Category Archives: Science & Technology

INTERNATIONAL: ENGINEERING SERVICES: In a First, the U.S. Navy Ship ‘Charles Drew’ Arrives in India for Repairs and Maintenance at L&T Shipyard, Chennai

It will undergo maintenance activities at L&T’s Shipyard in Chennai for 11 days.

In a first, a U.S. Navy Ship, Charles Drew, arrived in India for carrying out repairs and allied services at Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Shipyard at Kattupalli, Chennai, on Sunday adding a new dimension to the fast expanding Indo-U.S. strategic partnership.

“This is the first ever repair of a U.S. Navy ship in India.

The U.S. Navy had awarded a contract to L&T’s Shipyard at Kattupalli for undertaking maintenance of the ship. The event signifies the capabilities of Indian shipyards in the global ship repairing market,” a Defence Ministry statement said. 

The USNS Charles Drew will be at the Kattupalli shipyard for a period of 11 days and undergo repairs in various areas.

At the India-U.S. 2+2 in April, both sides agreed to explore the possibilities of utilising Indian shipyards for the repair and maintenance of ships of the U.S. Maritime Sealift Command to support mid-voyage repair of U.S. Naval ships.

source/contents: thehindu.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL: EDUCATION, ACADEMIA: University of California – UC Merced, names Dr. Rakesh Goel, the New Dean for the School of Engineering

After a nationwide search, Rakesh Goel was selected as UC Merced’s next dean of the School of Engineering.

Goel is a seasoned academic leader who currently serves as executive associate dean in the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly).

Before he arrived at Cal Poly, Goel was an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at Syracuse University and worked at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UC Berkeley as an assistant research engineer. He has industry experience both in India and the U.S. in civil and structural engineering. He is a registered civil engineer in the State of California and is a certified safety assessment program worker for the California Office of Emergency Services.

Goel is a national and international leader in the discipline of earthquake analysis and design structures. His work has been adapted by seismic codes and guidelines, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) ASCE 7, FEMA-356, California Building Code and ASCE 61. He has authored/co-authored more than 150 publications. He has been awarded the Amman Fellowship, the Huber Research Prize and the Norman Medal by the American Society of Civil Engineers, among many other recognitions.

He is a fellow of the ASCE and the Structural Engineering Institute, where he has chaired three prominent committees and served on the editorial board for the Journal of Structural Engineering and Earthquake Spectra.

Goel earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in structural engineering from UC Berkeley.

He succeeds Mark Matsumoto, who has served as the school’s dean since 2015. Goel is expected to join the campus in the fall.

source/content: news.ucmereced.edu (headline edited)

PATENT: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: ENVIRONMENT, RECYCLING: Prof. Nand Gopal Sahu receives Patent for Creating Supercapacitors & Energy Storing Devices from Used Tyres

Professor Nand Gopal Sahu of the Rajendra Singh Nano Science and Nanotechnology Centre of Kumaun University’s Chemistry department has obtained a patent for making supercapacitors and energy storage devices from tyre waste.

Talking to Sahu, he said that Tyre waste can be used to synthesize graphene, which is a vital industrial material.

This graphene is used to make supercapacitors that can be used for the manufacture of a variety of devices, including electric vehicles.

Sahu acknowledges Professor AB Melkani, research scholars Gaurav Tatari, Dr Chetna Tiwari, Dr Sandeep Pandey, Dr Manoj Kadakoti, and Dr Himani Tiwari for their contributions to the study.

Nainital, Uttarakhand

source/content: thetimesbureau.com (headline edited)

RECORDS: MANUFACTURING / DEFENCE: Historic day for India as Cochin Shipyard (CSL) Delivers First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) to Indian Navy. India Joins Select Group of Nations to Indigenously Design and Build an Aircraft Carrier.

Scripting history, the Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) handed over India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) to the Indian Navy on Thursday.

The aircraft carrier, which was designed by the Navy’s in-house Directorate of Naval Design and built by the CSL, will be christened after INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier, which played a crucial role in 1971 war against Pakistan.

With the delivery of Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an Aircraft Carrier.

Sources said the vessel will be commissioned and formally inducted into the Indian Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Independence day. The Navy is planning to make the induction ceremony a mega event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

The 262 m long aircraft carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor. The ship is powered by four gas turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Built at an overall cost of Rs. 20,000 crores, the IAC has been built in three phases of a contract between the Ministry of Defence and the CSL, concluded in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL OFFER: INDIA – COVID-19 VACCINE: CoWIN Platform ‘know-how’ Now Available Free of Cost to Any Country

The National Health Authority’s offer comes after India crossed a milestone of administering 2 billion vaccine doses a week ago.

Any country interested can avail CoWIN platform, the platform will be provided free of cost, said Dr. R.S.Sharma, CEO of the National Health Authority, said on Saturday, July 23, 2022.

“Selected vendors by the country will be trained on CoWIN technology to customise it for their requirement. Usually, since the vaccination cycle is almost the same in all countries, the customisation will be limited to changes in field and master data configuration. Complete revamp of the application by any country is not expected,’’ he elaborated while speaking about (CoWIN) which provided the digital support for the COVID vaccination drive in the country.

Dr. Sharma further said that India has already signed an MoU with the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana for sharing CoWIN; “We are in advanced talks with a couple of other nations to share CoWIN with them,’’ he confirmed.

India’s COVID vaccine milestone

India crossed a milestone of administering 2 billion vaccine doses a week ago and talking about its continued importance Dr. Sharma said that as CoWIN is repurposed, it could also help achieve the vision of Universal Vaccination against COVID-19 and further be repurposed for use in the healthcare sector. 

On July 5, the Central Government organised the Co-WIN Global Conclave with the endeavour to share experiences and expertise on the CoWIN platform with the global community. Over 140 countries participated in the event and nearly a dozen expressed an interest in learning from the platform and evaluating adopting it.

Stating that CoWIN has also become the world’s biggest digitally verifiable vaccination certificate generating platform, Dr. Sharma said that today Co-WIN is highly configurable and adaptable. “It has evolved based on the changing policy landscape and the requirements of the beneficiaries. The platform was developed at record speed with ample consideration to its scalability, modularity and interoperability,’’ hde said.

The CEO also spoke about the security measures that have been put in place to ensure data safety and the prevention of leaks. “CoWIN platform does not store or share any personal data. It’s for vaccination purposes and is the single source of truth to determine whether the person has been vaccinated or not,’’ said Dr. Sharma. He added the platform has deployed state-of-the-art data security systems to safeguard users’ data against any possible intrusion.

“Despite all these security features, CoWIN’s architecture still allows it to be open and interoperable. The capability to digitally authenticate these details with Aadhaar has also been provided to vaccinators. Otherwise, during vaccination a vaccinator could validate these details through a physical ID,’’ he explained, adding that besides the OTP feature the government has also limited the number of slot searches per user (restricted to 15-20) on the portal which prevents bots, browser extensions or hack attempts. Also even the API’s shared to third parties by CoWIN is through a thorough scrutiny process, ensuring proper security and audit.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

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: 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: 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)

GLOBAL RECORDS: INNOVATION & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, TELANGANA : The World’s Largest Innovation Campus ‘T-Hub’/ T-Works/ and IMAGE Tower’ Takes Shape in India’s Hyderabad City

There will be 2.3 million sq ft built-up space in the 18-acre campus : KTR

Technology start-up incubator T-Hub, prototyping centre T-Works and the IMAGE Tower focused on multimedia, animation, gaming and entertainment will constitute the world’s largest innovation campus in Hyderabad.

Totally, there will be 2.3 million sq ft built-up space that will be developed in the 18-acre campus in the heart of the city’s IT Hub. “I see this panning out over the next 18-24 months,” IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao said in an interaction after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao inaugrated the new, second phase building of T-Hub on Tuesday.

The T-Hub facility, with a built-up space of 5.8 lakh sq ft, is one component of the campus. “There is T-Works, India’s largest prototyping facility, which will be inaugurated in August,” he said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)