May 2022 – Global Records India

** India sends one more consignment of 40,000 MT of diesel to crisis-hit Sri Lanka

In keeping with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, New Delhi has extended this year alone support worth over USD 3.5 billion to the people of Sri Lanka for helping them overcome their current difficulties.

India on Tuesday said it has delivered one more consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel to Sri Lanka to help ease the acute fuel shortage in the debt-ridden island nation which is grappling with its worst economic crisis.

India extended an additional USD 500 million credit line to Sri Lanka last month to help the neighbouring country import fuel as it has been struggling to pay for imports after its foreign exchange reserves plummeted sharply in recent times, causing a devaluation of its currency and spiralling inflation.

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** This Kerala ISRO official has spent three decades space-bound

S Geetha, the first woman programme director of space transportation systems at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, will retire after 33 years of service on Tuesday.

She was heading 64 engineers at the centre across seven teams.

Geetha is an alumnus of Vattiyoorkavu Government High School, Thiruvananthapuram, where she studied in the Malayalam medium. Back then, a young Geetha would have never thought she would be one of the best space scientists in the country years later. She vividly remembers coming to know about Valentina Tereshkova, the first and youngest woman to fly a solo mission to space on the Vostok 6 in 1963. Valentina was Geetha’s inspiration to pursue bachelors degree in electrical and electronics engineering from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram (CET).

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** IIT-M researchers develop zinc-air batteries

It is an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras are developing mechanically rechargeable zinc-air batteries as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles (EV). They have filed for patents for their technology and are collaborating with major industries to develop the batteries.

As zinc-air batteries are economical and have longer shelf-life, they can be used in two and three-wheel EVs, the researchers say.

Aravind Kumar Chandiran, assistant professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Institute, and his team is working on zinc-air batteries as zinc is a widely available resource in the country. Currently India imports lithium-ion batteries from China. “Our research team is developing a futuristic model for zinc-air batteries for EVs. The team has developed zinc-air cells and is working to develop zinc-air packs for EVs,” he said

Prabhakar Kore receives honorary degree of PhD from USA’s Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, USA-based Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science to Prabhakar Kore, KLE society chairman.

Richard Haverstick Jr. Interim President and CEO, Thomas Jefferson University and Mark L. Tykocinski, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Vice Chancellor gave the honorary degree at the University Convocation held on May 25.

It is a matter of pride for India as such an award is the first for any Indian, said a release by KLE society.

KLE has multiple academic collaborations with international institutes like Thomas Jefferson University, University of North Carolina, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Kings college and others.

The key focus of the TJU collaboration has been on reduction in the burden of mortality/morbidity during pregnancy, childbirth and early childhood development. The TJU-JNMC Research Unit funded by NICHD Global Network, has led community-based, multi-centre, multi-country trials for prevention of pre-term birth and mortality during childbirth. The results have had far reaching impact at the grassroot levels and have been incorporated in the guidelines by the Ministry of Health, Govt of India and the World Health Organization. Furthermore it is now a “WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Maternal and Perinatal Health”.

The Academic and Research collaboration between KAHER and TJU in the areas of Public Health, Urology and Integrative Medicine commenced in July 2017 and has been expanded to include specialties of Neurology, Radiology, Neonatology, Psychiatry, Nursing and Physiotherapy. The Faculty and student exchange, research grants as well as the upcoming establishment of the India Centre at Thomas Jefferson University on 26th May 2022 is a testimony of the strong academic bond between KLE and TJU, said the release.

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** Massachusetts hosts America’s first-ever Dalit art exhibition

Boston, Massachusetts :

Massachusetts’s Somerville city hosted the first-ever art exhibition in the United States, exclusively featuring Dalit and Bahujan artists on April 30. Titled ‘Where Art Belongs’, over 40 artists’ work was displayed, including visual art, poetry, and music.

Organized by Adavi Myah, an art collective led by Dalit and Bahujan women, the exhibition will run for four weeks until May 30, 2022.

Adavi Myah was founded in 2018 and is an amalgamation of words from Telugu and Chhattisgarhi, translated as “Love of the Forest.” It was formed to reflect the oppressed caste community struggles and stories of resilience through art.

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** Jharkhand to get WHO award for tobacco control

National Tobacco Control Programme was launched in Jharkhand in 2012 when the tobacco prevalence rate in the State was 51.1 per cent

Recognising its efforts in controlling tobacco consumption, the World Health Organization (WHO) has selected Jharkhand for the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Award-2022, an official said on Sunday.

Stata Tobacco Control Cell of the Health Department will receive the award on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day in New Delhi on May 31, Jharkhand’s nodal officer of National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) Lalit Ranjan Pathak told PTI.

** Pope names 21 new cardinals, from India, Mongolia, elsewhere

Pope Francis said Sunday he will elevate 21 churchmen to the rank of cardinal in a ceremony at the Vatican this summer.

Among the churchmen tapped by the pontiff to receive the prestigious red hat will be two prelates from India and one each from Mongolia, Ghana, Nigeria, Singapore, East Timor, Paraguay, and Brazil, in keeping with Francis’ determination to have church leaders reflect the global face of the Catholic church.

** Learn about India’s biodiversity from this card game created by Chennai students

A new game developed by Chennai students spreads awareness about different ecosystems, species and what we can do to help them

Can a game of cards increase environmental awareness? A group of educators and students seem to think so. Having worked for five months on a project by city-based Palluyir Trust, they now present The Wilderness game.

The game is essentially a pack of cards — think cricket or wrestling cards — but with sea creatures instead of The Undertaker, and a flood of real-world information thrown in. Environmentalist M Yuvan and Chennai students Nanditha Ramsatagopan, Charlotte Jeffries and Rohit Srinivasan, designed it for people above the age of 10. The gameplay format keeps in mind millennial and Gen-Z mindsets.

** India supplying 1,160 MW power to B’desh, 1,500 MW more in pipeline: Jaishankar

Addressing the “NADI (River) Conclave 2022” here, he also said that India is collaborating on a series of road projects in Bangladesh, including improving the Ashuganj River Port-Akhaura Land Port Road under an LoC of more than $400 million.

“The road project connecting Baruerhat to Ramgarh on the India-Bangladesh border, which will increase Tripura’s road connectivity with Bangladesh, is also being implemented under another LoC of $80.06 million,” he said.

The Minister said that overland movement of goods is taking place using 28 notified Land Customs Stations (LCSs) and three Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) along the border.

He also noted that the “Maitree Bridge” over the Feni, connecting Sabroom in Tripura, to Ramgarh in Bangladesh, was opened by both the Prime Ministers in March 2021 and negotiations are also underway to operationalise the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement to ensure seamless vehicular movement.

With the success of four “Border Haats” – two each in Meghalaya and Tripura, nine new haats (markets) are being set up – three in Meghalaya, four in Tripura and two in Assam.

** North India’s first Industrial Biotech Park inaugurated at Kathua in J&K

On the occasion, the Lt Governor said that the Industrial Biotech Park at Kathua will transform the economy and enable scientists to tackle challenges of climate change. The enabling infrastructure will fuel new wave of innovation and impact various sectors, from health and agriculture to cosmetics and materials, he added.

The Lt Governor observed that new Industrial Biotech Park at Kathua will provide Startups, Young Entrepreneurs and SMEs the tools that can make production cheaper, manageable and environmentally sustainable. Together with advances in data analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, the biotech park will accelerate change, he said.