Category: Business & Economy

** Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile successfully tested

It has paved way for integration of weapon system onboard naval ships, says DRDO Chairman

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday successfully flight tested the Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha.

“The launch was conducted from a vertical launcher against an electronic target at a very low altitude. The flight path of the vehicle along with health parameters was monitored using a number of tracking instruments deployed by ITR, Chandipur. All sub-systems performed as per expectation,” the DRDO said.

** Nestlé sets up India-based IT services arm

Swiss firm Nestlé S.A. on Tuesday announced it had set up Nestle Global Services India (NGSI) in Bengaluru to provide IT services to its entities in more than 45 countries across Asia, Oceania and Africa and to complement its network of IT hubs across the globe.

** Meta opens new office in India; will skill 1 crore small businesses

The new office building in Gurugram will house teams from across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

Meta, formerly Facebook, on Wednesday opened one of its largest offices in Asia in India, and announced plans to skill 1 crore small businesses and 2,50,000 creators over the next three years in the country through its Centre for Fuelling India’s New Economy (C-FINE).

The new office building in Gurugram, which hosts the C-FINE, will house teams from across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

** Dr. Reddy’s, Prestige BioPharma ink pact on cancer drug

DRL gets rights to commercialise proposed trastuzumab biosimilar in select LatAm, S-E Asia markets.

Pharma major Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has entered into a partnership with Prestige BioPharma under which it will get exclusive rights to supply and commercialise the Singapore firm’s proposed trastuzumab biosimilar in select Latin America and Southeast Asian countries.

** AK-203 rifles: India and Russia finalise deal

India and Russia have inked agreements for the procurement of nearly six lakh AK-203 assault rifles and also to extend military technology cooperation for the next decade from 2021 to 2031 as the two countries began their first 2+2 ministerial dialogue on Monday morning.

Another agreement for protocol on an amending agreement on cooperation in the field of Kalashnikov series small arms manufacturing was also signed. Defence minister Rajnath Singh met his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu and the two sides signed contracts for the manufacture of nearly six lakh AK-203 rifles under a joint venture in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.

The deal is worth over Rs 5,000 crore and the project will be implemented by a special purpose joint venture called Indo-Russia Rifles Private Ltd.

** Successful flight test of VL-SRSAM paves way for integration onboard Indian Naval Ships

Resuming pending tests of its key missile systems, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Tuesday successfully flight-tested Vertical Launch Short Range Surface to Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from a defence test facility off Odisha coast.

The indigenously developed missile was test-fired from a static vertical launcher positioned at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on Tuesday afternoon. Launched from a canister, the missile, which is yet to get a formal name, intercepted an electronic target at a very low altitude.

** Out of 17,726 registered pilots in India, 2,764 are women; the highest percentage in the world

India has a total of 17,726 registered pilots out of which the number of women pilots is 2,764.

Globally, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, around 5 percent of pilots are women. In India, the share of women pilots is significantly higher – at over 15 percent, Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation VK Singh said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Monday.

** Three Indian companies in Top 100 defence manufacturers grew by 1.7%, says report

Global arms sales increased even as the world economy contracted in 2020, according to a report by Swedish think tank Stockholm Institute Peace Research Institute.

Combined arms sales by the three Indian companies in the Top 100 defence manufacturers worldwide grew by 1.7%, according to the latest report by Swedish think tank Stockholm Institute Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which also said that international arms sales increased even as the global economy contracted by 3.1% during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. companies accounted for 54% of the Top 100’s total arms sales in 2020 followed by Chinese firms which accounted for 13%.

The three Indian companies in the SIPRI Top 100 for 2020 rankings are 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,” according to the report ‘The SIPRI Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies, 2020’ released on Monday.

** The ‘dragon’ woman of Behar Jaswan

It is only this year that Sood has been able to take her message of medicinal farming to the common farmer with the help of the district administration.

The ground under Behar Jaswan Panchayat was actually prepared for medicinal plants by Reeva Sood, who loves to be called a woman agro entrepreneur. In her heart she carries love for medicinal farming and Himachal Pradesh — based in Delhi, she came all the way to do medicinal farming in the hilly state — and in her eyes she carries a dream of turning this area into a dragon valley. Dragon is an exotic fruit. She has planted 3,000 saplings of this fruit here.