** India hosts SCO-RATS meeting; focus on situation in Afghanistan

Counter-terrorism experts from India, Pakistan and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on May 16 deliberated on boosting cooperation in combating various regional security challenges at a meeting hosted by New Delhi.

The meeting is taking place under the framework of the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

A major focus of the discussions was to be on the situation in Afghanistan, especially in dealing with the threat from terrorist groups active in the Taliban-ruled country, people familiar with the meeting said.

Pakistan has sent a three-member team for the meeting.

India assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO (RATS SCO) on October 28 for a period of one year.

India has shown keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.

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** Indian shooters on top with eight gold and eight silver

Arya Tyagi, Shardul Vihan and Vivaan Kapoor gave a good account of themsleves before losing to the US 6-4 in the final of the trap team competition in the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.

India had topped qualification with 210, three points ahead of the US, but in the final, Lance Thompson, Emilio Carvalho and Matthew Kutz prevailed.

The Indian women’s team also ended up with silver after losing 6-2 to Italy, which had shot 12 points better than India in qualification.

In the mixed team trap event, Bhavya Tripathi and Vivan Kapoor shot 133 for eighth place, as they missed qualification for the medal round by one point to teams from Britain, Australia and Spain. The other Indian pair of Sabeera Haris and Arya Tyagi placed 11th with 132 .

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** 24th Summer Deaflympics | Shuttler Jerlin Anika wins three gold medals

The badminton player has won several medals for the country at national and international level events

J. Jerlin Anika of Madurai has won the gold medal in the women’s singles badminton event in the ongoing 24th Summer Deaflympics at Caxias do Sul in Brazil. She also won the gold medal at the mixed doubles badminton event and the team badminton event.

Jerlin Anika defeated K. Neudolt of Austria to secure the gold medal in the single’s event. In the mixed doubles event, Jerlin Anika and Abhinav Sharma won the medal by defeating Boon and Teo of Malaysia. She was part of the Indian badminton team which defeated team Japan 3-1 to win the gold medal.

The badminton player has won several medals for the country at national and international level events. She is participating in her second Deaflympics. Earlier, she participated in the 2017 Deaflympics held at Samsun in Turkey. She was the youngest player at the event.

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Delhi Airport replaces Dubai as the world’s second busiest airport in March: Report

The Delhi Airport was in 23rd place in March 2019 before the pandemic.

Delhi Airport was the world’s second busiest airport in March 2022 in terms of domestic and international flights handled, said Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider, in its recent report.

Whilst Atlanta retains its position as largest, Dubai is knocked out of second place this month (March) by Delhi which moves up from third place last month (February),” the OAG’s report mentioned.

The Delhi Airport was in 23rd place in March 2019 before the pandemic, it added. In March this year, airports in Atlanta in the US, Delhi in India and Dubai in the UAE handled 4.42 million, 3.61 million and 3.55 million seats, it mentioned.

dnaindia.com

** HumCen Global Backed World Record For 100 Patent Filings in 24 Hours!

HumCen Global (P) Ltd has successfully organised a huge event on World IP Day, April 26, 2022, with the primary goal of filing 100 Indian Design patents in 24 hours. The World Book of Records (LONDON) recognized and commended this bold initiative.

The team from HumCen Global Pvt Ltd and Trichy’s K Ramakrishnan College of Technology worked tirelessly to attain this goal. As a result, the “100 Design Patent Filed within 24 hours”, this claim was a first-of-its-kind effort around the globe.

The crew works bright filing the first patent at 2:42 AM,. It was not easy, but sheer determination got the team through, and the record-breaking patent was achieved at 11:32 p.m.

As a strategic patent consulting partner of K Ramakrishnan College of Technology (Autonomous) in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, it was an excellent overall experience for HumCen Global Pvt Ltd in Chennai, TamilNadu, India to work for the theme IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future with 300+ Student Innovators cum Faculties. 

globenewswire.com

GLOBAL RECORDS: INDIA RECORDS: India-born Scientist & Conservation Biologist Kamal Bawa Elected to US National Academy of Sciences

Conservation biologist Kamal Bawa has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Kamal Bawa is president of the Bengaluru-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE) as well as an elected fellow of the Royal Society (London) and the American Philosophical Society.

“The election is a reaffirmation of our important work on the ecology, conservation, and management of tropical forests that are declining all over the world but are critical to humanity’s well-being,” said Dr. Bawa.

A few years ago, Dr. Bawa brought together scientists from India’s leading institutions to develop the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing under the banner of the Biodiversity Collaborative.

The effort was supported by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, and is currently funded by the Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

** At $76.6 billion, India is third highest military spender in world, says report

According to data published by SIPRI, the top five military spenders—the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia—accounted for 62 per cent of the global military expenditure.

India was the third-highest military spender in the world behind the US and China as the global defence expenditure reached an all-time high of $2.1 trillion in 2021, hitting record levels despite the coronavirus pandemic, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Monday.

According to data published by SIPRI, the top five military spenders—the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom, and Russia—accounted for 62 per cent of the global military expenditure.

SIPRI said India’s military spending, amounting to $76.6 billion in 2021, grew by 0.9 per cent from 2020 and by 33 per cent from 2012. “Amid ongoing tensions and border disputes with China and Pakistan that occasionally spill over into armed clashes, India has prioritized the modernization of its armed forces and self-reliance in arms production,” according to the report.

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** Indian doctor performs 1st pediatric stem cell transplant in UAE

A Malayali doctor in Abu Dhabi wrote himself into record books when he performed the first pediatric stem cell bone marrow transplant in the UAE.

Dr Zainul Aabideen, a native of Kannur in Kerala, presently Head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Burjeel Medical City successfully performed the advanced allogeneic procedure on a five-year-old girl from Uganda with sickle cell disease.

Billed as the first such surgery done in the UAE, the patient’s 10-year-old sister donated her bone marrow for the transplant treatment at Burjeel Medical City, a flagship hospital of VPS Healthcare.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder, which results in an abnormality in the hemoglobin found in red blood cells, causing them to become sickle-shaped and leading to several complications including anemia, swelling in the hands and feet, frequent pain, acute chest syndrome, and sometimes stroke.

Prior to the treatment, the child has been regularly admitted to the hospital due to complications arising from her disease since birth.

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** ‘Indianish but not Indian’ describes Mauritius best

From garam masala made with Madagascar spices to fritters stuffed with prawns and béchamel sauce, local meals in Mauritius are familiar yet so exotic

It’s a glorious autumn night in April in Mauritius when a small bus with disco lights and local Sega music drops us off in a village named after piment (chilli, in Mauritian Creole). We are at the house of Ved Bhujun, whose forefathers had set sail from India almost 200 years ago to this blue-green land.

The Bhujun family has retained its Indian heritage, despite a very mixed Creole gene pool now. A temple guards the home’s garden, we are welcomed with lit lamps, and Ved’s son — with the Indian Navy till a few years ago, and now in Mauritius’ anti-narcotics squad — tells me how, when he gets married, he will have not only Indian-style music and dancing but also a “turmeric ceremony”. There is nothing religious about these rituals; they are just vehicles for memories. As is the food. You realise as you taste it, here’s something that is Indianish, but not Indian — spices sans pungency, cultural resonances reshaped into new flavours.

** Quad vaccine initiative starts as India delivers 3.25 lakh Covishield doses to Cambodia

Indian ambassador to Cambodia, Devyani Khobragade, along with representatives from the embassies of Australia, Japan, and the US to Cambodia, jointly handed over a consignment of 3.25 lakh doses of Covishield vaccines to PM Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

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