The Chief of the Army Staff, General MM Naravane concluded a two day visit to Leh today. The COAS arrived at Leh on 03 September 2020 and proceeded to forward areas to undertake a firsthand assessment of the situation along the LAC. The COAS interacted with soldiers and local commanders deployed in difficult High Altitude forward areas. He appreciated their high morale and standards of professionalism exhibited by the units in safeguarding own territorial integrity. The COAS urged all ranks to remain vigilant and maintain a high order of operational readiness.

Later, at Leh, Lt Gen YK Joshi, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command and Lt General Harinder Singh, GOC, Fire and Fury Corps briefed him on the state of operational preparedness and on the logistics arrangements for sustenance of forces in winters. The COAS expressed satisfaction on the efforts being made to ensure operational effectiveness and capability enhancement of the forces.

Union Health Secretary Shri Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting through video conference (VC) with the Health Secretaries of 15 districts across 5Statesof Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh today. These 15 districts comprise Chittoor, Prakasam, Mysuru, Bengaluru Urban, Ballari, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere, Ludhiana, Patiala, Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Lucknow and Kanpur Nagar. They have been exhibiting higher active caseload, fatality rates and a surge in the COVID cases for the past four weeks. In addition to the State Health Secretaries, District Collectors, Municipal Commissioners and other district functionaries also participated in the digital review meeting.

The Union Secretary shared the overall status and performance of the districts on the key parameters of testing, positivity, case fatality etc., focusing on the need of continuing containment measures, increasing testing, effective clinical management of patients.State Health Secretariesprovided an in-depth analysis on the current status of COVID-19 in these 15 districts coveringaspects of containment measures, contact tracing, surveillance activities, facility-wise case fatality rates, trends in terms of weekly new cases and deaths, etc. and shared their detailed roadmaps and action plans for the next one month.

Granularities in terms of split of RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen tests conducted in the district, re-testing percentage of symptomatic negatives from Antigen tests, testing lab utilization, home isolation status, hospitalization status and bed occupancies of oxygen-supported beds, ICU beds and ventilator etc., were also shared with the Center.

The States were advised to take steps on the following specific areas:

1. Limiting and eventually breaking the spread of the infection by implementing stringent containment measures and following social distancing measures, strict peri-meter control, and active house-to-house case search.
2. Early identification by ramping up testing across the districts, optional utilization of RT-PCR testing capacity and use of Rapid Antigen Tests as a screening test in hotspots and densely populated areas.
3. Effectivemonitoring of home isolation cases and early hospitalization in case of disease progression.
4. Seamless hospitalization and early admission for patients requiring medical support, especially in cases of co-morbid and elderly population.
5. Following effective infection control measures in hospitals to safeguard healthcare workers from contracting the infection.
6. District Collectors and other functionaries to prepare and update district specific plans to continue their efforts to manage the pandemic with the same rigor.

Dr.Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, PG and Pensions delivered the valedictory address at the NCGG-NITI one-day Workshop on Good Governance Practices in Aspirational Districts in a Pandemic through a webinar today. In his address,Dr.Jitendra Singh said that District Collectors in Aspirational Districts have out-performed many non-aspirational districts in fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic and that the performance of Aspirational Districts represents an opportunity to prove the resilience of the Indian Nation. One of the reasons for this high quality performance was that IAS officers who had served as Assistant Secretaries in Government of India had gained from their mentorship in Union Government. Dr.Jitendra Singh said that the “show must go on with due precautions” despite the pandemic, as can be seen in the conduct of several entrance examinations – the JEE/ NEET/ CSE all of which have been notified. Only because of the collective people’s effort India was able to fight the pandemic better than other countries. He urged the District Collectors of Aspirations Districts to consistently focus on achieving continuous growth in developmental indicators.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves the acquisition of Metso Oyj’s (“Metso”) minerals business by Outotec Oyj (“Outotec”) under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, [Combination Registration No. C-2020/03/735].

The CCI has published the order approving the acquisition of Metso’s minerals business (“Metso Minerals”) by Outotec. All such assets, rights, debts, and liabilities of Metso that relate to, or primarily serve, its minerals business (comprising the mining, aggregates, minerals consumables, minerals services, pumps, and recycling businesses) will be acquired by Outotec. The approval is subject to modifications that are aimed at eliminating the likely anti-competitive effects of the proposed combination.

The above order was a result of an detailed inquiry undertaken pursuant to the notice given by Metso and Outotec under sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) on 12^th  March, 2020. The Commission found that the Proposed Combination is an integration of two strong and close competitors in the market for Iron Ore Palletisation (IOP) Equipment Island in India and appears to:

• limit the number of suppliers available to customer in this market in India;
• reduce the intensity of innovation in the technology for pelletizing technology and equipment;
• perpetuate the substantial market position of the Parties in the market; and reduce or eliminate the competitive pressure that would prevail in the absence of Proposed Combination;
• reduce the extent of countervailing bargaining power that the customers enjoy on account of the competition exerted by independent presence of Metso and Outotec;
• increase the cost of the entrants and rivals to compete and increase their presence in the market given that there is no likeliness of a timely and sufficient entry that could act as a competitive constraint to the combined entity; result in creation of a strong integrated player

Thus, the CCI was of the view that the proposed combination would reduce competition and confer the combined entity, the ability to increase price etc.

In order to address the competition concerns arising as a result of the proposed combination, the Parties proposed voluntary remedies / modifications (VRP). The Commission noted that VRP given by Parties eliminates the overlap between the Parties in the IOP segment in India and would effectively transfer Metso Minerals’s Indian Straight Grate (SG) IOP capital equipment business to a suitable buyer, thereby preserving the competition.

The modification essentially involves transferring a right to fully use and exploit the SG IOP capital equipment drawings, including the related registered IP by way of an exclusive and irrevocable license, subject to a lump sum upfront payment and no ongoing royalties. VRP will allow the emergence of a new competitor, thus resolving any concerns whatsoever in relation to this segment.

Infectious secretions from contagious diseases such as COVID 19, tuberculosis (TB), and influenza poses high risk for healthcare workers. Their exposure to the high-risk hazard while handling the waste can soon be controlled with a canister bag that solidifies the secretions rapidly, making disposal safer.

For the safe management of infected respiratory secretions, the researchers at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India, have come up with a method for safe handling and disposal of respiratory secretions in hospitals for ICU patients or those with copious respiratory secretions treated in the wards. They have developed canister bags lined with super-absorbent material containing an effective disinfectant, named “AcryloSorb”.

When the patient is admitted to the hospital, secretions are sucked into bottles or canisters using vacuum line and discarded through the waste fluid disposal system after subjecting to decontamination process. There is a high risk of contamination during the handling, and the disposal needs well-equipped sluice rooms with disinfection facilities. The safety threat and manpower issues will be manifold in less equipped hospitals or temporary isolation wards set up during pandemics.

The canister bags can absorb 500 ml of secretions and solidify it immediately. In addition to that, the whole system will be decontaminated within no time because of the presence of disinfectant. The liner structure has a patented design which allows the progressive absorbent availability upwards. Solidification and immediate disinfection that occurs inside these bags eliminate risk of secondary infections by avoiding spilling and aerosol formation, and thereby protect healthcare workers and promote safe workplace management.Canister bags are enclosed in a customizable sealer bag which can pack it as spill-proof decontaminated biomedical waste disposable through incineration. The product has been tested as per the international standards.

The SCTIMST team that realized this technology consists of biomaterial scientists and clinicians – Dr. Manju, S., Dr. ManojKomath, Dr. Asha Kishore, Dr. Ajay Prasad Hrishi. The know-how of the AcryloSorb suction canister liner (CL Series) bags has been transferred to Romsons Scientific and Surgical Pvt. Ltd for manufacture and immediate marketing. The approximate cost will be Rs. 100/- for each canister liner bag.

Romsons Scientific & Surgical Pvt. Ltd, located at Uttar Pradesh, is a global player in medical devices with more than 200 products in market. The company has proven expertise of half a century in the area of disposable medical and surgical devices and is a prominent brand in the medical device community. The company has its distribution channel across 65 countries. Quality is a prime motto of Romsons, evidenced by the ISO and CE certifications for many of their products.

The field trials of the in-house designed suction canister liner bags are being conducted in SCTIMST.

Scientists have developed a portable sterilisation unit using a new technology called the hybrid sterilization system that can decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for combating COVID 19, easily and rapidly, allowing them to be used multiple times.

It can be used by health professionals and other COVID warriors for whom PPEs are essential and can prevent generation of hazardous solid waste from PPEs.

IIT Tirupati (IITT) and IISER Tirupati have jointly developed the Portable Optical Cavity

Sterilization Unit (POSCU) to provide efficient and rapid decontamination of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other household items. A working point-of-use sterilization unit has been developed with the support of Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

UV radiation is a proven method for sterilization. However, the lower penetration depth of UV-C and faster divergence from the source can result in nonuniform treatment. The team consisting of Dr. Reetesh Kumar Gangwar (Asst. Prof., Physics), Dr. Arijit Sharma (Asst. Prof.,  Physics), and Dr. Shihabudheen M. Maliyekkal (Asst. Prof., Civil & Environmental Engineering) from IITT have developed this hybrid sterilization system consisting of a UV radiation cavity, cold plasma, and H₂O₂ spray.

Unlike the traditional UV systems, this unit follows the optical cavity concept to optimize the use of photon flux in the treatment area. The system confines the UV radiation and enhances photon-flux and sterilization efficacy. The coherent operation of UV-C, cold plasma, and H₂O₂ spray further strengthens the sterilization efficiency due to more hydroxyl radical production.

Water is a precious resource and water scarcity is looming large over the entire Nation. Agriculture, which consumes around 70% of Water, for irrigation purpose, is the most vulnerable sector of the Economy owing to this crisis. To address this issue there has been discussion on implementing solar pump in almost every farmland.

Apart from solar pumps, CSIR-CMERI isworking on methods to reduce water consumption required for irrigation. Initially, Drip irrigation was considered but later it was realised that Drip irrigation is not affordable for marginal to small farmers, who are the major stake holders in Indian Agrarian scenario. Those farmers use manual sprayers costing a few thousand rupees.

As per the available knowledge, pesticides play very big role in increasing crop productivity, but large amount of pesticide sprays is wasted due to lack of appropriate machinery, and soil, water and air become polluted. Due to such harmful effects of pesticides, there is an increasing pressure to reduce their use and make their spraying more efficient. To make efficient sprayer, there is need to understand science of surface tension, viscosity, wettability, air drag, dynamic pressure, particle size, etc. CSIR-CMERI developed two variants of battery operated spray systems one for “marginal famers” and other for “small farmers”. Back Pack Sprayer, having capacity of 5 litres, is made for “marginal farmers”, while the Compact Trolley Sprayer having capacity of 10 litres, is made for “small farmers”. These sprayers are equipped with two separate tanks, flow control and pressure regulator to handle different water requirements of the crops, target/site specific irrigation, maintaining appropriate dilution of pesticide/fungicide to control the pest (on foliage, under the leaves, at root zone etc.), creating water based micro-roughness of leaf surface, maintaining soil moisture levels in a narrow range, and weed control. The systems functions on Solar-Powered batteries, thus enabling its usage even in energy and power deprived agricultural regions of the Nation, thus reducing dependence on price volatile fossil fuels. The sprayers are simple to develop, easy to learn and implement, therefore will help to overcome water crisis faced by Indian farmers.

The flow control feature of the Sprayers helps achieve multiple levels of Water/Pesticide flow thereby enhancing the flexibility and dynamicity of the coverage area as well as the intensity of the application. The Dual-Chamber design of the Sprayers helps achieve a degree of resource versatility as it allows the system to carry two variants of liquids at any particular instant. As per experiments conducted at CSIR-CMERI, the engaged farmers have informed that it helps save 75% of Water and 25% time-consumption while using the CSIR-CMERI developed sprayers. This design element might also help reduce the time consumption for Spray based Agricultural applications, as the farmer need not empty the contents of a single vessel completely before using a different content.

Prof. (Dr.) Harish Hirani, Director, CSIR-CMERI, elaborated, “These couple of variants can bring about a revolution in the sphere of Precision Agriculture by reducing usage of Water in Agriculture. This revolutionary technology will help in creating agricultural avenues even in arid and semi-arid regions, as the Water scarcity will no longer be feared by the farming community. The CSIR-CMERI developed sprayers provide a cost-effective socio-economic solution for both marginalised and small-scale farmers. The affordable pricing profile helps to provide opportunities to cottage and micro-industries in furthering the outreach factor of the technology widely.”

CSIR-CMERI has already developed solar tree of capacity 1 Kwp, 3 kwp, 5 kwp, 6 kwp, 7.5 kwp and 11.5 kwp,(which is now the Largest Solar Tree in the world).

If not us, Who?……If not now, When?

John F Kennedy,USA

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate prior to becoming president.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born outside Boston in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917, at 83 Beals Street, to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., a businessman and politician, and Rose Kennedy (née Fitzgerald), a philanthropist and socialite. His paternal grandfather, P. J. Kennedy, served as a Massachusetts state legislator. Kennedy’s maternal grandfather and namesake, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, served as a U.S. Congressman and was elected to two terms as Mayor of Boston. All four of his grandparents were children of Irish immigrants. Kennedy had an elder brother, Joseph Jr., and seven younger siblings: Rosemary, Kathleen (“Kick”), Eunice, Patricia, Robert (“Bobby”), Jean, and Edward (“Ted”).

He has won many prestigious awards.In addition to the various campaign medals received for his war service, Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his conduct during and after the loss of PT-109, as well as the Purple Heart for being wounded.

Just before the assassination,Kennedy chose to travel to Texas to smooth over frictions in the Democratic Party between liberals Ralph Yarborough and Don Yarborough (no relation) and conservative Texas governor John Connally.Kennedy later decided to embark on the trip with three basic goals in mind:

1.) to help raise more Democratic Party presidential campaign fund contributions;

 2.) begin his quest for reelection in November 1964 ;

3.) to help mend political fences among several leading Texas Democratic party members who appeared to be fighting politically amongst themselves since the Kennedy-Johnson ticket had barely won Texas in 1960 (and had even lost in Dallas).

 The trip was publicly announced in September 1963, the exact motorcade route was finalized on November 18 and publicly announced a few days before November 22.Kennedy’s open-top 1961 Lincoln Continental four-door convertible limousine entered Dealey Plaza at 12:30 p.m. CST. Nellie Connally, the First Lady of Texas, turned to Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, “Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you”. Kennedy’s reply – “No, you certainly can’t” – were his last words..From Houston Street, the limousine made the planned left turn onto Elm to provide access to the Stemmons Freeway exit.As it turned, it passed by the Texas School Book Depository, and as it continued down Elm Street shots were fired. About 80% of the witnesses recalled hearing three shots.

A small number of witnesses recognized the first gunshot (shortly after Kennedy began waving) for what it was, but there was little reaction from most in the crowd or riding in the motorcade. Many later said they imagined what they heard to be a firecracker, or a vehicle backfiring. Although some close witnesses recalled seeing the limousine slow down, nearly stop, or completely stop.

The assassination had an effect on many people, not only in the United States but around the world. Many vividly remember where they were when they first learned the news that Kennedy was assassinated, as with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Ultimately, the death of President Kennedy, and the ensuing confusion surrounding the facts of his assassination, are of political and historical importance insofar as they marked a turning point and decline in the faith of the American people in the political establishment.

Energy indisputably a resource on which humanity has been dependent. Without energy, we cannot find or administer medicine to cure disease, prepare food, purify water, drive our cars etc. the current energy need is 15TW and this number is projected to increase.in now a days we are more reliable on fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are also a large source pollution and also a non-renewable source of energy. As solar energy is a renewable source of energy so we are likely to shift our energy consumption from the non-renewable forms to the renewable forms.

Wind power or wind energy is wind energy, which is used to provide mechanical power by wind turbines to produce electricity and to do other jobs, such as milling or pumping. Wind energy is clean, renewable and has far less environmental impacts than fossil fuel use.

Wind farms consist of several individual wind turbines linked to the power supply grid. Onshore wind is a reliable power source, comparable with or much cheaper than coal or gas plants. Onshore wind turbines will have an effect on the environment, as usually they may spread over more land than other power plants and be installed in wild and remote areas that could result in ‘rural industrialisation’ and loss of habitat. Offshore winds are more steady and strong than on land and offshore farms, but building and repair costs are higher.

The wind is an intermittent source of energy that neither produces nor ships electricity on demand. It also offers a variable power that varies widely year after year, but over shorter periods. It must also be used in combination with other sources of energy or storage to provide secure supplies. With the share of wind power in a region increasing, more traditional energy sources (such as fossil fuels and nuclear power) are required to help them, and the network will need to be upgraded. Such energy management strategies may also solve problems, such as a dispatching energy, an adequate hydro-electric energy, surplus capacity, geographically dispersed turbines, export and import power to neighbouring areas, electricity storage or a reduction in demand when wind turbines are low. The weather forecast allows for predictable output fluctuations in the electricity network.

In recent years, the capacity to produce wind energy has increased significantly in India. As of 29 February 2020, the wind turbines had an installed wind energy capacity of 37.669 GW and it was the fourth highest installed wind power capacity in the world.

In India, the cost of wind power is rapidly declining. During December 2017 auctions on wind projects, the uniform tariff on wind turbines reached a record low of 2,43 kWh (3,4 US), per kWh (without any direct or indirect grants). In December 2017, the Union government announced the relevant Tariff Wind Power Auction Guidelines in order to provide the developers with clarification and to reduce the risk.