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)