6-Aug-2020: SAI launches Khelo India Mobile App online training program for principals, PE Teachers
The Sports Authority of India, in association with Education Boards CISCE and CBSE, will host an online program for training of Physical Education (PE) Teachers from CISCE Schools on “Khelo India Fitness Assessment of School Going Children”.
The program, starting August 7, will target 7500 participants across 2615 CISCE schools in two zones. This large-scale training is being organized to assess the fitness levels of the school children and to identify potential future champions from a vast pool of grassroots talent.
This training has been undertaken owing to the Covid19 outbreak where schools have been shut and the new academic session has begun across India in form of online classes or webinars. In this current situation, Training-of-Trainers (TOTs) in their original format and physical assessments of students in schools could not be conducted till children and teachers start going back to schools again.
On August 7, various School Principals or Head of Institutes will be encouraged and motivated and made aware about the need to empower their PE Teachers with knowledge, attitude and skills for undertaking the Khelo India Fitness Assessment through the Khelo India Mobile App (KIMA) besides giving them goals for 2020-21. This session is titled “Whole School Approach to Fitness”.
From August 11 to 14, Training and technical knowhow of the Assessor mobile app will be provided to the school PE teachers. They will be given sessions on the introduction to Khelo India Fitness for School Going Children and Fit India, how to undertake Khelo India battery of tests, the Khelo India Assessments protocols, Talent Identification roadmap, goals for 2020-21 and more.
The training will be provided by selected Master Trainers who had conducted various National and Regional level TOTs, both offline and online, in 2019 and conducted Assessment of their schools
As on July 31, a total number of 257 TOTs have been conducted across the country, with more than 24,500 Trainers trained pre and post lockdown and a total of 22,450 schools have registered.
26-Mar-2019: First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485m) flagged off
First Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to Mt Makalu (8485m) comprising five Officers, two JCOs and eleven OR was flagged off by Director General Military Training on 26 Mar 2019. In furtherance of the objective of summiting all challenging peaks above 8000M, Indian Army is launching its maiden expedition to Mt Makalu in Mar-May 2019.
Mt Makalu is considered amongst the most dangerous peaks and summiting the peak is considered extremely challenging due to inclement weather conditions and freezing temperatures. The peak will test the climbers for technical acumen, mental and physical courage and their determination to reach atop Mt Makalu.
The team has trained hard for last six months as part of preparation to fulfill the daunting task assigned to them by successfully conducting an expedition to Mt Kamet and winter training including the summit of Mt Bhanoti in 2018. The team will embark for the challenging mission from New Delhi and will set up six camps enroute to summit point on Mt Makalu.
7-Aug-2018: Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore flags off an all-women expedition to Mt. Manirang
The Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports & Information and Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore today flagged off an all-women expedition to Mt. Manirang (6593Mt/21631 ft) in Himachal Pradesh. The expedition commemorates the silver jubilee of 1993 Women Everest expedition.
Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore commended the effort of India Mountaineering Foundation to send the all women expedition team to Mt. Manirang to commemorate the silver jubilee of the 1993 expedition. He said that it sends a wonderful message to the society, that if given an opportunity, the girls can also rise to the challenges and make a mark for themselves. The Minister said that it also indicates that the children should be given an opportunity to decide as what they want to do in the future. Col. Rathore said that Prime Minister has been saying that those who play will flourish. He said the expedition to Mount Manirang includes the girls from some states which have no snow or mountains and it shows the grit and determination of the girls to opt for such a challenge. He emphasised on the need for more funds and exposure for adventure sports in the country.
The 19-member expedition team to Mt. Manirang is being led by Ms. Bimla Negi, a veteran mountaineer who was a member of the 1993 team. The team also includes nine members of the 1993 team in addition to young women mountaineers, who hail from different states of the country like Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Manipur and Himachal Pradesh. The expedition is expected to make the summit attempt around 24th August, 2018.
The Indo-Nepalese women’s Everest expedition in 1993 was the first all women expedition, launched by Indian Mountaineering foundation, funded by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The 21-member team was led by Ms. Bachendri Pal. The historic expedition set up several world records at the time which included the largest number of persons (18) of a single expedition to climb Mount Everest, largest number of women (six) from a single country to climb Mount Everest. Ms. Santosh Yadav, member of the team, became the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest, while Miss Dicky Dolma became the youngest women (19) years in the world to climb the highest peak in the world.
21-Feb-2019: Maiden Drone Olympics Competition held at Aero India 2019
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) made a spectacular entry at the Aero-India 2019 with the first ever ‘Drone Olympics' competition for UAV's held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka, Bengaluru. The Aero India exhibition, with the theme - ‘The Runway to a Billion Opportunities’ designed to bolster business in the international aviation sector and provide a platform to showcase India’s aeronautical advancements, has already garnered a huge number of registrations from both India and abroad. Under its banner, the ‘Drone Olympics’ organized by Ministry of Defence, aims to encourage the UAV industry to connect with potential buyers and business partners in the country and also provide an opportunity to the Armed Forces to assess the capabilities of UAVs, the role of which is ever-increasing in the defence sectors, making them the ideal platform for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and strike missions.
An overwhelming response was received for participation in the competition, both from companies and individuals. More than 120 applications were received, out of which 57 applicants who were found suitable and were invited to participate.
The preliminary rounds of the competition were organized at Jakkur Aerodrome, Bengaluru from February 18 to 19, 2019. During the competition, drones designed by teams from different companies and individuals were seen in action during various challenges which included the surveillance competition, supply drop and formation flying challenges to assess the military capabilities of the drones and their reconnaissance and camouflage abilities under various conditions. The competition finals were held on February 21, 2019 at Air Force Station, Yelahanka Bengaluru where all the finalists competed under various categories. The competition saw a number of innovative solutions and use of the latest technological advancements by the participants. The winners of each competition were honoured with medals and cash prizes. The Competition-wise details of Gold, Silver & Bronze medals Winning teams is as under:
|
Type of Competition |
Gold Medal |
Silver Medal |
Bronze Medal |
|
Surveillance: Fixed VTOL ( Multirotor) < 4kg |
Sagar Defense ( Cash Prize Rs. 3,00,000/-) |
Drovengers Quad (Cash Prize Rs. 1,50,000/-) |
Team Asteria (Cash Prize Rs. 50,000/-) |
|
Surveillance: Fixed VTOL ( Multirotor) > 4kg |
Drovengers Quad (Cash prizeRs.3,00,000/-) |
Team Dhaksha (Cash Prize Rs. 1,50,000/-) |
Model Aviation (Cash Prize Rs. 50,000/-) |
|
Surveillance: Hybrid Design 4-20 Kg |
Team Dhaksha (Cash Prize Rs. 3,00,000/-) |
Lakshya Flying Systems -IISc (Cash Prize Rs. 1,50,000/-) |
Team Shaik Imran (Cash Prize Rs. 50,000/-) |
|
Supply Drop Challenge |
Thanos Technologies (Cash Prize Rs.5,00,000/-) |
Sagar Defense (Cash Prize Rs. 3,00,000/-) |
IIT Kanpur (Cash Prize Rs. 1,50,000/-) |
|
Flying Formation Challenge |
UAS Delhi Technical University (Cash Prize Rs.5,00,000/-) |
Dhaksha (Cash Prize Rs. 3,00,000/-) |
FPV Bangalore (Cash Prize Rs.1,50,000/-) |
During the award ceremony, Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog launched ‘ATL Drone Module – Get Set Fly!’ created in collaboration with the blooming drone industry in India. The goal of the ATL Drone module is to introduce the young minds of India about the technology and help them to identify and solve community issues using drones as a tool.
The winners of the competition will be invited to demonstrate the best of human machine interaction during Lockheed Martin’s Alpha Pilot Race in United States later this year.