Indian Blind Sports Association (IBSA) is organizing week-long sportsevents for the blind from 6 to 11 January, 2020 in the premises of The Blind Relief Association, Delhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, near the Oberoi Hotel, NewDelhi. The sports events will kick-start with inauguration of Kabaddi Championships at 10:00 am on, 6th January 2020.
Over 400 participants, including 85 female blind sports persons from 7states, namely, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and Telangana will be taking part in the following events.
The Indian Space Research Organization signed a pact with Indian Institute of Astrophysics to establish an optical telescope under “Project NETRA”. The organisation also tied up with NIT-Karnataka to set up a regional academic centre for space to promote research and development.
Project NETRA was launched by ISRO in September 2019. Under the Project, ISRO plans to set up observational facilities that will help in making early warnings to satellites about debris and hazards in their orbit. It includes radars, telescopes, control centres and data processing units. The aim is to make the facilities powerful enough to track even the smallest particle of 10 cm diameter up to a range of 3,400 km.
Apart from ISRO, DRDO (Defence Research Development Organisation) operates NETRA (Network Traffic Analysis). It is a software network used to analyse internet traffic. It is used by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and other intelligence agencies of Government of India.
Retinuz, an Android mobile application using artificial intelligence, can rightly identify the denomination of the newly introduced currency notes for visually challenged at a single tap. It can be downloaded for free from Google Play Store.
Retinuz comes alongside Reserve Bank’s MANI (Mobile Aided Note Identifier). Both apps scan currency notes, identify them and read out the information, but Retinuz can be used offline, unlike MANI. Retinuz works at night as well, as the app automatically switches on the torch on the mobile phone to scan the currency notes. The app scanner reads the colour pattern and width of the printed denomination for identification.
Railway Board has approved works for provision of Video Surveillance System covering 983 stations under Nirbhaya funds. ‘RailTel’ has been entrusted with the work of providing IP based VSS with video analytics and facial recognition system
In order to enhance security at Railway stations which are major hubs of transportation, Indian Railways is in the process of installing Internet Protocol (IP) based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at stations, that is, waiting halls, reservation counters, parking areas, main entrance/ exit, platforms, foot over bridges, booking offices etc.
France will train Indian flight surgeons to enable them to monitor the health of astronauts selected for the ambitious human space mission. The two-week training is a critical aspect of the Gaganyaan project that is aimed at sending three Indians to space by 2022. The flight surgeons, who will be Indian Air Force doctors specialising in aviation medicines and responsible for the health of astronauts before, during and after flight, will be shortlisted soon. Those shortlisted will then undergo two weeks training in France.
Brigitte Godard, a flight surgeon with the European Space Agency, was in India in July and August last year to start the training of physicians and engineers. France has a well-established mechanism for space medicine. It also has the MEDES space clinic, a subsidiary of CNES, where space surgeons undergo training. The four shortlisted astronauts — all test pilots from the Indian Air Force — are currently in Russia for an 11-month training programme. India and France share robust ties in the area of space.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the Vajra Platform to make payments fast and secure. Based on blockchain technology, the primary highlight of the Vajra Platform is that it automates clearing and settlement of payments, drastically reducing the need for manual reconciliation.
The Vajra Platform uses distributed ledger technology (DLT). It uses a permissions model to ensure that only approved parties are a part of the network. Payment companies can apply to be a part of the network. Once approved, they can deploy the platform using an application programming interface (API) that will be provided by NPCI.
‘Vyommitra’ or ‘friend in the sky‘ a female humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission has been unveiled by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). ISRO has planned to execute two unmanned missions in December 2020 and June 2021, before the Ganganyaan mission. The inaugural session of the “Human Spaceflight and Exploration – Present Challenges and Future Trends” was held in Bengaluru.
ISRO chairman K Sivan stated, the humanoid will simulate human functions in space and also interact with the environment control life support system, it will check whether the system is right. This will be very useful to simulate, as if a human is flying.
The aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 with indigenous bio-jet fuel has taken wings successfully from Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh for the first time.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has declared that it is making low-cost satellite launch vehicles costing approx 30-35 crores rupees each, which can put into orbit satellites weighing 500 kgs.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has demilitarizes its Spitzer Space Telescope, after being into service for more than 16 years.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras declared that its researchers had advanced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to convert brain signals of speech impaired humans into English language.
Researchers of Izatnagar-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute (ICAR-IVRI) have made a more efficient and cost-effective vaccine against classical swine fever.
L&T MBDA Missile Systems (LTMMSL) has put down a missile (inert) integration facility in Tamil Nadu. L&T owns 51% invest in LTMMSL while MBDA has 49%.
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) will be made in India, with leading aeronautical entity Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) set to a partnership with an Israeli firm.
NASA’s astronaut Christina Koch came back after an 11-month mission and made world record for the most time spent by a woman in space. She spent 328 days, surpassing the previous record of 289 days held by fellow American Peggy Whitson.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras will join with AIIMS Mangalagiri on cheap future technological solutions in multiple areas such as patient safety and quality healthcare.
The Government of India has finalized to consider all medical devices including implants and contraceptives as “Drugs”. The announcement regarding the re-categorization was issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The scientists from Rochester Institute of Technology has discovered the nearest-known ‘baby giant planet’ which is named as “2MASS 1155-7919 b”.
The Indian Space Research Organisation has declared that it will launch 10 Earth Observation Satellites in 2020-21. The 10 earth observation (EO) satellites will include categories such as the first Geo Imaging Satellite, GISAT-1 along with three communication satellites and two navigation satellites.
The ‘5G Hackathon’ is launched by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in association with the government of India, academia and industry stakeholders to shortlist India’s focused cutting edge ideas that can be transformed into workable 5G products and solutions.
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