Category: Business & Economy

** 34th Industrial India Trade Fair at BNCCI Fair Ground, Rajarhat

In the process of building a New India, Skill development and Entrepreneurship are the two necessary keys. To address this, the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry in association with Sister Nivedita University had organized the Skill & Entrepreneurship Conclave at the 34th Industrial India Trade Fair with the theme “Future of Innovation & Entrepreneurship”.   

To grace the conclave, the panelists present were Shri Meghdut Roy Chowdhury, Director, Techno India Group, Shri Charanpreet Singh, Praxis Business School, Shri Bikram Das, NSDC, Prof Suman Chatterjee, Sister Nivedita University and Dr.Subrata Chattapadhyay, University of Engineering & Management (UEM). Welcome Address was given by Shri Suman Chakraborty, an Executive Committee Member of BNCCI and Keynote address had been given by Shri Ashoke Kumar Banik, Honorary Treasurer, BNCCI.

West Bengal

** Project to map rare plants in Parambikulam

Over 1,400 species of angiosperms in reserve

The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation will join hands with the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) to prepare a detailed mapping of the rare and endangered plants endemic to the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.

The mapping survey would begin soon, said Parambikulam Tiger Reserve deputy director Vysak Sasikumar. He said it was time to update the inventory of the rare plant species that brought glory to the reserve.

KFRI’s senior silviculturist P. Sujanapal will lead the mapping.

Kerala

** India gives food aid, defence equipment to Mozambique

India handed over two Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) and other self defence equipment to Mozambique to assist in its capacity building as the Central African nation battles growing terror threats.

Naval ship INS Kesari entered Port of Maputo in Mozambique to deliver 500 tonnes of food aid as well as the defence equipment, under the eight edition of Mission Sagar by the Navy to assist friendly foreign countries in the region.

** Kerala best State on health parameters, Uttar Pradesh worst: NITI Aayog

TN, Telangana in top three across parameters; U.P. remains at bottom

For the fourth year in a row, Kerala has topped a ranking of States on health indicators; Uttar Pradesh has come in at the bottom. The ‘Health Index’ is part of a report commissioned by the NITI Aayog, World Bank and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Kerala was followed by Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

** Two more vaccines and a drug join India’s fight against COVID-19

Corbevax, Covovax shots and Molnupiravir get emergency use authorisation.

India has approved two more vaccines under emergency use authorisation and an antiviral drug, Molnupiravir, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Tuesday. Currently, India uses Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V in its vaccination programme.

Corbevax to be made by Hyderabad-based Biological-E is a protein sub-unit vaccine and Covovax, to be manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune, is a nanoparticle-based vaccine.

Corbevax is co-developed by Biological E, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, United States, and American company Dynavax Technologies.

Covovax is produced by the Serum Institute of India under licence from Novavax, a U.S.-based biotechnology company. Covovax has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) under its Emergency Use Listing and, therefore, will also be available globally as part of the COVAX initiative to ensure that at least 40% of world is vaccinated on priority.

Molnupiravir, that was approved this month by the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (U.S. FDA), on the heels of Paxlovid by Pfizer Inc, is said to be a promising drug for those with mild and moderate disease and also easily administered as a pill. Thirteen companies in India are set to manufacture this drug. It has been approved under emergency use authorisation for treating adults with COVID-19 “who have high risk of progression to disease”.

** Maiden test of Pralay surface-to-surface missile successful

The solid-fuel, battlefield missile developed by the DRDO is based on Prithvi Defence Vehicle from the Indian ballistic missile programme.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday successfully conducted the maiden flight test of indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’, from Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.

** Narinder Singh Kapany: The relentless innovator behind the science of fibre optics

Known as the ‘Father of Fibre Optics’, Dr Narinder Singh Kapany had over 100 patents under his name.

For someone who was hailed as one of the seven unsung heroes of the 20th century for his Nobel Prize-deserving invention in 1999 by Fortune magazine, Narinder Singh Kapany remains relatively unknown.

The Indian American scientist was a multi-faceted personality—physicist, innovator, entrepreneur, farmer, philanthropist, and an avid art collector.

he also invented Retinal laser coagulation treatment. He became the first Indian Sikh to take a company public in Silicon Valley. 

In 1967, Kapany created the Sikh Foundation that pioneered the display of Sikh Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and established the first permanent Sikh Art Gallery in the United States and Canada

** The growth of India’s defence exports

The story so far: India’s defence exports have increased from ₹1,521 crore in 2016-17 to ₹8,434.84 crore in 2020-21. The figure stood at ₹10,745 crore in 2018-19. The Government has set an ambitious target to achieve exports of about ₹35,000 crore ($5 billion) in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025.

According to the latest report of the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), three Indian companies figure among the top 100 defence companies in the 2020 rankings — Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Ordnance Factory Board and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). “Their aggregated arms sales of $6.5 billion were 1.7% higher in 2020 than in 2019 and accounted for 1.2% of the top 100 total,” the report, released earlier this month, said.

** Ladakh gets its first-ever FM radio station

Advisor Ladakh, Umang Narula launched the first-ever Top FM radio in Leh, they said.

The frequency for Leh & Kargil will be 91.1 FM and it will cover 50 kilometres aerial distance in radius, they said.

“Congratulating the team of Sambhav Media Group,” he said and added that it is a wonderful step and a new source of entertainment and information.