Sweden's Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis claimed his second Olympic gold medal after brushing off a tough competition in the men's pole vault final at the Stade de France.

Duplantis raised the heat in the final by etching his name into the history book with a set of remarkable performances in the final of the event at the Paris Olympics.

In a single night, he broke the men's pole vault Olympic and world record to get his hands on his second Olympic medal.

While facing tough competition from United States' Sam Kendricks, the 24-year-old pole vaulter flew over the bar to break the Olympic record.

In Rio 2016, Brazil's Thiago set the Olympic record by registering a jump of 6.03m. Duplantis beat the Olympic record by clearing 6.10m.

The National Commission for Women has inaugurated the Digital Shakti Center to combat cyber crimes against women in New Delhi today. The centre is a dedicated facility that aims at raising awareness about cyber crimes. It will provide essential technical support for registering and addressing complaints. The commission emphasised that with the alarming rise in cyber crimes such as identity theft, cyberstalking, and sexual exploitation, this initiative is crucial in empowering women to navigate and protect themselves in the digital world. It said that building on the success of its Digital Shakti campaign, which was launched in 2018, the centre will offer expert guidance to ensure timely and effective resolution of cybercrime complaints. The NCW added that the Digital Shakti campaign has reached millions of women, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to safeguard their digital spaces.

The Digital Shakti Center was inaugurated by the National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Ms. Rekha Sharma in collaboration with the Cyber Peace Foundation. Addressing the gathering Ms Sharma noted that there has been a surge in cyber crime cases in India, rising from 52,974 in 2021 to 65,893 in 2022. She said that the NCW has also observed an increase in complaints related to cyber crimes against women.

India has shortlisted two astronaut-designates for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station. Indian astronauts Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair have been shortlisted to go to the U.S. to train for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

A National Mission Assignment Board has recommended two Gaganyatris (astronauts) as prime and backup Mission Pilot for this mission. Group Captain Shukla will be the prime mission pilot and Group Captain Nair will be the back up.

The Axiom-4 mission is the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.

The Centre on Friday approved eight National High-Speed Road Corridor Projects with a total length of 936 km at a capital cost of Rs 50,655 crore to improve logistics efficiency, reduce congestion and enhance connectivity across the country.

The approved projects are the six-lane Agra-Gwalior, four-lane Kharagpur-Moregram, six-lane Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad, four-lane Ayodhya Ring Road, the five-lane section between Pathalgaon and Gumla of Raipur-Ranchi, six-lane Kanpur Ring Road, four-lane Northern Guwahati Bypass and widening and improvement of existing Guwahati Bypass and eight-lane elevated Nashik Phata - Khed Corridor near Pune.

In a statement, the government said that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the development of eight important National High Speed Corridors and implementation of these projects would generate an estimated 4.42 crore mandays of direct and indirect employment.

A total of 7.28 crore ITRs (income tax returns) for the assessment year 2024-25 were filed till the ITR deadline of July 31, 2024. This is 7.5 per cent more than the total ITRs of 6.77 crore recorded a year ago, the finance minister said in a statement on Friday. It added that nearly 72 per cent of taxpayers opted for the new tax regime this year.

“The taxpayers and tax professionals made their compliances in time, leading to a surge in filing of income tax returns (ITRs), which resulted in a new record of ITRs filed till July 31, 2024. The total number of ITRs for AY 2024-25 filed till July 31, 2024, is more than 7.28 crore, which is 7.5 per cent more than the total ITRs for AY 2023-24 (6.77 crore) filed till July 31, 2023,” the ministry stated.

According to the official statement, an increasing number of taxpayers have opted for the new tax regime this year.

Doppler weather radar will be installed in Himachal Pradesh's tribal district Lahaul-Spiti for accurate weather forecast, this will be of great help to the Meteorological Department. X-band Doppler weather radar will be installed in Lahaul-Spiti by December 2025. Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Jitendra Singh gave this information in a written reply to a question asked by Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sikandar Kumar in Parliament on Friday.

Rs 13.87 crore was spent on installation and operation of Doppler radar

Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed that at present three Doppler weather radars are operational in Himachal Pradesh. Three X-band Doppler weather radars have been installed and made operational at Kufri in Shimla district, Murari Devi in Mandi district and Jot in Chamba district. Dr. Jitendra Singh informed that Rs 13.87 crore has been spent on the installation and operation of these Doppler radars in the state. He informed that weather forecasting is done using data from multiple observation systems and the Ministry is constantly making efforts to enhance the observational and R&D infrastructure to achieve better accuracy in weather forecasting across the country.

Indian Navy’s frontline frigate, INS Tabar arrived St. Petersburg, Russia on 25 Jul 24 for a four day visit to participate in 328th Russian Navy Day Parade celebrations. India and Russia share warm bilateral relations and maritime co-operation that span diverse fields. The visit by INS Tabar aimed to strengthen this longstanding friendship and also explore newer avenues of bolstering the relationship between the two countries.

INS Tabar, on departure from St. Petersburg, Russia successfully conducted Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with the Russian Navy Ship Soobrazitelny on 30 Jul 2024. Participation of Indian Navy Ship Tabar in the 328th Russian Navy Day Parade and conduct of MPX marks a significant milestone in the maritime cooperation between India and Russia, reinforcing the commitment of both nations to maintain peace, stability and security in the region. The MPX involved a series of complex naval manoeuvers, including communication drills, Search & Rescue tactics and Replenishment at Sea serials. Ships from both navies demonstrated high levels of professionalism and interoperability.

The Indian Navy remains committed to fostering partnerships with navies across the world. The MPX with the Russian Navy reinforces the strong bilateral naval ties, further strengthening our resolve and commitment towards ensuring enhanced cooperation in the maritime domain.

Grinson George, former head of the Marine Biodiversity and Environment Management Division at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has assumed charge as Director of the CMFRI here. He has also held the position of Senior Programme Specialist at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Dhaka.

A fisheries researcher with over two decades of experience, Dr. George holds expertise in areas such as fishery resource management, marine biodiversity, environment management, fisheries oceanography, remote sensing and climate change, said a press release here.

He has led multiple high impact research projects as principal investigator at national and international level with funding support of agencies such as the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Indian Space Research Organisation, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology and ICAR- National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture project (NICRA),and the India-UK Water Quality Initiatives.

India is ranked 39th among 119 countries, according to the Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024 report published by the World Economic Forum.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, Minister of Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, said that as per the UNWTO barometer for May 2024, there were 975 million international tourist arrivals around the world in 2022, wherein India recorded 14.3 million international tourist arrivals that represented 1.47 per cent of the international inbound tourism market share. The share of India’s international tourist arrivals in Asia and the Pacific will be 15.66 per cent in 2022. He said that India’s scores have improved in three areas: prioritisation of travel and tourism, safety and security, and health and hygiene.

Beyond the attention-grabbing performances of Indian shooters lie another feat that has gone unnoticed so far. Lieutenant Colonel Kabilan Sai Ashok, a serving Indian Army Officer, has become India’s youngest referee to officiate the boxing events at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024.

Lt Col Ashok, 32, is only the fourth Indian since 1904 to officiate at the Olympics and the first to have represented the country as a player and an official at a world championship event, said Army officials.

He is also the first Indian to become the president of World Military Boxing Council.