Tag Archives: Records of India

NATIONAL : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES: IIT Madras develops Steam-based method to Sterilise Medical Equipment

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed a solar-thermal steam-based system that can help sterilise medical equipment in remote and rural areas, where access to electricity and water could be an issue.

The project, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, uses portable steam cylinders charged by renewable energy-based stations (like solar energy) that are placed strategically in rural areas for power generation, steam generation and other uses.

The team also designed special sterilisation chambers to utilise such portably stored steam and effectively sterilise the tools.

“A portable steam storage canister can be a great contribution by facilitating minor medical interventions in the developing world by sterilising surgical instruments and combating infections in rural areas,” said Prof. Sathyan Subbiah, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, in a statement.

“The portable canister is developed with multi-layer insulation, which can retain useful heat of steam, generated via solar plants for longer duration thus making it a viable option to sterilise equipment in remote areas. The steam that is produced in the solar plant or any other means can be stored in the portable canister which can be transported to remote locations to carry out the sterilisation activities,” he added.

Safe sterilisation of surgical instruments and other medical tools are important aspects in the health care sector. It involves cleaning and disinfecting the previously-used contaminated surgical tools before subsequent use. Steam sterilisation is one of the best disinfecting methods.

Currently, doctors carry with them a set of sterilised tools, which limits the number of patients they can see at the camp.

The project was demonstrated during a medical camp at IIT Madras campus on October 14, and is all set for further trials, following which it is intended to be deployed in the field.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: DEFENCE & AVIATION: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) hands over First LCA Tejas Twin Seater Aircraft to Indian Air Force (IAF)

HAL said the twin seater variant has all the capabilities to support the training requirements of the IAF and augments itself to the role of fighter as well in case of necessity.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over the first LCA Tejas twin seater to the Indian Air Force in the presence of Union Minister of State for Defence & Tourism Ajay Bhatt at a ceremony in Bengaluru on Wednesday, October 4.

The LCA Tejas Twin Seater is a lightweight, all-weather multi-role 4.5 generation aircraft. It is designed to support the training requirements of the IAF and augment itself to the role of a fighter in case of necessity.

It is a huge boost to self-reliance, said the minister in his address to the audience. “I am proud to be part of this historic occasion and salute the spirit of HAL which has been spearheading Swadeshi manufacturing in defence,” he said.

Mr. Bhatt unveiled the twin seater LCA. “In all, the development of LCA Tejas has also brought about a shift in our approach to defence procurement. It has demonstrated that India has the talent, knowledge and capability to design, develop and manufacture world-class fighters,” he added.

More LCAs to be procured

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said that IAF would be going ahead to procure 97 more LCAs, and with this it will have 220 LCAs in its inventory.

C.B. Ananthakrishnan, CMD (Addl. Charge), HAL said that the company is committed to deliver all the twin-seater aircraft pertaining to Initial Operational Configuration (IOC) and Final Operational Configuration (FOC) contract to IAF in the current financial year.

“With this, we are moving one step closer towards achieving self-sufficiency on the fixed wing segment. These trainers also ensure smooth transition for the pilots from trainer to fighter aircraft in this class,” he added.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, HAL CMD (Addl. Charge) C.B. Ananthakrishnan, Director General, ADA, Girish S. Deodhare, A.P.V.S Prasad, CE (A), CEMILAC, officials from IAF, MoD, DGAQA, DRDO, HAL and production partners attended the event.

The Release to Service Document (RSD) and the Signalling out Certificate (SOC) were also handed over during the event.

Entering the elite club

The LCA Tejas twin seater boasts of technologies such as relaxed static-stability, quadraplex fly-by-wire flight control, carefree manoeuvring, advanced glass cockpit, integrated digital avionics systems and advanced composite materials for the airframe.

The production of the LCA twin seater variant adds India to the list of very few elite countries who have created such a capability and have them operational in their Defence Forces.

IAF had earlier placed orders for 20 IOC standard aircraft and 20 FOC standard aircraft, including eight twin seater trainers. Thirty two Mk-1 single seater aircrafts have already been inducted by the IAF.

In 2021, the Defence Ministry had signed a ₹48,000 crore deal with HAL to supply 83 LCA-Mk1A, a more capable fighter than the current LCA-MK1 in service.

As per contract, three LCA-MK1A are scheduled to be delivered to the IAF in February 2024 and 16 aircraft per year for the subsequent five years.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL : ARTS & CRAFTS / PHOTOGRAPHy: Photographer Gauri Gill Wins the Prestigious 10th Annual ‘Prix Pictet Photography and Sustainability Award’

Gill was selected from the shortlist of 12 photographers for her series ‘Notes from the Desert’.

Photographer Gauri Gill has won the prestigious 10th Annual Prix Pictet Photography and Sustainability Award, securing the massive prize of 100,000 Swiss Francs (approximately $109,219). This award is recognised as one of the world’s most significant, if not the largest, prizes in the realm of photography.

The award was announced on Thursday, September 28.

“On my many visits to rural Rajasthan, I have witnessed a complex reality I knew nothing about as a city dweller. To live poor and landless in the desert amounts to an inescapable reliance on oneself, on each other, and on nature,” said Gill.

The Prix Pictet is described as the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability. Founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group – a Swiss multinational private bank and financial services company – the award’s goal is to harness the power of photography to draw global attention to critical environmental issues.

Entry to this competition is only allowed to individuals nominated through Prix Pictet’s  global network of over 300 nominators which includes critics, curators, and other specialists in the visual arts.

Nominators are asked to recommend portfolios that have the power and artistic quality demanded by the prize.

Since it was founded, the organisation says that more than 5,000 photographers have been nominated, “all of whose work in one way or another testifies to the fragile state of our planet.”

“In a world facing unprecedented challenges, from social inequality to environmental crises, it was crucial to turn the lens towards humanity itself. The theme Human provides a platform to explore the complexities, vulnerabilities, and strengths of the human condition. It allows the artists to capture and communicate the stories, struggles and triumphs of individuals and communities around the globe,” Executive Director of Prix Pictet, Isabelle von Ribbentrop, said.

“Through this theme, Prix Pictet aims to foster a deeper understanding of our shared humanity and inspire meaningful conversations about the issues that impact us all. Especially when thinking about the theme Human, I strongly believe that instead of the future of photography, we should think about photography of the future. The power of the image lies in its ability to foreground critical and urgent environmental issues in a visually impactful yet direct way.”

Gill’s work emphasises her belief in working with and through community, in what she calls ‘active listening’. For more than two decades, she has been closely engaged with marginalised communities in the desert of western Rajasthan, Northern India and for the last decade with Indigenous artists in Maharashtra.

Her winning series ‘Notes from the Desert’ began in April 1999 when she set out to photograph village schools in Rajasthan. Having grown up mainly in cities, she soon realised that rural schools were a microcosm of a complex reality she knew nothing about.

Visiting the same people and places over decades, she witnessed the whole spectrum of life: drought years and great monsoon; dust storms leading to widespread fevers and floods leading to the rebuilding of homes; epidemics; overwhelmed hospitals and understaffed school; festivals, feuds, celebrations, and prayers.

source/content: thewire.in (headline edited)

Sable becomes 1st Indian man to win Asian Games 3000m steeplechase title, Toor defends shot put gold

Avinash Sable, the 29-year-old national record holder, earned India its first gold medal in athletics, completing the race in 8:19.50 seconds.

Avinash Sable became the first Indian man to win the gold medal in 3000m steeplechase at the Asian Games while shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor defended his title with an amazing final throw to beat back the challenge from his Saudi Arabian rival here on Sunday.

Sable, the 29-year-old national record holder, earned India its first gold medal in athletics, completing the race in 8:19.50 seconds.

Sable rewrote the previous Asian Games record of 8:22.79 held in the name of Iran’s Hossein Keyhani set at the 2018 Jakarta Games.

Sudha Singh had won a gold in women’s 3000m steeplechase in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Toor, the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medallist, came up with a mighty throw of 20.36 metres on his sixth and last attempt to overhaul his Saudi rival Mohamed Daouda Tolo’s distance of 20.18 metres.

Toor, however, could not break his own Asian Games record of 20.75m set in 2018 Jakarta.

But the 28-year-old’s final throw was way too good for his Saudi rival to overhaul in his final attempt.

Earlier, the toast of the nation in the last edition, Indian heptathlete Swapna Barman’s one “last shot” at glory at the Asian Games turned into a nightmare as she struggled with injuries to virtually go out of medal reckoning after the javelin throw event.

The defending champion, who boasts of a personal best of 52.55m in javelin throw, managed a throw of just 45.13 in the penultimate event of the gruelling two-day competition.

Javelin throw was one of the two events Swapna had won in 2018 en route to becoming the first Indian heptathlete to win an Asian Games gold.

Overall, Swapna was ranked fourth with 4840 points, 11 points behind her nearest rival Jingyi Liu of China ahead of the 800m race, which is the last segment of the seven-event competition.

The other Indian in the fray, Nandini Agasara notched a personal best of 39.

88m in javelin throw that took her overall ranking to fifth place.

Earlier in the day, Swapna Barman leapt 5.71m in the long jump, while Nandini Agasara had a season-best 5.94m jump.

With her career ravaged by a spinal injury, the six-toed Indian athlete had contemplated retirement last year.

But she took one last shot at glory and came to Hanghzou in her title defence bid.

This year she won the Inter-State meet and also bagged a silver medal in the build-up to the Asian Games.

She also avoided surgery so as to ensure that she does not miss her training despite a bad back.

“But her body condition could not cope up and she failed to get a good start,” her coach Subhash Sarkar told PTI.

“She was expecting a good result in high jump but a fourth place finish shattered her and she couldn’t recover from there,” he added.

Swapna had a jump of 1.70m, which was nowhere close to her personal best of 1.87.

“The poor start has affected her morale and it showed in today’s javelin throw event. It’s as good as over,” Sarkar said of Swapna’s prospects this time.

Earlier, India’s Amlan Borgohain finished at the third position after clocking 21.08 seconds in the men’s 200m heats and advanced to the semifinal.

The first three athletes in each heat make the cut for the semi-finals.

The top four times from all the heats who have not made the cut will also advance to the semifinals.

The sprinter from Assam, currently the country’s fastest, holds both the men’s 100m and 200m national records.

However, Jyothi Yarraji failed to make the cut for the women’s 200m final.

The Indian had a timing of 23.78s.

Yarraji, however, is in contention for a medal in women’s 100m hurdles.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: AGRICULTURE : SCIENCE : Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) Bhopal team conducts Genome Sequencing of Indian Gooseberry Plant (Amla)

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have for the first time unravelled the draft genome of the Indian gooseberry plant, popularly known as Amla.

Understanding the genetic composition of Amla can help us understand their origins, evolution, and how they create the biochemicals that are of medicinal value.

While Amla holds significant pharmaceutical and nutritional importance, its genetic composition has hitherto not been studied in detail.

“We analysed the genome and transcriptome of the amla plant using leaves from our campus. We employed advanced sequencing technologies, including 10x Genomics and Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) long-read sequencing, along with transcriptomic sequencing,” said lead researcher Dr Vineet Sharma, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at IISER Bhopal, in a statement.

Amla is a well-known plant indigenous to South Asian countries and has been used in traditional Indian and Chinese medicine and home remedies for centuries.

The stone-fruit of the Amla tree is believed to have high Vitamin C content, in addition to being a rich source of various phytochemicals, minerals, and amino acids. Amla has been thought to be effective in treating conditions like unhealthy levels of fat, Type-2 diabetes, chronic gum diseases, symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, and more.

Apart from obtaining the draft genome structure of the Amla for the first time, the researchers also identified genes responsible for vitamin C biosynthesis and compared them with genes in other plants that bear vitamin C-rich fruits.

The team found that Amla’s exceptional antioxidant power comes from the adaptive evolution of certain genes involved in the production of antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids.

Amla’s abundant vitamin C content and the remarkable capacity of each tree to yield up to 100 kg of fruits make it superior to other vitamin C-rich fruits such as the West Indian cherry from Mexico and the camu camu fruit found in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela and makes it a perfect choice for switching from the synthetic to a natural source of Vitamin C.

According to the research team, the adaptive evolution of this plant could be one of the key reasons for its easy adaptation to various climatic zones and environmental conditions.

“The analysis of the whole genomic landscape of the Amla also helped us in understanding its evolutionary descent in comparison with 26 other plant species. It will also help in developing improved nutraceuticals, food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products, and for further horticultural and genomic studies,” Dr Sharma said.

The findings have been published recently in the open-access journal, Frontiers in Plant Science.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL RECORDS: WORLD RECORD FOR AN INDIAN ARTIST: Amrita Sher-Gil’s ‘The Story Teller’ sets Record for Highest Price of Rs.61.8 crore, Achieved by an Indian Artist on September 16th, 2023 by-passing the Previous Record held by S H Raza’s ‘Gestation’ of Rs. 51.7 crore

Amrita Sher-Gil “sought inspiration in Pahari paintings” to paint The Story Teller.

Painted during an important period in her oeuvre, Amrita Sher-Gil’s 1937 canvas The Story Teller sold for a whopping Rs 61.8 crore ($7.44 million) on September 16, setting a world record for the highest price achieved by an Indian artist.

The iconic work led Saffronart’s Evening Sale: Modern Art, which featured more than 70 artworks from prominent artists, including significant works by modern masters V S Gaitonde and S H Raza, and early works by Tyeb Mehta, M F Husain, F N Souza, and Akbar Padamsee.

Before this sale, the most expensive Indian artwork sold at an auction was S H Raza’s Gestation, which had fetched ₹51.75 crore.

Describing the significance of the Sher-Gil artwork, a note released by Saffronart before the auction had pointed out it was executed “during an important formative period in the artist’s oeuvre that saw her European and Indian influences merge into a unique artistic language”.

In one of the “few works that she painted en plein air”, the release added, “The dominant subjects are women—who feature in many of her works—depicted as close-knit figures, crafting an inherent intimacy within the canvas. The work is an example of the artist’s most honest and expressive compositions, one that Sher-Gil herself was especially fond of as evidenced by the numerous mentions of this work in her letters.”

A note on The Story Teller on the Saffronart website quotes art connoisseur Karl Khandalavala suggesting that “it sought inspiration in Pahari paintings”. “The cows, the women folk, and the setting, though all far removed in technique from those of Basohli miniature, are pregnant with its lyricism and vivid colour,” states Khandalavala.

Born in 1913 in Budapest to an Indian Sikh aristocrat father and Hungarian-Jewish opera singer mother, Sher-Gil was eight when she moved to Shimla. Though she was already painting, her uncle Ervin Baktay encouraged her to develop her own vocabulary and pursue formal training.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

GLOBAL & NATIONAL: INFORMATION TECHNOLGY: Infosys Only Indian Firm in TIME Magazine’s World’s Best 100 Companies list

The list, curated by TIME and Statista, is dominated by global Big Tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms which were the top four companies on the list.

IT major Infosys is the only Indian company featured in TIME Magazine’s top 100 ‘World’s Best Companies 2023’ list, dominated by Big Tech.

The Bengaluru-based professional services firm has been ranked 64th spot in the top 100 list.

“Infosys has been featured in TIME World’s Best Companies 2023 list. We are among the top 3 global professional services firms and the only brand from India in the Top 100 global rankings,” the company said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The list, curated by TIME and Statista, is dominated by global Big Tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Meta Platforms which were the top four companies on the list.

Other top companies in the coveted list are Accenture, Pfizer, American Express, BMW Group, Dell Technologies, Louis Vuitton, Delta Air Lines, Starbucks, Volkswagen Group, General Motors, Ford and others.

The list is based on a formula of revenue growth, employee-satisfaction surveys, and rigorous environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG, or sustainability) data. Big Tech had a tough year, laying off tens of thousands of workers since January.

But the world’s biggest tech companies are also the ones doing best for investors, employees, and the planet.

“Microsoft, for example, the top company in the global rankings, made $72 billion in its most recent fiscal year, a 63 per cent increase from 2020, while also reducing overall emissions by 0.5 per cent,” said TIME.

Accenture, based in Dublin, had the highest ESG ranking of any company on the list.

“The rankings show just who dominates the world economic order, with fast-moving tech and business-services companies unseating the manufacturers and consumer-goods companies that once drove the global economy,” the magazine said.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: 15 September – National Engineers Day: The Story of M Visvesvaraya, India’s Pioneering Civil Engineer

Having played a role in major public works projects across the nation, he later served as the 19th Dewan of Mysore and wrote two books on the Indian economy. Here is a look at his life and his legacy.

September 15 is marked as the birthday of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (1861-1962), credited for his role as a civil engineer and administrator in colonial India.

Born on September 15, 1861, in the Muddenahalli village of Karnataka, ​​Visvesvaraya completed his school education in his hometown and later on went to study Bachelor of Arts at the University of Madras. He then pursued a diploma in civil engineering at the College of Science in Pune. Having played a role in major public works projects across the nation, he later served as the 19th Dewan of Mysore and wrote two books on the Indian economy. Here is a look at his life and his legacy.

After completing his engineering from the Poona College of Science, Visvesvaraya accepted an offer to work as an Assistant Engineer in the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Government of Bombay. He was 22 at the time and one of his first projects was to construct a pipe syphon across one of Panjra river’s channels. On November 15, 1909, he joined the Mysore service as Chief Engineer, ultimately assuming the position of the 19th Dewan of Mysore.

However, he took voluntary retirement in 1918 because he did not agree with the proposal to set aside state jobs for the “non-brahmin” community. After his retirement, he presided as chairman or became a member of various committees including the Bombay Technical and Industrial Education Committee, Bombay University Committee for Promoting Chemical Industries and the Cauvery Canal Committee.

M Visvesvaraya’s significant works

Some of his significant works include the introduction of the block system of irrigation in the Deccan canals in 1899, solving the problem of the “muddy and discoloured” water in the city of Sukkur located on the banks of the Indus river and inventing automatic gates meant to regulate the flow of water in reservoirs, which is patented.

According to Vigyan Prasar, “The objective of the Block System of Irrigation was ‘to distribute the benefits of an irrigation work over a large number of villages and to concentrate the irrigation in each village within blocks of specified limits and in selected soils and situations’”. The Krishnaraja Sagar Dam in Karnataka was the first to install these gates in the 1920s.

He also travelled abroad a few times and sought to understand aspects of other countries’ systems. In Italy, he studied for two months the soil erosion problem and their irrigation and drainage works. While there, he also took a trip to the sewers of Milan, accompanied by the Chief Engineer responsible for the Milan Drainage Works and asked him some particularly “large questions” which the officer was confused about, since he thought that British officers would be responsible for all such “higher work”. To this, Visvesvaraya responded that Indians’ services were appreciated and utilised if they had the necessary qualifications and worked hard.

In a speech delivered on March 16, 1912, at Central College Bangalore , Visvesvaraya said: “As compared with Europe, our climate and traditions all pre-dispose us to a life of inaction and ease. We are influenced either by religious sentiment, class patriotism or belief in kismet, whereas the activities of Western nations rest on an economic basis. While they think and act in conformity with economic necessities, we expect to prosper without acquiring the scientific precision, the inventive faculty, the thoroughness, the discipline and restraints of modern civilisation.”

On another occasion, he said: “Progress on modern lines is a necessity. We cannot afford to ignore scientific discoveries which have almost vivified material nature. Past ideals were for past times. We must adopt ourselves to the everlasting conditions of existence or be content to be left behind in the race for material prosperity.”

Visvesvaraya pleaded for a “self-examination not moral or spiritual, but secular – that is, a survey and analysis of local conditions in India and a comparative study of the same” with those in other parts of the globe.

His books, “Reconstructing India” and “Planned Economy of India” were published in 1920 and 1934, respectively.

On Education

During his three-month visit to Japan in 1898, Visvesvaraya realised that education largely determines the health of an economy. In his, “Memoirs of Working Life”, which was published in 1951, he noted that while in Japan there were some 1.5 million girls in school, there were only over 400,000 of them in Indian schools, “notwithstanding the vastly greater population in our country”.

Visvesvaraya was instrumental in the setting up of the University of Mysore in July 1916, as he was the Dewan of Mysore at the time. He believed that the aim of an educational institution should be in line with the “state of the country’s civilisation and of its material prosperity”, and that the conditions inside a university should not be very different from the ones a student has to encounter in real life.

After taking a voluntary retirement from state service in 1918, he continued work including on the Mysore Iron and Steel Works and established the Sir Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute in Bangalore in 1943, which was later renamed Sir Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic. This institute was meant to impart special training to technicians keeping in mind the impending industrial development of India.

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: DEFENCE / INDIAN AIR FORCE / MAKE IN INDIA : Airbus Defence & Space hands over First of the 56, C-295 Transport Aircraft to IAF at a ceremony in Spanish city of Seville. The 1st Make in India C-295 will roll out from Vadodara in 2026.

The final assembly line for the C295 aircraft in Vadodara is set to be operational in November next year.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Wednesday received the first of the 56 C295 transport aircraft two years after India sealed a Rs 21,935-crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space to procure the jets to replace its ageing Avro–748 fleet.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari, receiving the aircraft at the aerospace major’s production facility in the southern Spanish city of Seville, described it as a “momentous day” for the IAF and India as 40 C-295 out of the total fleet will be manufactured in Vadodara.

“It is a momentous day for us, for the Indian Air Force in particular, and a nation as a whole to receive the first aircraft which marks the beginning of a new era, wherein we will be manufacturing 40 of these aircraft in India,” he said.

Under the deal, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville by 2025 and the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.

“It gives a tremendous boost to the capability of moving our forces to the frontline when required,” Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari said.

The Chief of Air Staff also took a sortie on the new aircraft.

The C295, in transport configuration and with an indigenous electronic warfare suite, will leave Airbus’ production site in Seville for Delhi on September 15. It will be piloted by a joint IAF-Airbus crew.

“While the first aircraft was rolled out from Spain, the 17th aircraft will be assembled at the final assembly line in Baroda in 2026. It will mark a historic moment as the first time a military transport aircraft will be fully manufactured in India,” Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari told PTI.

The first ‘Make in India’ C295 will roll out of the Vadodara final assembly line in September 2026 in what will be a milestone for the Indian aerospace industry. The final aircraft is expected to be delivered to the IAF by August 2031.

“It was only two years ago that we signed this contract with India, the largest order in the history of the C295,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus’ Head of Military Air Systems.

“Today, we are enhancing the capabilities of the Indian Air Force and modernising its transport fleet by delivering the first aircraft on schedule. This is the beginning of an exciting and long-term journey with the Indian Air Force,” he said.

The production of components of these aircraft has already started in the Main Constituent Assembly (MCA) facility in Hyderabad, southern India. These parts will be shipped to the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Vadodara which is expected to be operational by November 2024.

In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the manufacturing facility for C295 planes in Vadodara. It will be the first military aircraft to be manufactured in India by a private consortium.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is procuring the C295 aircraft to replace its fleet of ageing Avro-748 planes that entered the service over six decades back.

The global C295 programme comprises a total of 280 orders from 39 operators, making it an unmatched aircraft in its weight and mission class, the plane maker said.

The C295 is known to be a superior aircraft used for tactical transport of up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers, and for logistic operations to locations that are not accessible to current heavier aircraft.

The aircraft can airdrop paratroops and loads, and also be used for casualty or medical evacuation.

The aircraft is capable of performing special missions as well as disaster response and maritime patrol duties.

After the mega deal was finalised last year, Airbus said the C295 programme will see the company bring its complete bouquet of world-class aircraft manufacturing and servicing to India in collaboration with its industrial partners.

In May, the first C295 aircraft built for India successfully completed its maiden flight in Seville. The second one is in the final assembly at the Seville facility and is scheduled to be delivered to the IAF in May next year.

Six pilots from the IAF and 20 technicians have already undergone extensive training at the Seville facility.

The final assembly line for the C295 aircraft in Vadodara is set to be operational in November next year.

Officials said the IAF will be the world’s largest operator of the C295.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE: Ensemble of 78 Instrumentalists to Perform for World Leaders attending G20 Summit

The performance ‘Bharat Vadya Darshanam’ — Musical Journey of India — by the ‘Gaandharva Aatodyam’ group will be showcased during the ceremonial dinner that will hosted by President Droupadi Murmu.

Celebrating the rich tapestry of the country’s musical heritage, an ensemble of virtuoso instrumentalists bringing different styles of classical and contemporary music will perform for world leaders attending the G20 Summit here, according to an official brochure of the programme.

The performance ‘Bharat Vadya Darshanam’ — Musical Journey of India — by the ‘Gaandharva Aatodyam’ group will be showcased during the ceremonial dinner that will hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in the honour of G20 leaders on September 9, officials said.

It will feature Indian classical musical instruments such as santoor, sarangi, jal tarang and shehnai, among others, which have been conceptualised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, according to the brochure.

The ensemble is a “unique and groundbreaking musical presentation, a harmonious journey of Bharat through music,” reads the concept note in the brochure.

Some of the prominent styles that will be depicted include Hindustani, Carnatic folk and contemporary music, it says.

“This journey will take us through all parts of India through their representative music. Our co-traveller will be the ‘Gaandharva Aatodyam’ with an ensemble of 78 traditional instrumentalists from all over the country,” the official brochure reads.

“This pioneering programme celebrates the rich tapestry of Bharat’s musical heritage, bringing together virtuoso instrumentalists who infuse their unique styles into a mesmerising symphony of sounds. With this innovative blend, the ensemble not only showcases the cultural depth of India but also creates an auditory experience that transcends regional boundaries,” it says.

The performance will begin with compositions of Vilambit Laya (slow tempo), followed by Madhya Laya (medium fast tempo), ending with few scores in Druta Laya (fast tempo), officials said.

The ensemble includes 34 Hindustani musical instruments, 18 Carnatic musical instruments and 26 folk musical instruments from across India.

The 78 artists include 11 children, 13 women, six differently-abled (divyang) artists, 26 young men and 22 professionals, the brochure says.

“We will immerse in some of the most ancient Vedic musical instruments, tribal instruments, and folk instruments alongside classical musical instruments creating a beautiful soundscape. The participating musicians too are hailing from different regions of India, playing an array of traditional instruments in their traditional attire,” it adds.

The musicians will play instruments in traditional attires of the region they belong to, officials said, adding, that this first-of-its-kind initiative ensemble exemplifies the power of music in celebrating the country’s diverse artistic expressions in a truly aesthetic manner.

The G20 Leaders’ Summit is slated to be held at the newly-built international convention and exhibition centre — Bharat Mandapam — at Pragati Maidan from September 9-10.

The G20 dinner for the heads of state and other top leaders will be hosted at the Bharat Mandapam.

In the official invitation for the ceremonial dinner sent out by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Droupadi Murmu was addressed as the “President of Bharat”.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)