Legoland
Dubai recreates the wonder of Taj Mahal, using over 280,000 Lego bricks.
If
popular myth is to be believed, then Mughal emperor Shah Jahan never wanted his
beloved Taj Mahal to ever be recreated. But 400 years later, notwithstanding
the emperor’s wishes, the ivory-white wonder of the world has been constructed
again, this time with Lego bricks. Made from 280,741 bricks, the stunning
replica of The Taj Mahal was unveiled by Legoland Dubai, a theme park which
will feature about 15,000 structures made of 60 million Lego bricks.
Weighing
over 645.9 kgs, the “Lego Taj” will be located in the park’s Miniland section,
which will also house recreations of iconic sights and landmarks from the
region and surrounding countries for the visitors to admire. Legoland Dubai
intentionally unveiled the monument on August 15 to celebrate India’s 70th
Independence Day.
The
“Lego Taj” took around 2,019 hours to be completed.
Statue of
Sister Nivedita unveiled in Ireland.
Sister
Nivedita was a great disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She devoted her life for
emancipation of women. In recognition of her great services, a statue was
unveiled yesterday in her native town in North Ireland.
150-Metre-Long
British Era Bunker Discovered Below Raj Bhavan In Maharashtra.
A
150-metre long underground British era bunker which had been closed for several
decades was discovered by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao inside the Raj
Bhavan complex at Malabar Hill in Mumbai.
Mr Rao
accompanied by his wife Vinodha visited the bunker today, after which the
Governor expressed his intention to consult experts from various fields to
preserve it.
The
Governor had directed to get the bunker opened after he was informed by
old-timers three months ago about the presence of a tunnel inside the Raj
Bhavan.
Instead
of an underground tunnel, an entire barrack with 13 rooms of different sizes
was found.
The
bunker opens with a 20-ft tall gate and a ramp on the western side. There are
long passages and small to medium rooms on either side, he said.
The
bunker spread over an area of over 5,000 square feet has rooms bearing the name
Shell Store, Gun Shell, Cartridge Store, Shell Lift, Pump, Workshop etc.
Federal
Bank to start distribution of Indian gold coins.
Kerala
based private sector lender, Federal Bank has tied up with MMTC for
distribution of Indian Gold Coins (IGC), the first-Ever national gold offering
by the government, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi In
November 2015.
"Through
this tie-up with MMTC, the bank becomes the first among the private sector
banks to offer this product to its customers. Available presently in
denominations of 5, 10 and 20 grams, the coins are distributed through select
branches of the bank across the country," said Jose K. Mathew, head,
retail business, Federal Bank.
Apple to
set up first Asia-Pacific R&D centre in China.
Apple
will increase investment in China and build its first Asia-Pacific research and
development center in the country to bolster its presence as sales of its
products dropped there in the last three months relegating it to fifth place.
Apple
CEO Tim Cook who called China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said that Apple plans
to set up an independent research and development centre in China before the
end of 2016, the first in the Asia-Pacific region.
'India's
Internet users to grow over 2-fold to 730 million by 2020'.
Buoyed by
Internet penetration in rural areas, the number of web users in India will see
a two-fold rise at 730 million by 2020 against 350 million at the end of 2015,
a latest report said today.
India,
whose Internet user base is second largest after China, will remain the fastest
growing market, according to 'The Future of Internet in India' report by
Nasscom and Akamai Technologies.
The
report said that 75 per cent of new Internet users in India will come from
rural areas.
India,
Bangladesh to jointly make films on 1971 war, Sheikh Mujibur.
India
and Bangladesh will jointly produce a documentary on the 1971 War of
Independence of Bangladesh, the Information and Broadcasting ministry said
today.
India
will also facilitate the production of a "mega movie" by Bangladesh
to mark the 100th birth anniversary of its Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020.
Puma
acquires local partner Knowledge Fire.
Puma
has bought out the entire stake of local partner Knowledge Fire and converted
their joint venture Puma India Retail into a fully owned subsidiary of the
German sportswear giant, weeks after receiving approval for a 100% single-brand
entity in India. With the acquisition of the partner's 49% stake, Puma also
inherits a network of about three dozen companyowned outlets, a person aware of
the development said.
Najma
Heptulla appointed Manipur Governor.
Former
Union Minister Najma Heptulla was today made Governor of Manipur while ex-Rajya
Sabha MP VP Singh Badnore goes to Punjab in new gubernatorial appointments
announced for four states with all of them being associated with the BJP.
Banwarilal
Purohit, a three-time former member of Lok Sabha from Nagpur and Managing
Editor of Central India's daily 'The Hitavada', will be the Governor of Assam
while Delhi-based BJP leader and former MLA Prof Jagdish Mukhi was made Lt
Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan
communique.
ICC
rankings: India displace Australia as No 1 Test team.
The
Indian cricket team has moved back to No 1 on the ICC table for Test teams on
Wednesday, following Sri Lanka's 163-run win over Australia in Colombo. India
can hold onto their numero uno status with victory over West Indies in the
fourth and final Test starting tomorrow in Port of Spain, which would give them
a 3-0 series win and keep them on 112 points.
A R Rahman
honoured with Tamil Ratna Award.
Noted
music composer A.R. Rahman on 15 August 2016 was honoured with the Tamil Ratna
Award.
The
award was presented by New York based Tamil Sangam.
Rahman
was bestowed with the honour after his concert at the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) chamber.
Unilever
Plc acquires Swedish firm Blueair.
Unilever,
the parent company of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), on 16 August 2016 acquired
Swedish firm Blueair for an undisclosed sum. Blueair is a leading player in
mobile air purification technology.
With
this deal, Unilever will make its foray in air purification, a move that will
complement its existing water purification business.
However,
Blueair will continue to operate under its existing brand name in all its
markets in Sweden, China, the U.S., Japan, South Korea and India. This
acquisition will help widen the reach of Blueair purifiers.
RBI
Imposes Penalty On Four Cooperative Banks.
The
Reserve Bank of India has imposed penalties of up to Rs 5 lakh on four
cooperative banks for violation of various norms.
The RBI
said it has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 5 lakh on The Cooperative City
Bank, Guwahati, for flouting KYC (know your customer) norms and non-adherence
to requirements relating to identification and reporting of suspicious
transactions.
A
penalty of Rs 2 lakh has been imposed on Indapur Urban Cooperative Bank,
Indapur, District Pune, for violations of norms related to KYC/anti-money
laundering and credit exposure norms on loans.
The RBI
imposed penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Shri Dadasaheb Gajmal Cooperative Bank,
Pachora, District Jalgaon, for violation of norms relating to creation of
floating charge on its assets without the prior permission.
In a
separate statement, the central bank said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh
on The Model Cooperative Urban Bank, Hyderabad, Telangana, for violation
directives and guidelines on loans and advances to directors and their
relatives.
PV Sindhu
defeats world No.2 Wang Yihan to enter semi-finals.
India’s
PV Sindhu showed remarkable skills to upset world number two Wang Yihan of
China in the badminton women’s singles quarter-finals to enter the semi-finals
of the Rio 2016 Olympics. Sindhu won the an thrilling but tiring match in
straight sets 22-20, 21-19 dominating her opponent in smashes and fitness. With
the win, Sindhu became only the second Indian women’s player to reach the
semi-final of Olympic Games after Saina Nehwal reached the same stage at the
2012 London Games. The tenth seeded Indian displayed a great combination of
aggression and defence as Wang tried to gain the upper hand by net play. Sindhu
was up to the task and returned most Wang’s drops and smashes.
