In 2022, the maximum new discoveries of animals and plants were from Kerala.

India added 664 animal species to its faunal database in the year 2022. These comprise 467 new species and 197 new records [species found in India for the first time].

The country also added 339 new plant taxa – 186 taxa that are new to science and 153 taxa as new distributional records from the country in 2022. The details of new discoveries and new records were released by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav in Kolkata on July 1.

The faunal discoveries have been compiled in a publication by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) titled Animal Discoveries – New Species and New Records 2023, whereas floral discoveries are contained in Plant Discoveries 2022 published by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). 

Among the major fauna species discovered are three new species and one new record of mammals; two new records of birds; 30 new species and two new records of reptiles; six new species and one new record of amphibia; and 28 new species and eight new records of fish. The mammal species discovered include two species of bats – Miniopterus phillipsi, a long-fingered bat, and Glischropus meghalayanus, a bamboo-dwelling bat – both from Meghalaya. Sela macaque (Macaca selai), a new macaque species discovered in the western and central Arunachal Pradesh and named after the Sela Pass, is also among the highlights of Animal Discoveries 2022.

The new records include Macaca leucogenys, a white-cheeked macaque earlier found in Modog, southeastern Tibet, and sighted in India for the first time in 2022 in West Siang, Arunachal Pradesh. The list also includes Ficedula zanthopygia, the yellow-rumped flycatcher, earlier known from Mongolia, Transbaikal, southern China, Korea, western Japan, and found last year in Narcondam Island of the Andaman archipelago.

The maximum number of new faunal discoveries has been of invertebrates with 583 species, while vertebrates constitute 81 species. Insects dominate among invertebrates with 384 species, whereas fish dominated among vertebrates, followed by reptiles, amphibia, mammals and aves.

In 2022, the maximum new discoveries were recorded from Kerala. As many as 82 animal species new to science and 15 new records were from Kerala, which contributes to 14.6% of the new species and new records. Karnataka followed with 64 new species and 24 new records accounting for 13.2%. Tamil Nadu saw 71 new discoveries and 13 new records contributing to 12.6% of all the new discoveries and new records in the country. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands contributed to about 8.4% of the discoveries, whereas 7.6 % discoveries were from West Bengal and 5.7% from Arunachal Pradesh. With the new discoveries and new records, the fauna diversity of the country increased to 1,03,922.

Speaking at the launch of these publications, Mr. Yadav said that work done by the ZSI is critical to the faunal diversity of the country. “We must protect the diversity for our own sake,” he said. 

ZSI Director Dhriti Banerjee said the year 2022 witnessed the highest number of new discoveries in the last 10 years. 

‘Plant Discoveries 2022’ contains an enumeration of 339 taxa, which have been added to the Indian flora during 2022. These comprise 319 species, and 20 infraspecific taxa as new to the Indian flora. Of these, 186 taxa are new to science and 153 taxa are new distributional records from India. 

Among the new discoveries, 37% are of seed plants, 29% fungi, 16% lichen, 8% algae, 6% bryophytes, 3% microbes and remaining 1% pteridophytes. Seed plants contributed the maximum discoveries, of which dicotyledons contribute 73% and monocotyledons 27%. About 21% of the total discoveries were made from the western Himalayas followed by 16% from the Western Ghats. The Plant Discoveries 2022, include 125 angiosperms, one gymnosperm, five pteridophytes, 19 bryophytes, 55 lichens, 99 fungi, 27 algae and nine microbes..

A State-wise analysis of the plant taxa points out that maximum discoveries of 57 were made in Kerala, which alone accounts for 16.8% of all plant discoveries in the country in year 2022. The plant discoveries in 2022 include wild relatives of many potential horticultural, agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental plants such as begonia, impatiens (balsams), legumes, zingibers, orchids etc.

Among the new genus of plants discovered are Nandadevia Pusalkar, agenus common throughout the foothills and warm outer valleys of the Uttarakhand Himalayas, and Nilgiriella Pusalkar, endemic to the southern Western Ghats of India and distributed in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Among the new records in orchid species, Calanthe lamellosa, earlier recorded in China and Myanmar, and found for the first time in India in the Japfu mountain range in Kohima, Nagaland.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Sanand GIDC is a highly industrialized zone in Gujarat, home to many national and multinational manufacturing industries.

US chip-maker Micron Technology inked a pact with the Gujarat government for setting up a semiconductor manufacturing facility at Sanand worth $2.75 billion ( ₹22,500 crore approximately).

At the event in Gandhinagar, the company said that it will create 5,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs.

The semiconductor chips produced in Sanand will be used across India and exported globally. The first chip from this plant is expected within 18 months, it said.

Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and union minister for railways, communications, electronics and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw were present in the event.

The Gujarat government handed over the Offer Cum Allotment (OCA) letter to Micron for the allotment of 93 acres of area at Sanand Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) Estate.

Micron Technology will establish assembly and test facility, wherein it will focus on transforming wafers into ball grid array (BGA) integrated circuit packages, memory modules and solid-state drives.

This facility will further attract many more players from the entire semiconductor supply chain into Gujarat.

It will also inspire global semiconductor giants and MNCs to set up high-tech manufacturing in Gujarat.

The Gujarat government announced the “Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-2027” in July last year, making it the first state in India to introduce a dedicated policy aimed at attracting investments in the chip manufacturing sector.

The MoU signing is a novel step towards PM Narendra Modi’s $10 billion Semicon India Program to create an Aatmanirbhar Bharat in global semiconductor supply chain manufacturing , the government said in a statement.

PM Modi had met Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra at his recently-concluded US visit.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Embedded with enhanced data integrity and safety measures, the blockchain mechanism would complement the existing Data Logger which is considered the ‘Black Box’ of rolling stock.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, is developing a tamper-proof signalling system based on blockchain technology for the Indian Railways. Embedded with enhanced safety measures, the new system would complement the existing Data Logger which is considered the ‘Black Box’ of rolling stock.

Acting on a request made by the Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, researchers in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) stream are working on a robust system that would facilitate a mechanism to ensure safety, communication and control of train operations.

According to Professor Aurobinda Routray of IIT-Kharagpur, blockchain is a system of recording information which cannot be tampered, hacked or manipulated. The technology was being widely used in cryptocurrency and banking transactions.

“After Mr. Vaishnaw sought a proposal on a fool-proof signalling system based on blockchain, I am writing the programme along with some colleagues in IIT-Bhubaneshwar. Blockchain is being deployed in many developing countries and I think the technology can immensely benefit the Indian Railways as safety of train operations,” he said.

Enhanced transparency

Prof. Routray said the focus was to make the live movement of trains available for Station Masters, Section Controllers, Signal Engineers and others with all logs. On how different the initiative would be from the existing Data Logger, he said that the new system would provide enhanced data integrity, transparency and security. It would enable secure data sharing among stakeholders, automate processes with smart contracts and create tamper-evident audit trails.

The system would complement the Data Logger which was limited by its centralised storage facility, lack of tamper-evident data, and limited access control. The new blockchain system would address these limitations by storing data in a distributed ledger, using cryptography to ensure data integrity, and making data accessible to all stakeholders. This would make the new system more secure, transparent, and efficient than the current system.

In addition, Prof. Routray said, the blockchain system would provide several benefits, such as increased accountability, safety and efficiency. Overall, the new blockchain system would be a significant improvement over the current system. “All events occurring in the train and control room would be recorded securely and no one can tamper with it or bypass it.”

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.

The Indian duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Sunday won a historic men’s doubles title at the Indonesia Open here, becoming the first doubles pair from the country to claim a Super 1000 event.

The world No. 6 pair, who won a gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and bronze at the world championships last year, thrashed Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yika of Malaysia in straight games 21-17, 21-18.

Earlier, the 2022 world championships bronze medallists had become the first ever Indian pair to reach the final of any Super 1000 tournament after a sensational comeback to get the better of the Korean combination of Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae 17-21, 21-19 21-18 in a thrilling semi-final.

The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.

The BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour is divided into six levels, namely World Tour Finals, four Super 1000, six Super 750, seven Super 500, and 11 Super 300. One more category of tournament, the BWF Tour Super 100 level, also offers ranking points.

Each of these tournaments offers different ranking points and prize money. The highest points and prize pool is offered at the Super 1000 level.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

Then came the year 2016 when the IAF’s first women fighter pilots entered service, convincing Ananya that her dream was coming true.

The month of May 2022 saw a rare record set in the sky: Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma and Flying Officer Ananya Sharma took off on their Advanced Jet Trainer Hawk-132 for a variety of manoeuvres together. They became the first pair of father-daughter who flew in the same formation at the Air Force Station in Bidar (Karnataka), where Ananya was training.

Ananya has been quite lucky. As a child when she showed interest in the combat jet, the Indian Air Force (IAF) did not have any plans for women to join the fighter stream. But, her father never said no to her. Whenever she would bug her dad about it, he would reassure her: “Don’t worry.”

Then came the year 2016 when the IAF’s first women fighter pilots entered service, convincing Ananya that her dream was coming true. For Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma, her decision to join the challenging career in the IAF came as a pleasant surprise as she had already begun her professional journey in the corporate sector.

After completing her BTech in Electronics & Communication, Ananya joined KPMG. Around the same time, she also filled out the form and cleared the written exam and the Services Selection Board (SSB) in 2020. She was commissioned into the force in December 2021.

The gruelling IAF training is divided into STAGE I, II and III. Each stage gradually takes you from fundamental to more complex levels of aviation. Before the training begins, a candidate is first exposed to technical training on the trainer aircraft. This involves imparting theoretical understanding and then a practical demonstration of all systems of the aircraft. This also includes undertaking a programme in aviation medicine.

Ananya did her pre-flying at Air Force Academy for six months before commencing STAGE-I–I 24-week training. She was allotted the fighter branch. It is at this stage that pilot trainees are trifurcated into fighter, transport and helicopter streams. Then comes STAGE-II 24-week training in their respective flying training establishments. After STAGE-II training, successful pilot trainees are commissioned as officers and undergo STAGE–III training. On completion of STAGE–III training, they begin operational flying at the squadrons/units assigned to them.

“Even if one wants to join the fighter branch, it doesn’t happen easily. A board does the tri-furcation which considers your preference, performance at the academy and the instructor’s recommendations,” says Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma.

“After getting commissioned as a fighter pilot, Ananya came and saluted me. It made me really proud,” says a beaming Air Commodore. “It was the biggest day of my life when I flew with Ananya,” he says in a video put out by the IAF. This year she completed her training in the AJT Hawk and has been lucky to get selected to fly frontline Sukhoi 30.

The Air Commodore vividly remembers the joint-flying with Ananya. “I was posted in Air HQ and she was undergoing Hawk flying and was to complete solo flying and enter the formation flying phase,” says Air Commodore. The Air Force permitted it and the rest is history as the two flew in one formation.

The Air Commodore was commissioned in the fighter stream in 1989. He has had an extensive experience in fighter operations, having commanded a MiG-21 squadron as well as a frontline fighter. He recently superannuated from the IAF.

Mother Sonal Sharma said, “I am extremely happy and proud. I can’t explain my feelings when both Sanjay and Ananya got airborne in the same formation… It was a feeling way beyond any happiness or satisfaction that I ever experienced.”

“She is a good flier; I can say without a doubt. I have seen her grow as a child; I can judge her capabilities. Self-motivation makes things easy, else it is hard. Ananya is self-motivated,” says her proud father. Ananya’s elder sister is also a part of the force; she is married to an Army Officer.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)