NATIONAL: ARTS & CRAFTS: 900 Craftsmen behind Carpets for new Parliament building

The intricacies of the workmanship are so grand that as many as 120 knots per square inch were woven to create the carpets — amounting to over 600 million knots approximately in total.

 At least 900 master craftsmen from two villages in Uttar Pradesh — Bhadohi and Mirzapur — worked for about 18 months and hand-knotted carpets to adorn the new Parliament building, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. They crafted 158 carpets for Lok Sabha and 156 for the Upper House before stitching them into a single carpet in the form of a semi-circle to sync with the architecture of both Houses covering an area of 35,000 square feet (sqft). 

The intricacies of the workmanship are so grand that as many as 120 knots per square inch were woven to create the carpets — amounting to over 600 million knots approximately in total. While the carpets in Lok Sabha have the most intricate motifs of the peacock — symbolising India’s national bird, the rugs in Rajya Sabha showcase the exquisite motifs of the national flower — the lotus. Their colour has been primarily inspired by the shade of Kokum Red.

These carpets, adorned with meticulously crafted patterns and embellished with 20-25 shades, stand as a testament to India’s unparalleled artistry. The shade of floor covering in the Lok Sabha is based on Indian agave green, with inspiration from the plumes of the Indian peacock. 

Rudra Chatterjee, Chairman of Obeetee Carpets, the company which had prepared the carpets, said that the mammoth exercise to create the magnificent carpets for Parliament took over a year and a half.  “We began the project in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic.

The weaving process started by September 2021 and it was over by May 2022, and the installation commenced in November 2022. Crafting each carpet with a high density of 120 knots per square inch took approximately seven months. Being entrusted with the Central Vista project is an incredible honour for us at Obeetee,” he said.  

The workers spent a whopping 10 lakh man-hours, Chatterjee said. The craftsmen hailing from Bhadohi and Mirzapur are carrying on a legacy dating to Mughal Emperor Akbar.  As the legend goes, Akbar had an exceptional fondness for carpets so he decided to bring the finest Persian artists and weavers to India. During that journey, when they reached Gopiganj, a small town in modern Uttar Pradesh, their caravan was attacked by bandits. The weavers who survived that onslaught took shelter in villages around that area, this making Mirzapur famous for carpet weaving. 

“The carpet designs were conceived with great reverence for the halls, exuding intricate artistry, vibrant colours, and subtle elegance. Crafted at Obeetee’s own factory headquarters in Mirzapur, the manufacturing procedure was a tedious process as the weavers had to craft the carpets for halls measuring up to 17,500 square feet each,” Chatterjee added.  Obeetee was founded around 103 years ago by three British entrepreneurs, soon after World War 1 — the name of the company resembles the initials of their three names. 

Carrying on Akbar legacy 
The craftsmen from Bhadohi and Mirzapur are carrying on a legacy dating to Emperor Akbar. As the legend goes, Akbar had fondness for carpets so he decided to bring the finest Persian artists, and weavers to India. 

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: CAG of India, Girish Chandra Murmu Re-elected as External Auditor of World Health Organization (WHO) for 4-year term 2024-27

“The CAG of India was reelected with an overwhelming majority (114 out of 156 votes) in the first round of voting itself,” the CAG said in a statement.

Girish Chandra Murmu, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), has been re-elected as the External Auditor of the World Health Organization (WHO) for a four-year term from 2024 to 2027.

The CAG is already holding this position in the WHO since 2019 for a four-year term from 2019 to 2023. The re-election was held on Monday at the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where the CAG of India was re-elected with an overwhelming majority (114 out of 156 votes) in the first round of voting itself.

Mr. Murmu was present in the meeting. After the election, in his address to the World Health Assembly, he outlined his vision as External Auditor for the WHO while emphasising the process of improvement for better outcomes, transparency and professional approach.

“This is the second major international audit assignment for the CAG this year following his selection for the post of External Auditor (2024-2027) of International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva earlier this year in March 2023,” said a CAG statement.

Besides the WHO, the CAG of India is currently the External Auditor of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (2020-2025), International Atomic Energy Agency (2022-2027), Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (2021-2023) and Inter Parliamentary Union (2020-2022).

The CAG is a Member of the United Nations Panel of External Auditors. He is also a member of the Governing Boards of International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions and ASOSAI. “The CAG chairs the INTOSAI Knowledge Sharing Committee, its Working Group on IT Audit, and the Compliance Audit Sub-Committee,” it said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

ASIA: SPORTS / VOLLEYBALL: India Clinches Gold in Central Asian Volleyball Associations (CAVA) Volleyball Challenge Cup for Women

India defeated Kazakhstan 25-15, 25-22, 25-18 in the final to clinch gold in the Central Asian Volleyball Associations (CAVA) Volleyball Challenge Cup for Women in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Professor Dr. Achyuta Samanta, MP and president, Volleyball Federation of India (VFI), S. Vasudevan, chairman, VFI, and other office-bearers congratulated the players and the coaching staff.

The team was led by Nirmal Tanwar. Pritam Singh Chauhan was the head coach and Vaishali Phadtare the assistant coach.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: SCIENCE & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY: VACCINES: India Develops First Local Test to Detect Flu, Covid in Single Swab

The Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) has developed the kit, known as a multiplex single tube realtime RT-PCR test.

The National Institute of Virology has developed the first indigenous testing kit to detect three infections—Influenza A, B and SARS-CoV-2—through a single kit, and wants interested companies to take it to the mass market.

The kit is what is known as a multiplex single tube realtime RT-PCR test to detect Influenza A, B and Covid-19, said Dr Varsha Potdar, head of NIV Pune’s influenza division.

“This will be an easy, time saving and efficient way of detecting three infections through a single test,” she said. “Single tube essentially means that using a person’s single sample, we will be able to diagnose multiple infections. Technicians will not have to test the sample separately.”

Symptoms of the three infections tend to overlap, making a kit such as this particularly useful during flu seasons.

The institute, a constituent of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), on May 15 invited expressions of interest (EoI) from companies to manufacture the kits in bulk, Dr Potdar said.

The test kit will use nasal and throat swabs of a patient, similar to the Covid-19 testing kits, but technicians will be able to use the sample for multiple disease detection, she added.

The institute now wants to hand over the technology to licensees or manufacturers “to enable them to commercialise the technology for societal benefit.”

“The company chosen shall undertake the scale-up as required, manufacturing and commercialiation of the technology and will share the technical data with ICMR,” the EoI document said.

Multiplex testing in molecular tests refers to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that simultaneously detects multiple pathogens in a single reaction with a single sample.

While such technology is in different stages of development in various countries, this is the first indigenously developed kit that India will produce.

“We have set June 14 as the last date for companies to submit their interest,” Dr Potdar said. “Based on the applications we receive, we will evaluate the best candidate.”

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is also working on the Influenza SARS-CoV-2 (Flu SC2) Multiplex Assay, which is a real-time reverse-transcription PCR laboratory test that can simultaneously detect and differentiate between Influenza A, Influenza B, and SARS-CoV-2 in upper or lower respiratory specimens.

The test is a highly accurate, nucleic acid-based diagnostic tool to evaluate specimens from patients who are in the acute phase of infection, the centre said.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / DIPLOMACY: PM Modi releases Tamil classic ‘Thirukkural’ in Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea

Tok Pisin is the official language of Papua New Guinea.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape on May 22 released the Tamil classic ‘Thirukkural’ in the Tok Pisin language to bring the Indian thought and culture closer to the people of this southwestern Pacific nation.

Modi arrived here on May 21 on his maiden visit to Papua New Guinea, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the country. He co-hosted with Marape a key summit between India and 14 Pacific island countries to boost bilateral ties.

Tok Pisin is the official language of Papua New Guinea.

“Indian diaspora keeping alive connect with the motherland! PM@narendramodi & PM James Marape launched a translation of the Tamil classic ‘Thirukkural’ in the Tok Pisin language of Papua New Guinea,” the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted.

Co-authored by Subha Sasindran and Governor Sasindran Muthuvel of West New Britain Province, the book brings Indian thought and culture closer to the people of Papua New Guinea, it said.

“In Papua New Guinea, PM James Marape and I had the honour of releasing the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin language. Thirukkural is an iconic work, which provides valuable insights across different subjects,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Thirukkural, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love, is written by Poet Thiruvalluvar.

“I would like to commend @pngsasi, Governor of the West New Britain Province and Mrs. Subha Sasindran for their effort to translate the Thirukkural in Tok Pisin. Governor Sasindran has done his schooling in Tamil while Mrs. Subha Sasindran is a respected linguist,” he said in another tweet.

Prime Minister Modi has previously released a translation of the book in his mother tongue Gujarati.

He has praised Thirukkural on many occasions.

In one of his speeches, the Prime Minister said, “Thirukkural is not only a literary masterpiece but an extraordinary guide for common living. It shows us the path of righteousness and inspires us to lead a selfless life.” He also stated that Thirukkural “remains relevant even today and can serve as an inspiration for the present generation.” The prime minister has often quoted Thirukkural in his speeches and tweets and even gifted a copy of the book to the late Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in 2014.

“Thirukkural is a treasure trove full of inspiring ideas that youngsters all over the world can read and benefit from,” he had said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)