India-made warship for Mauritius launched

The offshore patrol vessel that the country has been building for Mauritius was launched on 2nd Aug 2013 in the waters at the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a public sector shipyard that has been executing the project.
Mauritius and India had signed the warship contract on March 4, 2011, marking a significant milestone in the Indo-Mauritian co-operation and friendship. This order also ushered in a new chapter in shipbuilding in the country, with the first-ever export order for a warship placed on an Indian shipyard.
 GRSE was scheduled to deliver the warship to the Mauritius Coast Guard by September 2014, the shipyard’s chairman and managing director Rear Admiral (Rtd) A K Verma said during the launch function in Kolkata.  The vessel has a length of 74.10 metre and a width of 11.40 metre. It would be capable of a maximum speed of 20 knots and would have an approximate displacement of 1,300 tonnes.The CGS Barracuda, long of 75 meters and can browse 5,000 nautical miles at a speed of 20 knots.
Equipped with high technology and advanced systems of electronic navigation equipment, the patrol will deploy in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for various monitoring missions, and will fight against piracy, illegal fishing and drug trafficking.
  The new patrol will also make its contribution to search and rescue operations carried out in Mauritian water

 

The Thirty Meter Telescope The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned ground-based large segmented mirror reflecting telescope, proposed to be built on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Partner nations India, China, Japan, Canada and the US.The telescope is much larger than existing telescopes (though the planned European Extremely Large Telescope's mirror is 30% larger), and designed for observations from the near-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared (0.31 to 28 μm wavelengths). In addition, its adaptive optics system would help correct for image blur caused by the atmosphere of the Earth, helping it to reach the potential of such a large mirror. The TMT is the focal point of a legal battle in the State of Hawaiʻi over construction on Mauna Kea, which Native Hawaiians hold sacred.

TMT Foundation outlines the following aims for the observatory:

• Dark energy, dark matter and tests of the Standard Model of particle physics
• Characterization of the first stars and galaxies in the Universe
• Characterization of the epoch of reionization
• Galaxy assembly and evolution over the past 13 billion years
• Connections between supermassive black holes and galaxies
• Star-by-star dissection of galaxies out to 10 million parsecs
• Physics of planet and star formation
• Exoplanet discovery and characterization
• Kuiper belt object surface chemistry
• Solar system planetary atmosphere chemistry and meteorology
• The search for life on planets outside the Solar System

 The TMT Observatory Corporation is a partnership between:

• Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA)
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
• University of California (UC)
• Department of Science and Technology of India
• National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
• National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

 Additional major partners for the construction and operations phase.

• In 2008, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) joined TMT as a Collaborating Institution.
• In 2009, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) joined TMT as an Observer.
• In 2010, a consortium of Indian Astronomy Research Institutes (IIA, IUCAA and ARIES) joined TMT project as an observer. The observer status is the first step in becoming a full partner in TMT and participating in the engineering development and scientific use of the observatory (Subject to approval of funding from Indian Government).
• In 2012, India and China became partners, with representatives on the TMT board. China and India will pay a share of the telescope construction costs, expected to top $1 billion.

Three Indian companies - GOAL, Bangalore-based Avasarala, and Godrej and Boyce - will develop and manufacture Rs 700 crore worth of components for the telescope. General Optics Asia Ltd (GOAL), a Pondicherry-based niche firm that makes strategic components for space and defence.The Rs 210-crore Avasarala had earlier worked on the Large Hadron Collider for developing support for the large magnets underground. Both Avasarala and Godrej and Boyce have previously worked on sensitive defence and space projects.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a federal agency established by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. It acts as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008.

The founding Director-General of NIA was Radha Vinod Raju,

Haryana IPS officer, Sharad Kumar has been appointed as Director General of National Investigation Agency. He is a 1979 batch IPS officer presently posted as Director General of Prisons in Haryana. 

Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award (English: Rajiv Gandhi National Communal Harmony Award) is an Indian award given for outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony, national integration and peace. The award was instituted by All India Congress Committee of the Indian National Congress Party (INC), in 1992 to commemorate the lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, carries a citation and a cash award of Rs. five lakhs. It is given on August 20, the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas (Harmony Day)

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan today said he is honoured to be chosen for the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award that will be conferred on him for contribution towards promotion of communal harmony and peace. 

 

Agra-born Mamnoon Hussain, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's nominee, won the country's presidential election with a huge margin on Tuesday securing 432 votes against his rival's 77. Hussain, 73, will take oath as the 12th president of Pakistan

 

Threat of floods is looming large on around two dozen villages and towns located on the banks of Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh as Parchu Lake in Tibet, China

Parchu Lake was formed after landslides had blocked Parchu River in June 2004. Parchu River, which originated from Tibet, was a tributary of Spiti River.

The Spiti River joins Sutlej at Khab in Kinnaur district. In 2005, floods triggered by Parchu breach caused widespread destruction from Leo to Tattapani areas of the state. Damage to property was estimated around `1,400 crore. About 350 km of road length from Samdo to Gobindsagar (Bhakra Dam) was damaged in the deluge.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rising-water-in-tibets-parchu-lake-triggers-flood-scare-in-two-dozen-villages-of-himachal/1/292339.html

 The Chinese government has not shared any information about the possible flood threat from Parchu Lake despite giving an assurance regarding the same in 2006 when an Indian delegation had visited China to discuss the issue

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rising-water-in-tibets-parchu-lake-triggers-flood-scare-in-two-dozen-villages-of-himachal/1/292339.html

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rising-water-in-tibets-parchu-lake-triggers-flood-scare-in-two-dozen-villages-of-himachal/1/292339.html

The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup will be the 11th ICC Cricket World Cup,^[2] and will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand and is scheduled to take place from 14 February to 29 March 2015.^[3] 49 matches will be played in 14 venues with Australia staging 26 games at grounds in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney while New Zealand hosting 23 games in seven cities, including Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington. ^[4]. The final of the tournament will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, will be hosted by England

Sujatha Singh is an Indian career diplomat and the Foreign Secretary designate of India. She is presently the Indian Ambassador to Germany and will succeed Ranjan Mathai as the India's Foreign Secretary on 1 August, 2013

Singh will be the third lady officer to head the Indian diplomatic corps after Chokila Iyer and Nirupama Rao. She is a German speaker and will serve as Foreign Secretary for a two year term ending in August 2015

Nirbhay

 
Nirbhay (Sanskrit: निर्भय, Nirbhay "Dauntless/Fearless") is a long range, subsonic cruise missile being developed in India by the Defence Research and Development Organisation
Nirbhay will be a all-weather low-cost medium-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy. The missile will have a range of 750km, which will be increased later. It will weigh about one tonne and will have a lenght of 6 metres. It will carry a ring laser gyroscope for high-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the height determination^. It will be capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air and shall be inducted into Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force. In particular, Nirbhay will be adapted for the Indo/Russian Su-30MKI
the two-stage missile Nirbhay will be able to pick out a target and attack it among multiple targets. The missile will also have a loitering capability i.e it can go round a target and perform several manoeuvres and then re-engage it. With two side wings, the missile will be capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4 km above the ground and can also fly at low altitudes to avoid detection by enemy radar. It would be capable of delivering 24 different types of warheads depending on mission requirements and will use an inertial navigation system for guidance^. The missile will supplement Brahmos by delivering warheads farther than the 290 km range of Brahmos.

Amit Kumar and Akriti Kakkar sings ' Marjaani '- Best Performances - Episode 26 - Season 6 | Best of Indian Idol | Indian Idol

Amit Kumar and Akriti Kakkar sings ' Marjaani '- Best Performances - Episode 26 - Season 6 | Best of Indian Idol | Indian Idol

Core comepetence.....of India

According to Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam "Give the leadership to one billion people of India & still remaining a celebrated democracy is core competence of India"