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** Mumbai teen attempts record for batting longest, stays at crease for over 72 hours

19-year-old Siddarth Mohite passed compatriot Virag Mane’s 50-hour record, created in 2015, before batting for 72 hours and five minutes during a marathon net session

Eyeing a new world record for batting the longest, Mumbai teen Siddarth Mohite stayed at the crease for a whopping 72 hours and five minutes during a marathon net session and is now waiting for the Guinness Book of World Record to recognise the feat.

The 19-year-old Mohite passed compatriot Virag Mane’s 50-hour record, created in 2015, before batting for 72 hours and five minutes over the weekend.

** IISc. researchers help develop math model to predict COVID-19 vaccine efficacy

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science and Queensland Brain Institute in Australia have developed a mathematical model that predicts how antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines confer protection against symptomatic infections

The protection offered by vaccination has been touted as a major factor in reducing the damage caused by the third wave of Covid-19 infections. Several vaccines offer a high degree of protection, with some reducing the number of symptomatic infections by over 95% in clinical trials. But what determines the extent of protection? Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) and Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) in Australia have addressed this question by developing a mathematical model that predicts how antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines confer protection against symptomatic infections. The study was published in Nature Computational Science.

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** Tamil Nadu Government Begins Work on India’s First Dugong Reserve in Palk Bay

Dugongs are endangered species that are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in a study, reported that only 200-250 dugongs are left in the wild of which 150 are found in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar off Tamil Nadu.

The WII said that the area was being used as a breeding ground and therefore identified as critical habitat.

** Reliance takes control of about 200 Future Retail stores, offers jobs to staff

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. has taken over the operations of at least 200 stores of Future Retail and has offered jobs to its employees after the Kishore Biyani-led group failed to make lease payments to landlords, sources said on Saturday.

Reliance Retail, the retail arm of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate, had in August 2020 agreed to take over the retail and logistics business of the Future Group for ₹24,713 crore but the deal couldn’t be closed as Future’s warring partner Amazon went to courts citing violation of some contracts. Future denies any wrongdoing.

** Rashmikaa, Humera pair triumphs Haryana Women’s ITF $15k tennis tournament

Hyderabad tennis players Shrivalli Rashmikaa and Humera Baharmus pair lifted the women’s doubles crown at the Haryana Women’s ITF $15k tennis tournament, in Gurugram on Saturday.

The talented youngsters, who were unseeded in the tournament, defeated top seeds Kovapitukted Punin of Thailand and Anna Ureke of Russia 6-3, 1-6, 10-3.

** Ind vs SL 3rd T20I | No escape from Shreyas for Sri Lanka as India completes sweep – February 27th, 2022

The No. 3 batter’s unbeaten 45-ball 73 takes the home team to yet another win with plenty to spare; visiting captain Shanaka’s quickfire knock of 74 goes in vain

There’s no stopping Shreyas Iyer. After hammering back-to-back half-centuries in the first two T20Is against Sri Lanka, the 27-year-old remained unbeaten on 73 off 45 deliveries as India completed a clean sweep, defeating the touring side by six wickets in the third T20I.

Chasing the target of 147 at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday, India captain Rohit Sharma opened the innings with Sanju Samson as Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the fixture after being hit on the helmet in the previous game.

** National Science Day : Of C.V. Raman the botanist, and a palette of floral hues

National Science Day – Monday, February 28th, 2022

Why do flowers have colours? Do varying hues alter their properties?

Such questions prompted Nobel Prize-winning physicist C.V. Raman to focus his efforts on studying floral colours and their roles in attracting pollinators and shielding flowers from predators during his final years.

As the nation celebrated yet another National Science Day on Monday to commemorate the discovery of Raman effect, an eponymous laboratory in Kerala has been making strides in creating a comprehensive spectral library of flora in the country.

The research by Athira K., an assistant professor at the C.V. Raman Laboratory of Ecological Informatics in the Digital University Kerala, is spurred by a broad understanding of the importance of the colour of angiosperms (or flowering plants) in attracting pollinators. With the characteristic found to be extremely crucial in stabilising the declining population of wild pollinators, the study held immense relevance for policy makers in promoting crops.

** Take pride in Tamil, says Modi

PM stresses language diversity of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that every citizen should be proud that the world’s oldest language, Tamil, is in India. Emphasising the importance of the mother tongue in his ‘M ann Ki Baat’ radio show, Mr. Modi said, “The mother and mother tongue, both together strengthen the foundation of life, lending it permanence. Just like we cannot abandon our mother, similarly, we cannot leave our mother tongue either.”

He said the country was proud to be associated with 121 forms of mother tongues, 14 of which are spoken by over one crore people in everyday life.

In 2019, Hindi was ranked third among the most spoken languages of the world. “Every Indian should be proud of this, too. Language is not just a medium of expression, but also serves to preserve the culture and heritage of society,” Mr. Modi said, highlighting the contribution of Surjan Parohi, a famous Hindi poet from Suriname, whose forefathers had gone there along with thousands of workers to earn a living.

** West Indies spin legend Sonny Ramadhin dead – Feb 2u7th, 2022

Sonny Ramadhin (1 May 1929 – 27 February 2022) was a West Indian cricketer, and was a dominant bowler of the 1950s. He was the first of many West Indian cricketers of Indian origin, and was one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1951.

Having had made his Test debut against England at Old Trafford in 1950, Ramadhin ended up playing 43 Tests and taking 158 wickets at an average of 28.98