1) Jagannath Puri chariot festival begins
•In Odisha, the most awaited biggest annual festival of Rath Yatra or Chariot Festival at Puri commences today (25th June 2017). This is one of the most celebrated Hindu festivals of the country as well as the whole world. The famous festival that is celebrated usually in the month of June-July commences when the chariots of Lord Jagannath accompanied by his elder brother Balabhadra and sister Devi Subhadra are brought out on to the main street of Puri.
•The Chariots are then taken to the Shri Gundicha Temple to their aunt’s house, where the deities enjoy nine days stay and are served with sweet pancakes. The festival honours the Lord Jagannath’s visit along with his siblings to the temple of Queen Gundicha. Jagannath Puri temple is called ‘Yamanika Tirtha’ where, according to the Hindu beliefs, the power of ‘Yama’, the god of death has been nullified in Puri due to the presence of Lord Jagannath, popularly known as Lord Krishna, and his siblings – Lord Balbhadra and deity Subhadra – in the Jagannath Puri temple.
2) PM Modi underlines the need for eternal vigilance to preserve democracy
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi today remembered the Emergency imposed on this day in 1975, saying such a black night cannot be forgotten. He underlined the need for eternal vigilance to preserve democracy.
•Sharing his Mann Ki Baat on All India Radio with the countrymen and the people abroad, Mr. Modi recalled that democracy-lovers had fought a big battle against the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and said the pro-democracy heritage needs to be strengthened.
•He said, it is essential to remember the incidents which have caused harm to democracy and move ahead towards the positives of democracy. The Prime Minister said, democracy is not only a system but also a sanskar a part of ethos.
•He reminded that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. He said the students of today's journalism and those working for democracy have been remembering that black incident as part of their continuous efforts to create awareness about democracy. The Prime Minister said at that time, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also imprisoned and recited the couplets written by the BJP stalwart.
3) India, Portugal sign 11 MoUs across various fields
•India and Portugal have signed eleven MOUs for cooperation in areas including double taxation avoidance, science and technology, trade and investment, nanotechnology, space research, administrative reforms and culture. 11 MoU's were exchanged out of which seven and there was the announcement of the launch of a joint science fund for which both India and Portugal will contribute Euros two million each. 5 of the MoU's were in the area of science and technology.
•One of the MoU's was signed for the creation of an India Portugal Space Alliance and for advancing collaborative research. These agreements will promote India's science and technology partnership with Portugal, towards the establishment of a unique Centre on the Azores Archipelago - the Atlantic International Research Centre.
4) Egypt's president ratifies islands deal with Saudi Arabia
•Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has ratified a controversial treaty that transfers two largely uninhabited Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The deal to hand over Tiran and Sanafir was agreed during a visit to Egypt by Saudi King Salman a year ago. It was backed by Egypt's parliament last week. The move has sparked rare protests in Egypt, with Mr Sisi being accused of selling territory in return for Saudi aid. However, a legal battle over the islands' status continues. One Egyptian court has annulled the handover decision, while another court has upheld it. The constitutional court is yet to make a final ruling on which institution had the final say. Mr Sisi has said the islands always belonged to Saudi Arabia and that the Saudis asked Egypt to station troops there in 1950 to protect them.
5) Kidambi Srikanth wins Australia Open Super Series
•In Badminton, ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has lifted the Australian Open Superseries trophy in Sydney. In the summit clash, 11th world ranked Srikanth stunned former world number one and Rio Olympics Gold medalist Chen Long of China in straight games, 22-20, 21-16. It was Srikanth's first victory over the Chinese in 6 matches.
•The trophy is Srikanth's second this season and fourth overall. He had won the Indonesian Open last week.
6) Anish Bhanwala set a junior world record at World Championship
•Haryana's Anish Bhanwala gave a robust start for the Indian challenge by clinching the 25-metre standard pistol gold with a world junior record in the Junior World Shooting Championship in Suhl, Germany. The 14-year-old Anish shot 579 to win the gold seven points ahead of Florian Peter of Germany. In the process, Anish also bettered the junior world record of 574 set by Denis Koulakov of Russia in Lahti, Finland, in 2002.
•Interestingly, Anish has pistol prodigy Jaspal Rana as the national coach of the junior squad, who had made his initial impact on the world stage with the standard pistol gold in Milan, Italy, in 1994. Jaspal went on to win the Asian Games gold in centre fire pistol the same year in Hiroshima.
