9th Niti Aayog Consultative Meeting 2024
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Niti Aayog meeting at Delhi's Pragati Maidan in which state chief ministers attended to discuss the demands of the states and future plans. The meeting was attended by the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and its allies.
- The 33rd Olympic Games in the French capital, Paris, began with colorful performances and fireworks. A total of 10,714 sportsmen and women from 206 countries are competing for medals in the Paris Olympics, which is eagerly awaited by sports fans all over the world.
- The tournament, which will be held till August 11, will see 329 races in 32 sports. A total of 117 male and female players from India are competing for medals in 16 sports. Apart from Paris, the Olympic Games are also held in 16 other cities in France.
- For the first time in Olympic history, the opening ceremony of the participating countries' male and female athletes was held on the famous 'Seine' river in Paris, rather than on the parade ground. Over 10,000 sportsmen and women boarded more than 100 boats and cruised down the River Seine through the major landmarks of Paris, leaving the audience in awe.
- The 'floating parade' started at the Austerlitz Bridge and ended at the Trocadero near the famous Eiffel Tower. Led by table tennis player Ashanta Sarath Kamal and badminton star PV Sindhu (Badminton) who carried the national flag, the Indian contingent marched in cheering boats.
- Indian players in pajama kurtas and women in sarees that mirrored the colors of the national flag took part in the parade which attracted the attention of the global audience. French President Emmanuel Macron formally opened the Paris Olympics. The Olympic flame, carried in a procession, was traditionally lit in a huge cauldron.
- Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar has visited Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, to participate in the Association of South Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings held there.
- There, in a meeting with Laos Minister of Foreign Affairs Saloumshe Khammasith, 10 MoUs were signed between the two countries on the distribution of eight solutions and immediate projects under the Mekong-Ganges Cooperation Project.
- n this occasion, the two heads of state jointly released special postage stamps to celebrate the shared cultural pride in Ramayana and Buddhism. The Mekong-Ganges Cooperation Project (MGC) is an initiative taken by six Asian countries namely India, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to cooperate in the fields of tourism, culture, education, transport and communication.
- It has also expanded to include sectors such as health, traditional medicine, agriculture, small and medium enterprises, water resources management, science, technology and skill development.