INTERNATIONAL / NEIGHBOURHOOD / SHIPPING & TRANSPORT: Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Inaugurates Sittwe Port in Myanmar; receives first Indian Cargo Vessel

The Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways highlighted the close historical, cultural and economic ties between India and Myanmar, particularly the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Myanmar’s Deputy Prime Minister Admiral Tin Aung San on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the Sittwe Port in Myanmar and received the first Indian cargo ship, according to an official statement.

The cargo ship was flagged off from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata.

With the development of Sittwe Port, the cost and time of transportation of goods between Kolkata and Agartala and Aizwal will decrease by 50%, the statement said.

“This will promote trade connectivity and people-to-people ties between India and Myanmar and the wider region, and will help boost the economic development of NE states under Act East Policy of the government,” the statement quoted Mr. Sonowal as saying.

In his remarks at the inauguration ceremony, the Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways highlighted the close historical, cultural and economic ties between India and Myanmar, particularly the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

He reiterated India’s longstanding commitment towards the development and prosperity of the people of Myanmar through developmental initiatives like the Sittwe Port.

According to the statement, this project was conceptualised to provide alternative connectivity of Mizoram with Haldia / Kolkata / any Indian ports through the Kaladan river in Myanmar.

The project envisages highway/road transport from Mizoram to Paletwa (Myanmar), thereafter from Paletwa to Sittwe (Myanmar) by Inland Water Transport (IWT) and from Sittwe to any port in India by maritime shipping, it added.

Sittwe Port has been developed as a part of the $484 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) funded under grant-in-aid assistance from the Indian government.

“The seaport with maximum capacity of 20,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) will make Sittwe the maritime hub of Myanmar, drastically reduce transportation cost of cargo from other parts of India to our #NorthEast and open unprecedented avenues of economic growth in the region,” Mr. Sonowal said in a series of tweets.

The Minister further said a vibrant Sittwe Port can catapult Myanmar’s Rakhine State into a major connectivity hub.

Once fully operationalised the waterway and road components of KMTTP will link the east coast of India to the north-eastern states through the Sittwe port, the statement said. The operationalisation of Sittwe Port would enhance bilateral and regional trade as well as contribute to the local economy of Rakhine State of Myanmar.

The greater connectivity provided by the Port will lead to employment opportunities and enhanced growth prospects in the region, it added.

The operationalisation of Sittwe Port would enhance bilateral and regional trade as well as contribute to the local economy of Rakhine State of Myanmar.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: DEFENCE SERVICES / HERITAGE Rajnath Singh Inaugurates Country’s First Air Force Heritage Centre in Chandigarh

The heritage centre highlights the IAF’s role in various wars. It houses five vintage aircraft and will provide visitors with cockpit exposure and an experience with flight simulators.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Monday inaugurated the nation’s first Indian Air Force Heritage Centre in Chandigarh’s Sector 18.

Spread across 17,000 sqft at the Government Press Building, the heritage centre highlights the IAF’s role in various wars. It houses five vintage aircraft and will provide visitors with cockpit exposure and an experience with flight simulators. It also houses the first IAF-made patent aircraft Air Force ‘Kanpur-1 Vintage Prototype Aircraft’, a single-engine indigenous flying machine designed and built by the late Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh in 1958 at Base Repair Depot Kanpur.

Singh is accompanied by Chandigarh Union Territory (UT) Administrator Banwarilal Purohit, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari, Member of Parliament (MP) Kirron Kher and other officers of the administration.

A souvenir shop equipped with the IAF’s memorial and scale models has been set up at the centre. A theme-based cafe will also be operational for the public.

The Defence Minister, who is on a one-day visit to Chandigarh, will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for a few other projects in the city as well.

Subhead: What is in store for visitors at the Air Force Heritage Centre

A beautiful one-foot wall that has pictures of 58 vintage and retired aircraft will serve as a visual treat to visitors.

Gradually, this centre will also be updated about various rescue operations being undertaken by the IAF all over the country and at the world level. The initiatives undertaken by the Air Force Family Welfare Association for the benefit of the families of air warriors at the station, regional and central levels will also be shown through projectors.

A memorandum of understanding on the heritage centre was signed between the Chandigarh administration and the Indian Air Force in the presence of Banwarilal Purohit in June 2022.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: EDUCATION / ARTS & CULTURE: 10 Indian Languages to get Technical-Term Dictionaries

The Union government is now rushing to create vocabulary in scientific terminology for languages such as Bodo, Santhali, Dogri and Kashmiri, so that textbooks can be developed in these tongues.

The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT), which works under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Education, is rushing to create technical and scientific terminology in 10 Indian languages underrepresented in the learning landscape.

The CSTT will bring out what it calls fundamental (basic) dictionaries with 5,000 words per language, in three to four months. These will be in digital, searchable format, and free of cost. About 1,000-2,000 copies will be printed in each language.

Bodo, Santhali, Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani, Nepali, Manipuri, Sindhi, Maithili, and Sanskrit are a part of the list of 22 official languages of India’s Eighth Schedule. However, there is a paucity of study material created in them, primarily because of a lack of words to describe scientific phenomena and technical terms. The sparse content available was confined to the primary school level that used English words when regional vocabulary was unavailable.

15 subjects

The immediate focus is to cover 15 disciplines: journalism, public administration, chemistry, botany, zoology, psychology, physics, economics, Ayurveda, mathematics, computer science, political science, agriculture, civil and electrical engineering. These will enable textbook formulation at the middle- and senior-school as well as university levels.

The dictionaries will be distributed to State education boards, universities, engineering institutes, and the National Testing Agency that conducts entrance examinations such as the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main, and University Grants Commission (UGC)-National Eligibility Test (NET) to aid in preparation of content.

The national language list, when created in 1950 had 14 languages. Sindhi was added in 1967; Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali in 1992; and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali in 2004.

“There is a lack of content and linguistic resources in these 10 languages, leading to a lack of availability of learning material in these languages,” Prof. Girish Nath Jha, chairperson of the CSTT, Ministry of Education, said.

The CSTT, which was set up in 1961, has the mandate of evolving technical terminology in all Indian languages. The organisation is finalising several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with prominent institutes, including IIT Bombay, for quick online dissemination.

The move assumes importance as the National Education Policy 2020 has espoused the use of regional languages as a medium of education in both school and college.

Following this, the government has taken several initiatives such as introducing engineering and medical courses in regional languages in several States. The UGC has also said that it will soon release a road map to introduce undergraduate and postgraduate courses in regional languages in all disciplines, including commerce, humanities, and science.

In June, the Bar Council of India (BCI) also constituted a panel to formulate recommendations on how to introduce courses in regional languages in law colleges.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: Arts & Culture: 1,600 Bharathanatyam Dancers Create a New Record in Puducherry

About 1,600 Bharatanatyam students performed a mass exposition of the ‘Ananda Thandavam’ in a world record bid to recreate the divine dance of bliss associated with Lord Shiva on the Beach Promenade on Friday.

The event hosted by the Sangamam Global Academy was supported by the Department of Tourism and the regional unit of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

Adjudicators of the Unique World Records later declared a world record for the show as it passed the criteria of Bharatanatyam technicalities, especially, having a minimum participation of 1,000 dancers and extending for a duration of at least four minutes.

The event was officially recorded to have featured 1,626 dancers and lasted about eight minutes.

A spokesman for Unique World Records said 56 stewards were deployed as observers. Sababbi Mangal, Yuktha (Chandigarh), and Rahman Basha of Unique audited the show. Chinnamannur A. Chitra, assistant professor, Music Department, Annamalai University, and Athishta Balan, both Guinness record holders, were special witnesses. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy and other dignitaries witnessed the spectacle.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL : ARTS & CULTURE / DANCE: Visakhapatnam Girl Shreya makes it to ‘International one-on-one Breaking Competition’

B-Girl Shreya is all set to represent Visakhapatnam at the international breaking championship Redbull BC One – India finals on May 7.

When B-girl Shreya headspins, backflips and sways in swag, a circle of dancers cheer her along as they witness an incredible energy unfold in the room throbbing to the beats of hip-hop music. The 21-year-old from Visakhapatnam has been steadily making her way to the top in the breaking scene of India.

Shreya has now been selected among the top eight B-Girl finalists from India and will be representing Visakhapatnam at the international breaking championship Red Bull BC One – India finals on May 7. She is the only dancer from Andhra Pradesh to reach this stage for two years in a row. Earlier, Shreya had bagged the runner-up position in the West India qualifiers, which happened in Mumbai on March 26. The event was judged by B-Boy Lilou from France, B-Boy Victor from the USA and B-Boy Zoopreme from the Netherlands.

Trained under coach Sohail Gill of Destiny Breakers International School in Visakhapatnam, Shreya has been learning breaking since 2015 and has brought many laurels to the city. Currently ranked among the top eight B-Girls in India, she is all set for the nationals. “The dance floor is where I found a way to express myself and face my fears,” she says.

Earlier this year, in the second National Breaking Championship at Tirupati, Shreya was the only person from Andhra Pradesh to compete and made it to the quarterfinals in the B-Girl senior category. The event was judged by B-Boy Bojin from World Dance Sport Federation, B-Boy Bobby from Malaysia Dance Sport Federation and B-Boy G1 from Thailand. 

“The competition was intense and they were six rounds including a qualifier; I just moved ahead focussing on my strengths,” says Shreya, who was the only participant from Andhra Pradesh to be selected for the BRICS Games 2022 in China and was ranked 9th in the world championship. “Stamina and speed, with a little bit of style, are my strengths. I felt like I can play around when I want to and can also fluctuate my speed according to the beats. My strength is the structure of my rounds which are carefully planned with my coach while working our way around the trivium system (an Olympic judging system),” she adds.

According to coach Sohail, Shreya’s biggest strength from the day she started training has been her perseverance. “Being a chubby kid who joined the breaking class at the age of 13, she faced difficulties catching up to the simplest of moves. Today, she has the physique of an athlete and is among the top eight B-Girls in the country. Her ability to be consistent with her training over the last eight years and her never give up attitude have helped her come a long way,” says Sohail. 

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / RESEARCH: Novel Diagnostic Test Developed for Global Pandemic in Frogs by Researchers of CSIR & CCMB in India and in collaboration with Researchers in Australia and Panama.

Researchers from CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in collaboration with researchers in Australia and Panama have established a new test for successful diagnosis of Chytridiomycosis in amphibians.

Chytridiomycosis is an infectious disease in amphibians caused by two fungal pathogens: Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal). It has driven more than 90 amphibian species to extinction globally.

Due to the unprecedented loss of amphibian diversity it has caused, the disease is referred to as the driver of ‘amphibian apocalypse’ and its status is being closely monitored globally.

The researchers have developed and validated a new marker for the disease, and has been now published in the journal Transboundary and Emerging Disease.

The team consisting of Ph. D. Scholars, researchers and scientists from CCMB, Bangalore University, Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park, Ashoka University in India; University of New SouthAAWales, James Cook University in Australia: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama have tested the new marker on several amphibian species including frogs, toads, caecilians (limbless amphibians) and Salamanders (tailed amphibians).

The study reported 70 per cent amphibians with Chytridiomycosis infection; an almost 8 times higher prevalence than the previous reports from India.

Surveillance and monitoring must be in order to track infection in amphibian populations, especially in region where Bd fungus has become enzootic that is where the pathogen is restricted and does not cause death.”Our previous work on Bd fungus in India had shown that existing diagnostic assays are not sensitive. A universal, sensitive, specific, repeatable, and affordable diagnostic test is, thus, required to perform surveillance of Chytridiomycosis in an efficient manner. Our new diagnostic test works well in India, Australia and Panama. Its efficiency is comparable to the gold-standard test recommended for Chytridiomycosis in different parts of the world, and it might lead to new insights into the pathway transmission and infection,” said Dr Karthikeyan Vasudevan, the lead scientist from CCMB in the study.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / ATHLETICS: Murali Sreeshankar Wins Gold in Long-Jump at the ‘MVA High-Performance Athletics Meet’, Chula Vista, USA

Competing in only his second event of the season, the 24-year-old, who had won a silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, produced a creditable effort which was just 0.07m off his personal best of 8.36m made last year.

Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar claimed the gold medal with a leap of 8.29m at the MVA High Performance athletics meet 1 held in Chula Vista, USA.

Competing in only his second event of the season, the 24-year-old, who had won a silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, produced a creditable effort which was just 0.07m off his personal best of 8.36m made last year.

China’s Ma Weidong secured the silver medal with a 7.99m leap, while his compatriot Huafeng Huang claimed the bronze with an effort of 7.61m.

The qualifying standard of World Athletics Championships 2023, which is scheduled in Budapest this August, is 8.25m and Sreeshankar’s effort was over it but was not considered as tailwinds were over permissible limits.

The maximum permissible wind speed is +2 m/s, while Sreeshankar’s effort came with wind speed of 3.1m/s.


Sreeshankar had a 7.94m jump at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru earlier this month.

Sreeshankar held the men’s long jump national record in India with his 8.36 jump but it was surpassed by Jeswin Aldrin with an effort of 8.42m at the second Indian Open Jumps Championships in March.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

GRANT-IN-AID PROJECTS: India to Build Harbour for Maldivian Coast Guard, foundation stone laid

The development of the Coast Guard Harbour and repair facility at Sifavaru is one of the biggest grant-in-aid projects of India.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Maldivian counterpart Mariya Didi on May 3 laid the foundation stone for the Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF) Coast Guard ‘Ekatha Harbour’. The development of the Coast Guard Harbour and repair facility at Sifavaru is one of the biggest grant-in-aid projects of India, a joint press communique issued at the end of Mr. Singh’s three-day tour said. This is the first visit of an Indian Defence Minister to the island nation in 11 years.

“Both Ministers reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and security in the region and recognised the need to work together to address common security challenges. They underscored the importance of respecting international law and rules-based international order and expressed their commitment to upholding these principles,” the joint communique said. Both Parties reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening the partnership between their countries, and expressed common sentiments that they looked forward to continuing the dialogue and cooperation in the future, it stated.

Noting the progress made in ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries including joint exercises and exchanges of visits by military officials, the two Ministers also noted the “importance of sharing best practices and expertise in areas such as counter terrorism, disaster management, cyber security and maritime security.”

The Ministers agreed to explore additional avenues for cooperation, including in the areas of defence trade, capacity building and joint exercises, the communique said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

ASIA: DEFENCE / INDIAN NAVY: Inaugural ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME) in South China Sea from May 2-8

Defence Minister arrives in Maldives on a three-day visit as Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari embarks on four-day visit to Sri Lanka.

In a further step, in the expanding India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) military cooperation, the maiden ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise (AIME) is set to begin on May 2 with war games in South China Sea. Navy Chief Adm. R. Hari Kumar is in Singapore for the exercise as well as to take part in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX-23) and International Maritime Security Conference (IMSC) being hosted by Singapore.

In separate developments, the Defence Minister arrived in Maldives on a three-day visit while Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari embarked on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka.

Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Delhi with Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, the Flag Officer Commanding-Eastern Fleet “… arrived at Singapore on May 1 to participate in the inaugural AIME-2023” scheduled from May 2-8, the Navy said in a statement. “AIME-2023 will provide an opportunity for Indian Navy and ASEAN navies to work together closely and conduct seamless operations in the maritime domain,” it added.

The ‘Harbour Phase’ of the exercise is scheduled to be held at Changi Naval Base from May 2-4 and ‘Sea Phase’ from May 7-8 in the South China Sea, the Navy said. The ships, during their port call at Singapore, will also participate in IMDEX-23 and IMSC, it added.

The inaugural edition of the naval and maritime defence event IMDEX was held in 1997 and has since been expanding year on year. There are about 50 delegations this year, it has been learnt.

Established in 2009, the IMSC is co-organised by Singapore Navy and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). The conference brings together navy chiefs, coast guard director-generals, policy makers, strategic thinkers and maritime stakeholders to exchange ideas and discuss ways to enhance and foster mutual security in our maritime commons, the IMSC website states.

Maldives visit

Mr. Singh reached Male on Monday afternoon on a three-day visit, the first by an Indian Defence Minister to Maldives in 11 years, according to the Indian High Commission. “Our meeting in Male today was very good. We exchanged views on multiple subjects including further boosting the defence partnership between India and Maldives,” Mr. Singh said after a meeting with his counterpart Mariya Didi.

The entire gamut of defence relations between the two countries will be reviewed during the deliberations. The Minister will also call on Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

In tune with India’s commitment to capacity building of friendly countries and partners in the region, Mr. Singh will gift one Fast Patrol Vessel ship and a Landing Craft to the Maldives National Defence Forces, the Defence Ministry said. “During his stay, he will also visit the ongoing project sites in the country and interact with the Indian diaspora.”

India and the Maldives are working closely to effectively address shared challenges, including maritime security, terrorism, radicalisation, piracy, trafficking, organised crime and natural disasters, the Ministry added.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / LANGUAGE: Braille Edition of Assamese Dictionary ‘Hemkosh’ enters Guinness World Records

The official letter was presented at a ceremony coinciding with the 127th death anniversary of Hemchandra Baruah, who compiled it in the 19th century.

The Braille edition of ‘Hemkosh’, the first etymological dictionary of the Assamese language, has entered the Guinness World Records, an official said on Monday. The official certificate recognising ‘Hemkosh’ as the world’s largest bilingual Braille dictionary was handed to its publisher, Jayanta Baruah by the official adjudicator for Guinness World Records, Rishi Nath here on Monday.

The official letter was presented at a ceremony coinciding with the 127th death anniversary of Hemchandra Baruah, who had compiled the ‘Hemkosh’ in the last part of the 19th century. The confirmation of the recognition was received by the publisher on April 24 through an email.

The seminal work was first published in 1919, four years after Baruah’s demise. Subsequent editions of the dictionary were published and the 15th edition is currently under production, its members said. The dictionary is considered to be the standard reference of Assamese orthography, which is the set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word boundaries, emphasis and punctuation.

The braille edition is the adaption of Hemkosh’s 14th edition of the regular dictionary and is an Assamese and English one. It has 90,640 words printed in 21 volumes and are divided into six parts, comprising a total 10,279 pages and weighing 80.800 kg, a release said. Jayanta Baruah, who is himself an heir of Hemchandra Baruah and is the owner of Hemkosh Prakashan, has donated copies of the dictionary to all educational institutions for the visually impaired students, besides to different libraries.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited0