Category: Uncategorized

South Western Railway registers highest ever gross revenue, electrifies 712 route km in a year

South Western Railway (SWR) has achieved the highest ever electrification of 712 route kilometre in a year and the highest ever originating gross revenue of ₹7,509 crore, General Manager of South Western Railway Sanjeev Kishore has said.

Addressing presspersons in Hubballi on Thursday, Mr. Sanjeev Kishore said that a major thrust has been given to high quality railway infrastructure and between January and December of 2022, new line has been laid for 22 km, while 210 km of line doubling has been completed.

In the present year (2023), doubling of the Londa-Miraj section and Hubballi-Chikjajur are targeted to be completed by February and March respectively, he said and added that this will mean that the entire railway section from Miraj to Bengaluru will be a double line.

He said that the railway zone has registered 94% punctuality and has also emerged as the best among the railway zones in terms of mobility improvement. The average speed of goods train has increased by 58% in the railway zone when compared to 2021, he said.

In terms of passenger revenue, the zone has registered the highest ever revenue of ₹2,534 crore. The highest ever automobile loading of 405 rakes, an increase of 70% over last year, has been achieved by the zone, he said.

Stands second

Mr. Sanjeev Kishore said that the railway zone stands second among all the railway zones in the country in key performance indices.

“Sangnal-Kushtagi (34 km) section of the Gadag-Wadi project, Karatagi-Sindhanur (18 km) section of Ginigera-Raichur new line project are targeted to be completed in 2023. Work is in progress in the Khajjidoni-Lokapur (9 km) section of the Bagalkot-Kudachi new line project. Further EPC tender has already being floated for the Lokapur-Yadavad section. The first phase (20 km) of the Tumakuru-Davangere project has already commenced,” he said.

Mr. Sanjeev Kishore said that for the convenience of people participating in the 86th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Haveri, special trains are being run between Benglauru and Hubballi with stoppage to Haveri. Seven long distance express trains have been given additional stoppages at Haveri, in addition to running DEMU special trains, he said.

Chief Public Relations Officer Aneesh Hegde and other officials were present.

source/content: thehindu.com

NATIONAL: CYBER SECURITY: Police Inspector K.T. Gururaj Wins ‘India Cyber Cop of the year 2022’ Award

K.T. Gururaj, Police Inspector, has won the India Cyber Cop of the year 2022 award instituted by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), for his investigation into a cyber crime using forensic tools and techniques.

Mr. Gururaj, who was Inspector at Cyber, Economic and Narcotics Crime Police Station in Shivamogga, had investigated a case and did succeed to arrest the accused facing charges of distributing child sexual abuse material through social media platforms. He filed the charge sheet and finally, the accused was convicted by a court for offences punishable under the IT Act and POCSO Act.

Considering his commendable investigation into the case, the DSCI selected him as the India Cyber Cop of the year 2022. DSCI is a not-for-profit body on data protection in India set up by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM).

Gururaj received the award in a ceremony held in Gurgaon in Haryana on Thursday (December 22).

At present, Gururaj works at the Police Training School at Kadur in Chikkamagaluru district.

Shivamogga SP G.K. Mithun Kumar congratulated the officer on winning the award.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: RECORDS / ARTS & CULTURE: Group Chanting of Dhanvantari Mantra by JSS Sri Manjunatheshwar English Mediu School Enters India Book of Records

The chanting of Dhanvantari Mantra in group 108 times by 1,231 students and 63 employees of JSS Sri Manjunatheshwar English Medium School, Dharwad, has entered the India Book of Records.

The school organised the event to mark the 75th birthday of Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Sri Veerendra Heggade last month.

On Tuesday, the certificate regarding an entry in the India Book of Records was formally handed over to JSS Secretary Ajit Prasad.

Addressing a gathering, Mr. Prasad said that events that imbibe cultural and moral values among children are the need of the hour as blind imitation of Western culture is adversely impacting the upbringing of the young in the country.

He said that it is important to note that an education system without culture and moral values will lead to creation of robot-like students. The record event like chanting of Dhanvantari Mantra will go a long way in inculcating values among children, he said.

Representative of India Book of Records Girish Banavi expressed happiness over the record attempt in which children chanted the Sanskrit shloka of Dhanvantari.

At a time when children are getting addicted to the use of mobile phones, such events are needed, he said.

School principal Usha Santosh, Mahaveer Upadhye, Nirmala Patil, Savitri Datade, Bharati Neeralakatti and others took part in the formal ceremony.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Shreya Narayan, Student of Bangalore Institute of Technology Wins First Position in ‘UNESCO-India-Africa Hackathon 2022’, Greater Noida

Shreya Narayan, a student of Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, took part in the UNESCO-India-Africa Hackathon 2022 held at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, recently and won the first place with a cash prize of ₹3 lakh, said a release.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

NATIONAL: ENGINEERING / SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY /DEFENCE / AVIATION: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Delivers 16th Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH Mk-III Maritime Specific) to Indian Coast Guard

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has handed over the last of the 16 Advanced Light Helicopters (MK-III, Maritime role) to the Indian Coast Guard at a programme here on Tuesday.

The chopper was handed over to DG, Coast Guard, V.S. Pathania, in the presence of senior officials from the Indian Coast Guard and HAL.

“We are proud to be associated with HAL and happy to issue a Letter of Intent (LoI) for nine more helicopters. Despite Covid-19, HAL delivered all the helicopters at the shortest time with seamless production activities and this allows us to strengthen India’s maritime security,” Pathania said.

The DG had signed a contract with HAL for the supply of 16 ALH Mk-III in March 2017.

C.B. Ananthakrishnan, CMD, HAL, said a unique feature of the contract has been the performance based logistics (PBL) – the one stop solution for maintenance of these helicopters by HAL.

“This will serve as a benchmark for all our future contracts and boost our resolve to work with private partners to speed up the work in the interest of all our customers and strengthen Make-in-India activities in the defence eco-system,” he said.

S. Anbuvelan, CEO (Helicopter Complex), HAL, pointed out the major challenges in execution of the contract that included integration of new systems sourced from foreign OEMs, conducting flight trials for certifications and overcoming disruptions in the supply chain due to lockdowns.

ALH Mk-III is indigenously designed, developed and produced by HAL. The company has so far produced more than 330 ALHs, a versatile helicopter which has logged more than 3.74 lakh flying hours.

source/content: daijiworld.com (headline edited)