It has been a daunting task to clean up the River Seine in Paris to host the open swimming competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Swimming in the famous French river was banned for 101 years because of poor water quality.
However, recently mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, kept her promise that it would be cleaned up and she would be one of the first in. To cheers and applause, she led a group of about 100 officials, athletes and local people by taking a dip in the river after many tests showed it was finally safe.
The Paris Olympics will be the first time ever that the Opening Ceremony will be held outside of a stadium. The Opening Ceremony is set to be held in the heart of the city along its famed main river, the Seine.
During the Opening Ceremony, a parade of athletes will sail down river Seine upon 94 boats, one for every participating country. The boats will travel 6km sailing past icon- ic landmarks of Paris such as the Louvre and the Notre Dame de Paris. The procession of the athletes will end in front of the Trocadero. Trocadero is across the Seine River from the iconic Eiffel Tower. This is where the remainder of the ceremony will take place.
paralympic.org
For the first time ever in Olympic history, the Paris Opening Ceremony will not charge most of its spectators an admission fee. Since this will be a mostly free event, it is expected to be the largest Opening Cere- mony in Olympic Games history.
The Heart And Soul Of The Opening Ceremony: Athletes
Paris is starting a new trend by opening the Games with the parade of athletes. Athletes will be featured on stage during the introduction to and throughout the ceremony as part of Paris 2024’s constant aim to hold Games created for and by athletes.
Paralympic Game Opening Ceremony
In 2024, Paris and France will host their first-ever Paralympic Summer Games. The Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony scheduled on August 28 will also be different from previous Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony will be hosted outside the main stadium, at Paris’s Champs-Elysées and the Place de la Concorde.
olympics.com
Paris Olympics: Indian Athletes Will Wear
Puma Shoes! Sports brand PUMA India is the Official Footwear Partner for the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024. As the Official Footwear Partner, PUMA India will provide essential gear to the Indian Olympic team. This includes podium and travel footwear, trolleys, backpacks, sippers, yoga mats, headbands, and wristbands.
The European Championship is an international tournament which will see 24 countries from across Europe compete with each to be crowned champions of Europe. The 17th edition of the championship started on June 14 and is being hosted by three time champions Germany. The final will be played on July 14 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. There will be 51 games staged across 10 stadiums over the course of the month.
Albart the teddy bear is the official mascot for Euro 2024.
Spain emerged as the UEFA European Football 2024 champion after a spectacular 2-1 victory over England at OlymPiastadion in Berlin, Mikel Oyarzabal and Nico Williams scored for Spain in the final, Spain has become the first team to win four Euro titles. Previously. Spain has won the Euro title in 1964, 2008, and 2012. Germany, with three titles, are second in the list. In Furo 2024, the Spanish team have scored the most goals and won all seven matches.
insideworldfootball.com
La Roja, as Spain’s national football team is popularly called, have now won three of the past five Euros.
Youngest Goalscorer In Euros History
Meet Spain’s Lamine Yamal! At just 16 years-old, he’s the youngest EVER player to take part in the Euros and now he’s the youngest goalscorer foo The 16-year-old scored an incredible equaliser against France during the semi-final making him the youngest goalscorer in Euros history.
msn.com
Fun Fact
Lamine Yamal turned 17, the day before the final.
Did You Know?
Italy are the defending champions, having won the previous tournament which took place in 2021.
The official name of the Euro trophy is the Henri Delaunay Cup.
Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi the ‘Order of St Andrew the Apostle’ award for exceptional services in promoting the relationship between the two countries. PM Nardendra Modi is the first Indian leader to get this award. After receiving the award in a special ceremony in St. Andrew Hall in the Kremlin, PM Narendra Modi wrote on social media platform X that he is “Honoured to receive the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle. I dedicate it to the people of India”.
‘Order of St Andrew the Apostle is the highest civilian honour of Russia. It was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia.
The badge of the order is a golden cross with blue enamel, featuring a crucified Saint Andrew the Apostle. It is adorned with a double-headed eagle and a ribbon inscribed with “FOR FAITH AND LOYALTY”.
The honour is bestowed upon distinguished leaders in government, military, science, culture, and the economy for exceptional contributions to Russia’s prosperity, security, and sovereignty It can also be awarded to foreign heads of state for “outstanding service” to Russia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar. The newly inaugurated campus is spread over about 455 acres and is very close to the ancient ruins of Nalanda University. The contemporary university commenced operations in 2014 at a provisional site with an initial cohort of 14 students, and construction began in 2017. The new campus is a Net Zero Green Campus, designed to be self-sustaining with solar power installations, domestic and drinking water treatment facilities, a water recycling plant for reusing wastewater. 100 acres of water bodies, and numerous other eco-friendly amenities.
Understanding the Importance of Nalanda University
Nalanda University, a Buddhist monastic university, was founded in 427 CF by emperor Kumaragupta and is considered to be the world’s first residential university.
milligazette.com
It was a well known learning centre and thousands of students from around the world studied different subjects like science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy.
Nalanda University was established 500 years before Oxford University and Europe’s oldest university, Bologna. It was also home to around nine million books.
medium.com
In the 1190g, the university was destroyed by a troop of invaders led by Turko-Afghan military general Bakhtiyar Khilji. The campus was so vast that the fire set on by the attackers is said to have burned for three months!
The archaeological remains of Nalanda are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
