Category Archives: Transport

WORLD RECORDS: CONSTRUCTION : ROADS & HIGHWAYS : NHAI Enters Guinness World Record for Laying 75 km Highway in 105 Hours: Nitin Gadkari

Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced that State-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Consultants & Concessionaire, Rajpath Infracon Pvt Ltd & Jagdish Kadam has created a Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous lane of 75 kilometres in 105 hours and 33 minutes on the national highway between Amravati and Akola districts in Maharashtra.

Mentioning about the record, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the project was implemented by 720 workers including a team of independent consultants who worked day and night.

The total length of the 75 kilometres of single lane continuous bituminous concrete road is equivalent to 37.5 kilometres of two-lane paved shoulder road and the work started on June 3, at 7:27 am and was completed on June 7, at 5 pm, the minister said in a video message.

The previous Guinness World Record for the longest continuously laid bituminous was for building 25.275 kilometres of road that was achieved in Doha, Qatar in February 2019 and that task was completed in 10 days, Mr. Gadkari said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INDIA RECORDS : SPACE – SATELLITE & LAUNCH VEHICLES: Ananth Technologies Opens the Spacecraft Manufacturing unit at KIADB Aerospace Park in Bengaluru. First Facility in Private Sector.

Ananth Technologies which designs and produces systems for Indian aerospace has set up a 15,000 square metre spacecraft manufacturing unit at KIADB Aerospace Park, Bengaluru, said to be the country’s first such facility in the private sector.

The manufacturing unit would be able to conduct assembly, integration and testing of four large spacecraft simultaneously, the company said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Subba Rao Pavuluri, Chairman & Managing Director, Ananth Technologies, said, “India is on the cusp of revolutionising the spacecraft industry. As a nation, we are capable of manufacturing world-class spacecrafts.’‘

“Over the years, Ananth Technologies has successfully contributed to major launches of ISRO. Our technology acumen is such that none of the sub-systems supplied by Ananth Technologies has ever failed in orbit,’‘ he claimed.

Since its inception in 1992, Ananth Technologies has contributed to the manufacturing of 89 satellites and 69 launch vehicles built/launched by ISRO, including two satellites for European customers that ISRO had built in collaboration with Airbus, France.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

INDIA RECORDS: INDIAN ARMY RECORDS : Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes the First Woman Officer to Join in the Army Aviation Corps as Combat Aviator, May 26th, 2022

Captain Abhilasha Barak has been awarded the Coveted Wings along with 36 Army Pilots by Director General & Colonel Commandant Army Aviation.

Young Aviators are now ready to spread their wings in Combat Aviation Squadrons.

The Indian Army officer from Haryana successfully completed her six-month-long Combat Army Aviation Course to join Army Aviation Corps as a helicopter pilot. She was accorded with the Coveted Wings along with 36 Army Pilots by Director General & Colonel Commandant Army Aviation Lt. Gen. A. K. Suri during a valedictory ceremony held at Combat Army Aviation Training School, Nashik.

Captain Barak has been assigned to the second flight of the 2072 Army Aviation Squadron that operates the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

source/content: newsonair.com (edited) / others

INDIA RECORDS: SPACE TECHNOLOGY : Skyroot Successfully Test Fires Space Launch Vehicle ‘Vikram-1’ Rocket Stage , Achieves a Major Milestone.

Nam ed ‘Kalam-100’after the renowned Indian rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Skyroot Aerospace, the national-award winning startup building India’s first privately built space launch vehicles has announced the successful completion of a full duration test-firing of its ‘Vikram-1’ rocket stage, representing a major milestone for the company on Thursday.

Named ‘Kalam-100’ after former President and the renowned Indian rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the third stage of ‘Vikram-1’ produces a peak vacuum thrust of 100 kN (or ~10Tons) and has a burn time of 108 sec, said the city based firm’s founders, in an official release.

The rocket stage has been built with high-strength carbon fiber structure, solid fuel, novel thermal protection system, and carbon ablative nozzle. “It’s a highly reliable stage with no moving parts and high level of automation in manufacturing.

This testing will help us in development of orbital vehicle Vikram-1 and gives great confidence for our other rocket stages planned to be tested soon,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana.

source/content: thehindu.com (edited)

INDIA : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY : DEFENCE : Indian Navy Successfully Test-Fires First Indigenously Developed Naval Anti-Ship Missile

The Indian Navy on Wednesday successfully carried out the maiden test firing of the first indigenously developed naval anti-ship missile from a Seaking helicopter, officials said.

The test was conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha’s Balasore.

“This firing is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy’s commitment to indigenisation,” said a senior Navy official.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (edited)

WORLD RECORDS: INDIA 2nd : Delhi Airport Replaces Dubai as the World’s Second Busiest Airport in March: Report

The Delhi Airport was in 23rd place in March 2019 before the pandemic.

Delhi Airport was the world’s second busiest airport in March 2022 in terms of domestic and international flights handled, said Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider, in its recent report.

Whilst Atlanta retains its position as largest, Dubai is knocked out of second place this month (March) by Delhi which moves up from third place last month (February),” the OAG’s report mentioned.

The Delhi Airport was in 23rd place in March 2019 before the pandemic, it added. In March this year, airports in Atlanta in the US, Delhi in India and Dubai in the UAE handled 4.42 million, 3.61 million and 3.55 million seats, it mentioned.

dnaindia.com (edited)

INDIA RECORDS : CONSTRUCTION – Ahmedabad’s SVPIA sets a National Record in ReCarpeting Runway Work

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA), managed by the Adani Group, has completed the recarpeting work on its 3.5 – kilometre-long runway in a record time of 75 days. This duration is an all-time best among brownfield runways in India.

Ahmedabad’s SVPIA is the busiest airport in Gujarat with over 200 flights every day in the pre-covid time.

The challenge of recarpeting the runway without impacting the operations of scheduled flights was tackled by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) by using only nine hours of NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) daily.

During the 75 days it took to complete the project, SVPIA kept the runway open daily for 160 flights on average during the remaining 15 hours of the day.

The quantum of asphalt laid for the recarpeting was equivalent to a 200 km stretch of road, while the concrete used for the runway drainage system was sufficient to build a 40-storied structure.

source/content: daijiworld.com (edited0

INDIA RECORDS : AVIATION : IAF Chopper makes New Record, Flies non-stop from Chandigarh to Jorhat

“The 1910 kilometre route was completed in 7 hours 30 minutes and made possible by the capabilities of Chinook along with operational planning and execution of the IAF,” a spokesperson for Western Air Command of IAF said.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) Chinook heavy-lift chopper has created a flying record by completing a non-stop helicopter sortie in India, flying from Chandigarh to Jorhat (Assam).

source/content: indianexpress.com (edited)

INDIAN INNOVATION – GREEN : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY : IIT Guwahati Develops Technology to Standardise Electric Vehicles in India

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has developed a technology that rates the motors and batteries of electric vehicles and suggests the best drivetrain components for the Indian scenario to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

According to IIT Guwahati, this is a unique method of its kind which standardises the electronic vehicles based on Indian drive-cycles.

T. G. Sitharam, director, IIT Guwahati, said, “The development in the field of next-generation energy-efficient EV technology is one of the most important breakthroughs required for the sustainable development of the country and to reduce the carbon footprint. IIT Guwahati is earnestly working in this direction. This development will augment this process and maximize the outcomes.”

source/content: thetelegraph.com (edited)

INTERNATIONAL : AVIATION : HAL-Israel Aerospace Sign MoU for Conversion of Civil (Passenger) Aircraft into Multi-Mission Tanker Transport Aircraft (MMIT)

In a move aimed at bolstering the ‘Make in India’ campaign, HAL has entered into a MoU with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to convert Civil (Passenger) aircraft to Multi Mission Tanker Transport (MMTT) aircraft in India.

The move will provide India’s defence ecosystem with new capabilities and cost effective solutions in the market.

The MoU will facilitate HAL and IAI’s decades’ long expertise in developing, manufacturing and producing leading defence platforms.

The scope of MoU also covers “passenger to freighter aircraft” conversion along with MMTT conversions.

A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Delhi by D Maiti, CEO (MiG Complex), HAL and Yaacov Berkovitz, Vice President and General Manager, Aviation Group, IAI in the presence of Chandraker Bharati, JS (Aero), Ministry of Defence, Goveernment of India.

source/content: daijiworld.com (edited)