Russia-Ukraine war: External affairs minister S Jaishankar told Rajya Sabha that the evacuation efforts were undertaken at a time when artillery shelling and airstrikes on Ukrainian cities were underway.
Category: Transport
** Bengaluru Metro’s First Vinyl-Wrapped Train Flagged off . Marks 75 Years of Independence
The first Metro train in Bengaluru with its exterior wrapped completely in vinyl was inaugurated on Friday from Platform 2 of the Kempegowda Metro station towards Kengeri on its Purple Line.
This initiative by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to commemorate 75 years of Independence was flagged off by its Managing Director Anjum Parwez at 10.15 am.
** Open House showcases student innovations at IIT-Madras
60 projects developed by various teams of students were featured at the event
The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras’ Centre for Innovation (CFI) held its annual Open House, featuring over 60 innovative student projects. The event showcased autonomous vehicles, rockets and the electric Formula racecar developed by the student team Raftar.
The CFI is a round-the-clock innovation lab with 13 clubs, four competitive teams and over 700 members, who apply their engineering knowledge to come up with products.
Institute director V. Kamakoti, who launched a new website for the CFI on the occasion, said the CFI not only provided a platform for young innovators to showcase their creations but also served as an inspiration for other young students to innovate.
Nilesh Vasa, dean of students, said the student-driven facility inspired students to work creatively and collaboratively. The CFI team Abhiyaan’s autonomous vehicle ‘Bolt’, team Abhyuday’s rocket, team Avishkar’s hyperloop, a sports science and analytics project in collaboration with Sports Science Centre of Excellence, a bird diverter project in partnership with the Wildlife Institute of India and projects on blockchain technology were on display.
Prabhu Rajagopal, faculty advisor of CFI-IIT-Madras, said nearly 10% of the students of the institute are engaged with the CFI, cutting across the undergraduate-postgraduate divide. Quite a few teams and projects had graduated to form start-ups, making Open House the largest calendar event of the CFI and showcasing the best student projects of the year.
Asokan Tondiyath, faculty advisor of team Anveshak, said the team had steadily progressed in the past three years and was in the process of making ‘Foresight’ with custom-made wheels, a lightweight manipulator and a state-of-the-art electronic system.
Among the new developments is the chennaiwaterlogging.org platform that enables users/public to report details such as location of floods and water depth and add photos of waterlogged sites with a description. These reports are used to develop a real-time flood map.
A group of students have converted an electric golf cart into an autonomous shuttle. Team Abhyuday has qualified for the Spaceport America Cup, an annual international event for intercollegiate rocketry teams, in its first attempt. It is the first across IITs to qualify for such an event.
** Alaska Air selects IBS for air cargo IT solution
BS Software, an IT solutions company headquartered in the capital city, has signed a long-term agreement with Alaska Air Cargo to transform and modernise its air cargo IT ecosystem.
IBS Software will implement its full suite cargo management solution across the air cargo business of Alaska Airlines.
iCargo will digitally transform Alaska Air Cargo’s sales and inventory, cargo terminal operations, air mail handling and revenue accounting, and mobile applications. It will also enable the airline to have an end-to-end view of its air cargo value chain activities and provide important operational insights across the entire network.
** RGIA declared best airport by size and region in Asia-Pacific
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad, has been declared the best airport by size and region in the Asia-Pacific region for 2021.
This is in the category of 15 million to 25 million passengers per annum.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general, ACI World, congratulated GMR Hyderabad International Airport and said that the award reflects their commitment to improving passenger experience.
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** Kuwait airlift to ‘Operation Ganga’: Largest evacuation ops carried out by India
From ‘Operation Sukoon’ to ‘Operation Safe Homecoming’ and ‘Operation Rahat’, India has successfully evacuated its citizens in war zones over the past three decades.
More than 18,000 Indians have been safely evacuated back to their home country from war-torn Ukraine via special flights over the last one week as the Russian invasion of the country rages on. Under the central government’s ‘Operation Ganga’, 76 flights were sent to Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova to rescue Indian citizens stuck in Ukraine.
** Chennai-based Ram Charan Company to supply chargers to Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt’s EV venture
The US-based Bolt Mobility is into personal transportation with focus on small electric two-wheelers, and is committed to ensuring access, equity, and quality of life through micromobility.
** 65-year-old ICF of Indian Railway exported 650 rail coaches in last few years to 14 countries
The ICF has also obtained the distinction of being the only carbon negative unit of Indian Railways.
According to official data of railway obtained by TNIE, the ICF has exported more than 650 rail coaches, shells, and other components manufactured in Chennai based unit during the last few years to 14 countries, including Thailand, Burma, Taiwan, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Malaysia, Angola and Sri Lanka.
Official sources added that the ICF has also exported one rake of 1600HP DEMU against the order of two rakes of 1600HP DEMU to neighbouring Nepal railways
** V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust renamed
The V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust would, hence forth, be renamed as V O Chidambaranar Port Authority
** PM Modi inaugurates Pune metro rail project, unveils Shivaji Maharaj statue
The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone for the project on December 24, 2016.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Pune metro rail project and unveiled a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation.
The inauguration of the 12-km stretch of the total 32.2-km long project took place at the Garware metro station, from where Mr. Modi flagged off the project and proceeded to take the metro ride to the Anandnagar station, located nearly five km away.