RECORDS IN ASIA – Page 5 – Global Records India

India to become world’s number one producer of steel: Scindia

He was of the view that India has moved from becoming the net importer of steel to the net exporter of steel.

Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Tuesday exuded confidence that India will become the number one producer of steel in the world in the days to come. India is the world’s second-largest producer of crude steel after China.

The minister was speaking during a conference on the Indian minerals and metals industry organised by NMDC and Ficci.

He was of the view that India has moved from becoming the net importer of steel to the net exporter of steel.

He said India’s per capita consumption of steel has increased from 57.8 kg in 2013-14 to 78 kg. The government intends to achieve 300 million tonnes (MT) of steel production target by 2030, Scindia said.

Steel across the world is the primary sector which results in economic, capital and infrastructure growth.

“Our target policy and focus also have been to turn India from just another player in the steel sector to becoming a force to reckon with,” he added.

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India supplies nearly 60% of vaccines used worldwide: Nirmala Sitharaman

India today is double dosing every citizen and produced COVID-19 vaccines even during the lockdown period, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said nearly 60% of all the vaccines used in the world are produced in India and over the decades, the country has made remarkable contribution to vaccinating the world.

India today is double dosing every citizen and produced COVID-19 vaccines even during the lockdown period, she added.

Launching the book India’s Vaccine Growth Story by Sajjan Singh Yadav, Additional Secretary, Expenditure Department, Sitharaman said it is in the country’s DNA to be able to contribute to world vaccination.

“Over the decades India has made remarkable contribution. Nearly 60% of all the vaccines which are used in the world are produced in India. India has singular contribution to make to the world in terms of vaccination and that which is being produced and supplied to the entire world,” Ms. Sitharaman said.

Today, the country is double dosing every citizen, she said, adding it is not easy to produce and execute COVID vaccination at that scale.

India crossed the target of 200 crore COVID vaccinations in a time-bound manner. So far, 208.57 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the nationwide inoculation drive.

Chandigarh: New Guinness World Record for largest human formation of waving national flag

The Chandigarh University on Saturday set a new Guinness World Record for the world’s largest human formation of a waving national flag here.

As many as 5,885 students from the Chandigarh University and other schools and colleges along with volunteers of the NID Foundation and other dignitaries gathered for the flag formation at the Chandigarh Cricket Stadium here, according to a release issued by the university.

The feat was achieved by breaking the previous record made by an institution in the United Arab Emirates.

Swapnil Dangarikar, Guinness World Records official adjudicator, said, “The previous world record for the ‘largest human image of a waving national flag’ achieved by GEMS Education in Abu Dhabi, UAE has been broken and a new world record has been created by NID Foundation and Chandigarh University in today’s event.”

The UAE had achieved the record for the largest human image of a waving national flag with 4,130 people in 2017, it said.

Chandigarh Administrator and Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakashi Lekhi, NID chief patron and Chandigarh University Chancellor Satnam Singh Sandhu and other senior officials of the Union Territory administration were present in the event.

Dangarikar handed over a copy of the GWR certificate to the governor and the university chancellor.

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Kerala woman aims to join league of Indian-origin women astronauts

Canada-based space entrepreneur Aathira Preetharani, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, has been selected for an astronaut training programme of the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) in the US.

After completing the programme, Aathira hopes to join the league of Indian-origin women astronauts like Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.

But the 24-year-old’s eventual flight to space would be special as she would be proudly sporting the Indian tricolour on her space suit. “Though I am based in Canada, I applied for the astronaut training programme as an Indian citizen. So I will be training as an Indian national there, with the tricolour on my training suit,” Aathira told TNIE in an online interaction from Ottawa, Canada. Aathira was selected under Project PoSSUM, an aeronomy research programme, offered by IIAS.

“PoSSUM trains people to become citizen astronauts so that you do not remain a mere passenger when you go out to space but can also carry out valuable research activities,” said Aathira. In the run-up to joining the astronaut training programme at Florida Tech in the US, she is busy honing her skills as a fighter pilot. “Scuba diving and fighter pilot experience would stand an astronaut trainee in good stead for the mission ahead,” she added.

Aathira had to wait for two years to be fully cleared to fly a fighter jet and her training sessions are slated to begin this month. An alumnus of St Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram, Aathira was fascinated by space right from an early age. Her interest in space was further nurtured by the sessions held by Aastro, an amateur astronomers’ society in Thiruvananthapuram. She met her future husband Gokul at Aastro and their common interest in space made the bond stronger.

At the age of 18, Aathira moved out of her home to live on her own, with the earnings from computer programming assignments. “A year later, I moved to Canada to pursue a course in robotics. However, I changed track and began efforts to launch my own company that specialises in building space tugs to help interplanetary explorations, service satellites, and resolve the space debris problem in the earth’s orbit,” she said. Gokul, who was previously with Isro and later moved to Canada to join Aathira, is also part of the startup named Exo-Geo Aerospace Inc.

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Golf | Bhullar registers 10th career win IN Mandiri Indonesia Open; ends four-year Indian title drought in Asia

Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar shot a superb 7-under 65 to be 20-under and win the $5,00,000 Mandiri Indonesia Open.

Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar produced one of the best rounds of his career when he needed it most to end India’s four-year long title drought on the Asian Tour.

Bhullar shot a superb 7-under 65 to be 20-under and win the $5,00,000 Mandiri Indonesia Open.

He won the tournament by two shots over countryman Rashid Khan (68) and Steve Lewton (64).

The last Indian win had come at the Panasonic Open by Khalin Joshi in 2018.

It was his 10th Asian Tour win, the most by an Indian as he extended his own record. He also became the first player to win the event three times, following his wins in 2013 and 2016.

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.

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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Rohit Sharma surpasses Virat Kohli to reign supreme in T20Is, scripts two sensational world records during IND vs WI

Rohit Sharma scored a 35-ball fifty to take India past the 100-run mark in the Twenty20 series opener in Trinidad.

Rohit Sharma on Friday went past Martin Guptill to regain first place in the list of top run-getters in T20 Internationals. The India skipper achieved the milestone en route his 35-ball fifty in the T20 series opener against West Indies in Trinidad. Earlier this week, Guptill had surpassed Rohit to become the leading run-scorer in the shortest format. He was 20 runs ahead of Rohit before the Indian recouped lost ground. India vs West Indies 1st T20 Live Score

Guptill is closely followed by former India captain Virat Kohli (3,308), Ireland’s ODI skipper Paul Stirling (2,894), and Australian captain Aaron Finch, who is fifth on the list with 2,855 runs.

Apart from Guptill, Rohit also eclipsed Kohli in the list of most 50-plus scores in men’s T20Is. Kohli held the first position before notched up a fifty – his 31st 50-plus score in the 20-over format.

Most fifty-plus scores in Men’s T20I:

31 – Rohit Sharma*

30 – Virat Kohli

27 – Babar Azam

23 – David Warner

22 – Martin Guptill

Chennai Chess Olympiad updates | Declaring open the 44th Chess Olympiad, PM Modi says TN is chess powerhouse of India

A gala opening ceremony of the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad took place at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on July 28, 2022. The international event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

The world’s biggest team chess championship, featuring players from 187 countries, takes place at Hotel Four Points by Sheraton, Mamallapuram, starting July 29 and is to conclude on August 10. The Olympiad is being held in India for the first time ever, after being moved out of Moscow in Russia following the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who declared open the 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad said that in a short period of time, the organisers had made outstanding arrangements.

The grand inaugural was also attended by the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan and Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi.

Harshada clinches gold at Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championship

In the men’s 49 kg youth event, L. Dhanush won the bronze in the snatch section with an 85 kg effort

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.