Top 10 world news: Chinese vessel heads towards Maldives, Ram Temple consecration ceremony, and more

The Indian Navy released a statement saying that it is keeping a close watch as the Chinese ocean research vessel XIANG YANG HONG 03 is reportedly heading towards Male, the capital city of the Maldives. In other news, the much-awaited consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple took place in India's holy city of Ayodhya. The temple is set to open for devotees across the world on Jan 23 giving a major boost to tourism in the city.

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In a developing maritime situation, the Indian Navy is closely monitoring the movement of the Chinese ocean research vessel XIANG YANG HONG 03, which is reported to be heading towards Male, the capital of the Maldives. Defence sources have confirmed to WION that the Indian Navy is well aware of the presence of the vessel and has been monitoring its movement.

As the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir concludes, the Indian holy city of Ayodhya is already abuzz with lots of economic activity. According to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the ceremony alone generated business worth more than INR 100,000 crore across India. And now that the temple will be open for devotees from January 23, Ayodhya is set to witness a drastic rise in religious tourism.

Canada is set to slash the number of international student permits by 35 per cent in 2025 as a part of its two-year limit on international student admissions, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced on Monday morning (Jan 22).While addressing a press conference earlier today, Miller claimed that the move would provide the government with an opportunity to manage the exploitative system of high tuition fees being charged by the institutions.

Australia announced its decision to end a major visa programme that was targeted at attracting wealthy investors.Affluent overseas investors were granted the right to live in the country under the plan dubbed as "golden visa" scheme.The Australian government decided to terminate it in an immigration overhaul after it was found that the visa programme was not delivering the desired economic outcomes.

While most polls show incumbent US President Joe Biden as an underdog in his anticipated contest against Republican ex-US President Donald Trump, another Democrat, Dean Phillips, from Minnesota is vowing to change the equation of the 2024 elections with his own presidential bid. In a recent interview, the Minnesota Congressman said “Joe Biden is one of the least well-positioned Democrats to take on this mission.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (Jan 22) announced a scheme to install rooftop solar systems in 10 million homes nationwide."Today, on the auspicious occasion of consecration in Ayodhya, my resolution got further strengthened that the people of India should have their own solar rooftop system on the roof of their houses," Modi said on X.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the 2023 T20I Team of the Year and four Indians have managed to make the cut. Among the four Indians are: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh. Surya has been named the captain of the side as well. There is not a single player who managed to make it to the team from Australia, Pakistan, South Africa or Bangladesh.

Last year this time, SS Rajamouli'sRRRwas making waves and collecting awards at various international film awards.RRR's hit songNaatu Naatueventually created history at the Oscars 2023 as it earned the Best Original Song award,making it the first song of an Indian film to earn such an accolade.

China's chief intelligence agency posted on social media a comic strip featuring foreign-looking characters secretly extracting rare earths, in a story portraying the country's strategic metals under threat from covetous "overseas organisations".The comic strip, published on Sunday on the State Security Ministry's official WeChat account, showed security officers uncovering "suspicious" exploration and mapping activities by a group of people supposedly doing survey work for real estate development.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (Jan 22) expressed joy and congratulated devotees in a heartfelt speech at the 'Pran Prathistha' or consecration ceremony in Ram Mandir Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya where he said that Lord Ram will no longer stay in a tent but in a grand temple.