Category Archives: Amazing Feats

INTERNATIONAL / SOUTH ASIA: BUSINESS & ECONOMY / FINTECH: India and Singapore Launch UPI-PayNow Linkage making it the First Country with cross-border Person to Person (P2P) Payment Facilities.

The move will aid the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially students and migrant workers, by allowing instantaneous and low-cost money transfers between the two countries.

India’s Unified Payments Interface — better known as UPI — and Singapore’s PayNow were officially connected on Tuesday, allow for a “real-time payment linkage”. The virtual launch was led by a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. 

“Today is a special day for India-Singapore friendship and for our efforts to deepen collaboration in FinTech and innovaton. The participation of my friend PM Lee Sien Loong made this morning’s programme even more special,” Mr. Modi said. The linkage is set to ease financial transactions for the Indian diaspora.

Singapore has now became the first country with which cross-border Person to Person (P2P) payment facilities have been launched. “This will help the Indian diaspora in Singapore, especially migrant workers/students and bring the benefits of digitalisation and FINTECH to the common man through instantaneous and low-cost transfer of money from Singapore to India and vice-versa,” said the Ministry of External Affairs. UPI payments through QR codes are already taking place in Singapore, though at a limited number of outlets. 

“Delighted to launch the linkage between PayNow and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with PM Narendra Modi today. Congratulations to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Reserve Bank of India and all the stakeholders in Singapore and India who have helped make the linkage a reality,” Lee Hsien Loong said at the event.

Demonstrating the link, the Reserve Bank of India’s Governor Shaktikanta Das and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Managing Director Ravi Menon made live “cross-border transactions” to each other using their mobile handsets. 

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD: Indian-origin California-based Engineer Karthik Subramaniam Wins the Top ‘National Geographic Picture of the Year Photography Award’ for his Photograph of the Bald Eagles catching Salmon in Alaska titled ‘Dance of the Eagles’

The prize-winning picture was captured on the final day of his week-long photography trip to Alaska, in Eagle Preserve, where he watched bald eagles catch salmon from the water.

Karthik Subramaniam, an Indian-origin software engineer in the U.S. and a hobbyist photographer, has won the prestigious National Geographic’s ‘Pictures of The Year’ award with his photograph titled “Dance of the Eagles”.

Selected from nearly 5,000 entries, Subramaniam’s picture won the grand prize on Friday, earning him a feature in the magazine’s May issue alongside Nat Geo’s leading photographers.

The award-winning photograph captured a bald eagle intimidating its peers to claim a prime log while salmon hunting in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska.

“Every year in November, hundreds of bald eagles gather at Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska, to feast on salmon. I visited there last two November to photograph them,” Subramaniam was quoted as saying in the statement.

Salmon and chaos

Camped in the preserve, waiting for the perfect click, Subramaniam’s motto was, “Wherever there’s salmon there’s going to be chaos.”

The California-based software engineer started experimenting with wildlife photography only after being grounded by the pandemic in 2020, before which he used to capture landscapes and his travels.

The prize-winning picture was captured on the final day of his week-long photography trip to Alaska, in Eagle Preserve, where he watched bald eagles catch salmon from the water.

“They (the eagles) also seemed to have some favourite spots to hang out, and usually, commotion ensues when an eagle wants an already occupied spot. This photo was taken during one such commotion,” Subramaniam was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Hours of observing their patterns and behaviour helped me capture moments like these,” he added.

Homage to George R.R. Martin

According to the statement, he titled the photograph “Dance of the Eagles” as a homage to a fictional dragon war in George R.R. Martin’s novel A Dance with Dragons.

In recognition of his work, Subramaniam also received a six-month digital subscription to the magazine.

Tied to the annual ‘Pictures of the Year’ list featuring National Geographic’s top images of the year — 118 out of more than 2 million total — the photo contest invited aspiring photographers from across the country to submit the favourite image they captured in 2022, broken into four categories: Nature, People, Places and Animals, the statement said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: TRANSPORT: RAILWAYS: India Railway’s, Railway Protection Force (RPF) to Host the Paris based – ‘International Union of Railways’ ’18th World Security Congress (WSC) 2023’ in Jaipur, Feb 21-23rd

The WSC will start on February 21 to continue till February 23 with experts and officials participating from across the world.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is all set to host the International Union of Railways’ 18th World Security Congress (WSC) to deliberate upon the various aspects of security.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is the law-enforcing agency of Indian Railways (IR) which is hosting the 18th World Security Congress (WSC) at Jaipur.

The WSC will start on February 21 to continue till February 23 with experts and officials participating from across the world.

The Ministry of Railways on Monday said that the theme of this year’s WSC has been set as ‘Railway Security Strategy: Responses and Vision for Future’.

The International Union of Railways is headquartered in Paris and represents the railway sector promoting rail transport worldwide. Railway said that the WSC will be attended by the heads of security of railway organisations from across the world, apart from the concerned officials of UIC and partner agency RPF of Indian Railway.

“It will be an event befitting with the occasion of India taking on the leadership of hosting railway security delegates from around the world,” said DG PR Railway Yogesh Baweja on Monday in a statement. He added that DG RPF has been made chair of the WSC platform, starting in pink city Jaipur from Tuesday over railway security vision and aspects.

“Sanjay Chander- DG RPF has taken up measures to enhance the involvement of member- organisations operating in Asia, Africa and several other developing countries with similar demographic patterns so that their voice could be heard and concerns addressed at multilateral platforms provided by the UIC,” he said.

The RPF will be the host for engaging with delegates (security representatives) of the member organisations of the International Union of Railways which is called UIC.

The DG PR Railway said that the entire congress has been divided into 4 sessions with underlying sub-themes Protecting Critical Assets and Freights, Human security Approach, the best railway security tools and practices across the world and Visison-2030. Earlier, the same congress was organised in 2006 and 2015 by the RPF hosting the International Union of Railways in New Delhi.

RPF DG Sanjay Chander has also taken over the chairmanship of the International UIC Security Platforms from July 2022 to July 2024. The UIC promotes strategic and tactical cooperation amongst world railway sectors as it negotiates its evolving relationship with global governments and security across the continents.

“In a global scenario where criminal elements exploit the advantages of networking to devise newer ways and means of attack, it is highly imperative that positive forces also come together to face such challenges,” the DG PR Railway said. 

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: SPACE / SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: Wings of fire: Chennai-based Space Kidz India Launches AzaadiSAT, which Involves 750 Schoolgirls.  AzaadiSAT – the ‘First STEM Project in the World Comprising All-Girls’

Schoolgirls had to remotely build payloads (transport of data across a network) and write codes for the satellite to be launched into space.

It seemed like a flight of fancy a year ago for Tanvi Patel. The tenth grader and a science enthusiast from Shri BS Patel Kanya Vidyalaya in Mahesana, Gujarat, was chosen to be part of an ambitious space plan. Called AzaadiSAT, the project involved 750 girls like her from government schools across India.

They had to remotely build payloads (transport of data across a network) and write codes for the satellite to be launched into space. On February 10, as part of the ISRO’s SSLV-D2 launch, the small, eight-kg CubeSat blasted off into space from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. How does Patel wish to celebrate? 

“I want to hug Srimathy ma’am for making me a Space Star,” she says. Dr Srimathy Kesan is the brain behind the communication satellite. The 49-year-old founder and CEO of Space Kidz India (SKI), a Chennai-based science and space technology incubator, made AzaadiSAT the first STEM project in the world comprising all girls.

Founded in 2011 with the mission to help young minds ‘savour space sciences’, SKI runs three-month modules—from the solar system and galaxy to robotics and drones—for various age groups. So far SKI has trained 3,500 kids in space exploration of whom about 100 are already working with companies that are into robotics and drone startups across India.

Incidentally, Kesan herself is neither a space scientist nor an aeronautical engineer. “In school, 
I was an NCC cadet and was chosen as a paratrooper. Paratrooping put me in the sky and the space bug bit me,” she recalls.

The tipping point came in 2009 when her friend mentioned a global conference being held in Miami. “I had to be there,” she says. It was in Florida that she got an opportunity to interact with NASA representatives who had set up a kiosk to talk about their programmes. NASA had several initiatives for young school students and that same year, she managed to fly a batch of 108 students to the US to give them a taste of space.

Since then, Kesan has taken around 3,500 youngsters to various space workshops. In 2013, SKI started the Young Scientist India programme to identify high school students who could be mentored to become space scientists. Kesan herself was part of the one-day astronaut programme in Florida in December 2022 where she was handpicked to join celebrity NASA astronaut Charlie Duke, becoming the first Indian woman to experience zero gravity.

How did a commerce student become a space ninja? “Reading NASA news, attending workshops/seminars at the US space agency, taking copious notes and googling like crazy about anything related to satellites,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes. 

In 2022, Kesan pitched the idea to include 750 girls from government schools to build an indigenous satellite to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a Zoom call where some space startups were meeting. “The PM instructed the government officials to offer me all help needed,” she says.

ISRO gave them technical support and other incidental expenses for the programmes were sanctioned by Hexaware Technologies, a Mumbai-based IT services company. Anna University, Chennai, gave them the space to build the satellite. The students were picked based on their enthusiasm to learn fast. The space lover, wants to take kids to the moon in the next five years. Audacity is, indeed, Kesan’s first name.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE: India to Organise World Hindi Conference in Fiji, Feb 15-17

India is set to organise World Hindi Conference between February 15-17 in Fiji.

A 270-member delegation from India will visit Fiji for the event.

Representatives from 50 countries will participate in the event and representatives from South and Northeast India will be presenting papers at the conference.

“Hindi has made limited progress in the United Nations. U.N. press releases are now available in Hindi. We are trying to get Hindi its rightful place at the U.N.” said Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), MEA.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL : RECORDS: India Rated Among Top 5 Accreditation Systems in the World: Report

According to the index, India was ranked 21st in terms of metrology and ninth in standardisation.

India has been placed at the fifth position out of 184 countries in terms of its accreditation system, according to the recently released Global Quality Infrastructure Index (GQII) 2021.

The GQII ranks 184 economies on the basis of their quality infrastructure (QI).

India’s overall QI system ranking continues to be tenth.

According to the index, India was ranked 21st in terms of metrology and ninth in standardisation.

The report was released in December 2022.

“We are proud that India is rated among the top five accrediting systems in the world…We anticipate that India will pave the way for more collaborations aimed at creating resilient systems of high-quality infrastructure,” the Quality Council of India (QCI) said in a tweet.

The report said geographically, the top 25 are mainly located in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, with some exceptions, such as India (10th), Brazil (13th), Australia (14th), and Turkey (16th).

While QCI is the national body for accreditation, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the main body for formulation of standards and the Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research – National Physical Laboratory (CSIR–NPL) for the metrology system.

“India’s accreditation system is the youngest among the three QI pillars in India, and we have jumped to global fifth within a year in these rankings,” said Jaxay Shah, Chairperson, QCI.

QI is the technical backbone for international trade, with metrology, standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment services providing reliability and trust between trading partners.

The GQII measures the relative development of countries’ QI.

Accreditation helps establish the competence and credibility of conformity assessment bodies which perform testing, certification and inspection.

The national accreditation system as per international standards in India is established by the QCI.

The system is operated through the constituent boards of QCI, primarily the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies, which provides accreditation to the certification, inspection, and validation/ verification bodies, and the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, which provides accreditation to the testing, calibration and medical laboratories.

The GQII rankings are published and presented post-facto for each year based on the data collected till the end of that year.

The 2021 rankings are based on data till end of December 2021, collected and analysed through 2022.

It is an initiative on metrology, standardisation, accreditation and related services, supported by Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION: India’s First new Mobility- Focussed Cluster – the ‘Telangana Mobility Valley’ (TMV) announced by Telangana

KTR said that the Hyderabad E-Mobility Week would be held regularly to foster collaboration by bringing together the thought leaders.

Telangana today announced India’s first new mobility-focused cluster, Telangana Mobility Valley (TMV), at the first edition of Mobility Next Hyderabad Summit – part of the Hyderabad E-Mobility Week, to further accelerate the growth of sustainable mobility in India.

Sharing the details of the TMV, KT Rama Rao, Minister for IT E&C, MA&UD and Industries & Commerce, in his inaugural address, said, “Telangana Mobility Valley will create best-in-class infrastructure making Telangana the most competitive destination for both manufacturing and E R&D in India.”

“TMV aims to attract investments of around Rs 50,000 crore and generate more than 4 lakh jobs in the next 5 years. For this, the State is developing 4 Mega clusters in and around Hyderabad- EV Manufacturing cluster in Zaheerabad, an EV Manufacturing cluster in Seetharampur, Energy storage system (ESS) cluster in Divitipally and Innovation cluster at Yenkathala.

Each of the clusters will be equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure to reduce the cost of operations for their tenant,” the Minister added.

Rama Rao said, “Further, investments aggregating Rs 3,000+ Cr are in advanced stages and will be announced in the next 2 weeks. These investments will further strengthen Electric 3-wheeler, Electric 2-wheeler and charging equipment manufacturing ecosystem in Telangana.”

“TMV aims to facilitate companies across all segments of sustainable mobility including Electric 2Wheelers/ 3 wheelers/ 4 wheelers, Advanced Cell Chemistry and Hydrogen fuel cells, Tier 1 and Tier 2 Component manufacturers and Auto Engineering R&D companies among others,” the Minister added.

Rama Rao said that the Hyderabad E-Mobility Week would be held regularly to foster collaboration by bringing together the thought leaders, experts, and global automotive ecosystem players to chart a course for sustainable mobility.

As part of the event, the State also announced three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) — ATS-TUV Rheinland MoU with Telangana Government; Bosch Global Software Technologies MoU with BITS Hyderabad, and Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge’s (TASK) MoU with Shell.

Delivering the keynote address, Hizmy Hassen, Chief Digital Officer, Apollo Tyres Ltd, said, “The E-Mobility Week along with other investments by the Government of Telangana is another show of great public sector commitment.

The broader automotive industry should take advantage of these incentives and excellent infrastructure to accelerate sustainability in mobility. The industry needs to come together along with policymakers towards the common goal of making it more sustainable for decades to come.”

Talking about the future of sustainable mobility, Christian Cahn von Seelen, Executive Director, Sales, Marketing & Digital, Volkswagen Group India, said, “Sustainable mobility is achievable through the right cooperation between all stakeholders, including the supportive government policies in India.

The G20 presidency of India offers a huge opportunity and there is a strong drive from various industries to address the challenges of climate change. With hard work and dedication, we can remain optimistic and see the realization of sustainable mobility in the future.”

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, and Industries & Commerce Departments, Govt. of Telangana gave the vote of thanks.

The summit saw participation from government, academia, and industry including Kamal Bali, President and MD, Volvo Group India, Nikolaus Lang, Sr. Partner & MD, Global Leader- Global Advantage Practice, BCG, Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India & South Asia, Shrikant Sinha, CEO, Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge – TASK, Suman Mishra, CEO, Mahindra Last Mile Mobility Division, Dirk Adamczyk, SVP, Engineering Solutions ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Mamatha Chamarthi, SVP Business & Product Management, Stellantis, and Dr. Amaresh Chakrabarti, Chair, Centre for Product Design & Manufacturing, Indian Institute of Science, among others.

For more information and to register for Mobility Next Hyderabad 2023, please visit the event’s website at www.evhyderabad.in/mobility-next.

source/content: siasat.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: DEFENCE / AVIATION: PM Modi Unveils India’s Biggest Helicopter Manufacturing Facility at HAL, Tumakuru

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s helicopter factory — the country’s largest chopper manufacturing facility — in Tumakuru district of Karnataka.

Bengaluru-headquartered HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3-15 tonne with a total business of more than Rs 4 lakh crore over a period of 20 years at this facility in Gubbi taluk, officials said.

The factory, spread across 615 acres for which the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone in 2016, would initially manufacture Light Utility Helicopters (LUH)).

It will enable India to meet its entire requirement of helicopters without import and giving much-needed fillip to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in helicopter design, development, and manufacture, they said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior officials of Ministry of Defence were among those present on the occasion.

“It is a dedicated new greenfield helicopter factory which will enhance India’s capacity and ecosystem to build helicopters,” Singh said.


Assembly polls in Karnataka are due by May.

PM Modi unveiled the LUH, which has been flight tested. The LUH is an indigenously designed and developed three-tonne class, single-engine multipurpose utility helicopter. Initially, the factory will produce around 30 helicopters per year and can be enhanced to 60 and then 90 every year in a phased manner, according to the Defence Ministry.

The factory will be augmented to produce other helicopters such as Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) and Indian Multirole Helicopters (IMRHs). It will also be used for maintenance, repair and overhaul of LCH, LUH, Civil Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and IMRH in the future.

Potential exports of civil LUH will also be catered to from this factory, which is being equipped with state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 standard tools and techniques for its operations, officials said.

The proximity of the factory, with the existing HAL facilities in Bengaluru, will boost the aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in the region and support skill and infrastructure development such as schools, colleges and residential areas, it was noted.

The factory is fully operational after the establishment of facilities like heli-runway, flight hangar, final assembly hangar, structure assembly hangar, air traffic control and various supporting service facilities, officials said.

source/content: english.varthabharati.in (headline edited)

GLOBAL RECORDS: ARTS & CULTURE / MUSIC: Music Composer Ricky Kej Wins 3rd Grammy Award for ‘Divine Tides’, Dedicates Honour to India

Music composer Ricky Kej, based out of Bengaluru, has won his third Grammy Award for the album ‘Divine Tides’ and dedicated the honour to his home country, India.

The US-born musician shared the award with Stewart Copeland, the drummer of the iconic British rock band The Police, who collaborated with Kej on the album.

At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, the duo earned the gramophone trophy in the best immersive audio album winner category. They had won a Grammy in the best new age album category for the same album last year.

“Congrats Best Immersive Audio Album winner – ‘Divine Tides’ Eric Schilling, immersive mix engineer; @copelandmusic, @rickykej & Herbert Waltl, immersive producers (Stewart Copeland & Ricky Kej) #GRAMMYs,” announced the Recording Academy, the organisation behind Grammy Awards, on its official Twitter page on Sunday night.

Kej said he was “grateful” for the recognition.

“Just won my 3rd Grammy Award. Extremely grateful, am speechless! I dedicate this Award to India. @copelandmusic. Herbert Waltl Eric Schilling Vanil Veigas Lonnie Park,” the composer captioned a series of pictures on his Twitter page.

Other nominees in the category were: Christina Aguilera (‘Aguilera’), The Chainsmokers (‘Memories… Do Not Open’), Jane Ira Bloom (‘Picturing The Invisible- Focus 1’), and Nidarosdomens Jentekor & Trondeheimsolistene (‘Tuvahyun – Beatitudes for a Wounded World’).

‘Divine Tides’ is a nine-song album that aims to deliver the message that “each individual life plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance that serves all equally”.

Kej took home his first Grammy in the best new age album category for ‘Winds of Samsara’ back in 2015.

As part of his work with The Police, Copeland has won five Grammys. With Kej as collaborator, this is his second award.

source/content: english.varthabharati.in (headline edited)

NATIONAL: HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES / VACCINES: INDIA’S FIRST INTRANASAL COVID-19 VACCINE – 3 Lakh Doses of Intranasal Covid Vaccine ‘iNCOVACC’ sent to Hospitals: Bharat Biotech’s Krishna Ella

iNCOVACC, the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, was launched on January 26.

Bharat Biotech dispatched three lakh doses of its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago, the company’s executive chairman Krishna Ella said on Sunday.

Mr. Ella was speaking on the sidelines of an event here at which a bilateral agreement was signed between the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) and the Ella Foundation for the establishment of the first-ever UW-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru.

iNCOVACC, the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, was launched on January 26. The vaccine is now available on CoWIN and priced at ₹800 for private markets and ₹325 for the government of India and State governments.

“We dispatched three lakh doses of the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago,” Mr. Ella said.

On whether Bharat Biotech is looking at exporting the vaccine, he said some countries and international agencies are approaching the company for the intra-nasal vaccine.

iNCOVACC is also the world’s first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to receive approval for the primary 2-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose for adults.

Mr. Ella said the UW-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

It will advance the development and production of new vaccines for India. Furthermore, the partnership will enable collaboration across disciplines and geographic boundaries, provide Indian students and researchers access to UW expertise and training, and build research capacity in India, he said.

“Both Ella Foundation and UW-Madison GHI share a common vision to advance innovation in science, research, and knowledge sharing. Establishing the UW-Madison Global One Health Centre holds great significance as it will advance global health through research, education, and community engagement by facilitating student, faculty exchanges, research and education,” he added.

UW-Madison GHI director Jorge Osorio said, “We are energised by the opportunity to partner with the Ella Foundation to bring UW knowledge and expertise to expand innovative and impactful health initiatives outside Wisconsin to India.”

The India One Health Centre joins a global network that includes Africa and Latin America and will open new opportunities for research, education, and provide actionable outcomes to benefit humans, animals, and ecosystems that advance equitable and sustainable health across India and the world.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)