1. Singapore`s Deputy PM to join Sushma Swaraj at ASEAN-India PBD in Singapore.
Singapore`s Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will join India`s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for a two-day ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to be held in Singapore next month.
Indian High Commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf said , apart from Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari and chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Assam, N Chandrababu Naidu and Sarbananda Sonowal, will also attend the function on 6-7 January,2018.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated every year to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India.
2. Worlds Longest Glass Bridge Opens in China.
The world’s longest glass bridge was opened to the public on Sunday. It is located in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province near Bejing, the capital of China.
The bridge stretches 488 meters long and two meters wide. It stands at 218 meters above the valley between two steep cliffs in Hongyagu Scenic Area in Pingshan county.
It is made of 1,077 panes of transparent glass with each being four centimeters thick and weighs a total of 70 metric tons.
The sky bridge is designed in a such a way that it swings a little when visitors walk to its center.
Hebei Group, the local tourism company that built the bridge said that the movement of the bridge was included to create a thrill among the visitors.
According to a video by People’s Daily China, Liu Qiqi, in charge of the project, said the bridge can support up to 2,000 people, however, only 500 people will be on it at one time.
Walking on the transparent bridge will be quite a daredevil heart and it does not seem to be for the faint-hearted. Along with being located at quite a height, the transparent floor could be spine-chilling for visitors. However, the view from the top is spectacular.
Quite some glass-floor bridges have been built in China in the recent past.
Last year, a 430-meter-long and six meters wide bridge opened last year in the Grand Canyon Scenic Area in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
Located in the UNESCO world heritage site, it was temporarily closed after a huge influx of tourists. It was said to be the longest and highest bridge of its kind in the world.
However, the recent one at Hongyagu is the only one in China supported by structures beneath the span, Liu said.
4. China successfully tested its first Photovoltaic road.
China successfully tested its first photovoltaic highway based on home-grown technology in the country’s eastern Shandong province on Thursday, according to reports from Xinhua. The road has wireless charging systems for electric vehicles.
The road is constructed using solar panels which have a thin sheet of clear concrete on top of them, protecting the surface.
The panels were built to transfer energy to electric vehicles passing on top of them.
The one-kilometre segment of solar-powered highway covers a surface area of 5,875 sq.m. The stretch has three layers. At the bottom is an insulator to prevent moisture from getting to the photovoltaic devices in the middle layer, and on top is the layer of transparent concrete.
The tested segment of highway can generate 817.2 KW of power and is expected to generate 1 million KW hours of electricity each year. The electricity generated will be connected to China’s national power grid.
China has become the second country to construct a photovoltaic highway. France was introduced the world’s first photovoltaic road fitted with solar panels in late 2016.
4. US and Turkey open gates for visa services.
The US embassy in Turkey has announced it is resuming normal visa services for Turkish citizens, saying Turkish authorities fulfilled assurances no local staff would be detained or arrested for performing their duties.
But Turkey swiftly denied having granted such assurances in the affair that has tested relations since the two local employees of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul were held on suspicion of ties to last year`s failed coup against President Tayyip Erdogan.
The United States suspended visa services at its missions in Turkey in October and Turkey reciprocated. In November, Washington said it was resuming limited services upon getting assurances on the safety of its local staff.
"Based on adherence to these assurances, the Department of State is confident that the security posture has improved sufficiently to allow for the full resumption of visa services in Turkey," the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said on Thursday. It said the United States continued to have concerns about the two employees detained.
Turkey, while announcing the end of restrictions on the issue of visas to U.S. citizens, took issue with the U.S. declaration.
"We do not find it right for the United States to claim it had received assurances from Turkey and misinform the U.S. and Turkish publics," the Turkish Embassy in Washington said in a statement.