Month: March 2022

** Permanent Body constituted to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks

The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a “permanent” coordination committee that includes the Ministry of Railways and the Environment Ministry to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks , Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, said in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Mr. Yadav said that 19 elephants were killed across the country on railway tracks in 2018-19, 14 in 2019-20 and 12 in 2020-21. Several steps were taken to reduce the number of elephants deaths, the minister noted.

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** Indian American Raj Subramaniam to be new CEO of FedEx

Indian American Raj Subramaniam would be new Chief Executive Officer of FedEx, according to an announcement made on Monday by the U.S. multinational courier delivery giant.

Mr. Subramanian would replace Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO, who will step down from this position on June 1. He will now be its executive chairman.

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** Indian power project replaces Chinese venture in Sri Lanka’s northern islands

India will set up hybrid power projects in three Islands off Jaffna, effectively replacing the Chinese venture cleared by Colombo last year.  

The MoU for the project was among those signed during a meeting between visiting External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and his Sri Lankan counterpart G.L. Peiris late on Monday. It is the third Indian energy project coming up in Sri Lanka’s north and east, after the recent agreements for National Thermal Power Corporation’s solar venture in the eastern Sampur town, and the Adani Group’s renewable energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in the north.

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** Agreement with UAE will propel India’s jewellery exports to UAE to over $10 billion annually, says council

As per the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the import duty on Jewellery exports to UAE from India has been reduced from 5% to 0%, says Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said that with the signing of India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), India’s gem & jewellery sector would achieve annual exports of more than $10 billion to UAE. 

As per the pact, the import duty on Jewellery exports to UAE from India has been reduced from 5% to 0%. And India is allowed to import from UAE up to 120 tonnes of gold at 1% duty less than the applicable duty in the first year. The volume will increase to 200 tonnes in five years.

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** Swiss Open badminton | Sindhu clinches title; wins second singles title in 2022

Ace Indian shuttler P V Sindhu notched up her second women’s singles title of the season with a straight game win over Thailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the summit clash of the Swiss Open Super 300 badminton tournament in Basel on Sunday.

Playing her second successive final in the tournament, Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist, took 49 minutes to get the better of the fourth seeded Thai 21-16 21-8 at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel.

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** India and Maldives sign agreement to cooperate in the field of Education

Indian External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar and Maldives External Affairs Minister Abdulla Shahid signed an agreement on Saturday, March 26, to ensure cooperation from both the countries in the field of education.

The agreement aims towards paving the way for connectivity between India’s National Knowledge Network and the Maldives’ Higher Education Network. Details below

source/content: timesnownews.com

** India’s first aluminium body coaches make way for Pune Metro

Manufacture of such a train is a big step towards Make in India concept. Ten years back, such a decision couldn’t even be thought, says official.

India first light-weight, aluminium-body coaches made for Metro train was flagged off for Maha-Metro’s Pune project at an event held at Kolkata on Saturday.

source/content: hindustantimes.com

** India’s first long-lasting ‘steel slag’ road built in this Gujarat city

Waste steel can prove to be a more durable and cost-effective way of making roads in future. In the first such use case of waste steel in India, a road has been constructed using waste steel in Surat at the Hazira industrial area.

It is India’s first-ever ‘steel slag road’, which has been built by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India with CSIR India (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and government think tank Niti Aayog.

source/content: livemint.com

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** Capturing the life and times of Kumaran Asan on screen

K. P. Kumaran’s biopic on the poet to release on April 8

Gramavrikshathile Kuyil, filmmaker K. P. Kumaran’s biopic on poet Kumaran Asan, is set to release on April 8. After a pandemic-induced stalemate and financial hiccups, the film is finally reaching the audience after three years. “I am overwhelmed. I did not think the film would be released, after so many hurdles,” says Mr. Kumaran. 

The 84-year-old director, who is known for his contribution to Kerala’s parallel cinema movement, says a film on Kumaran Asan was a dream project. Asan’s creative genius had a defining influence on Mr. Kumaran. “I don’t, however, call myself a scholar of Asan’s works. This film is for me an inquiry into Asan’s staggering persona with my limited tool,” he says. 

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** Scientists’ contributions, evolution of science in India recalled

Science Leaders Conclave 2022’, jointly organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Vijnana Bharati, held at IICT

Top scientists in India, heads of national laboratories and scientific institutions, and officials congregated at the ‘Science Leaders Conclave 2022’ held at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here on Saturday.

It is a rare congregation where various aspects of science, its evolution in India, current and emerging challenges, and possible solutions were discussed.

Jayant Sahasrabudhe, organising secretary-VIBBHA, spoke about ‘Contributions of scientists to freedom movement’. The second topic presented on Saturday was ‘Presentations highlighting achievements since independence’.

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