Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel produced superb bowling in slog overs as India survived some anxious moments before walking out with an eight-run won over West Indies in the second T20I that handed them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here on Friday.
A lizard new to science is wearing the Indian Army’s tag.
A team of herpetologists have recorded a new species of bent-toed gecko from a wooded part of the Umroi Military Station in Meghalaya. Its scientific name is Crytodactylus exercitus and English name is Indian Army’s bent-toed gecko. Exercitus in Latin means army.
“The name was given to honour the Army for its services to the country. The military station where the bent-toed gecko was discovered was also a factor behind its name,” Jayaditya Purkayastha of green NGO Help Earth and one of the authors of a study on the gecko told The Hindu on Friday.
The finding of the study was published in the latest issue of the European Journal of Taxonomy. The paper recorded another new bent-toed gecko, the Cyrtodactylus siahaensis named after Mizoram’s Siaha district where it was found. The other authors of the twin study are Sanath Chandra Bohra of Help Earth, Yashpal Singh Rathee of Umroi Military Station, Hmar Tlawmte Lalremsanga, Vabeiryureilai Mathipi, Lal Biakzuala and Lal Muansanga of Mizoram University’s Department of Zoology and Beirathie Litho of a school in the Siaha district.
Most of these lizard specialists and a few others had in a separate study recorded the Cyrtodactylus lungleiensis, a new species of bent-toed gecko named after Mizoram’s Lunglei town.
India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a bilateral “comprehensive” trade pact on Friday. Announcing the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the biggest trade pact of the last seven years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed investment from the Gulf country into Jammu and Kashmir and said the initiative would open new routes for regional trade and connectivity and advance “collective interests” of India, Israel, the UAE and the United States. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the CEPA would have strong anti-dumping measures.
“This agreement will herald a new age in our financial relations. Our trade in the next five years will increase from $60 billion to $100 billion,” said Mr. Modi, thanking Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who participated in the summit virtually.
One of the crew members of SpaceX is Anna Menon, wife of Malayali medical expert Dr Anil Menon.
Dr Anil Menon who is based in Minnesota in the US, is an expert who is set to be part of future US space missions organised by NASA.
Kerala / USA
Andrew Otis offers insights into Asia’s first printed newspaper that was published from Calcutta, the then capital of British India, and his research that led to his seminal book, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette: The Untold Story of India’s First Newspaper
The story of a man who made a business of recording the music of the past.
The Indian in the United States — nostalgic and out of place — was homesick. It was a sentiment that Atanu Biswas, formerly of Calcutta, then of Newark in the US, understood well. And it was to cater to
his compatriots that the research chemist launched Biswas Records in 1994.
Biswas Records filled this gap. The logo of a Bengal School-influenced line drawing of a traditionally-dressed Indian woman holding a lit lamp with Biswas written at the bottom was always found in abundance at major Durga Pujas across the US, from Boston to San Francisco. A passion project for Atanu, whose day job involves trying to turn soya bean products into biodegradable packaging for FMCG, and his wife Sheena, Biswas Records produced more than 175 albums of Bengali as well as north Indian classical music till 2005.
West Bengal / USA
India and Oman have very strong defence ties, and all three services have bilateral exchanges and exercises with Oman’s services.
Arya Rajendran, who is in charge of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, will marry Sachin Dev, who is the youngest MLA in the current Kerala Assembly.
Kerala
The long-awaited water taxi services linking Mumbai’s east coast with the mainland in Navi Mumbai and other locations — the first of its kind in India — was inaugurated on Thursday by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in the presence of Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
While Thackeray inaugurated the new Belapur Jetty, Sonowal formally flagged off the water taxi services with Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Ports Minister Aslam Shaikh, MoS Ports Abdul Sattar, Mumbai Port Trust Chairman Rajiv Jalota, Maharashtra Maritime Board CEO Amit Saini, Thane Collector Rajesh Narvekar, local elected representatives and other dignitaries.
Maharashtra
Singer-composer Bappi Lahiri, who popularised disco music in Indian cinema in the 80s and 90s, has died following multiple health issues, a doctor treating him said on Wednesday. He was 69.
West Bengal / Maharashtra