Category Archives: Amazing Feats

INTERNATIONAL: INVESTMENT, BUSINESS & ECONOMY, ENGINEERING: Global Multi-National Pratt and Whitney (PW) to Set up Engineering Centre in Bengaluru Making it their First such Facility in the Asia-Pacific region.

To be operational in 2023, facility will be the fifth globally.

Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney (PW) on Monday said it will set up an engineering centre in Bengaluru, that is slated to commence operations in January 2023.

The centre, which will be its first facility in Asia Pacific and fifth globally, will enable the firm to offer engineering services on contract to its domestic and international customers, a spokesperson said.

PW’s integrated global engineering operations currently has centres in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Poland.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS, BADMINTON: P.V. Sindhu Wins the ‘Singapore Open Super 500’ Title

The title will be a big boost for Sindhu.

Double Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu lifted the Singapore Open Super 500 trophy after outwitting China’s Wang Zhi Yi in an intense women’s singles final, on July 17.

In the hard-fought title clash, Sindhu managed to stay strong in the key moments to come up trumps 21-9 11-21 21-15 against the 22-year-old Wang, the reigning Asian Championships gold medallist.

The title run will be a big boost for Sindhu, who will leading the Indian charge at the Commonwealth Games, starting July 28 in Birmingham.

This was her third title of the season — having won two Super 300 crowns in Syed Modi International and Swiss Open — and an addition to her brimming cabinet which has a gold, two silver and two bronze medals from the World Championships besides two Olympic medals.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORDS: MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT / ARTS & CULTURE: Musician Vanil Veigas and PA Deepa Receive the Prestigious International Grammy Award

Vanil Veigas, a musician from Mangaluru, received the prestigious Grammy Award.

Vanil is a resident of Permannur. The award was announced in April earlier this year.

He had won the Grammy for the album song ‘Divine Tides’ by Ricky Kej. The song was produced during the pandemic.

Along with Vanil Veigas, PA Deepa also won the award.

Vanil was the musician for the ‘Divine Tides’. Since 15 years, Vanil has been working with Ricky Kej on movie soundtracks, over 3,000 commercials, and 16 studio albums which include 3 Grammy-winning albums.

Vanil was born in Permannur to Isaac Veigas and Daisy Pereira. He is the brother of well-known Konkani actor-director Nellu Permannur. He is married to Diana D’Silva and they have a daughter, Alline Veigas, who is also learning music at a young age.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : ARTS, CULTURE, TRAVEL & TOURISM : ‘Varanasi’ to be First ‘Cultural and Tourism Capital’ for 2022-23 of the 8-member Shangai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) : Secretary General Zhang Ming

Under this initiative, each year, a city of the cultural heritage of the member country that will take over the rotating Presidency of the organisation will get the title to highlight its prominence.

The holy city of Varanasi, showcasing India’s culture and traditions over the ages, will be declared the first “Cultural and Tourism Capital” of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Secretary-General of the bloc Zhang Ming said here on Friday.

The Beijing-headquartered Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an eight-member economic and security alliance comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

Mr. Ming said Varanasi will become the “Cultural and Tourism Capital” of the SCO for 2022-23 under a new rotating initiative by the eight-member organisation to promote people-to-people contacts and tourism among the member states.

“We are about to implement a rotating mechanism. We will rotate the title of ‘Cultural and Tourism Capital’ among the member states,” he said, adding that Varanasi, India’s ancient city, will be the first to be granted the title.

Under this initiative, each year, a city of the cultural heritage of a member country that will take over the rotating Presidency of the organisation will get the title to highlight its prominence, Mr. Ming told presspersons.

source/content: thehindu.com ( headline edited)

WORLD RECORDS: Arts & Media: Laiba Abdul Basit an NRI Qatar-based Indian Student is the Youngest Female Person in the World to Publish a Book Series Certified by Guinness World Book of Records

A Qatar-based 11-year-old student Laiba Abdul Basit has won the Guinness World Records as the youngest female person to publish a book series. 

Laiba, hailing from the southern Indian state of Kerala, has accomplished this feat after  her second book was published on August 29, 2021, while she was 10 years and 164 days old. 

Laiba Abdul Basit surpassed the record of Ritaj Hussain Alhazmi of Saudi Arabia, who penned three novels before the age of 12 years 295 days. 

Laiba published a three-book series called “Order of the Galaxy”, a fantasy story related to children’s fiction. The first book in this series titled “The War for The Stolen Boy” was published by Amazon and later by Lulu Online. The second book “The Snowflake of Life” was published by the Rome-based Tawasul International, while India-based Lipi Publications brought out the last book in the series, “The Book of Legends”. The second edition of her first and second books was also published by Lipi Publications.

A sixth grade student at the Olive International School, Doha, Laiba has been showing interest in reading and writing since the very young age. She started to write small stories and phrases on pieces of papers and used glue on walls of her house. 

source/content: thepeninsulaqatar.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: DEFENCE & AVIATION: France has Delivered all 36 Rafale Jets to India: Emmanuel Lenain, French Envoy

35 jets have arrived in India, while one remains in France.

France has delivered all 36 Rafale fighter jets to India, said the French Envoy in India, Emmanuel Lenain, speaking on the sidelines of the French National Day celebrations on Thursday.

However, while 35 jets have arrived in India, one jet still remains in France, official sources said.

One Rafale jet, which is the instrumented aircraft on which the 13 India specific enhancements (ISE) are being tested, is still in France, an official source said on Friday.

This is also the Rafale built for India and designated RB008. RB stands for former Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria who, as then Deputy Chief of IAF, led the Indian negotiation team and had a major role in the contract negotiations.

The last batch of three Rafale jets had arrived in India in February, taking the total Rafales in inventory of the Indian Air Force to 35. As reported by The Hindu earlier, work on upgrading all the Rafale jets in service to the Indian standard configuration with the 13 ISE is currently underway in India. All ISE have already been qualified and certified.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: BUSINESS & ECONOMY: ‘I2U2 Summit (India, Israel,US, and UAE) ‘: UAE to Invest $2 billion to Develop Integrated Food Parks Across India

The grouping is known as ‘I2U2’ with “I” standing for India and Israel and ‘U” for the US and the UAE.

The United Arab Emirates will invest $2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India under the framework of the four-nation grouping ‘I2U2’.

The decision was announced after the leaders of the grouping — Prime Minister Narendra Modi, U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — held the first virtual summit.

A joint statement said the I2U2 leaders’ meeting focussed on food security crisis and clean energy and that they discussed innovative ways to ensure longer-term, more diversified food production and food delivery systems.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: IT & TELECOMMUNICATIONS: U.S’s AT&T Inaugurates a new India Development Centre in Chennai

Company building a dedicated digital operations centre.

The U.S.-based telecommunications giant AT&T has opened its new development centre in Chennai.

The new facility was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Minister for Information Technology T. Mano Thangaraj with Bala Subramanian, Chief Digital Officer, AT&T.

The new centre at the RMZ Millenia Campus Phase 2 on MGR Salai has capacity to accommodate around 300 employees and will focus on building digital capabilities. “We recognise the talent and potential in Chennai and are excited about offering an environment where teams can work on features that have a direct impact on AT&T customers and employees,” Mr. Bala Subramanian said in a statement. 

“In addition, we are building a dedicated digital operations centre (DoC) that will act as a beachhead for our customer-centric operations transformation,” he added.

source/contents: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: NATIONAL, AVIATION & AEROSPACE: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Safran Helicopter Engines to Create JV to make Chopper Engines

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Safran Helicopter Engines have signed an agreement to create a new joint venture to develop helicopter engines. Through an MoU signed by R Madhavan, Chairman & Managing Director, HAL, and Franck Saudo, Chief Executive Officer, Safran Helicopter Engines, in presence of Olivier Andries, CEO, Safran.

Both the partners will extend their partnership by establishing a new aero-engine company in India. It will be dedicated to the development, production, sales and support of helicopter engines and one of its main objectives will be to meet the requirements of HAL and Ministry of Defence’s future heli­copters, including the 13-ton­ne Indian Multi-Role Helicopter.

Madhavan said: “We now look forward to utilize this opportunity to leverage HAL’s experience in manufacturing of more than 15 types of aircraft and helicopter engines to co-develop and manufacture engine with immediate focus on IMRH and its naval variant the Deck Based Multi Role Helicopter. This partnership will involve and utilize the Indian Defence manufacturing ecosystem within India”.

Saudo said the partnership with HAL recently illustrated the development and production of the Shakti engine, “and the inauguration of our joint venture Helicopter Engines MRO Pvt Limited (HE-MRO). With a fleet of over 1,000 engines, India’s Armed Forces are one of the largest operators of Safran-designed helicopter engines.”

HAL and Safran Helicopter Engines already have multiple partnerships, including the Shakti engine, which powers HAL-produced helicopters, including the Dhruv, Rudra and the Light Combat Helicopter. The Ardiden 1U variant also powers the new Light Utility Helicopter. Through HE-MRO joint venture in Goa, HAL and Safran Helicopter Engines will also provide Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul services for TM333 and Shakti engines in se­rvice with Armed Forces, and will be operational by 2023-

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : ARTS & CULTURE : Dr KC Samuel, Chairman of Hindustan Aviation Academy (HAA) Installed as the New International President of Y’s Men International (YMI), Aarhus, Denmark

Philanthropist and Hindustan Aviation Academy (HAA) chairman Dr KC Samuel has been appointed the International president of Y’s Men International (YMI).

The movement was founded in 1922 and Samuel will be taking charge for its centenary year.

“The name ‘Y’s Men’ has become synonymous due to selfless service and sacrificial giving, and has touched and lifted the lives of thousands people across the world for over a century by acknowledging it as our duty,” said Dr Samuel.

Dr Samuel has been with the Y’s Men movement for over 40 years. He has held almost all leadership positions in the movement and was bestowed with many awards for his meritorious performance, including Elmer Crowe Award and International President’s award for the best Area President in 2018-19. He is currently a member of Y’s Men Club of Bangalore.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (edited)