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PM Modi inaugurates Kartavya Path, unveils Netaji statue at India Gate

PM takes a walk around Kartavya Path

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday Inaugurated the the newly-christened Kartavya Path — a stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, and unveiled a 28-ft-tall statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate. The PM also took a walk around the Kartavya Path.

According to the government, it symbolises a shift from erstwhile Rajpath being an icon of power to Kartavya Path being an example of public ownership and empowerment.

These steps are in line with the prime minister’s second ‘Panch Pran’ for New India in Amrit Kaal: ‘remove any trace of colonial mindset’, it said

The statue is part of the Centre’s ₹13,450-crore Central Vista project, which will have a new Parliament building, new office and residences for the Prime Minister and Vice-President and new ministry buildings. The North and South Blocks, the secretariat buildings flanking Rashtrapati Bhavan, will be converted into museums.

The black granite statue has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 metric tonne. The block of granite picked for the statue was transported to Delhi from Telangana and the statue was carved out of it in over two months.

The traffic police made arrangements to ensure smooth vehicular movement in central Delhi where restrictions were imposed for the event. General traffic movement has been diverted from specific roads from 6 pm to 9 pm, officials said.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has replaced the erstwhile Rajpath signages with new signboards of ‘Kartavya Path’. On Wednesday, the NDMC had approved a proposal to rename Rajpath as ‘Kartavya Path’.

Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited has executed the redevelopment of the entire stretch from Vijay Chowk to India Gate. The project was tendered at ₹477 crore.

The CPWD has set up five vending zones where 40 vendors each will be allowed and two blocks near the India Gate with eight shops each. Some states have shown their interest to set up their food stalls.

The entire stretch has been revamped under the Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project.

In a statement, the prime minister’s office said over the years, Rajpath and adjoining areas of the Central Vista Avenue had been witnessing pressure of increasing traffic of visitors, putting stress on its infrastructure.

It lacked basic amenities like public toilets, drinking water, street furniture and adequate parking space. Further, there was inadequate signage, poor maintenance of water features and haphazard parking.

Also, a need was felt to organise the Republic Day parade and other national events in a less disruptive manner with minimal restrictions on public movement.

“The redevelopment has been done bearing these concerns in mind while also ensuring the integrity and continuity of architectural character,” the statement said.

(With inputs from PTI)

When Indians call shots in global business

World’s largest coffee chain, Starbucks has appointed Indian origin Laxman Narasimhan as the chief executive officer on August 3. Here are the list of Indians who are heading several global corporations

-Laxman Narasimhan – CEO – Starbucks / Leena Nair – CEO – Chanel / Satya Nadella – CEO – Microsoft / Sundar Pichai – CEO – Google / Arvind Krishna – CEO & Chairman – IBM/ Parag Agrawal- CEO – Twitter / Shantanu Narayan – Chairman, President , CEO – Adobe Inc / …

‘Cup of Life’ creates Guinness World Record, one lakh and one menstrual cups donated in Kerala’s Ernakulam

Hibi Eden, Ernakulam MP who has been spearheading the ‘Cup of Life’ campaign, received the Guinness World Records certificate at Lulu Mall in Kochi on August 31.

Creating history and a Guinness World Record (GWR), one lakh and one menstrual cups were distributed for free in a span of 24 hours last week in Ernakulam. Hibi Eden, Ernakulam MP who has been spearheading the ‘Cup of Life’ campaign, received the Guinness World Records certificate at Lulu Mall in Kochi on August 31. Along with district administration, Indian Medical Association, with the support of Muthoot Finance, and scores of people collaborated for the world record.

Starting from Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium to Lulu Mall, the cups were distributed to the beneficiaries at more than 100 centres.

Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid vaccine gets emergency use approval

Bharat Biotech’s recombinant nasal vaccine for COVID-19 has been approved by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for primary immunization against COVID-19 in 18+ age group for restricted use in emergency situation, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Tuesday.

“Big Boost to India’s Fight Against COVID-19! Bharat Biotech’s ChAd36-SARS-CoV-S COVID-19 (Chimpanzee Adenovirus Vectored) recombinant nasal vaccine approved by @CDSCO_INDIA_INF for primary immunization against COVID-19 in 18+ age group for restricted use in emergency situation,” Mr. Mandaviya tweeted.

This is the first intranasal vaccine for COVID-19 in the country.

The Minister further tweeted that this step will strengthen our collective fight against the pandemic. “India has harnessed its science, research and development, and human resources in the fight against COVID-19 under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership. With the science-driven approach and Sabka Prayas, we will defeat COVID-19.’’

Japanese venture capital firm joins hands with IIT-Hyderabad

Aimed at boosting entrepreneurship

The Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) and Beyond Next Ventures India (BNVI), Bengaluru, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, have joined hands to extend academia and industry cooperation.

This IITH-BNVI collaboration is expected to usher in a new wave of innovations at IIT-H by investing and mentoring entrepreneurial ideas emerging from the IIT-H startup community to go from ideas to markets.

“The collaborations between the two countries are broader and more diverse, where startups and their ecosystems are the emerging key factors. I strongly support BNVI’s philosophy about open innovation to foster social innovation from early-stage technologies in laboratories. Such a philosophy is very important to utilise the academic-research outcomes better and more for solving the real-world problems in both countries and even beyond,” said IIT-H director B.S. Murty.

“IIT-Hyderabad has a strong and broad start-up ecosystem, including multiple incubation centres, entrepreneurship curriculums, and student organisations. The collaboration with BNVI will further increase the thrust of the startup ecosystem,” said IIT-H associate faculty Kotaro Kataoka.

“ We have been investing in India for the last two years, and it gives us immense pleasure to begin this new journey with IITH, which has invention and innovation as its core ethos,” said Tsuyoshi Ito, CEO, BNVI,.

Reliance Industries to acquire majority stake in U.S. solar digitisation platform SenseHawk for $32 million

SenseHawk is an early-stage California-based developer of software-based management tools for the solar energy generation industry

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire a majority stake in SenseHawk Inc. for a total transaction value of $32 million, including funding for future growth, commercial rollout of products, and R&D.

Founded in 2018, SenseHawk is an early-stage California-based developer of software-based management tools for the solar energy generation industry.

With customers throughout the solar asset lifecycle in the US, EMEA, APAC, and SEA, SenseHawk offers a Solar Digitisation Platform (SDP) SaaS for process optimisation, automation, and asset information management.

SenseHawk, along with RIL’s other investments in the new energy sector will be synergistic and create unique solutions with higher value to customers, RIL said in a statement.

Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman, and Managing Director, RIL said, “We are committed to revolutionise the Green Energy sector and has a vision to enable 100 GW of solar energy by 2030.”

“In collaboration with SenseHawk, we will drive down costs, enhance productivity and improve on-time performance to deliver the lowest LCoE for solar projects globally and make solar energy the go-to source of power in lockstep with our vision for solar energy,” he said.

“It is a very exciting technology platform and I am confident that, with RIL’s support, SenseHawk will grow multifold,” he added.

Swarup Mavanoor, CEO and Co-Founder, SenseHawk, “Our team foresees strategic value in working with RIL, as one of the largest global infrastructure corporations, and look forward to this next phase in our growth.”

Rahul Sankhe, President and Co-Founder, SenseHawk said, “We are on a mission to improve the solar energy ecosystem, acquiring 50% of the market by 2025 and with RIL as our partner, we will accelerate on our execution toward that goal.”

The transaction is expected to complete before end 2022.

Award for neera technician

Dilip Kumar, a Neera technician trained by the Coconut Mission of the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) and working at the Centre of Advanced Agriculture Science and Technology (CAAST), a project of KAU, has been awarded the best Neera Technician in the national level.

The award was instituted as part of World Coconut Day celebrations by the Coconut Development Board.

India, Bangladesh ink first water sharing pact in 25 years; PM Hasina flags Teesta

PM Modi said there were 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border, and have been linked to the livelihood of the people of the two countries for centuries

India and Bangladesh on September 6 signed an interim water sharing agreement for Kushiyara river, the first such pact since the signing of the Ganga water treaty in 1996.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina noted that India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and sought early conclusion of the Teesta water sharing agreement, which has been hanging fire for more than a decade due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

India and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding on sharing of waters of Kushiyara river, a pact that will benefit people residing in southern Assam and the Sylhet division of Bangladesh.

Also Read | A lot is at stake for India-Bangladesh ties

“Today, we have signed an important agreement on sharing water of the Kushiyara river. This will benefit southern Assam in India and Sylhet region in Bangladesh,” Mr. Modi told reporters after the talks with Ms. Hasina.

He said there were 54 rivers that pass through the Indo-Bangladesh border, and have been linked to the livelihood of the people of the two countries for centuries.

“These rivers, folk tales about them, folk songs, have also been witness to our shared cultural heritage,” Mr. Modi said.

Ms. Hasina shared the sentiments expressed by Mr. Modi and also stressed the need to have water-sharing agreements for other rivers as well.

“I recall that the two countries have resolved many issues in the spirit of friendship and cooperation. We hope that all outstanding issues, including Teesta water sharing agreement, will be concluded as an early date,” Ms. Hasina said at a joint media interaction at the Hyderabad House.

Also Read | ‘India should join hands with Bangladesh to create peace in Chittagong’

“There are 54 rivers. As long as Prime Minister Modi is here, India and Bangladesh will resolve all these issues,” she said.

Mr. Modi also said he and Ms. Hasina had a fruitful conversation on enhancing cooperation in relation to flood mitigation.

“India has been sharing flood-related data with Bangladesh on a real-time basis and we have also extended the period of data sharing,” Mr. Modi said.

Earlier, Ms. Hasina was accorded a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan where Mr. Modi extended a warm welcome to her.

She said the two nations were also working to develop stronger economic ties to fulfill the basic needs of the people of the two countries.

“Our main aim is to develop the economy and fulfill the basic needs of our people. With friendship you can solve any problem. So we always do that,” Ms. Hasina said.

After the bilateral talks, Mr. Modi hosted a one-on-one lunch for the visiting dignitary at the Hyderabad House.

India and Bangladesh had signed the Ganga water treaty in 1996 for sharing waters of the mighty river for a period of 30 years. The treaty was signed by the then prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Ms. Hasina.

Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator: ISRO demonstrates new tech that can be used for its Mars, Venus missions

An IAD, designed and developed by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was successfully test flown in a ‘Rohini’ sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS).

ISRO on Saturday successfully demonstrated a new technology with Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (IAD) that it said is a game-changer with multiple applications for future missions including to Mars and Venus.

An IAD, designed and developed by ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), was successfully test flown in a ‘Rohini’ sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS).

The IAD was initially folded and kept inside the payload bay of the rocket, according to the Bengaluru-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

At around 84 km altitude, the IAD was inflated and it descended through atmosphere with the payload part of sounding rocket.

The pneumatic system for inflation was developed by ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), it said.

The IAD has systematically reduced the velocity of the payload through aerodynamic drag and followed the predicted trajectory.

“This is the first time that an IAD is designed specifically for spent stage recovery. All the objectives of the mission were successfully demonstrated”, the space agency said in a statement.

“The IAD has huge potential in variety of space applications like recovery of spent stages of rocket, for landing payloads on to Mars or Venus and in making space habitat for human space flight missions”, it said.

Rohini sounding rockets are routinely used for flight demonstration of new technologies being developed by ISRO as well as by scientists from India and abroad.

In Saturday’s flight, along with IAD new elements like micro video imaging system which captured the bloom and flight of IAD, a miniature software defined radio telemetry transmitter, MEMS (Micro-electromechanical systems)-based acoustic sensor and a host of new methodologies were flight tested successfully, ISRO said.

“These will be inducted later to the major missions. Sounding rockets offers an exciting platform for experimentation in upper atmosphere”, it said.

“This demonstration opens a gateway for cost-effective spent stage recovery using the Inflatable Aerodynamics Decelerator technology and this IAD technology can also be used in ISRO’s future missions to Venus and Mars” said ISRO Chairman S Somanath, who witnessed the launch.

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BSF develops drone-based tear gas launcher for riot control

A BSF official said the technology will help in dropping multiple grenades at a time at accurate location.

In a first, the Border Security Force (BSF) has developed a drone-based tear smoke launcher to control riots and other crowd control situations.

The BSF said in a statement on Friday that its tear smoke unit (TSU) in Tekanpur, Gwalior has developed a ‘Drone Tear Smoke Launcher’ for dropping munitions from unmanned aerial vehicles/drones which will be a potential force multiplier to the security forces in law-and-order management.

A BSF official said the technology will help in dropping multiple grenades at a time at accurate location.

“The chances of injuries from debris of the launched grenades will be minimal. The user can drop the grenades at a precise location, unlike the ones fired manually from a gun,” said a BSF official.

The 42nd Annual Governing Body Meeting of the unit was held on Friday under the Chairmanship of Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director General, BSF.

Mr. Singh said that TSU is effectively producing and supplying anti-riot tear smoke munitions to all police forces in India for managing law-and-order situation. He said that indigenous production of non-lethal munitions by TSU has reduced the country’s dependence on foreign munition.

“Timely and effective utilisation of the TSU munitions have saved valuable human lives and public assets worth crores,” the BSF said.