Category Archives: Amazing Feats

INTERNATIONAL / NATIONAL: SPACE & TECHNOLOGY: Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) announces successful deployment of sub-metre resolution optical satellite TSAT-1A from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida

TSAT-1A was launched from Kennedy Space centre aboard the Bandwagon-1 mission by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) announced the successful deployment in space of its sub-metre resolution optical satellite, TSAT-1A, by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite was placed in space as part of the Bandwagon-1 mission and was launched from Kennedy Space centre, Florida, U.S., at 11:16 p.m. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) on April 7.

“This achievement follows the collaboration signed between TASL and Satellogic in November 2023, leveraging Satellogic’s expertise to develop and integrate an advanced earth observation satellite in India and TASL’s capability to undertake complex system integration,” it said in a statement. “TSAT-1A will deliver high-resolution optical satellite images with increased collection capacity, dynamic range, and low-latency delivery through its multispectral and hyperspectral capabilities.”

The statement said that TSAT-1A was assembled in TASL’s Assembly, Integration and Testing plant at its Vemagal facility in Karnataka. “This milestone shows TASL’s commitment to the space sector. This is a first step. Our partnership with Satellogic has enabled us to deliver an assembled-and-tested-in-India, best-in-class, sub-metre optical satellite which was launched by SpaceX,” Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TASL said in the statement.

Emiliano Kargieman, CEO of Satellogic said this illustrates the flexibility of Satellogic’s space systems programme, offering governments and enterprises the ability to tailor a proven satellite model for their specific needs, and reach orbit within a favourable timeframe.

On the Bandwagon-1 mission, SpaceX said that it was its first dedicated rideshare mission launched into a mid-inclination orbit. “While our Transporter rideshare missions launch to a sun-synchronous orbit, launching to a mid-inclination orbit fills in the gaps for our customers that wish to expand their coverage or complete unique objectives,” it said on social media platform ‘X’. “Mid-inclination orbit offers a higher revisit rate, meaning the time between flyovers of the same point is faster than what is seen with other orbits.”

In addition to TSAT-1A, the Bandwagon-1 mission also had 11 other spacecraft. These include Korea’s 425Sat, HawkEye 360’s Clusters 8 & 9, Tyvak International’s CENTAURI-6, iQPS’s QPS-SAR-7 TSUKUYOMI-II and Capella Space’s Capella-14, according to SpaceX.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL / KARANTAKA: BUSINESS & ECONOMY : Ramesh Kunhikannan, Founder of Kaynes Technololgy Makes It To Forbes List Of Billionaires 2024

He is the Founder of Mysuru’s Kaynes Technology that supplied power systems for the Chandrayaan-3’s lander and rover.

India reached a huge milestone last year, as the country became the first nation to land a spacecraft near the unexplored south pole of the moon.

Ramesh Kunhikannan, whose company contributed largely to the historic space mission, was named on the Forbes Billionaires List 2024 for the first time this year, thanks to the historic space mission. He is presently placed among the richest people across the globe along with Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mukesh Ambani with a whopping 1.2 billion US Dollars (approx. Rs. 10,011 crore) net worth.

Ramesh Kunhikannan is the Founder and Managing Director of Kaynes Technology India, headquartered in Mysuru.

The company is famous for manufacturing electronic products. The 60-year-old billionaire graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysuru.

He started his company in 1988 as a contract electronics manufacturer. His spouse and current company Chairperson, Savitha Ramesh, joined the company in 1996. The company presently hold a market capitalisation of Rs. 17,156 crore with its stocks priced at around Rs. 2,700, according  to Value Search.

The 36-year-old company mainly supplies electronic systems and design services to automobile industries, aerospace, medical and defence. Kaynes’ services are mainly used for electronic controls in EVs, railway signals, etc.

The shares of the company have given a return of about 234 percent since its debut. The company assembles printed circuit boards and has eight factories in India.

Kaynes supplies 350 clients across the globe in the auto, aerospace and medical industries.

It is also one of the multiple companies which largely contributed to the achievement of Chandrayan 3. The company provided power systems for the Chandrayaan-3’s lander and rover. Following the successful completion of the mission, Kaynes Technology India’s shares skyrocketed from Rs. 1,719 in August 2022 to Rs. 2683.85 as of today.

Presently, Kunhikannan holds 64 percent of the company which is around 1.1 billion US Dollars (approximately Rs. 8.3 thousand crores) to his net worth.

source/content: starofmysore.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: DEFENCE : SPAIN: C-295 Aircraft order could increase to over 100 units, says Spanish Ambassador

These aircraft, which will be delivered as a part of the Indian Air Force’s Rs 21,935 crore deal with Spain will replace IAF’s ageing Avro-748 fleet.

The second C-295 transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space, which is expected to be delivered shortly, is a part of Spain’s commitment to deliver 56 such aircraft to the Indian Air Force, after a deal worth Rs 21,935 crore was signed.

Spain’s Ambassador to India, Jose Maria Ridao, in an exclusive interaction with this newspaper said that this order could be increased upto 100 units or more.

“We are happy to collaborate with India on this project and as you may recall that the first aircraft was delivered in September last year. The first 16 will be built in Seville and the remaining 40 in Vadodara. However, I am optimistic that this order will increase upto 100 units or more,’’ Ambassador Ridao told this newspaper.

These aircrafts will replace IAF’s ageing Avro-748 fleet.

Spain is also pitching for an order of submarines and has invited Indian naval officials to Spain. It may be recalled that in July 2023, Spanish company Navantia and engineering major Larsen and Tubro signed a teaming agreement for submitting techno-commercial bid for the Indian Navy’s P75 submarine programme.

“The Indian navy officials, when they visit Spain, can see for themselves the technological advancement of the submarines,’’ said Ambassador Ridao.

Project 75 requires the Indian bidder to tie up with a foreign collaborator and execute the delivery of six conventional submarines equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) while achieving targeted indigenous content. Expected to be valued at Euro 4.8 billion (Rs 43,000 crore), this will be amongst India’s largest defence projects.

Meanwhile, Spain is India’s sixth largest trading partner in the European Union. India’s exports to Spain in 2023 were Euro 5.847 million while Spain’s export to India were Euro 1.7779 million

“There are over 250 Spanish companies in India, and we have bilateral trade visits with India. These include delegations from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, while Punjab and Gujarat too are likely to send their delegations for possible collaborations,’’ the Ambassador added.

Speaking about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India, Ambassador Ridao said that being a democracy is the extraordinary value that India holds.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: MEDIA : AWARD :17th Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism: Celebrating Fearless Stories

Eminent personalities graced the event that acknowledged the best work from print, digital and broadcast media.

The 17th edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards was held on March 19 to celebrate outstanding work from print, digital and broadcast media. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari was the chief guest at the event in New Delhi , where a total of 44 winners from 2021 and 2022 were felicitated.

Highlighting the importance of a free press , Gadkari said, “In this fast-changing world, the media has an important role to play. Beyond economic progress, convictions and principles are also important to live by in a democracy.” Describing the Emergency as a “very painful phase”, he recalled, “Newspapers were censored and Ramnath Goenka became a symbolic inspiration for all of us in the struggle against Emergency.”

Speaking at the event, Viveck Goenka, Chairman and MD of The Indian Express Group, said, “Nothing renews journalism more powerfully than celebrating it each year. And more so as we head into the general elections. The pursuit of excellence becomes incumbent on us because it’s our duty to ensure that the citizens’ right to know is addressed in a manner that’s fair and accurate.”

Instituted by the Ramnath Goenka Memorial Foundation, the awards acknowledge and honour the best across 13 categories including investigative journalism, sports, politics and government, books, feature writing and regional languages. The prize-winning stories revolved around ecological damage in the Himalayas, poverty in tribal regions, a recruitment scam and the hardships faced by healthcare workers during the pandemic, among others.

The jury comprised Justice BN Srikrishna, jurist and former judge, Supreme Court; Prof. (Dr) C Raj Kumar, Founding Dean, Jindal Global Law School and Director, IIHEd Dr SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner; and KG Suresh, VC of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal .

Those present included Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena, BJP leader and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, JDU leader KC Tyagi, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: ARTS & CULTURE / MUSIC: Kerala woman Suchetha Satish Creates Guinness World Record, sings in over 140 languages

A Kerala woman has created a world record by singing in 140 languages in a Dubai concert on 24 November 2023. She shared the video on her Instagram handle.

Kerala women created a Guinness World Record after singing in over 100 languages. Suchetha Satish performed in a total of 140 languages in a Dubai concert on November 24, 2023. The concert is titled Concert for Climate. The video of her performance was shared on Instagram. She could be seen singing melodious songs, and it was a complete treat to ears.

Ms Satish shared the news on her Instagram handle. She captioned, “Happy to share the news that by God’s grace, I have set a new Guinness World Record by singing in 140 languages in 9 hours, on Nov 24th 2023, during my concert by climate. Thank you all for your wishes and support.”

According to the official Guinness World Records page, Ms Satish broke the record by performing 140 languages raising awareness about climate change at the Indian Consulate Auditorium in Dubai. There are over 140 representing over 140 nations attending the COP 28 summit in Dubai.

The stage was set for the 75th anniversary celebrations of India’s independence and the 50th formation of the UAE.

Suchetha Satish is a 16-year-old who attempted the feat during ‘Music Beyond Borders’ in Dubai on August 19 and broke the record of another Indian who sang in 76 languages in 2008.

Ms Satish sang in 29 Indian languages and 91 international languages. She attempted at 12 oms and with a rendition of a Sanskrit song called “Janki Jane” from Dhwani which is a Malayalam movie. She ended her streak with a Hindi song which is written by her mother, Sumitha Ayilliath, and composed by Bollywood composer Monty Sharma.

Many users commented on her post and applauded her for creating this record. 

One of the users,  “Congratulations Suchetha. Incredible! A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. I am proud to be part of this beautiful journey. Well done.”

Another user wrote, “Glorious achievement. May you have many more such achievements in the years to come. Kudos.”

One of the users praised Sucheta and commented, “That achievement was incredible. The entire mankind would be proud of you Suchetha. My hearty congratulations.”

source/content: business-standard.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: FOOD : India’s Ras Malai ranked ‘2nd Best Cheese Dessert’ Globally by Taste Atlas.

Indian delicacy Ras Malai has been ranked as the second best cheese dessert in the world by experiential food guide Taste Atlas.

Ras Malai, an iconic Indian dessert, has been ranked second in the ‘Top 10 Best Cheese Desserts’ list released by Taste Atlas, a renowned experiential food guide. This delicacy, known for its delicate cheese dumplings soaked in saffron-infused milk syrup, originates from West Bengal.

The dessert is crafted from simple ingredients like white cream, sugar, milk, and chenna, a type of paneer cheese with a subtle cardamom flavour. It is often garnished with saffron, cashews, and almonds, and is best enjoyed during festive occasions like Holi, Durga Puja, or Diwali.

The dessert, which is crafted from simple ingredients like white cream, sugar, and milk, has been recognised for its delicate cheese dumplings soaked in saffron-infused milk syrup. The best ras malai in India can be had at Mumbai’s Farzi Cafe, as per Taste Atlas. 

The list was topped by Poland’s Sernik, a dessert made with twarog, a special type of curd cheese, eggs, and sugar, often enjoyed with fruits and jellies. The third position was held by Greece’s Sfakianopita, a pie dish filled with creamy local cheese, served with honey and cinnamon.

Other cheese desserts that made it to the top 10 are New York-style cheesecake (USA), Japanese cheesecake (Japan), Basque cheesecake (Spain), Rakoczi turos (Hungary), Melopita (Greece), Kasekuchen (Germany), and Misa rezy (Czech Republic).

Other cheese desserts that made it to Taste Atlas’ catalogue of best rated desserts are Kalitsounia (Greece), Cartola (Brazil), Romeu e Julieta (Brazil), Quesada pasiega (Spain) Mel i mato (Spain), Kohupiimakreem (Estonia), Placinta cu urda (Romania), Paskha (Russia), Halawat el-jeben (Syria), Martin Fierro (Uruguay), Topfentorte (Austria), Fiadone (France), Ostkaka (Sweden), Hosmerim (Turkiye), and Postre vigilante (Argentina). 

source/content: businesstoday.in (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : SPORTS / US : Telugu girl Immadi Sanvi secures place in US cricket team

The 15-year-old made her cricket debut in 2020 for San Ramon Youth Cricket Association California.

 Immadi Sanvi, a Telugu native hailing from Hyderabad, got a place in the US women’s national cricket team. Sanvi will represent the American team in the World Cup Qualifiers to be held in the UAE.

This right-arm leg-spin all-rounder took 10 wickets in the recently held San Diego T20 tournament and nine wickets in the US national selections and earned a place in the national team.

The 15-year-old made her cricket debut in 2020 for San Ramon Youth Cricket Association Californai .

Sanvi’s family, hails from Sitafalmandi in Secunderabad.

source/content: telanganatoday.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL / NATIONAL: PATENTS: IIT Madras records 92% jump in Indian patents granted during 2023

The number of international patents filed, including those granted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, also recorded a significant increase, going up to 105 in 2023, from 58 in the preceding year.

The Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT Madras) saw a 92 per cent jump in the number of Indian patents granted in 2023, rising from 156 patents in 2022 to 300 in 2023.

Additionally, the number of international patents filed, including those granted under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), also recorded a significant increase, going up to 105 in 2023, from 58 in the preceding year. Furthermore, as many as 221 patents have already been filed during the current financial year (as of December 2023), including 163 Indian patents and 63 international patent applications (including PCT).

Since the institute’s inception, a total of about 2,550 IP (including patent) applications have been filed both in India (1,800) and abroad (750) so far, out of which about 1,100 are registered IPs/granted patents (about 900 Indian and 200 international). Interestingly, the institute started filing patent applications as early as January 1975 (granted in May 1977). The total number of IP applications filed crossed 1,000 in 2016, 2,000 in 2022, and 2,500 in 2023.

Lauding the faculty, researchers, and students on their pioneering and translational research, V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras, said, “As we are marching towards our 100th year of Independence, for Bharat to become a superpower, it is very important to protect our ideas. In this direction, I congratulate the faculty and students and the Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR) who have put together a very comprehensive programme, by which we have created a record in the number of patents filed.”

Researchers at IIT Madras are generating IP in domains such as wireless networks, advanced materials, robotics, additive manufacturing technology, engine advancements, assistive devices, advanced sensor applications, clean energy, aerospace applications, polymer materials, thin films, catalysts, and biomedical applications, among other emerging technologies. The Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR) at IIT Madras coordinates the different aspects related to intellectual property and technology transfer. The centre collaborates with faculty, researchers, and students and also has a dedicated legal cell.

Elaborating on the institute’s support provided to researchers, Manu Santhanam, dean (ICSR) at IIT Madras, said, “The institute has made it easy for inventors to access existing patent information through an online AI-based patent search tool. This facility has helped the inventors not only to quickly evaluate the invention by themselves but also to improve their ideas and claims. The emphasis is also equally on the quality of the work being translated as IP. This is only possible because of the collaborative effort of our inventors and the IP team.”

source/content: business-standard.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: e-COMMERCE: India’s Government e-Market is World’s 3rd Largest e-commerce platform: CEO

Launched in August 2016, the total value of orders placed through GeM in 2018-19 was Rs.17,445 crore, which gradually went up to about Rs.1.07 lakh crore in 2021-22.

India’s ‘Government e-Market’ or GeM portal is the world’s third largest e-commerce platform for public procurement after Korea’s ON-line E-Procurement System (KONEPS) and Singapore’s GeBIZ with a total sales value crossing Rs.4 lakh crore in the current financial year ending on March 31, a senior official said.

“GeM closes this financial year with over Rs.4 lakh crore gross merchandise value (GMV), almost a 100% jump from the GMV at the end of the previous fiscal year, exhibiting its unique ability to promote digital inclusion,” GeM CEO PK Singh said. GMV represents the total value of goods or services sold within a specific period.

Launched in August 2016, the total value of orders placed through GeM in 2018-19 was Rs.17,445 crore, which gradually went up to about Rs.1.07 lakh crore in 2021-22. In the previous financial year (FY23), the value of orders (or GMV) was a little over Rs.2.01 lakh crore.

While both public and private sector companies can sell their products and services through GeM, buyers can only be government entities, including gram panchayats.

Defence procurement is one of the major business activities in the platform. “Assembly of BrahMos missile is being done through GeM as a service contract. In defence, right from supplying eggs up to the missile parts is being done through the portal,” said Singh.

GeM provides a level playing field for domestic businesses, particularly smaller ones, physically distant from popular markets, to grow and thrive. Of the Rs.4 lakh crore GMV orders, nearly 50% have been awarded to marginalised seller segments such as artisans, weavers, craftsmen, micro and small enterprises, women-led units, farmer producer organisations and startups, he said.

The portal has collaborations with over 520,000 Common Services Centres (CSCs) and more than 150,000 India Post offices to link the remotest locations of the country for seamless procurement, Singh said.

“Through supportive handholding at every step to help diverse sellers and service providers grow their business on GeM, the platform has given impetus to hyper-local economies across regions in India, resulting in job creation and greater incomes,” Singh added.

According to Singh, services procurement through GeM is rapidly growing. Procurement of services from the portal was worth Rs.66,000 crore in 2022-23, which jumped to Rs.2.05 lakh crore in the current fiscal year. Goods procurement in FY24 (as of March 28) was valued at Rs.1.95 lakh crore, marginally lower than the services procurement.

“GeM has been exceptionally successful in breaking down the cartel of established and renowned service providers, paving the way for small domestic entrepreneurs to participate in government tenders from anywhere at any time. The vast repository of services on GeM has enabled states to procure innovative solutions that cater to all their dynamic needs,” Singh said.

He said the government wants to develop GeM as a unified procurement portal of the country by including contracts also. Currently, only goods and services are available on the platform. A dedicated page for election-related goods and services, such as catering and webcasting services is also available on the portal.

The portal’s network of over 150,000 government buyers and 2.1 million sellers has helped the e-marketplace to grow rapidly, Singh said. “Through comprehensive onboarding of last-mile buyers and sellers GeM has fostered engagement at the grassroots level, by integrating 89,421 panchayats and over 760 cooperatives within its procurement ecosystem, GeM has facilitated sustainable procurement while ensuring optimisation in public spending at the very last level of administration,” he added.

GeM provides a wide range of goods and services, including office stationery, passenger vehicles, computer furniture, hiring of helicopter services, logistics, waste management, and webcasting.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS LEADERS: Maximum City ‘Mumbai’ has maximum billionaires in India, 3rd in the World and Asia’s billionaire capital making it the fasted growing club in the world

Mumbai was the fastest growing billionaire capital in the world with 92 billionaires, adding 26 in the year, taking it to third in the world and Asia’s billionaire capital.

India added 94 new billionaires in 2023, the most by any country other than the US, taking the total to 271, according to the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List. An individual with $1 billion in wealth is a billionaire.

The collective wealth of Indian billionaires amounts to US$ 1 trillion or 7 per cent of total wealth, emphasising the nation’s substantial economic influence, it said. The average age of Indian billionaires is 67 years.

Dominant industries which India’s billionaires represented include pharmaceuticals (39), automobile & auto components (27) and chemicals (24).

Mumbai was the fastest growing billionaire capital in the world with 92 billionaires, adding 26 in the year, taking it to third in the world and Asia’s billionaire capital. New York ranked number 1 with 119; London was in second spot with 97. Beijing dropped from first place last year to the fourth position with 91, just three billionaires less than India’s.

New Delhi broke into the Top 10 for the first time.

Mukesh Ambani is in the tenth position with a wealth of $115 billion and Gautam Adani is in the 15th position with a wealth of $86 billion, according to UK based Hurun.

At 52, Elon Musk (US $231 billion) reclaimed the title of the richest person in the world for the third time in four years, propelled by a surge in Tesla’s stock. Simultaneously, SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace venture, saw its valuation hit new heights on the back of successful launches, satellite internet ventures, and lucrative government contracts.

Jeff Bezos, 60, rose to the second position with US$ 185 billion, as his wealth grew 57 per cent this year, driven primarily by Amazon’s cloud computing, winning market share and making up for all his losses last year.

The biggest gainers of the year were Mark Zuckerberg, adding US$ 90 billion, and Elon Musk adding US$ 74 billion. Jensen Huang of Nvidia saw his wealth double to US$ 48 billion and a place in the Hurun Top 30.

Despite losing 155 billionaires, China is still the world capital for billionaires with as many as 814. The USA was just behind with 800 billionaires, adding 109. Between themselves, China and the USA — the  ‘Big Two’ — have 49 per cent of the known billionaires on the planet, down 4 per cent, says the Hurun Rich List.

The 2024 Hurun Global Rich List underscores India’s ascension as a future economic titan, poised to secure its place as the world’s third-largest economy. Surpassing all but the United States, India’s unprecedented billionaire boom propels Mumbai past Beijing, crowning it as Asia’s billionaire epicentre,” said said Anas Rahman Junaid – Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.

The USA had a strong year on this latest Hurun Global Rich List, with its 800 entrants contributing a notable 37% of the overall wealth of the list. Adding 132 new faces, the American landscape continues to showcase entrepreneurial dynamism.

source/comment: indianexpress.com (headline edited)