Language, the partnership aims to create a more accessible and supportive learning environment for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the ‘Nijut Moina Scheme’- a monthly financial assistance scheme to increase girls’ enrolment in higher education and fight against child marriage. It may be noted that the scheme has been envisaged to encourage the girl students to pursue their higher studies.
The scheme will also complement the already ongoing ‘free admission’ scheme of the government. As a part of the scheme, monthly financial assistance for girl students from HS to PG level in government and government-aided educational institutions will be given. Financial support is to be given 10 months in an academic year.
The Rs.1500 crore scheme will benefit 10 lakh girls in four years.A student in HS First year will be entitled to Rs. 10 thousand that is Rs. 1 thousand every month for 10 months. A student at graduate level will be entitled to Rs. 12,500 that is Rs. 1250 for every month and PG level student will be entitled to 25,000 that is Rs. 2500 for every month for 10 months in a year.
Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan brought his global star power to the 77th edition of the Locarno Film Festival as he was honored with a lifetime achievement award, the so-called Pardo alla Carriera, or Career Leopard. As part of the Locarno tribute, the festival is also screening Khan’s 2002 hit Devdas from director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, in which the star plays an alcoholic.
The presentation of the award to Khan was followed by the world premiere of Mexico 86, the new film by Guatemalan director César Díaz (Our Mothers). It stars Bérénice Béjo (The Artist) as a Guatemalan rebel fighting against the military dictatorship and having to leave her son behind.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and state-run New Space India Limited (NSIL) signed an agreement on grant aid for the launch of a satellite developed in Nepal by students and a space startup. The Munal satellite, developed under the aegis of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), aims to build a vegetation density database of the earth’s surface.
A launch service agreement for launching the Munal satellite was signed by NSIL and NAST when external affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Nepal in January.
APN has assisted Nepalese students in designing and fabricating the Munal satellite, which is expected to be launched soon on NSIL’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
President Droupadi Murmu held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Vinston Peters at Government House in Wellington. Discussions were held on wide range of issues including customs cooperation, traditional medicine, and renewable energy.
Both countries inked the bilateral customs cooperation arrangement that is expected to ease trade between the two countries. New Zealand also ratified the International Solar Alliance paving way for enhanced opportunities for joint research and development in this field. Both countries agreed to exchange the best practices in the field of traditional medicine in Jamnagar.
Diplomat-turned-politician Kunwar Natwar Singh, the external affairs minister during 2004-05, passed away at the age of 95 after being hospitalised for the past fortnight. Singh, who was born in the princely state of Bharatpur and joined the Congress party after leaving the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1984.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award, in 1984. His role as external affairs minister, Singh was involved in the negotiations that led to the India-US civil nuclear deal in July 2005. However, he had to resign after an independent inquiry set up by the United Nations to probe irregularities in Iraq’s oil-for-food programme named Singh.
Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has died after two years of living with cancer.Wojcicki stepped down as YouTube CEO in February 2023 after nine years in role.
Wojcicki was named the CEO of YouTube in 2014. She introduced new forms of ads and helped steer its growth by launching a streaming television service as viewers increasingly turned to the internet for shows, films.
The 10th edition of India- Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise MITRA SHAKTI commenced at Army Training School, Maduru Oya, Sri Lanka. The Exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 12th to 25th August 2024. Indian contingent comprising of 106 personnel is being represented by a Battalion of Rajputana Rifles along with personnel from other arms and services.
The Sri Lankan contingent is being represented by personnel from the Gajaba Regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Joint Exercise MITRA SHAKTI is an annual training event conducted alternatively in India and Sri Lanka. The last edition was conducted in Pune in Nov 2023.
The Joint Exercise aims to enhance the joint military capability of both sides to undertake counter-insurgency operations in a sub-conventional scenario under Chapter VII of the United Nations Mandate. The exercise will focus on operations in the semi-urban environment. It will facilitate development of inter-operability, bonhomie and camaraderie between the two armies.
The RBI announced setting up a committee under deputy governor Michael Debabrata Patra on benchmarking the statistics regularly disseminated by it against global standards.
The 10-member 'Expert Committee on Benchmarking of its Statistics' has been asked to submit report by the end of November 2024.
The panel, chaired by Patra, will also study the quality of other regular data, where such benchmarks do not exist (like sectors of national priority) and provide guidance on the scope for any further data refinement. The other members of the committee are R B Barman (former chairman, National Statistical Commission),
Sonalde Desai (National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi and University of Maryland, USA), Partha Ray (Director, National Institute of Bank Management, Pune), and Bimal Roy (former chairman, National Statistical Commission; and former director, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata).
Paul Schreyer (former chief statistician, OECD), Bruno Tissot (head of Statistics and Research Support, Bank for International Settlements) and Sudarshan Sen (former executive director, RBI) are also members of the panel. Executive directors of the RBI -- Muneesh Kapur and O P Mall -- are also members of the expert committee.
India lifted the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Nations League final after beating hosts Nepal 3-2 at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu. This victory marked India’s second title in the CAVA Women’s Volleyball Nations League. Despite losing to Nepal once in the league stage, India managed to secure the championship in the finals.
The final match showcased the high level of competition and skill between the two teams. India clinched Gold, Nepal secured the silver medal and Iran settled with bronze in the tournament.
The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a Steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. The 2024 theme of World Steelpan Day is “From Roots to Recognition: Steelpan's Journey to Global Acclaim”.
