ASSAM
Assamese short film ‘Xogun’ finds space at New York festival
Assamese short film ‘Xogun’ (Vulture), adapted from the much-acclaimed short story bearing the same name by noted writer-journalist Manoj Kumar Goswami and scripted and directed by national award winner Utpal Borpujari, has been selected for the 21st New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF).
Produced by IFT India, the film is among 58 feature films, documentaries and short films in 15 languages from across India to be selected for NYIFF, one of the most prestigious Indian film festivals globally, which will be held during June 4-15 virtually because of the pandemic.
Xogun’ had earlier won the Best Film award in the short film competition of the 13th Guwahati International Film Festival organised by the Gauhati Cine Club and was screened at the 14th Signs Festival in Thiruvanathapuram, considered among the most prestigious short film and documentary festivals in India.
NORTH-EASTERN STATES
Std I, II classes to go online in Tripura
In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the Tripura government decided to discontinue on-campus classes for students of standards I and II indefinitely from Friday while the classes of III and IV will be held on alternative days.
Education minister Ratan Lal Nath said, “The department has reviewed the situation and received feedback from the stakeholders, based on which the decision was taken to suspend junior classes as of now. The others will be attending school.”
INTERNATIONAL
Stratolaunch Test Flies – World Largest Airplane
The world’s largest aircraft manufactured by Stratolaunch recently completed its second test flight from the Mojave Aerospace Port in California.
The flight reached an altitude of 4,267 meters during the test flight. It got a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour. This aircraft can carry a payload of more than 220 tons. The wingspan of the aircraft is 117 meters. This is bigger than an American football field. It was named “Roc”.
The roc bird is a big bird usually mentioned in the mythology of the Middle East. It is very popular in “Sinbad the Sailor”. It uses a dual body configuration. The fuselage is the main part of the aircraft. It accommodates cargo, crew and passengers. The dual body design has two bodies.
NATIONAL
DCGI Approved 2-deoxy-D-glucose
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has authorised the anti-COVID drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose for emergency use.
It was established in partnership with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) in Hyderabad by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage Production-Linked Incentive Scheme
The proposal of the Department of Heavy Industry to introduce the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme ‘National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage’ has been approved by the Union Cabinet.
With an investment of Rs 18,100 crore, achieve a manufacturing capacity of 50 GWh of ACC and 5 GWh of Niche ACC.
ACCs are a new generation of advanced storage technologies that can store electric energy as electrochemical or chemical energy and then convert it back to electricity as required.
It will also boost electric mobility, which will support three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and heavy vehicles.
NITI Aayogs Project for Great Nicobar Island
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCCEnvironment )’s Appraisal Committee (EAC) – Infrastructure I has raised serious concerns about NITI Aayog’s ambitious project for Great Nicobar Island.
The committee, on the other hand, has overcome the project’s first hurdle.
It has “recommended” that it be granted “terms of reference (TOR)” for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies, which will begin with three-month baseline studies.
RBI Grants PPI Authorisation to Eroute Technologies
Eroute Technologies has been given permission to operate as a prepaid payment instruments (PPI) company by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Eroute Technologies Pvt Ltd was granted a perpetual licence by the RBI to begin issuing and operating semi-closed pre-paid instruments in India.
Through developing user-friendly payment solutions that meet the unique needs of different customer segments in our society, the company aims to support the underserved segments, which number nearly 680 million people.
PPIs are financial instruments that allow the purchase of goods and services, such as financial services, remittances, and funds transfers, against the value stored in them.
Smokeless Cremation System Developed
The Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, has produced a prototype of a moveable electric cremation device that claims to be the world’s first smokeless cremation system despite the use of wood.
It uses half of the wood required for cremation.
Because of the use of combustion air system technology, it is very environmentally friendly.
It is based on the wick furnace technology, in which the wick will turn yellow when lighted.
With the aid of a combustion air system mounted over the wicks, this is transformed into a smokeless blue flame.