Yoga Day is a day of solidarity and universal brotherhood, says PM

Yoga promotes family bonding: PM Yoga boosts immune system against Covid 19 virus: PM Posted On: 21 JUN 2020 9:43AM by PIB Delhi

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addressed the nation today on the occasion of International Day of Yoga via video conference. Prime Minister said, International Yoga Day is a day of solidarity. This is the day of universal brotherhood. Due to COVID-19 global health emergency, this year International Yoga Day is being observed through the electronic and digital platform.

Dr. Sumanta Chakraborty from School of Physical Sciences and School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) Kolkata, a recipient of the INSPIRE faculty award instituted by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt of India has provided new ways to look into the thermodynamic properties of black holes. The techniques developed through his theoretical work in these areas are now routinely being used in various analyses involving black holes and its various other incarnations.

Dr. Chakraborty’s research work is primarily focused on the areas of Gravitational physics and, in particular black holes.

The recent progress in gravitational wave astronomy and black hole shadow measurement can be exploited to understand gravitational theories better. His works in these directions not only provide bounds on the parameter space but is also acting as a guiding principle for subsequent analysis.

The research work performed by him during the tenure of the INSPIRE Faculty fellowship has received significant interest from both national and international communities. The techniques developed by his research are currently being used in other research activities as well. Some of his research works in the area of the gravitational wave will be of significant importance, given the upcoming LIGO-India observatory and world-wide interest in understanding fundamental physics using gravitational waves.

Gravitational physics and, in particular, black holes have been the hotspot of public imagination for decades. Since he works and specializes in this particular topic, he often gives public lectures among students to make them aware of how science can explain these interesting features and how black holes can be ‘seen’ using gravitational waves. This makes the students and common people more aware about usefulness of science in explaining the nature around us.

Seeking to restore the lost glory of the once-most famous pottery of Pokhran, a small town in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan where India conducted its 1st nuclear test, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) today distributed 80 electric potter wheels to 80 potter families in Pokhran which has a rich heritage in terracotta products. Pokhran has over 300 potters’ families that are engaged with pottery for several decades, but potters started looking for other avenues due to heavy drudgery in the work and no market support.

Apart from the electric wheels, the KVIC also distributed 8 blunger machines in a group of 10 potters, used for mixing the clay which can produce 800 kg clay in just 8 hours. Manually it takes 5 days to prepare 800 kg mud for pottery making. KVIC has created 350 direct employment in the village.

All 80 potters who were given 15 days training by KVIC came up with some exquisite pottery. The products ranged from Kulhar to decorative pieces like flower vase, sculptures and interesting traditional utensils like spherical bottles with narrow mouth, Lotas with long spouts, and other spherical utensils used for cooking as well as decorative pieces.

The potters brilliantly depicted the “Swacch Bharat Abhiyan” and “International Yoga Day” – through their pottery art. Incidentally, it also coincided with the International Yoga Day being celebrated on Sunday.

After distributing the electric chaak and other equipment through video conference, KVIC Chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena said the exercise is aligned with the Prime Minister’s call for “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” and strengthening of potters aimed at creating self-employment while also reviving the dying art of pottery.

“Pokhran was till now only known as the site of nuclear tests but very soon the exquisite pottery will be the new identity of this place. The main objective of Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana is to bring back the potters’ community to the mainstream. By providing potters with modern equipment and training, we are trying to reconnect them with the society and revive their art,” Saxena said.

The KVIC Chairman has also instructed the State Director of KVIC in Rajasthan to facilitate marketing and sale of the pottery products at Barmer and Jaisalmer railway stations to provide marketing support to potters. “Pokhran is one of the aspirational districts identified by the Niti Ayog.

400 railway stations selling eatables only in earthen/terracotta pots include Jaisalmer and Barmer, the two major railheads in Rajasthan that are closest to Pokhran. The state KVIC unit will facilitate the sale of their pottery at these railway stations given the high tourist footfall in these cities,” Saxena said.

Notably, the KVIC has launched Kumhar Sashaktikaran Ypjana in several remote areas in states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, J&K, Haryana, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana and Bihar. In Rajasthan, more than a dozen districts including Jaipur, Kota, Jhalawar and Sri Ganganagar have been benefited by the program.

Under the scheme, the KVIC also provides equipment like blunger and pug mills for mixing clay for making pottery products. The machines have eliminated drudgery from the process of pottery making and resulted in higher income of potters by 7 to 8 times.

The New feature will help Hindi medium students in practicing mock tests for JEE Main in Hindi - Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'

More than 9.56 lakh students have downloaded National Test Abhyas App and more than 16.5 lakhs tests have been given by students on this app - HRD Minister Posted On: 21 JUN 2020 3:31PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' today announced that National Testing Agency (NTA) has launched Hindi Tests feature on National Test Abhyas mobile app. He said that competitive exam students preferring Hindi can now practice on their mobile devices with Hindi mock tests released on the National Test Abhyas smartphone app by NTA.

An extreme helium star or EHe is a low-mass supergiant that is almost devoid of hydrogen, the most common chemical element of the universe. There are 21 of them detected so far in our galaxy. The origin and evolution of these Hydrogen deficient objects have been shrouded in mystery. Their severe chemical peculiarities challenge the theory of well-accepted stellar evolution as the observed chemical composition of these stars do not match with that predicted for low mass evolved stars.

A study by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology which detected the presence of singly ionised fluorine for the first time in the atmospheres of hot Extreme Helium Stars makes a strong case that the main formation of these objects involves a merger of a carbon-oxygen (CO) and a Helium (He) white dwarf.

The research published in the Astrophysical Journal, led by Anirban Bhowmick (Ph.D. student, IIA, Bengaluru), Prof. Gajendra Pandey (IIA) and Prof. David Lambert (University of Texas at Texas-Austin), which showed fluorine abundances determined from singly ionized fluorine (F II) lines suggest a very high enrichment of fluorine, about a factor of 100 to 10000 times higher than normal stars.

Clues to evolution of extreme helium stars require accurate determinations of their chemical composition, and the peculiarities, if any, become very important. Fluorine plays a very crucial role in this regard to determine the actual evolutionary sequence of these hydrogen deficient objects. Severe fluorine enrichment w.r.t normal stars (of the order of 800 − 8000) was observed in the cool EHes along-with the cooler classical hydrogen deficient stars, the RCB variables (R Coronae Borealis Stars) hinting at close evolutionary connection between them. The scientists explored the relationship of hot EHes (EHes having effective temperature ≥ 14000K), with the cooler EHes, based on their fluorine abundance and spotted it in the former, thus establishing an evolutionary connection across a wide range of effective temperature.

High-resolution echelle spectra of 10 hot EHes were obtained from Hanle Echelle Spectrograph (HESP) mounted on the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) in Hanle, Ladakh, (remotely operated by IIA) including data from McDonald Observatory, USA, and ESO archives.

By comparing the observed fluorine abundances with other abundances of the key elements, the scientists could determine the formation channels responsible for fluorine enrichment. The varied range of observed fluorine abundance across stars having similar atmospheric parameters points out the difference in the individual star’s evolution and the ensuing nucleosynthesis. Particularly, the enrichment of fluorine in the atmospheres of carbon-rich EHes and absence of the same in carbon-poor EHes suggest that fluorine is profusely produced during the merger of a He-CO WD resulting in a carbon-rich EHe, whereas He-He WD merger that results in carbon-poor EHes does not account for fluorine overabundance.

The detection of enhanced fluorine abundances in the atmospheres of hot EHes solves a decade-old mystery about their formation. It firmly places hot EHes in an evolutionary sequence with cool EHes and other hydrogen-deficient stars and zeros in on the evolutionary scenario, which involves the merger of two double degenerate white dwarfs (WDs).