Category: RECORDS, INDIA (National)

** Three films from Chennai-based Stray Factory to be screened at NYIFF 2021

The films ‘Nasir’, ‘B. Selvi & Daughters’ and ‘Freddie’s Piano’ have all been produced by independent studio Stray Factory

Three films produced by Chennai-based independent studio Stray Factory will be screened at the New York Indian Film Festival this year.

The NYIFF, which is being held from June 4 to 13, will screen Nasir (directed by Arun Karthick), B. Selvi & Daughters (directed by Drishya), and Freddie’s Piano (directed by Aakash Prabhakar).

** Ocugen pays $15 mn upfront to Bharat Biotech for Covaxin rights in Canada

Similar to the US arrangement, Ocugen will retain 45 per cent of the profit from sales of Covaxin in Canada.

Ocugen Inc, the US partner for Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine has announced the payment of $15 million upfront to the Indian drug maker for extending the vaccine rights to Canada.

Ocugen in a regulatory filing said it has agreed to pay another $10 million to Bharat Biotech within a month from the commercial launch of Covaxin in the North American country.

** Battle against COVID: ISRO develops three types of ventilators, to transfer technology

Low-cost and portable critical care ventilator ‘PRANA’ (Programmable Respiratory Assistance for the Needy Aid) is based on the automated compression of an AMBU (Artificial Manual Breathing unit) bag

** Explained: How the US will recover remains of 400 of its soldiers missing in India

Gandhinagar-based National Forensic Sciences University has tied up with US’s Department of Defense to recover and identify the remains of over 400 missing US military personnel in India during World War II. How will they go about doing so?

** Raimona becomes Assam’s sixth national park

The 422 sq ft wildlife habitat in Kokrajhar district adjoins western-most buffer to Manas Tiger Reserve

Raimona in Kokrajhar district has become Assam’s sixth national park.

Eastern Assam’s Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, under stress for unregulated coal mining in the vicinity is in the process of becoming the seventh national park, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a function to mark World Environment Day on Saturday.

** Assam’s 500-year-old theatre tradition

Ankia Bhaona, a theatre form that blends classical and folk idioms, presents a unique dimension of Assamese culture

“Go to Guwahati for the Ankia Bhaona Samaroh. You will have a rare experience and a new vision of Assamese culture,” Raju Das, an officer of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, who hails from Assam, had told me.

** How a Quaker from America gained fame and fortune in Ranjit Singh’s court (and was then banished)

Heartbroken and chagrined, the young man set sail again and ended up in Calcutta, where the British East India Company was headquartered. The Company was about to get involved in a war in Burma and needed surgeons.

Lacking a formal medical training, Harlan presented himself to the medical board for examination and through self-study, even managed to pass. He was appointed surgeon to the Calcutta General Hospital and for the next two years, served in Burma until he was injured and sent back.

After he had recovered, Harlan was posted to Karnal, north of Delhi. Restless and eager to make his fortune, he started chafing at the business of taking orders and decided to leave the Company’s employment. Harlan had always had an ambivalent attitude towards his employer; while he had a romantic love for the pomp and ceremony of the British monarchy, which the Company represented, he was fiercely independent and very proud that his country was a republic. Right around this time, he stumbled upon a colourful account of Afghanistan, written by Mountstuart Elphinstone, a representative of the East India Company. Harlan was fascinated by the account of the Afghan court and had a deep desire to observe a real monarchy in operation. The Indian rajas that he had encountered seemed to wield no real power and were effectively puppets of the Company.