Headlines at a Glance – 4th February 2022
IISc, Bengaluru commissions supercomputer Param Pravega
Param Pravega, a supercomputer that is touted to be one of the most powerful in the country, has been installed at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), the premiere academic establishment said in a statement on Thursday. According to IISc, Param Pravega has a total supercomputing capacity of 3.3 petaflops (1 petaflop equals a quadrillion or 1,015 operations per second). “It has been designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). A majority of the components used to build this system have been manufactured and assembled within the country, along with an indigenous software stack developed by C-DAC in line with the Make in India initiative,” the statement stated.
SOURCE: Hindustan Times
EXIM Bank of India, Sri Lanka sign $500-million loan agreement
The Export Import Bank (EXIM) of India and the Government of Sri Lanka on Wednesday signed a $500- million Line of Credit agreement aimed at helping Sri Lanka cope with its current fuel shortages, amid one of the worst economic meltdowns facing the island nation. New Delhi’s support for fuel imports — by Sri Lanka from India — through the Line of Credit, is in response to Colombo’s “urgent requirement”, according to a statement from the Indian High Commission in Colombo. “This critical support comes in the wake of a virtual meeting between the External Affairs Minister of India S. Jaishankar and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, held on January 15,” said the official statement released on Wednesday. Days after the meeting, India made the announcement confirming the emergency loan.
SOURCE: The Hindu
India announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics
Calling Beijing’s move to pick a Chinese soldier involved in the Galwan incident as an Olympic torchbearer “regrettable”, India Thursday said that its envoy will not attend the opening or closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics beginning Friday in Beijing.
This, in effect, means that New Delhi will boycott the Olympics at the diplomatic level although it will send an athlete for the event. The Galwan clashes in mid-June 2020 had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, while China had last year admitted to losing at least four of its troops, making it the bloodiest encounter between the two nations in over four decades. Responding to questions on the reports of a Chinese soldier from the Galwan clashes being chosen as the torchbearer for the games, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics… the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening or the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.”
SOURCE: The Indian Express
INS Vagir sails out for first sea trial
The Indian Navy’s brand-new submarine – the fifth of the six French-designed Scorpene-class submarines – sailed out Tuesday on its first sea sortie and will now undergo rigorous trials before it is delivered to the Navy later this year. The submarine – designated “Yard 11879” during its construction by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in collaboration with Naval Group of France – will be named “Vagir” after it is commissioned into service. The submarine got its name from INS Vagir – a Vela-class submarine from Russia that served in the Navy from 1973 to 2001. The six Kalvari-class submarines, designed by French company DCNS, are being built in India as part of the Indian Navy’s Project-75. These submarines can undertake missions like anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance, an official said. Of the six submarines ordered, four – Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, and Vela – have been inducted into the Indian Navy.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
Two new Ramsar sites in India
Two more wetlands in India — Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh — were declared Ramsar sites on February 1, said Union minister for environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday. India now has the most number of such sites in South Asia–49 wetlands covering an area of 1,093,636 hectares–said officials of the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC). The minister was speaking at the Sultanpur National Park, one of Haryana’s first Ramsar sites, on the occasion of World Wetlands Day.
SOURCE: Hindustan Times
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