Adam Peaty was still breathless from winning Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro three years ago when he climbed out of the pool and declared his next target: Project 56.

It was a reference to his ambition to become the first man to go under 57 seconds for the 100m breaststroke, the event in which he is more dominant than any swimmer in any other event in history.

Yesterday, with a year to go to the defence of his Olympic title in Tokyo, he smashed that barrier with a performance that may well have been the greatest breaststroke swim ever seen and the finest in any event by a British swimmer.

India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 has been launched successfully and ed in a preparatory orbit around the earth just a short while ago. 

The powerful booster GSLV-Mark-Three carrying Chandrayaan-2 on-board zoomed into space at 14.43 hours by puffing out thick smoke and leaving trailblazers amidst thundering sound from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. 

In just 16 minutes into the sky, it ed the high-stake lunar probe into the designated highly elliptical orbit.

From the earth-bound orbit, Chandrayaan-2 will be navigated by the ISRO scientists to near the South Pole of the moon, which is an unexplored area as yet. It will be the first soft-landing of a probe by India, that is expected to be on 7th September. India would become the fourth ever nation to have a soft-landing on the moon, once Chandrayaan-2 reaches there.  

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP from Bihar’s Samastipur Ram Chandra Paswan died on Sunday afternoon following a brief illness. He was 57.

Ram Chandra Paswan, the younger brother of Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, passed away at 1.24 p.m. at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here.

He was admitted to the hospital last week after suffering a heart attack.

The body will be kept at his residence in New Delhi and on Monday, at the LJP office in Patna for paying last respects. He will be cremated in the Bihar capital on Monday evening.

Indian bodybuilder Ravinder Kumar Malik has clinched Mr. South Asia title. He has crowned the overall champion at 12th South Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship in Kathmandu yesterday. 

Malik, the winner of 80 kg category, was adjudged best bodybuilder among the winners of nine senior men's weight categories. Afghanistan won team championship by securing a top position with 535 points. Host Nepal finished second with 445 points, while India remained third with 380 points. 

Afghanistan won a total 15 medals including six gold, four silver and five bronze. Nepal bagged three gold, seven silver and six bronze and India claimed four gold, five silver and one bronze medal. The Maldives won three gold and two bronze medals, Pakistan bagged one gold, two silver and two bronze, while Bhutan finished last with a bronze medal. 

Noted vocalist S. Sowmya has been chosen for the Sangita Kalanidhi award of the Music Academy and she will preside over 93rd annual conference of the Academy to be held between December 12, 2019, and January 1, 2020.

“She is a high-calibre vocalist who has an intellectual approach towards Carnatic music,” said N. Murali, president of the Academy, said.

A student of Dr. S. Ramanathan and T. Mukta, Ms. Sowmya equally excelled in her academic pursuit and obtained a doctorate from the Madras University.

Mr. Murali said she was the youngest musician to receive the coveted award in recent times after Sanjay Subramaniam. “We either select a veteran or young talent. We do not stick to any particular norm in selecting the artist,” he explained.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has passed away in New Delhi. The veteran Congress leader was 81.

A few days ago, the three-time Delhi CM was admitted to Escorts Hospital, where she breathed her last around 3.55 pm.

Dikshit was the longest-serving chief minister of Delhi, serving between 1998 and 2013.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will launch the Global Innovation Index, GII on 24th of this month in New Delhi. 

The GII has been a charter for assessing the innovation capabilities of national economies worldwide. 

An official release said, the launch of GII will reveal the innovation rankings of economies and the findings for this year. 

This year’s theme is Evaluating the Medical Innovation Scenario of the Next Decade. Director General, World Intellectual Property Organization, Mr. Francis Gurry, will also be present during the event.

India are in line to get the Asian Games gold in 4x400 mixed relay with Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain being handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for failing a dope test.

India's mixed relay team of Mohammad Anas, Hima Das, Arokia Rajiv and M R Poovamma had won the silver in the event at the Asian Games in Jakarta last year.

The ban on Adekoya, who was part of the gold-winning team, means India's silver is set to be upgraded.

The AIU said that Adekoya's results between August 24, 2018 and November 26, 2018 will be disqualified.

Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated the architectural illumination of the historic Safdarjung Tomb in New Delhi yesterday.
A total of 213 technologically advanced LED lights have been used to highlight the 17th century monument. The consumption of LED lights is approximately 62 percent less than conventional light fixtures. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Patel said, to highlight the archaeological magnificence of historical monuments, Archaeological Survey of India has taken up the project to illuminate the important monuments of Delhi. He said, the move aims to showcase the monuments during late evenings and enhance the experience of visitors and tourists.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju Friday launched the All India Football Federation's Golden Baby Leagues handbook 2019-20 on the sidelines of the Intercontinental Cup here.

The sports minister was accompanied by AIFF general secretary Kushal Das.

The launch marked the renaming of the 'AIFF Baby Leagues' to 'AIFF Golden Baby Leagues', with the emphasis being laid for ages under 6 to under 12 both for girls and boys.

"Baby League sounds very cute to me. The actual scouting has to start from a very young age. I have been explained how it's planned by the AIFF.