Why in News?

• Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the  world’s largest dome at the  Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT)’s World Peace University (MIT-
  WPU) campus at Loni Kalbhor on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Background:

•  Institute authorities have said the structure, called the ‘World Peace Monument’ dome, took nearly 13 years to build. At 160 ft in diameter and 263 ft tall, it is larger in area than the dome at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (which is 136 ft. in diameter and 448 ft. in height).
•   It is the outcome of 13 years of sheer dedication and untiring efforts against all odds by a teacher, Dr. Vishwanath Karad, who was deeply inspired by the teachings of apostles, saints, philosophers and scientists down the ages. He said that the world is one family – ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – which is an ancient Indian concept and it is a humble attempt to create an edifice befitting the glory of Mother India
•  It is supported by 24 massive columns, each 63 feet tall, at the periphery of the dome and underneath — inside and outside — stand imposing bronze statues of 54 of the biggest names in world history stand, irrespective of nationality or religion002E
•  Among the statues are: Gautam Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mahavir, Moses, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi; intellectual giants like Confucius, Adi Shankaracharya, Aristotle, Aryabhatta, Socrates, Plato, Galileo and Copernicus; philosopher-saints like Dnyaneshwara, Tukaram, Abdullah Shah Qadri (famous as Baba Bulleh Shah), Francis D’Assissi, Peter, Mother Teresa and Kabir; and scientists like Albert Einstein, Thomas Alva Edison, C.V. Raman, Jagadish Chandra Bose and Marie S. Curie.