The Indian Navy received delivery of two MH-60R multi-role helicopters manufactured by USA’s Lockheed Martin Corporation at Kochi airport on Thursday.
The MH-60R is one of the most advanced maritime helicopters in the world and is designed to operate from frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers. The MH-60R has advanced features for anti-submarine warfare and will replace the ageing fleet of British Westland Seaking anti-submarine helicopters.
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The approval by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has been granted under the emergency authorisation route, Zenara Pharma said in a statement.
Zenara Pharma on Thursday said it has received the CDSCO approval to manufacture and sell combination packs of Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir tablets, indicated as an option for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
The tablets will be sold under the brand ‘Paxzen’ and are being manufactured at the company’s USFDA-approved facility in Hyderabad, it added.
The combination pack of Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir tablets is the generic equivalent of Pfizer’s Paxlovid, which has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for COVID-19 treatment, it added.
“We expect to launch Paxzen in the next couple of weeks and are in talks with multiple institutions and several hospitals in India to ensure that the product is readily available for patients in need,” Zenara Pharma CEO Srinivas Arutla said.
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The marathon featured 27 plays in Telugu, Hindi and English with a crew of over 85, which included actors aged between four and 35 years.
Dr Ram Mohan Holagundi can’t get the numbers 27-24-27 out of his head. What started as a grand thought earlier this year turned into a record-breaking feat in the history of Indian theatre. Ram, founder and director of the Hyderabad-based Nishumbita Ballet and Theatre Group, is the force behind the 27 plays staged back-to-back for 24 hours on March 27, in the group’s auditorium in Hyderabad. This June, he was officially recognised by the India Book of Records (June 2022 edition) for this triumph.” My mother was apprehensive about my career choice. She felt that only those who fail in life choose theatre. Now, when she sees Nishumbita, she is proud of me,” he says.
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Scripting history, the Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) handed over India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) to the Indian Navy on Thursday. The aircraft carrier, which was designed by the Navy’s in-house Directorate of Naval Design and built by the CSL, will be christened after INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier, which played a crucial role in 1971 war against Pakistan. With the delivery of Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an Aircraft Carrier.
Sources said the vessel will be commissioned and formally inducted into the Indian Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Independence day. The Navy is planning to make the induction ceremony a mega event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.
The 262 m long aircraft carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor. The ship is powered by four gas turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Built at an overall cost of Rs. 20,000 crores, the IAC has been built in three phases of a contract between the Ministry of Defence and the CSL, concluded in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively.
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The Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden has announced the appointment of a new President and Vice President for the National Library of Wales.
Ashok Ahir has been appointed as the new President. Mr Ahir has been Interim President of the National Library since September 2021.
Andrew Evans has been appointed the new Vice President. Mr Evans is a consultant specialising in fundraising and business development for start-ups, charities and not-for-profits, particularly in the cultural sector.
The Library’s President is accountable to the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Arts and Sports for the library’s performance and for the delivery of strategic priorities
source: gov.wales
Meet Shaunali Nanda, who is all set to take off to the US as the only Indian among 20 international interior designers picked to decorate a historic home for the Hampton Designer Showhouse next month.
The project is part of this year’s Hampton Designer Showhouse that’s been raising funds to support Stony Brook Hospital in the area for the last 20 years. As part of this endeavour, designers from across the world are invited to reimagine and transform the spaces within an iconic property. Nanda will be recreating one of the bedrooms on the second floor of the cottage.
“I’ve decided that the room is going to be all about everything made in India. We are doing customised wallpaper and matching blinds. We will be using blue and white pottery elements for the wall plates and a lot of papier mache as accessories and, of course, a very nice handwoven rug and lots of pillows,” says Delhi-based Nanda, adding, “The room will come together as a true representation of what we do best.”
Taking inspiration from books and references from the forts and palaces of India, the designer has chosen a dainty dandelion motif in blue, block printed by hand on white linen, for the blinds that she believes will grab attention as soon as one enters the room. The same design will continue on the canvas wallpaper to coordinate. Versions of the print have also been done for cushions, quilts and a throw.
The passage to the bedroom will also be linked with the dandelion wallpaper, which will be further embellished by motifs of the unique blue pottery plates from Jaipur in the form of wall sconces.
Explaining her choice of colour, the 48-year-old designer says, “Blue and white is so eternal
for Americans and since the cottage is by the seashore, for me it seemed a natural choice.”
It’s not all blue, though. Nanda has picked a refreshing mint green for the bathroom in the same dandelion motif. The flowers in the bathroom will be red. Again, sticking to another classic combo—red and green.
While Nanda is best known for her brand, Sloane Luxury Interiors, which boasts classic designs for contemporary tastes, her latest undertaking is ‘Sloane by Hand’, a project she started during the pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020. The entire mood board for her showcase for the Ivy Lodge has been sourced and created by Sloane by Hand, which she is looking to now put on the global map.
If anyone can do that, it’s her. Having studied, trained and worked at institutions like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, she went on to work with luxury houses such as Hermès, Tiffany, Chanel and Bulgari, gathering the best knowledge in terms of high design. Nanda’s diverse experience over the years across different parts of the world and her research led her to the conclusion that the “biggest commodity abroad is hand-done”.
“I know I’m not the first one to do this––lots of people are already doing it––but I keep it by hand,” the designer says, adding, “Also, I went right down to the root level. I went to the blue potter in Rajasthan and saw how he lives and works. I saw his humility, patience and understanding of the clay he works with.
I went to Kashmir and saw papier mache artisans at work. I’ve seen how they don’t even have enough light for such detailed work and have to sit by a window when they paint.”Nanda says she is also hoping to touch the hearts of many Indians who live in America and are the richest minority there. “They have a life there now that they’re American, but they have a heritage that they sometimes want to call out to. I’m hoping to touch many of those lives, and at the same time, but all this on an international design map,” she says. Nanda’s team begins installation on August 1, and the showhouse, which will see the who’s who of South Hampton and New York, will open on August 13 with a gala evening.
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While most birthday parties are filled with cakes and balloons, this 10-year-old celebrated her special day with a dive in the sea, in an attempt to set a world record. Visakhapatnam scuba diver Debopriya Saha dived to a depth of 35 feet in the Bay of Bengal off Rushikonda coast to become a certified junior scuba diver on her 10th birthday on June 10, making her one of the youngest to do so. The certification has been given by Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), the world’s largest ocean exploration and diver organisation operating in 186 countries and territories. To be eligible for PADI junior scuba diver course, one must be at least 10 years old with adequate swimming skills and be in good physical health. Debopriya received the certification on completing two open water dives (within an interval of 40 minutes) and one confined dive under the supervision of a professional diver. “I enjoy swimming and the ocean has always fascinated me. This was my first dive of such depth and I was absolutely thrilled to do it. I was looking forward to turning 10 so that I could experience the underwater world,” says Visakhapatnam-born Debopriya. She was accompanied by Balaram Naidu, a scuba diver-instructor and director of Live-in Adventures. “Debopriya was very comfortable in the water and communicated well. She had to brave a one-and-a-half metre wave and did it without any hassles. We have seen even adults getting unsettled by such waves. But Debopriya covered it with confidence,” he adds. She completed the certification after three days of training in shallow waters. For a diving certification, Balaram says, the prerequisites include the ability to swim 200 metres at a stretch and float for 10 minutes. “During the training, I saw her ease under water and was confident of her skills,” he adds. She had to learn sign language to communicate underwater. Debopriya is inspired by her father Deepankar Saha, who served the Indian Navy as a scuba diver for 12 years. “Every time she saw me head into the sea, she would tell me her desire to become a scuba diver and see the underwater world. So when she expressed her wish to celebrate her 10th birthday with a scuba diving course, we started preparing her six months ahead. She did rigorous swimming practice and I could see her confidence in water,” says Deepankar. The most difficult part of scuba diving is equalising pressure between the inside of the ears and the underwater environment. According to Balaram, Debopriya followed instructions with perfection and there were no uncontrolled movements. While Debopriya came back with the excitement of getting her first glimpse of the marine world, she was sad to see plastic waste clogging it. She hopes to become a marine biologist to create awareness on marine pollution. “There is a treasure trove of living life underwater and we must save it,” says the young scuba diver, who has a dictionary of aquatic animals in her personal collection.
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A war-plane landing at Kolkata’s Eden Garden during the years of World War I, women participating in a cremation at city’s Keoratala crematorium, water bodies surrounding Calcutta High Court, a bridge on river Hooghly predating the iconic Howrah Bridge and hundreds of such never seen photographs and sketches have recently been discovered from an old warehouse in Kolkata.
The warehouse of the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal, which was lying in neglect, had not only revealed priceless images but also pieces of gold, silver and precious jewels. “We have recovered photographs, sketches and other valuables worth crores of rupees,” Biplab Roy, the current Administrator General and Official Trustee of West Bengal told The Hindu.
The New Secretariat Building, housing the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal, stands at the corner of Strand Road overlooking river Hooghly and lies next to the neo-gothic structure of the Calcutta High Court. Mr. Roy said that the warehouse of the Office on the ground floor of the New Secretariat Building was not opened for decades.
From the ground floor warehouse, the documents and artefacts were recently brought to the 10th floor of the building, where they were sorted out one by one.
The Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal, is today responsible for the maintenance of hundreds of prime properties and large parcels of land in Kolkata and the rest of the State. As per the laws of British India, any estate or property that did not have any legal heir would pass into the hands of the Administrator General. This well could have been the reason how the valuables landed at the warehouse.
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Fast-rising Indian lifter Harshada Garud won the women’s 45 kg gold at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship in Tashkent.
The 18-year-old claimed the yellow metal with an aggregate of 157 kg (69 kg+88 kg) on Monday. The total effort was four kgs better than her junior world championship title-winning lift of 153 kg (70 kg+83 kg), which she had recorded in May.
Soumya Dalvi bagged the bronze in the 45 kg youth event.
The youth world championship bronze medallist heaved 145 kg (63 kg+82 kg) to make the podium.
In the men’s 49 kg youth event, L. Dhanush won the bronze in the snatch section with an 85 kg effort.
However, the Indian finished fourth overall with a best effort of 185 kg (85 kg+100 kg).
Medals are awarded separately for snatch, clean and jerk, and total lift in continental and World Championships. But, just one medal — for total lift — is awarded in the Olympics.
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Axar Patel smashed a whirlwind unbeaten 35-ball 64, his maiden ODI fifty, as India scripted a sensational series-clinching two-wicket win over the West Indies in the second game here.
Set a stiff target of 312, the visitors were down to 205 for five in 38.4 overs but Patel revived India’s chase with his six-hitting prowess to take the visitors home with two balls to spare on Sunday.
Needing six off the last three balls, Patel clobbered Kyle Mayers straight over the bowlers head for a six as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Patel smashed five sixes and three fours in his unconquered innings and added 51 off 33 balls with Deepak Hooda (33) to keep India in the hunt.
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