বর্ধমানের আউসগ্রামের দরিয়াপুর - ডোকরা শিল্পগ্রাম

বর্ধমানের রাজা কীর্তিচাঁদের বানানো জলটুঙ্গি ঘুরতে গিয়ে খোঁজ পাই বাংলার এই প্রাচীন শিল্পকলার। যদিও ডোকরার ইতিহাস ৪০০০-৪৫০০ বছরের পুরোনো এবং সেই অর্থে ডোকরা খাঁটি বাংলার শিল্পকলা নয়। জলটুঙ্গি থেকে মাত্র ৫ কিলোমিটার দূরে দরিয়াপুর। 

ডোকরা হল ভারতবর্ষের অন্যতম পুরোনো আদিবাসী শিল্পকলা যার ইতিহাস প্রায় ৪৫০০ বছরের। মনে করা হয় ‘হারানো মোম ঢালাই’ পদ্ধতির (Lost or vanishing wax casting method) এই শিল্পকর্মের বিকাশ ভারতে প্রথম ঘটেছিল মধ্যপ্রদেশের বস্তার অঞ্চলে ডোকরা-ডামার উপজাতি মানুষদের হাতে। তাঁদের নামেই এই শিল্পের নাম 'ডোকরা'। কথিত আছে প্রায় ৩০০০ বছর আগে বস্তারের রাজা তাঁর রাণীর জন্য ডোকরার গয়না তৈরি করিয়েছিলেন। তবে সিন্ধু সভ্যতার শহর মহেঞ্জদোড়োতে প্রাপ্ত "ড্যান্সিং গার্ল" বা "নৃত্যরত নারী মূর্তি" হল ডোকরা শিল্পের এক প্রাচীন নিদর্শন। কাজেই এই শিল্পের মূলধারা কোথায় সে বিষয়ে যথেষ্ট তর্কবিতর্ক আছে।  

Tareq Amin Lands on Aramco Digital to Continue His Dream for OpenRAN

Back in 2020, O-RAN was just more than a concept, I covered its advantages and how Indian operators could be beneficial by embracing it. The post also covers the importance of 5Gi or Desi 5G for the operators as they were ditching Chinese vendors. This move to ditch Chinese vendors was also appreciated by American politicians. 

However more than 1 year after 5G launch in the country, none of the operators deployed OpenRAN ecosystem. Though all three - Jio, Airtel and Vi had explored O-RAN based networks before the 5G launch. 

Brookfield Acquires ATC India's Assets

Brookfield has acquired 100% of American Tower Corp (ATC)'s Indian unit for $2.5-billion valuation as announced on January 4, 2024. ATC India is the one of the leading independent Passive Telecom Infrastructure Providers in India. The acquisition is expected to be completed by Q2 of 2024. 

ATC India started its journey in 2007 by erecting towers for mobile operators in Orissa and Bihar. After that ATC India continued its growth by acquisition of other companies - Xcel Telecom (May 2009), Transcend Infrastructure (November 2009), Essar Telecom Infrastructure (February 2010), Viom Networks (majority stake in April 2016; complete acquisition in April 2019), Vodafone Tower Holdings (April 2018) Idea Cellular Infrastructure Services Ltd (ICISL) (May 2018). 

Battle of Colas: Thums Up vs Coke vs Campa Cola vs Pepsi

India's soft drink market is into a tension as country's richest man Mukesh Ambani has re-launched Campa in India, a new rival in the soft drink market. Campa is being available in three variants - Cola, Lemon and Orange. 

EV in India - List of 2 Wheeler Makers

Electric Vehicles are seem to be the cars from the future. But already several home grown companies developed two-wheelers and cars for Indian populations. 

Tata Motors seems to be the king of EV car market - they have Tata Tiago EV, Tata Nexon EV, Tata Nexon EV Max, Tata Nexon EV Prime and upcoming Tata Altroz EV as 4 wheelers EV offerings. They also launched Punch.ev. 

Other mainstream EV cars available in India - MG ZS EV, Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia EV6 and upcoming Mahindra XUV400. 

There are some cars from premium car makers like Posche, Mercedes, BMW, Byd - all are priced more than 30 lakhs. 

Jio Adds SpaceFiber to Deliver Gigabits in Remote Areas, Partner SES in Trouble with O3b mPower Fleet

It's time to grace SATCOM as it goes masses. Country's largest telecom player Reliance Jio and Luxembourg-based satellite communications company SES backed 'Jio Space Technology Limited' (51:49) had demonstrated capabilities of JioSpaceFiber services at Mobile Congress India's conference on 27th October, 2023. Jio Satellite was formed in February 2022. 

As of now only Bharti backed OneWeb & Jio Space Technology holds the global mobile personal communications. 

Aviation India - June to August 2023 Updates

The civil aviation industry in India has seen remarkable growth after pandemic. As experts predict, Indian aviation will accommodate 430 million additional air passenger journeys by 2040 compared to 2019.

India's aviation market saw an extra ordinary in January 2022, as government sells Air India to Tata group. Once Tatas founded and owned this airlines and again it is in their hands. 

Post Covid era, aviation business is booming as travel is now easier and safer.