In a first, U.S. Navy Ship arrives in India for repairs

It will undergo maintenance activities at L&T’s Shipyard in Chennai for 11 days

In a first, a U.S. Navy Ship, Charles Drew, arrived in India for carrying out repairs and allied services at Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Shipyard at Kattupalli, Chennai, on Sunday adding a new dimension to the fast expanding Indo-U.S. strategic partnership.

“This is the first ever repair of a U.S. Navy ship in India. The U.S. Navy had awarded a contract to L&T’s Shipyard at Kattupalli for undertaking maintenance of the ship. The event signifies the capabilities of Indian shipyards in the global ship repairing market,” a Defence Ministry statement said. 

The USNS Charles Drew will be at the Kattupalli shipyard for a period of 11 days and undergo repairs in various areas.

At the India-U.S. 2+2 in April, both sides agreed to explore the possibilities of utilising Indian shipyards for the repair and maintenance of ships of the U.S. Maritime Sealift Command to support mid-voyage repair of U.S. Naval ships.

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India begins cooperation with Bahrain-based Combined Maritime Forces

Modalities of cooperation being worked out, say officials

Last month, India formally commenced cooperation with the Bahrain-based multilateral partnership, Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). However, the modalities of the exact nature of cooperation are being worked out, according to official sources.

At the India-US 2+2 in April this year, India had announced that it would join the CMF as an Associate Partner, which Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had then said will strengthen cooperation in regional security in the Western Indian Ocean. Joining the CMF is the latest in a series of multilateral engagements by the Indian Navy as part of India’s widening military diplomacy.

End of July, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS) Vice Adm. Sanjay Mahindru visited the headquarters of CMF, which the Navy said marks “the initiation of the Indian Navy’s ‘Associate Support’ to CMF in keeping with India’s commitment to the collective responsibility of maritime security in the Indian Ocean.”

“Commitments to resources and personnel are limited for Associate membership and it will be cooperative engagement based on the needs and requirements. The modalities for this are being worked out,” an official source said.

Indian Navy could be contributing a warship when required, however, there is no deployment as of now, the source added.

Indian Navy has a Liaison Officer posted at the US Central Command (CENTCOM) in Bahrain who will also function as the point person for cooperation with the CMF, officials stated.

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Campus Names New Dean for the School of Engineering

After a nationwide search, Rakesh Goel was selected as UC Merced’s next dean of the School of Engineering.

Goel is a seasoned academic leader who currently serves as executive associate dean in the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly).

Before he arrived at Cal Poly, Goel was an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at Syracuse University and worked at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UC Berkeley as an assistant research engineer. He has industry experience both in India and the U.S. in civil and structural engineering. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of California and is a certified safety assessment program worker for the California Office of Emergency Services.

Goel is a national and international leader in the discipline of earthquake analysis and design structures. His work has been adapted by seismic codes and guidelines, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ASCE 7, FEMA-356, California Building Code and ASCE 61. He has authored/co-authored more than 150 publications. He has been awarded the Amman Fellowship, the Huber Research Prize and the Norman Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers, among many other recognitions.

He is a fellow of the ASCE and the Structural Engineering Institute, where he has chaired three prominent committees and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Structural Engineering and Earthquake Spectra.

Goel earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in structural engineering from UC Berkeley.

He succeeds Mark Matsumoto, who has served as the school’s dean since 2015. Goel is expected to join the campus in the fall.

news.ucmereced.edu

LIC breaks into Fortune 500 list, Reliance jumps 51 places

The list, topped by US retailer Walmart, has nine Indian companies — five of them state-owned, and four from the private sector.

Recently-listed Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has broken into the latest Fortune Global 500 list, while Reliance Industries has jumped 51 places.

The nation’s biggest life insurer with revenue of USD 97.26 billion and a profit of USD 553.8 million, was ranked 98th on the just released Fortune 500 list.

Reliance Industries jumped 51 places to 104 on the 2022 list.

This is the first outing of LIC on the list, which ranks listed companies by sales. Reliance, with revenue of USD 93.98 billion and a net profit of USD 8.15 billion in the latest year, has been on the list for 19 years.

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Laser-guided anti-tank missiles successfully test-fired from Arjun tank

The missile locks and tracks the targets with the help of laser designation to ensure precision hit accuracy.

India on Thursday successfully test-fired laser-guided Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) from Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun at KK Ranges near Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.

Defence sources said the indigenously developed laser-guided ATGMs were successfully flight tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Army with the support of Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S), Ahmednagar.

The missiles hit with precision and successfully destroyed the targets at both minimum and maximum ranges. Telemetry systems deployed for the mission have recorded the satisfactory flight performance of the missiles.

The missile has been developed with multi-platform launch capability by Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) in association with High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE), Dehradun.

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10 more Indian wetlands sites get Ramsar tag, number rises to 64

Six of them are in Tamil Nadu and one each in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha

India has added 10 more Ramsar sites, or wetlands that are of international importance, taking the number of such sites to 64, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said on Wednesday.

“Absolutely thrilled to inform that 10 more Indian wetlands have got Ramsar recognition as wetlands of international importance,” Mr. Yadav tweeted.

The 10 new sites — six in Tamil Nadu and one each in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha — encompass an area of 1,51,842.41 hectares, bringing India’s total wetland area to 1.2 million hectares.

The sites are Koothankulam Bird Sanctuary, Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve, Vembannur Wetland Complex, Vellode Bird Sanctuary, Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary and Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary, all in Tamil Nadu, Satkosia Gorge in Odisha, Nanda Lake in Goa, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Karnataka, and Sirpur Wetland in Madhya Pradesh.

Until 2012, India had 26 Ramsar sites, with the last decade witnessing a meteoric rise. On July 26, Mr. Yadav announced that India had added five Ramsar sites.

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CWG 2022 | Tejaswin Shankar wins bronze in men’s high jump

The 23-year-old Shankar was added in the squad last-minute on the orders of Delhi High Court

Tejaswin Shankar opened Indian athletics team’s medal account with a bronze in the men’s high jump event in the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.

National record holder Shankar cleared 2.22m to finish third in the event.

CJI Ramana names Justice U.U. Lalit as successor

Chief Justice Ramana is retiring on August 26, 2022.

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Thursday, August 4, 2022 recommended to the government the name of Justice Uday Umesh Lalit as his successor and the 49th Chief Justice of India.

Chief Justice Ramana personally handed over a copy of his letter of recommendation dated August 3 to Justice Lalit when they met for tea in the Supreme Court in the morning before court.

The Memorandum says that “after receipt of the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India, the Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs will put up the recommendation to the Prime Minister who will advise the President in the matter of appointment”.

This is expected to happen shortly.

Justice Lalit, if appointed, would have a tenure of hardly three months. He retires on November 8, 2022.

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Navy’s all-women crew completes maritime reconnaissance, surveillance mission in North Arabian Sea

The women officers received months of ground training and comprehensive mission briefings in the run up to this historical sortie.

An all-women crew of the Indian Navy has completed maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft, the Navy said on August 4. The mission was completed on August 3, an official said.

The aircraft was captained by mission commander, Lt. Cdr. Aanchal Sharma, who was accompanied by pilots Lt. Shivangi and Lt. Apurva Gite, and Tactical and Sensor Officers, Lt. Pooja Panda and SLt. Pooja Shekhawat, it said.

“On August 3, 2022, five officers of the Indian Navy’s INAS 314 based at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar, created history by completing the first all-women independent maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft,” it said.

INAS 314 is a frontline Naval Air Squadron based at Porbandar in Gujarat and operates the state-of-the-art Dornier 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron is commanded by Cdr. S. K. Goyal, a Qualified Navigation Instructor.

The women officers received months of ground training and comprehensive mission briefings in the run up to this historical sortie. “This first-of-its-kind military flying mission was, however, unique and is expected to pave the way for women officers in the aviation cadre to assume greater responsibility and aspire for more challenging roles,” the navy said.

The navy said it has undertaken a number of steps in pioneering women empowerment with initiatives that include induction of women pilots, selection of women as Air Operations Officers into the helicopter stream and conducting an all-women sailing circumnavigation expedition across the globe in 2018.

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Vijay Sethupathi-starrer ‘Maamanithan’ wins Gold medal in Tokyo Film Awards

Maamanithan’ won the gold in the Best Asian Film category, while Takahiro Kawabe’s ‘Love Song at 5 pm’ won the silver and Mart Bira’s ‘Nomadic Doctor’ took the bronze.

 Director Seenu Ramasamy’s critically acclaimed entertainer, ‘Maamanithan’, featuring actors Vijay Sethupathi and Gayathrie in the lead, has won a Gold medal at the Tokyo Film Awards this year.

The story of ‘Maamanithan’ is about a simple man who longs to provide good education to his children by getting them admitted to a private school. To increase his income, he enters into a deal with a real estate developer and in the process gets conned. The problems he faces is what the film is all about.

The film, which garnered huge praise from various quarters soon after its release, has ace director Shankar calling it a ‘realistic classic’. Shankar had even said that Vijay Sethupathi’s brilliant performance in the film deserved a National Award.

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