What, Why & How of India’s gravitational wave
observatory initiative IndIGO
15-FEB-2016
The term IndIGO or Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations was in news in the second week of February 2016 as international physicists announced detection of gravitational waves for thefirst time since their prediction by Albert Einstein in 1916.
The waves were detected using the facilities at the existing three LIGO detectors that are located in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington of the USA.
What is IndIGO?
IndIGO is an initiative to set up advanced experimental facilities, with appropriate theoretical and computational support, for a multi-institutional Indian national project in gravitational-wave astronomy. It is also touted as one of the large scale scientific projects undertaken in independent India in collaboration with global partners.
What is LIGO-India?
LIGO-India is the prime project under the IndIGO initiative. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory or LIGO project operates three gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. Two are at Hanford in the state of Washington, north-western USA, and one is at Livingston in Louisiana, south-eastern USA.
Currently these observatories are being upgraded to their advanced configurations (called Advanced LIGO). The proposed LIGO-India project aims to move one Advanced LIGO detector from Hanford to India.
LIGO-India project is envisaged as an international collaboration between the LIGO Laboratory and three lead institutions in the IndIGO consortium: Institute of Plasma Research (IPR) Gandhinagar, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune and Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore.
LIGO lab would provide the complete design and all the key detector components. Indian scientists would provide the infrastructure to install the detector at a suitable site in India and would be responsible for commissioning it.
The proposed observatory would be operated jointly by IndIGO and the LIGO-Lab and would form a single network along with the LIGO detectors in USA and Virgo interferometer – an interferometer similar to LIGO, located close to Pisa, Italy.
How LIGO-India will be designed?
The proposed detector will be a Michelson Interferometer with Fabry-Perot enhanced arms of 4 km length and aims to detect differential changes in the arm-lengths as small as 10-23 Hz-1/2 in the frequency range between 30 to 800 Hz.
The design would be identical to that of the Advanced LIGO detectors that are being commissioned in the USA.
What are its scientific benefits?
• The scientific benefits of LIGO-India are enormous. Adding a new detector to the existing network will increase the expected event rates, and will boost the detection confidence of new sources by increasing the sensitivity, sky coverage and duty cycle of the network.
• But the dramatic improvement from LIGO-India would come in the ability of localizing GW sources in the sky. Sky-location of the GW sources is computed by combining data from geographically separated detectors ('aperture synthesis').
• Adding a new detector in India, geographically well separated from the existing LIGO-Virgo detector array, will dramatically improve the source-localization accuracies (5 to 10 times), thus enabling us to use GW observations as an excellent astronomical tool.
What will be its impact on Indian science, industry and education?
Impact on Indian science
• The proposed LIGO-India project will help Indian scientific community to be a major player in the emerging research frontier of GW astronomy.
• A major initiative like LIGO-India will further inspire frontier research and development projects in India. The nature of the experiment is intrinsically multidisciplinary.
• It will bring together scientists and engineers from different fields like optics, lasers, gravitational physics, astronomy and astrophysics, cosmology, computational science, mathematics and various branches of engineering.
• In order to fully realize the potential of multi-messenger astronomy, the LIGO-India project will join forces with several Indian astronomy projects. Potential collaborators include the Astrosat project, future upgrades of the India-based Neutrino Observatory and optical/radio telescopes.
Impact on industry
The high-end engineering requirements of the project (such as the world's largest ultra-high vacuum facility) will provide unprecedented opportunities for Indian industries in collaboration with academic research institutions.
LIGO project has facilitated major industry-academic research partnerships in USA and Europe, and has produced several important technological spin offs. LIGO-India will provide similar opportunities to Indian industry.
Education and public outreach
• A cutting edge project in India can serve as a local focus to interest and inspire students and young scientists.
• The LIGO-India project involves high technology instrumentation and its dramatic scale will spur interest and provide motivation to young students for choosing experimental physics and engineering physics as career options.
• The ‘multi-spectral’ reach to physics will attract a large number of talented and motivated young researchers and students to the program, as it has done in other countries.
• The observatory will also be one of the very few research facilities in India of this scale, international relevance and technological innovation to which the general public and students can have access.
What is the present status of IndIGO?
Since 2009, the IndIGO Consortium has been involved in constructing the Indian road-map for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and a phased strategy towards Indian participation in realizing the crucial gravitational-wave observatory in the Asia-Pacific region.
In October 2011, LIGO-India was included in the list of Mega Projects under consideration by the then Planning Commission.
What is Indian Neutrino Observatory?
Similar to IndIGO, Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO) Project is another mega-science project. It is a proposed underground observatory to detect ephemeral particles called neutrinos.
The Union Cabinet cleared the project in 2015 to set up the laboratory in Tamil Nadu. However, the project has been stalled for over a year due to protests by activist groups, concerned over its environmental impact.
Indian scientists associated with detection of gravitational waves
Indian scientists have, over 30 years, contributed substantially to the recent discovery of gravitational waves. Notable among them are C V Vishveshwara, Bala Iyer, Anand Sengupta and Sanjib Mitra.
C V Vishveshwara and Bala Iyer were among the first in the world to solve Einstein’s equations to derive a mathematical model to explain how colliding black holes would look and what tell-tale signals they emitted.
While Anand Sengupta developed methods to ensure that both the LIGO detectors — separated by 3,000 kilometres — have caught the same gravitational wave, Sanjib Mitra has found ways to tell apart gravitational waves from various exotic stars.
Film on conservation efforts by Nagaland villagers won Golden Beaver Award
15-FEB-2016
Nagaland is changing, But..., a film on conservation efforts by villagers, on 13 February 2016 won the Golden Beaver Best Film Award in the institutional category at the 6th National Science Film Festival and Competition in Mumbai.
The film also received the technical excellence award for best sound design at the festival, organized by Vigyan Prasar of the Department of Science and Technology.
Renowned film maker M S Sathyu presented the award to the director of the film, Gurmeet Sapal.
About Nagaland is changing, But...
• The film was produced by Nagaland State Forest Department in 2015.
• The film was made with the technical collaboration with TERI, New Delhi.
• The film is about community conservation areas of Nagaland at Sendenyu village in Kohima district and Sukhai village in Zunheboto district.
About National Science Film Festival and Competition
• National Science Film Festival and Competition is organised by Vigyan Prasar, the Indian Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with Jahangirabad Media Institute as a part of the Indian Science Congress 2011.
• The festival is an initiative of Vigyan Prasar and the Government of India to promote science films in India.
• The festival is meant to bring attention towards the need of quality science film making in the country.
7th India, Seychelles joint military exercise LAMITYE 2016 began in Seychelles
15-FEB-2016
LAMITYE 2016, the 7th joint military training exercise between the Indian Army and the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) began on 15 February 2016.
It will be a 2-week long exercise till 28 February 2016 and conducted at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA) in Victoria, Seychelles.
Features of Exercise LAMITYE 2016
• Lamitye, which means friendship in Creole dialect, will be conducted with the aim of enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between the two countries.
• LAMITYE 2016 is the 7th biannual exercise since its inception in 2001.
• In 2016 exercise, the Indian contingent will comprise of an Infantry platoon and representatives from the Special Forces.
• The SPDF will be represented by 20 personnel from Tazar (Special Forces Unit) and 32 from Seychelles Infantry.
• The concluding phase of the exercise will incorporate a tactical exercise will be witnessed by senior military officers from both the countries.
Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis won 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy
15-FEB-2016
Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis on 14 February 2016 won the 2016 St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy in St. Petersburg, Russia.
To win the title, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated the Russian-Czech team of Vera Dushevina and Barbora Krejcikova by 6-3 6-1 in the women’s doubles final.
For the duo, the victory in the final was consequent 40 match win. Also, the title was the fourth in the 2016 season and the 13th overall.
In early 2016, the pair won Australian Open, Apia International Sydney title and Brisbane Tennis trophy.
Earlier records in women’s doubles
• Longest winning streak since 1990: It was registered by Jana Novotna and Helena Sukova of Czech Republic who won 44 matches in a row.
• All time record: It is held by Martina Navratilova (Czech-American) and Pam Shriver (the USA) who set up the record in 1983 by winning record 109 matches in a row.
Ashok Chawla appointed as Chairman of TERI
15-FEB-2016
The Governing Council of TERI on 12 February 2016 appointed Ashok Chawla, former Finance Secretary to the Government of India and former Chairman of the Competition Commission, as its new Chairman.
Chawla replaced B V Sreekantan, who was serving as the Chairman of TERI. Ajay Mathur, who had replaced Rajendra Kumar Pachauri as director-general when the latter was made executive vice-president, was also included in the governing council.
On the other hand, the Council also announced that Pachauri, who had been the Head of the Institute since 1982 will be on leave from TERI, TERI Governing Council, and TERI University.
About The Energy and Resources Institute
• The Energy and Resources Institute was established in 1974.
• It was formerly known as Tata Energy Research Institute.
• It is a research institute based in New Delhi that conducts research work in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development.
• In 2013, the institute was ranked as the topmost global think-tank by the International Centre for Climate Governance (ICCG).
President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Infosys Prize 2015
15-FEB-2016
President Pranab Mukherjee on 13 February 2016 conferred Infosys Prize 2015 on six winners in New Delhi. The awards were received by Prof Umesh Waghmare, Prof Jonardon Ganeri, Dr Amit Sharma, Prof Mahan Mj, Prof G Ravindra Kumar and Dr Srinath Raghavan.
About Infosys Prize 2015 Winners
Engineering and Computer Science: Won by Prof. Umesh Waghmareof Theoretical Sciences Unit, of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore.
He was awarded for his innovative use of first-principles theories and modelling in insightful investigations of microscopic mechanisms responsible for specific properties of certain materials such as topological insulators, ferroelectrics, multiferroics and graphene.
Humanities: Won by Prof. Jonardon Ganeri, Global Network Professor of Philosophy, New York University and Recurrent Visiting Professor, Department of Philosophy, King’s College London, UK.
He was awarded for his originality in interpreting and scrutinizing analytical Indian Philosophy and shedding light on dichotomy between Indian and Greek traditions of philosophical reasoning.
Life Sciences: Won by Dr. Amit Sharma, Group Leader, Structural and Computational Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi.
He was awarded for his pioneering contributions towards deciphering the molecular structure, at the atomic level, of key proteins involved in the biology of pathogenesis of the deadly malarial parasite.
Mathematical Sciences: Won by Prof Mahan Mj, Professor of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
He was awarded for establishing a central conjecture in the Thurston program to study hyperbolic 3-manifolds and introduced important new tools to study fundamental groups of complex manifolds.
Physical Sciences: Won by Prof. G Ravindra Kumar, Professor in the Department of Nuclear and Atomic Physics (DNAP), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai.
He was awarded for his contributions to the physics of high intensity laser matter interactions. He provided, for the first time, unequivocal evidence of turbulent magnetic fields and the discovery of terahertz frequency acoustic waves, in laser produced hot dense plasmas. These results have significance to testing stellar and astrophysical scenarios.
Social Sciences: Won by Dr. Srinath Raghavan, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi.
He was awarded for outstanding research that synthesizes military history, international politics, and strategic analysis into powerful and imaginative perspectives on India in global context.
About the Infosys Prize
• The prize was established in 2009 and is given in six categories.
• The six categories are - Engineering and Computer Science, Humanities, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences
• The Infosys Prize is awarded under the aegis of the Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust instituted in February 2009.
• The prize for each category consists of a purse of 65 lakh rupees, a 22 karat gold medallion and a citation certificate.
West Indies won maiden ICC U19 Cricket World Cup
15-FEB-2016
The West Indies on 14 February 2016 lifted their maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup title. In the final played at Mirpur, West Indies defeated three time champions India by five wickets.
It was the first major title for the West Indies at any level since Darren Sammy’s senior team won the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in 2012.
Earlier put in to bat, India team was bowled out for 145 in 45.1 overs. The Caribbeans achieved the target in 49.3 overs.
West Indies’ Keacy Carty grabbed the Man of the Match title whileMehidy Hasan Miraz from Bangladesh was declared the Player of the Tournament.
About 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
• The 2016 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament held in Bangladesh from 22 January to 14 February 2016.
• It was the eleventh edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the second to be held in Bangladesh, after the 2004 event.
• The World Cup was contested by the national under-19 teams of sixteen ICC members, and all matches played held under-19 One Day International (ODI) status.
• On 5 January 2016, Cricket Australia announced that the Australian squad had pulled out of the tournament, citing security concerns. Ireland was invited as a replacement for Australia.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Make in India Week in Mumbai
15-FEB-2016
13 February - 18 February 2016: Make In India Week
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 February 2016 inaugurated Make in India Week at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.
The week was launched with the theme design, innovation and sustainability in order to showcase India's manufacturing sector potential in the coming decade.
Highlights of Make In India Week
• Beginning from 13 February 2016, it will be held till 18 February 2016.
• It purpose is to attract foreign direct investment and give fillip to theMake In India initiative launched by the Union Government on 25 September 2014.
• It was attended by Prime Minister of Sweden, Finland, and Lithuania Stefan Löfven, Juha Sipilä and Algirdas Butkevičius respectively and Deputy PM of Poland Piotr Glinski among others.
• On its sidelines 3 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed in the presence of Prime Minister.
• They were signed between Maharashtra Government and Twin Star, M/s Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Private Ltd., Jain Irrigation Pvt Ltd and M/s Raymond Industries.
69th British Academy Film Awards announced
15-FEB-2016
The 69th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTAs) were announced on 14 February 2016. The award ceremony was held at the Royal Opera House in London.
The awards were announced to honour the best British and international contributions to film in 2015. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), accolades were handed out for the best in feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality, that were screened at British cinemas during 2015.
The nominees were announced on 8 January 2016 by Stephen Fry and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Wilderness drama The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, won the Best Film Award. Brooklyn was named the Outstanding British Film while Inside Out won the Best Animated Film. Amy won the award in Best Documentary category.
Complete list of winners:
|
Award |
Winner |
|
Best Film |
The Revenant |
|
Outstanding British Film |
Brooklyn |
|
Adapted Screenplay |
The Big Short |
|
Original Screenplay |
Spotlight |
|
Leading Actor |
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant |
|
Leading Actress |
Brie Larson for Room |
|
Supporting Actor |
Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies |
|
Supporting Actress |
Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs |
|
Best Director |
Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant |
|
Outstanding Debut |
Naji Abu Nowar (Writer/Director) Rupert Lloyd (Producer) |
|
Animated Film |
Inside Out |
|
British Short Animation |
Edmond |
|
British Short Film |
Operator |
|
Cinematography |
The Revenant |
|
Costume Design |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
Documentary |
Amy |
|
EE Rising Star |
John Boyega |
|
Editing |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
Film Not In The English Language |
Wild Tales |
|
Make Up and Hair |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
Original Music |
The Hateful Eight |
|
Production Design |
Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
Sound |
The Revenant |
|
Special Visual Effects |
Star Wars: The Force Awakens |
Jnanpith Award-winning poet O N V Kurup died
15-FEB-2016
Malayalam's most celebrated contemporary poet and Jnanpith-winner Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup passed away on 13 February 2016 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was 84.
Popularly known as ONV, Kurup began his career as a progressive writer and matured into a humanist though he never gave up his commitment to socialist ideology. He was a part of the progressive movement in Kerala and wrote some of the most remembered poems and film lyrics.
About O N V Kurup
• Born on 27 May 1931 in Chavara, Kollam, Kurup attended the public Government School, Chavara.
• After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Economics from SN College, Kollam, he moved to Thiruvananthapuram where he joined Travancore University (now Kerala University) and pursued Master of Arts in Malayalam literature.
• He was a lecturer at Maharajas College, Ernakulam, University College, Trivandrum, Arts and Science College, Kozhikode and Brennen College, Thalassery.
• He joined Government Women's College, Trivandrum as the Head of Malayalam Department.
• He was also a visiting professor at Calicut University.
• He retired from service in 1986.
• He received the Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011, the fourth and second highest civilian honours from the Government of India.
• In 2007, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University of Kerala.
• He received the Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour, for the year 2007. He is the fifth Jnanpith laureate from Kerala and the second Malayalam poet to win the prestigious award.
• His first published poem was Munnottu (Forward) which appeared in a local weekly in 1946.
• His first poetry collection, Porutunna Soundaryam, came out in 1949.
• He published a book named Dahikunna Panapatram (The Thirsty Chalice) which was a collection of his early poems during 1946–1956.
Indo-British Asif Kapadia won 2016 Grammy Award for Best Music Film
16-FEB-2016
Indo-British filmmaker Asif Kapadia on 15 February 2016 won Grammy Award for Best Music Film for his documentary Amy. The award was presented at the 58th annual awards ceremony that was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the USA
Amy is a 2015 British documentary film that depicts the life and death of British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. It was directed by Asif Kapadia.
Earlier, on 14 February 2016, Amy won the award in Best Documentary category at the 69th British Academy Films Awards (BAFTAs) in London.
The film is also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category which will be announced on 28 February 2016.
Ministry of Heavy Industries unveiled National Capital Goods Policy 2016
16-FEB-2016
Union Ministry of Heavy Industries on 15 February 2016 unveiled National Capital Goods Policy 2016.
The policy, with the theme Building India of Tomorrow, seeks to achieve the vision of Make in India initiative and establish India as a global manufacturing hub by unlocking the potential for capital goods sector.
Features of National Capital Goods Policy 2016
• Vision: To increase the share of capital goods contribution from present 12 to 20 percent of total manufacturing activity by 2025
• Mission: To become one of the top capital goods producing nations of the world by raising the total production to over twice the current level
• To raise exports to a significant level of at least 40 percent of total production and thus gain 2.5 percent share in global exports of capital goods
• To improve technology depth in Indian capital goods from the current basic and intermediate levels to advanced levels
• Objectives: Increase total production to achieve total production in excess of 5 lakh crore rupees by 2025 from the current 2.2 lakh crore rupees
• To increase domestic employment from the current 15 lakhs to at least 50 lakhs by 2025 thus providing additional employment to over 35 lakhs people
• To increase the share of domestic production in India's capital goods demand from 56% to 80% by 2025 and in the process improve domestic capacity utilization to 80-90 percent
• To improve skill availability by training 50 lakhs people by 2025
• To improve 'technology depth' in capital goods sub-sectors by increasing research intensity in India from 0.9 percent to at least 2.8 percent of GDP
• Programmes: To achieve the above objectives the policy proposed a new scheme Heavy Industry Export & Market Development Assistance Scheme (HIEMDA) on pilot basis, Technology Development Fund under PPP model, start-up centre for capital goods sector.
• In addition, the policy recommended for strengthening the existingScheme on Enhancement of Competitiveness of Capital Goods and modernize the CG manufacturing units, especially SMEs.
Nine-point action plan: The policy has proposed a comprehensive set of policy actions which would enable the achievement of the objectives for the sector and had recommended a set of nine new initiatives and policy actions and they are:
1) Devising a long term, stable and rationalized tax and duty structure to ensure cost competitiveness of the sector
2) Drafting a comprehensive public procurement policy with amended qualifying criteria and introducing special provisions in contracts for domestic value addition
3) Promoting development of new technology through indigenous sources
4) Providing Technology Upgrade Fund Support across all capital goods sub-sectors
5) Creating a level playing field vis-à-vis imports by restricting imports of second hand machinery and mitigating duty disadvantages
6) Supporting availability of short and long term of financing at competitive rates to capital goods manufacturers
7) Enabling skill development by setting up sub-sector specific Skill Councils.
8) Enabling higher participation of India in standard creation and developing support system to improve compliance.
9) Developing manufacturing clusters with shared facilities especially for SMEs
Governance Mechanism: The policy proposes a governance mechanism for smooth implementation and effectiveness of the policy. The mechanism will be in the form of inter-ministerial and inter-departmental committees at the highest level to ensure due consideration of the interests of all stakeholders.
Periodic Review of Policy: The capital goods sector operates in a dynamic local and global environment and it is imperative for the policy to undergo a periodic review and revision to maintain its relevance.
The National Capital Goods Policy 2016 will be reviewed every five years and revised appropriately to take account of progress in implementation and emerging trends in the national and international environment.
Walk of Hope to address crucial areas of social co-existence in India
16-FEB-2016
Walk of Hope: A padayatra for peace & harmony by the Manav Ekta Mission–from Kanyakumari to Kashmir
The term Walk of Hope was in news in the third week of February 2016. It came into news as it reached the national capital, New Delhi after covering a distance of 5400 kilometers in 374 days.
During these 374 days, the padyatra for peace and harmony passed through the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
The padayatra will traverse Delhi-NCR from 13 February to 4 March 2016 and will cover 130 kms through the state. After Delhi, the Walk will cover the states of Haryana, Punjab and reach Srinagar, Kashmir in May 2016.
Walk of Hope 2015-16 was started by the Manav Ekta Mission on 12 January 2015 under Sri M (born Mumtaz Ali Khan).
The padyatra that kick started on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is an ambitious walk that plans to cover 7500 km via 11 States and 86 districts over 500 days. Vivekanand undertook a similar journey to connect with the people and spread the message of communal harmony.
Objective of the Walk of Hope 2015-16
The walk wants to address the six crucial areas of social co-existence in India that will help us achieve lasting peace and harmony.
The crucial areas are
• Interfaith Harmony– Initiatives that promote and nurture interfaith unity, harmony and the message of oneness.
• Equality for All– It wants to enable equality for all, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, language and gender.
• Sustainable Living– Activities inspiring harmony with nature to energise our immediate eco-systems.
• Women Empowerment– Programs that engender empowerment and safety of women and their safety.
• Community Health– Propagating effective community awareness programs to improve sanitation and primary healthcare thus create a positive influence on personal and societal health and hygiene.
• Education & Youth Development– It aims to spread education in the lower strata of society and to empower youth through education across the nation.
Besides, the walk aims at connecting with 10 million Indians and spread the message of interfaith harmony. In its interactions with people, it seeks to explore the root cause of intolerance and divisiveness, and seeks a solution to restore the innate spirituality of the nation.
ICC Cricket for Good and UNICEF launched Team Swachh clinics in partnership with BCCI
16-FEB-2016
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket for Good and United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with BCCI on 15 February 2016 launched theTeam Swachh clinics during the ICC WT20 Host City Tour. The clinics were launched at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
The step was taken to promote a nationwide initiative that aims to build a social movement for sanitation and toilet use there by leading to an open-defecation-free India.
After Dharamshala, the ICC World T20 Host City Tour will visit each of the venues that will host matches of the showpiece event.
About Team Swachh
• Team Swachh is the first of a series of collaborations between the ICC and UNICEF under the aegis of Cricket for Good.
• It aims at leveraging the vast reach and power of cricket. The collaboration also aims at building a social movement for sanitation and toilet use.
• The five-year global partnership between ICC and UNICEF was announced in October 2015 in New York.
• The partnership will be used as the ICC’s platform to advocate for children in India and other countries where cricket is a popular sport.
1st Mega Food Park of Jharkhand inaugurated at Getalsud
16-FEB-2016
The first Mega Food Park (MFP) of Jharkhand was on 15 February 2016 inaugurated at Getalsud village in Ranchi district. The MFP, named Jharkhand Mega Food Park, was inaugurated by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Features of Jharkhand Mega Food Park
• It was set up as a public private partnership (PPP) project under the aegis of the Mega Food Park Scheme (MFPS) of the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI).
• It is promoted by M/s Jharkhand Mega Food Park Pvt Ltd. at an estimated cost of 114.73 crore rupees in an area of 51.50 Acres.
• It has Central Processing Centre (CPC) at Ranchi and six Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) are being set up at Lohardaga, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Belchampa, Domchach and Patratu to provide strong backward linkages.
• It will have facilities of Multi Chamber Cold Storage, Dry Warehouse, Vegetable Dehydration Line, modern Quality Control& Testing Laboratory and other processing facilities for fruits & vegetables.
• It will create a modern infrastructure for arresting post-harvest losses of horticultural and non-horticultural produce and provide impetus to the growth of food processing sector in Jharkhand.
• It will help in providing better prices to farmers, reduce wastage of perishables, add value to agricultural produce and create huge opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment for the youth of the State.
• It will benefit the people of Ranchi district and the people of nearby districts of Lohardaga, Gumla, Ramgarh, Garhwa, Koderma, & Hazaribagh etc.as well.
• It is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to about 6000 people and benefit about 25000-30000 farmers in its catchment area.
Tata Teleservices subsidiary mRUPEE tied-up with IRCTC
16-FEB-2016
mRUPEE, a subsidiary of Tata Teleservices, on 15 February 2016 announced that it has tied up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to provide an additional payment gateway.
Indian Railways carries more than 23 million passengers a day and the association will allow users one-tap payments for rail ticket bookings via mRUPEE wallet for a significant number of travellers.
About IRCTC
• Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the railways.
• As the biggest e-commerce portal in India, IRCTC holds record of over 13 lakh tickets booked in a day in April 2015. The portal sees approximately 4.5 to 5 lakhs bookings per day on an average.
About mRUPEE
• mRUPEE, a subsidiary of Tata Teleservices, is a service that allows the consumers to do various transactions through their mobile phone.
• It converts customers’ mobile phones into a mobile wallet and allows them to send money to their family & friends’ bank accounts, shop online and make payments of bills & services.
India and Sweden inked MoU on technical cooperation in rail sector
16-FEB-2016
Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation of the Kingdom of Sweden on 15 February 2016 inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on technical cooperation in rail sector.
The MoU aims at developing cooperation activities in the railway area to promote efficiency and sustainability and achieve concrete results with regard to bilateral trade, investment, research and technology transfer.
The MoU was signed by Girish Pillai, Adviser / Infrastructure on behalf of Ministry of Railways, and Oscar Stenstrom, State Secretary on behalf of Swedish Government.
Key highlights of the MoU
• Benchmark railways policy development, regulations, organization and specific characteristics for each country.
• Exchange of knowledge, technical expertise, innovation, technology, sustainable solutions and research.
• Other cooperation projects agreed between the participants, such as, tilting coaches/trains, capacity allocation (time tabling) and optimisation of maintenance and improved freight/combination traffic.
• Training and continuing education program in reliability and maintenance of rail transport system for railway engineers and managers.
• The MoU will remain in force for 5 years from the date of signing. However, it can be extended for a further period of 5 years with the written consent of both sides.
India won three-match T-20 series against Sri Lanka, 2-1
16-FEB-2016
India on 14 February 2016 won the three-match T-20 series against Sri Lanka, 2-1. In the third and final Twenty20 match played in at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India defeated Sri Lanka by nine wickets.
Winning the toss and electing to bowl, India bundled out the visitors for 82 runs in 18 overs in the series deciding encounter. In the second innings of the match, India chased the paltry target of 83 runs in 13.5 over at the loss of ne wicket.
The series win also helped India retain its numero uno position in the ICC T20 rankings.
Series Report
1st Match: The match was played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on 9 February 2016. Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets (with 12 balls remaining). Kasun Rajitha (Sri Lanka) was declared the Man of the Match. The match saw debut of two players of Sri Lanka, namely Kasun Rajitha and Niroshan Dickwella.
2nd Match: The match was played JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi on 12 February 2016. India won by 69 runs. Shikhar Dhawan (India) was declared the Man of the Match.
3rd Match: The match was played at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on 14 February 2016. India won by 9 wickets (with 37 balls remaining). Ravichandran Ashwin (India) who claimed four wickets for eight runs was declared the Man of the Match. The match saw debut of Asela Gunaratne from Sri Lanka.
• Man of the series: Ravichandran Ashwin
Indian women football team defeated Nepal to bag gold at SAG
16-FEB-2016
The India women's team on 15 February 2016 won gold at the 12th South Asian Games (SAG), beating Nepal 4-0 in the final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong.
India’s Kamala Devi scored twice. Bala Devi and Ashalata Devi were the other scorers.
On the other hand, the match brought to an end India's top women's footballer Bembem Devi's international career.
About 12th South Asian Games
• Over 2500 athletes from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives are part of the games that is being co-hosted by Meghalaya Capital, Shillong.
• A total of 228 events in 23 sports disciplines are being played during the games.
• Games slogan is Play for Peace, Progress and Prosperity.
• Tikhor, a one-horned rhino that represents endangered fauna of Assam found in Kaziranga National Park is the official mascot of the event.
• India is hosting the game for the third time. First was held in 1987 in Kolkata, West Bengal and second time in 1995 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• The 12th South Asian Games, 2016 is the first international multi-sporting mega event in the North Eastern region.
Jauna Murmu, Ranjit Nayak included in Target Olympic Podium Scheme
16-FEB-2016
Two prominent sportspersons from Odisha, namely Jauna Murmu and archer Ranjit Nayak were included in the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme formulated by the Union Government for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
Jauna Murmu is a sprinter, while Ranjit is an archer. The two sports persons were chosen for the scheme by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
About Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme
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The TOP Scheme under the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was formulated with the objective of identifying and supporting potential medal prospects for 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.
The focused disciplines of the scheme were Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Wrestling, Shooting and Yatching. The selected athletes will be provided financial assistance for their customized training at sports institutes and other necessary support.
Dominic Thiem defeated Nicolas Almagro to win ATP Argentina Open
16-FEB-2016
World No. 19 Dominic Thiem on 14 February 2016 defeated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (4) to win the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Buenos Aires tournament. With the win, Theim claimed his fourth ATP singles title.
Thiem reached the final after beating former No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
About Dominic Thiem
• Dominic Thiem is an Austrian tennis player.
• He first achieved his ATP high ranking of World No. 18 on 10 August 2015.
• He is currently the youngest player in the top 20 and top 30 of the world rankings.
• He won his first career ATP World Tour title in Nice, France, by defeating Argentina's Leonardo Mayer in the final.
About ATP Buenos Aires
• The ATP Buenos Aires is an annual tennis event for male tennis players held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event.
• It is played on outdoor clay courts at the 5500 capacity Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, in the Palermo barrio.
• The event includes both a men's singles and a men's doubles tournament.
• Between 1970 and 1989, it was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit and a Grand Prix Super Series event (1970–71).
• The event was previously known as South American International Championships, South American Open, Copa AT&T and Copa Telmex.
• Rafael Nadal was the winner of 2015 ATP Buenos Aires (Singles)