National:
10th National Awards for Technology Innovation in Petrochemicals & Downstream Plastics Processing Industry (2019-20):
- Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri D V Sadananda Gowda, presented the 10th National Awards for Technology Innovation in Petrochemicals & Downstream Plastics Processing Industry to the Awardees at a function held on 23 February 2021 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
In 10th National Awards, 273 nominations were received, and finally 04 nominations have been selected as Winners.
Under the category of “Innovation in Polymeric Materials”:
Dr. Samir H Chikkali and Shri Ravindra P Gote, Dr Dipa Mandal, Dr Ketan Patel Shri Krishnaroop Chaudhuri, Dr C P Vinod, Dr Ashish K Lele – CSIR- National Chemical Laboratory, Pune- for “Preparation and scale-up of Disentangled Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene: A material 11 times stronger than steel”
2. Under the category of “Innovation in Polymeric Products”:
Dr. Smita Mohanty and Dr. Akshya Kumar Palai, Shri Sagar Kumar Nayak, Shri Smruti Ranjan Mohanty, CIPET:SARP, LARPM, Bhubaneswar- for “Indigenous development of polymer – ceramic based porous bed for separation of mixed ion-exchange resins”
3. Under the category of “Innovation in Polymer Processing Machinery, Equipments, Robotics & Automation:
M/s Shibaura Machine India Private Limited, Chennai- for “Multi Colour / Material Injection Moulding Machine for Anti-Counterfeit article production”
4. Under the category of “Polymers in Medical and Pharmaceutical Applications”:
Dr. LIZYMOL PHILIPOSE PAMPADYKANDATHIL, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala- for “Development of bio-active, radiopaque, non-cytotoxic, bone cement based on a novel in-situ polymerizable oligomer for orthopedic applications”
Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly:
- BJP MLA Girish Gautam was unanimously elected as Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on the first day of the state budget session on 22 February 2021.
Kerala's Folk Art Festival- 'Utsavam' 2021:
- 13th edition of Utsavam 2021, the 7-day annual cultural festival was started on 20 February 2021. The Minister for Co-operation,Tourism and Devaswoms, Kadakampally Surendran, inaugurated the festival at Nishagandhi Auditorium at Kanakakunnu Palace.
The festival was organised by Kerala Tourism together with Kerala Folklore Academy, Bharat Bhavan and District Tourism Promotion Councils.
The festival aims at providing a platform to folk arts, many of which are on the verge of being pushed into oblivion.
Acquisition of Tata Communications Limited:
- The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved acquisition by Panatone Finvest Limited (“Acquirer”) of Tata Communications Limited (“TCL”) on 23 February 2021.
The Acquirer is a Systemically Important Non-Deposit Taking Core Investment Company (“CIC-ND-SI”) registered with the Reserved Bank of India and is a subsidiary of Tata Sons. Tata Communications Limited (TLC) is part of the Tata group.
International:
Acquisition of equity shareholding of API Holdings Private Limited:
- The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved acquisition by CDPQ Private Equity Asia Pte Ltd (‘CDPQ/Acquirer’) of equity shareholding of API Holdings Private Limited (‘API Holdings/Target’) on 23 February 2021.
The Acquirer is a wholly owned subsidiary of CDPQ and located in Singapore. API Holdings is a company incorporated in India and is the ultimate parent entity of the API Holdings group.