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Dubai promises a rollicking ride in world’s largest indoor theme park

• The world’s largest indoor theme park, featuring popular Marvel and Cartoon Network-branded rides, has opened its doors to the public in the Middle East’s tourist hub of Dubai the latest in a myriad of new attractions here. The first visitors at the park, spread over an expanse of 1.5 million square feet, reflected the diverse crowds that visit Dubai and live in the city, home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Middle East’s largest mall and a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree that is dotted with luxury hotels.

NASA-DNA

• NASA has successfully conducted the first genome sequencing in space aboard the International Space Station.

Kerala getting ready for mock tsunami drill

• A powerful undersea earthquake in the Makran Trench south of Iran and Pakistan generates tsunami waves, triggering an alert across the Indian Ocean region. Soon, the Disaster Management machinery in Kerala swings into action to prepare the coastal communities for evacuation.The scenario will be played out in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kozhikode and Kasaragod districts on September 8 as a simulation exercise to test the State’s disaster preparedness. Codenamed Indian Ocean Wave 2016, the mock drill is part of a massive multinational exercise organised by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Prime Minister to begin tour of East Asia from Vietnam

• India’s position on the South China Sea and the newly evolving defence partnership with the United States for the Asia-Pacific region will be in focus over the next week as Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Southeast Asia and China to participate in a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings. The eastern outreach is important in view of the July 12 declaration of the Permanent Court of Arbitration challenging China’s territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea region, the heart of Southeast Asia. The outreach will begin on September 2 with Mr. Modi leaving for Vietnam before proceeding to Hangzhou in China for the G-20 summit on September 4 and 5.Vietnam is a significant partner of India as it is the country-coordinator of India in ASEAN. The Prime Ministerial delegation will then move to Hangzhou in China which is the venue of the 2016 G 20 summit. The delegation for G 20 will include Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and the Indian sherpa for G20, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya.

Gujarat signs MoU to build small airports

• The Gujarat government has inked a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to develop 11 small airports and airstrips under the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) to boost regional air connectivity in the State.As per the MoU provisions, Gujarat and the Centre will jointly undertake development and upgrading of infrastructure in 11 unserved or underserved airports and airstrips in Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Surat, Porbandar, Mehsana, Mandavi, Amreli, Kandla, Keshod and Deesa. The Centre will provide the financial resources under viability gap funding of the RCS.

Maternity leave increased to 9 months

• In an announcement that would benefit several women government servants in the State, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has announced that maternity leave would be increased to nine months from the existing six months. Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly, Ms. Jayalalithaa said her announcement was to fulfil the promises her party had made in its election manifesto. She also recalled that it was she who, in May 2011, increased the maternity leave to six months from 90 days.

India to clock 8-10% growth

• Despite registering the slowest growth rate in the last six quarters in April-June period, India has the potential to sustain 8 to 10 per cent growth rate during the next two to three years, said Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor. “First quarter GDP growth number came out yesterday. GDP growth was 7.1 per cent in first quarter. As per my estimate, India’s potential growth rate is between 8 and 10 per cent in next two to three years,” Dr. Subramanian said, addressing an Economic Survey Outreach programme here.

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Courtesy: The Hindu