Category: Amazing Feats

** Chennai to host Edinburgh’s Royal College of Surgeons’ conference in October

This is the first time the 517-year-old institution will hold meet outside England

The Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, will hold its first international conference in Chennai in October.

This is the first time the 517-year-old institution will hold a meeting outside England, said its first Indian vice-president Pala Rajesh.

The three-day conference, ‘Beyond COVID-19: Impact and innovation’, will have sessions in various specialities for doctors and a training symposium for postgraduate medical students. 

The training session will be held in the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University. 

According to him, the event, being held from Oct. 5 to 8, would be a knowledge-sharing platform where doctors from across the globe and all specialities would share their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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** Inc’s biggest merger: Merged HDFC entity to overtake TCS, second only to RIL

In the biggest merger in the history of India Inc, mortgage firm HDFC Ltd will merge with HDFC Bank, creating a banking behemoth with a market capitalisation of Rs 14 lakh crore.

After the merger, HDFC Bank will be 100 per cent owned by public shareholders, and existing shareholders of HDFC Ltd will own 41 per cent of HDFC Bank. Shareholders of HDFC Ltd will receive 42 shares of HDFC Bank (face value of Re 1 each) for 25 shares of HDFC Ltd of Rs 2 each — a ratio of 1:1.68.

Following the announcement by HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, HDFC Bank shares shot up by 9.97 per cent to Rs 1,656.45 on the BSE Monday. HDFC Ltd shares rose by 9.30 per cent to close at 2,678.90.

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** India’s Rickey Kej and Falguni Shah win big at 2022 Grammy Awards

Rickey Kej earned his second coveted gramophone trophy in the best new album category for Divine Tides. Falguni Shah, a New York-based Indian singer known by her stage name Falu, won her first Grammy Award for A Colorful World in the best children’s album category.

A Mumbai-born singer went to the US and made her career in music, while the other, born in the US, moved back to India, the country of his parents’ birth. The ‘crossover’ stars Falguni Shah and Rickey Kej have now won their respective Grammy Awards.

At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards held on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Kej earned his second coveted gramophone trophy in the best new album category for Divine Tides, his collaboration with The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

Shah, a New York-based Indian singer known by her stage name Falu, won her first Grammy Award for A Colorful World in the best children’s album category.

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6,000 Km In 110 Days: Delhi Woman Sufiya Khan Breaks World Record For Golden Quadrilateral Run

Sufiya Khan began her run from the national capital on December 16, 2020.

Sufiya began her run from the national capital on December 16, 2020. By April 6, 2021, she has completed the golden quadrilateral circuit. A gruelling journey, to be sure, but the 35-year-old athlete was determined to see it through.

“No, I did not think of giving up in the entire attempt,” she was quoted as saying by Guinness World Records. “Though there were very many injuries that happened during the run my full focus was on completing this attempt in minimum time.”

Sufiya was supported on her run by her husband, who drove the support car, took care of her nutrition and physiotherapy and managed her schedule. Besides this, local runners and cyclists joined her at various stretches of her journey.

On Saturday, she was certified as the “fastest female to run along The Indian Golden Quadrilatrel Road.”

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** Mirabai Chanu: Weightlifter is 2021 BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has won the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year award for 2021, following a public vote.

The Olympic silver medallist beat golfer Aditi Ashok, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, Para-shooter Avani Lekhara, and badminton player PV Sindhu to the award.

Chanu became the first Indian weightlifter to win a silver medal at an Olympic Games, when she finished second in the 49kg category in Tokyo.

bbc.com

** Diamond jubilee of Helicopter Training School celebrated

Museum showcasing rich heritage of the IAF helicopter units opened
Helicopter Training School (HTS), the biggest helicopter unit and alma mater of IAF helicopter pilots, celebrated its diamond jubilee at the Air Force Station-Hakimpet on Sunday.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari and Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-charge), Training Command IAF, along with Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major (retired), Admiral Karambir Singh (retired), veterans and serving officers of the helicopter fleet from all three services attended the event.

A special cover and diamond jubilee book of HTS, commemorating the occasion, was released. An HTS Museum showcasing the rich heritage of the IAF helicopter units was also opened.

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** Humidity hurdle for NIT in world’s wettest place

NIT Meghalaya insiders are not sure if dehumidifiers, a tad extra in the construction budget, can save its laboratory equipment in the long run

Excessive rain in the wettest place on earth is expected to peg one of India’s youngest technological institutes back by ₹1-crore.

But the “extra expenditure” on dehumidifiers is the least of the worries for the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Meghalaya coming up on 306.6 acres at Sohra – Cherrapunji to the world beyond – at an estimated cost of ₹429.70-crore.

The heads of the institute, functioning from its temporary campus in Meghalaya capital Shillong since 2012, are not sure if the dehumidifiers can save its laboratory equipment in the long run.

The permanent complex, under construction for almost a decade, is about 55 km south of Shillong and 20 km north of India’s border with Bangladesh.

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** HAL scales new peak, sees revenue of over Rs 24K crore

Aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has recorded the highest ever revenue of over Rs 24,000 crore (provisional and unaudited) for the financial year ending March 31, 2022, registering a 6 % revenue growth over the previous financial year. The corresponding figure for the previous year stood at Rs 22,755 crore.

“Despite the challenges of the second wave of Covid-19 during the first quarter of the year and the consequent production loss, the Company could meet the targeted revenue growth with improved performance during the balance period of the year”, said R Madhavan, Chairman & Managing Director, HAL.

HAL achieved record revenue with the production of 44 new helicopters/aircraft, 84 new engines, overhauled 203 aircraft/helicopters and 478 engines.

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** Dr. Reddy’s acquiring Novartis cardio drug Cidmus for $61 m

Given the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, this acquisition will allow Dr. Reddy’s to make a trusted portfolio of medicines available to the patients

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has entered into an agreement with pharma giant Novartis AG to acquire cardiovascular brand Cidmus in India for $61 million.

Under the agreement, it will be assigned and transferred the Cidmus trademark in India from Novartis AG. Cidmus sales in the country was around ₹136.4 crore for the most recent 12 months ending in February 2022, Dr. Reddy’s said on April 1, citing IQVIA MAT numbers.

The Cidmus brand will be affixed on the pharmaceutical composition comprising a combination of Valsartan and Sacubitril (currently under Novartis patent) which is indicated for heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction. The tablets were available in three strengths, the company said.

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