Rohit Sharma clears fitness test at NCA, to leave for Australia on Dec 14
New Delhi, Dec 11: Senior India batsman Rohit Sharma on Friday cleared an eagerly-watched fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and will leave for Australia on December 14, three days before the start of the marquee Test series against the world's number one team.
Rohit had sustained a hamstring injury during the IPL, which led to him missing the white-ball leg of the ongoing tour. He is also out of reckoning for the first two Tests but can now be there for the last two games.
"Rohit has cleared the fitness Test and will soon be flying out to Australia," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Rohit's fitness test took place under the supervision of NCA director Rahul Dravid, who is entrusted with the responsibility of giving him his fitness certificate.
As per the Australian government's rules, the star batsman will have to undergo a mandatory 14 days of hard quarantine before being able to train for the last two Tests in Sydney (Jan 7 to 11) and Brisbane (Jan 15 to 19).
He is flying straight to Sydney and will get a week's training there.
There had been confusion around Rohit's status over the past few weeks. Captain Virat Kohli spoke about a lack of clarity on the issue that has been full of intrigue ever since he injured his left hamstring during a league match while playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
The injury, which forced him out of four IPL games, prompted the national selectors to not consider him for the Australian tour.
Omitted from the squad for the much-anticipated tour, he soon returned to lead his franchise in the remainder of the lucrative league, adding to the curiosity.
On November 9, the BCCI provided an update on his status, saying the selectors had kept Rohit out of only the limited-overs leg for him to "regain full fitness" for the Test series.
But the white-ball vice-captain came to Mumbai instead of travelling straight to Australia with his national teammates after leading Indians to IPL title triumph in the UAE.
The BCCI then issued another press release on November 26, a day after Kohli claimed he did not know why Rohit had not done his rehab in Australia, stating that the reason behind the opener coming back to India was his father's illness.
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Vice President Radhakrishnan unveils drone to tranquilise elephants
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): A drone designed to tranquilise violent elephants without close human contact, recently unveiled by Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, marks a significant milestone in the use of indigenous UAV technology for human-wildlife conflict mitigation, the manufacturing company said.
The unveiling of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took place on Sunday in the presence of Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism Suresh Gopi, underscoring the national importance of integrating advanced aerial systems into wildlife protection efforts, the company said in a release.
"The customised drone is engineered to support safe and precise elephant darting operations by enabling aerial-assisted tranquilisation with enhanced accuracy.
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"The system significantly reduces on-ground risk to forest personnel, minimises disturbance to wildlife, and improves operational efficiency during critical interventions involving distressed or conflict-prone elephants," it said.
It further said that nearly a decade ago, the platform marked the first drone designed by Garuda Aerospace for the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
"The latest customised solution represents the culmination of years of field learning, technological upgrades, and mission-focused research and development," it said.
It also said that in the past, Garuda Aerospace has supplied multiple drones to leading conservation bodies, including the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), along with several forest departments across India.
"These deployments have supported wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching operations, habitat mapping, and rapid-response missions in ecologically sensitive regions," the release said.
Speaking on the occasion, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and Director of Garuda Aerospace, said that witnessing the Vice President unveil an evolved, customised solution for drone-aided elephant darting was "deeply fulfilling".
"Our journey has been built on incremental innovation—continuously enhancing our technology to responsibly serve wildlife conservation. We remain committed to creating indigenous solutions that protect both animals and communities," he was quoted as saying.
As India continues to address the growing challenges of human-elephant conflict, drone-assisted darting offers a safer, more efficient, and humane alternative to traditional ground-based approaches, Garuda Aerospace, a drone tech start-up, has said.
