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The Hindu
14-07-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Breaking into top-50 is the main target: Anahat
The 17-year-old Indian squash sensation Anahat Singh, who recently won the u-19, women's doubles, and mixed doubles Asian titles, played her maiden senior World championships in Chicago in May this year. She reached the second round, beating American Marina Stefanoni (World No. 26) and losing to Egyptian Fayrouz Aboelkheir (World No. 13). Shortly after the Worlds, she won the women's and mixed doubles National titles with Joshna Chinappa and Abhay Singh, respectively, at the Indian Squash and Triathlon Academy (ISTA) in Chennai. On the first day of the event, Anahat, who later in June was honoured with the Women's Challenger Player of the Season and the Women's Young Player of the Season awards for the 2024-25 season, spoke about her World championships experience and the key takeaways from it, training with her coach and former men's World No. 1 Gregory Gaultier, and her goals for now. Excerpts: How was your maiden senior World championships experience? I mean, the experience was really good. I got to be around all the top players. It's the biggest event of the year, and just getting to see what it's like as well. Going into the tournament, I knew it wasn't really much of a pressure to win. It was more of just going and doing my best. But along with that, I knew I had a chance to put on a performance as well. So, I put in my 100%, and I tried in the second match as well. But my first match was extremely tough. So, I wasn't fully recovered. But yes, I'm happy with how the whole tournament went. What are the major takeaways from the event? I think just getting to see what it's like — how the senior players (go about it). I mean, I've not really gotten to be at tournaments, and see what they're like and how they're playing their matches. And I think playing at a tournament like the World Championships is completely different to playing at a normal PSA event. The whole mentality is different. It's one of the last events of the year. Just getting to see how the top players are reacting, even when their body's extremely tired and how they're coping up with it. It's just that I'm still quite young. There's still a lot for me to learn on and off the court from them. Did you get to interact with any top players there? Did anyone give you any memorable advice? A few of them said I played well and that I've improved a lot since they had last seen me. And my coach Gregory Gaultier (France, currently resides in Prague) is a former World No. 1. He's training a lot of the top players like the women's World No. 2 (Egyptian Nour El Sherbini), who won the World championship as well. He's overseeing a few of the top-10 players as well. I was able to spend a lot of time with them and once again see what it's like for them playing at one of these events, and how it's different for me and different for them. What key differences did you see between you and the top players? Obviously, the experience (they have) is on another level. I don't really have much of that right now. But besides that, I'd say the strength that they have on the court. I'm still working on that. I've not really gotten to it yet. I've not had much time to do it. But yes, that's something I've been trying to figure out — how to fix a little bit of that and work towards it a bit more for the past few years. I don't really like to warm up and cool down, and everyone has been saying that it's really important. Actually, just the game is only like 20% of it. Besides that, there's a lot more to it. So yes, I think just a few things like that have helped me a lot as well. What does your coach Gaultier bring to the table? Has he brought about any specific changes to your game? There wouldn't be anything specific. But I think overall, my game has definitely improved a lot. Just the confidence I'm feeling when I'm going into court, because when I go to Prague and train with him, I only play with people who are a lot better than I am compared to when I'm in Delhi, where it's people who are a bit worse or even the same level as me. I think just getting to play with people who are a lot better than me has improved my game a lot overall. It's given me confidence to play at the top events as well. How often do you visit Prague and train with him? It's whenever I get the chance, honestly. Because, I don't really get much time. I have school going on as well, so I don't really get too much time to go. But whenever I'm playing a tournament which is maybe in the Europe area, or if I have a big tournament coming up, like the World championships, I make time to go for at least a week; or if in the middle of two tournaments, I get to go and just train with him for a few days, that's also really helpful. You've said that you like to watch videos of your opponents before facing them. Did that help in your first-round match against Stefanoni, or were there a lot of nerves? No, I wouldn't say I was really nervous. But yes, I've been watching whoever I play. It's something that I always do, even if I know I'm going to win — I still do it. Because, it's just important to see what you're going to do inside the court as well. It definitely helps in getting to know what the player is going to do with you. And people's game styles are very different. It's always good to be familiar with the way they're playing as well. In that match against Stefanoni, you were trailing 1-2 before going on to win 3-2. So, how did you manage to cope and make a comeback in the contest? I mean, I had heard about her. Obviously, she's a top-30 player. So, I had seen her play for the past couple of months as well, and she's been doing extremely well. Her ranking has gone up to the top-30 very recently. And I knew I was going to be in for a battle. It wouldn't have been easy at all. I'd say our games are quite similar, but she runs a lot and so do I. But I think she runs a bit more than I do. I realised that I needed to just incorporate my shots as well and play my best. I didn't really go in thinking too much about it. I just went in and played the best I possibly could. What goals have you set for yourself now? I don't think there are too many PSAs lined up for the rest of the season. I have the World Juniors coming up. So, hopefully a medal at or even win the World Juniors. I've been thinking about that for the past three years. I've lost in the quarters every single time. I hope I can break the curse this time around. I'm not in the top-50 (currently ranked World No. 54) yet, and I got into the top-100 just at the beginning of this year. So, I mean, I'm pretty close to it (top-50) now, but there are not many PSA tournaments coming up. So, it might take some time, but that's the main goal (breaking into the top-50) for the rankings.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CS Analytical Laboratory Announces Expansion to their Package Distribution Testing Service Fully Operational
The ability for CS Analytical to simulate real-world environmental stressors such as temperature, pressure, and vibration, in tandem, is a gamechanger for science and risk-based product-package development of unique biological products currently on and coming to market. CLIFTON, N.J., May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CS Analytical Laboratory, the world's only FDA regulated contract laboratory exclusively dedicated to providing regulatory solutions and testing services specifically for drug product and medical device package systems, is excited to announce that the major expansion program ASTM D4169-22 and ISTA Package Distribution Testing services is now fully operational. Based upon the installation and qualification of new equipment to include a custom-made, large-scale Lansmont Vibration test platform fitted with a uniquely designed Abbess Temperature, Relative Humidity and Altitude chamber that enables comprehensive, multimodal, and real-time simulated distribution testing for unique, high-risk, or high-value product types and package systems. In addition, CS Analytical will continue to offer its suite of services specific to routine ISTA Series 2/3/6 and ASTM D4169-22 distribution testing services to their pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device clients. As noted by Brandon Zuralow, CS Analytical COO, "To remain relevant for our client base, we must continue to offer services that enable clients to meet the ever-changing and often complicated regulatory requirements and best practices for their container and package systems. The CS Analytical Team is committed to this endeavor as evidenced by this expansion to our current service offering." Traditionally, these environmental factors would be independently evaluated through conditioning, vibration, and altitude testing. For certain products such as cell and gene therapies, with their small-batch / high-value nature and unique shipment requirements, or proteinaceous products susceptible to aggregation, testing to current standards may risk over- or under-testing relative to what is experienced in the real world. Evaluating these factors in tandem provides a more accurate picture of the performance of the product-package under realistic transport conditions. "Package distribution testing for these types of products can be challenging. Existing standards may result in over- or under-testing relative to real world distribution networks. For clients in this position, real-world, non-simulated testing is often performed, which is both time and cost intensive," commented Alex Goldberg, CS Analytical Laboratory Analyst and Project Lead. "The ability to simulate this in the laboratory is a gamechanger for efficiency, as well as science and risk-based product-package development." Currently, many companies that require this type of testing are performing it real-time by sending actual product through existing shipment channels. This quickly becomes time and cost prohibitive, especially when design changes are required. Having a service provider that can replicate this type of testing in a laboratory setting will offer huge time and cost savings. Additionally, since the equipment is fully programmable, clients who have mapped the actual temperature, pressure, and vibratory profiles of their distribution channels can recreate them in the lab, simulating the exact stressors experienced in the field. The CS Analytical Team currently offers complete ASTM D4169-22 and ISTA Certified testing for common or unique primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging components and systems. However, distribution testing is just one element of successful product-package development and validation. CS Analytical offers a host of support and complementary testing programs that ensure all aspects of the regulatory requirements are met for any type of container system in a comprehensive manner. Whether a traditional solid oral dose in an HDPE bottle, a unique drug delivery system, a challenging and oversized IV bag system, the CS Analytical Team has the knowledge and hands-on experience to develop a qualification test program that ensures all development goals and regulatory compliance factors are met. About CS Analytical Laboratory The only FDA regulated, cGMP laboratory dedicated exclusively to the complex world of drug and medical device container and package qualification testing, the CS Analytical Team includes the world's leading experts on all relevant USP and EP requirements and the thought leaders and pioneers on CCI (container closure integrity – CCI) testing. Offering a full suite of laboratory services to include all USP, EP and JP procedures specific to glass, plastic and elastomers as well as complete USP 1207 services that span basic feasibility studies, component qualification programs and advanced method development and validation for helium leak testing, vacuum decay, high voltage and headspace analysis leak testing. CS Analytical is the one source that can ensure your medical product container and package system meets the strict and complex regulatory requirements. Please contact us at engage@ if you have any questions. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE CS Analytical
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Top seeds have it easy in men's and women's sections
Men's top seeds Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar beat Joel Dhinakaran and Lakshmana Hari 11-2, 11-1 in the first round while women's top seeds Joshna Chinappa and Anahat Singh defeated V. Deepika and Janet Vidhi 11-5, 11-5 in the third round of the HCL National doubles squash championship at the Indian Squash and Triathlon Academy (ISTA) here on Tuesday. Joshna and Anahat clinched five consecutive points in the first game to make it 8-2 from 3-2. Deepika and Janet saved two match points before going down. Other results (third round): Women: Pooja Arthi and S. Rathika bt Sahana and Sangamitra 11-2, 11-1. Mixed: Velavan Senthilkumar and Joshna Chinappa bt Guhan Senthilkumar and Aradhana Kasturiraj 11-8, 11-3; Rahul Baitha and Anjali Semwal bt Kalimuthu and Ananya Narayan 11-9, 9-11, 12-10; Suraj Chand and Pooja Arthi bt Pradeep Choudhary and Nina Bose 11-2, 11-4.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Europe's startup scene sees an opening against Silicon Valley
VIENNA — Alexander Schwartz wasn't expecting two veteran innovation investors to show up at his Klosterneuburg office this spring, asking how to plot their escape from the U.S. After two decades in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the pair had decided it was time to come home. 'They told me, 'It doesn't feel right over there anymore. Some of the opportunities are just gone,'' said Schwartz, who works at Xista, an innovation hub just outside Vienna. 'But they see a window of opportunity here,' Schwartz said of Europe. President Donald Trump's return to the White House is starting to redraw the global tech map. As the U.S. tightens immigration rules and slashes research funding, Europe's startup scene — long overshadowed by Silicon Valley — is trying to seize a rare opening. From Vienna to Brussels, investors and policymakers see a chance to catch the talent, capital, and startups that once might have defaulted to the U.S. tech hub. Schwartz isn't seeing a sudden flood of inquiries, and he doesn't expect U.S. researchers and founders to abandon ship overnight. But as someone connected to both the startup scene through Xista and the research community at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), which shares a campus and some resources with Xista, he's noticing the conversation shifting. (Some reporting for this article was conducted as part of a journalism residency funded by ISTA). 'People who would normally go to the U.S., some of those are either scared away or don't have the opportunity anymore,' Schwartz said. 'That's where we can step in and redirect that flow of talent and entrepreneurial people into Europe.' European governments aren't waiting for the talent to find them on its own. In Vienna, officials have fast-tracked efforts to turn Austria into a safe haven for U.S.-based researchers, offering accelerated hiring, research funding, and even proposing legal tweaks to make it easier for threatened scientists to land positions. Norway has launched a 100 million kroner (about $9.64 million) fund to actively poach top academics, while France, Belgium, and the Netherlands have opened new scientific asylum programs for scholars fleeing the Trump-era chill. For Brussels, the Trump shock has added urgency to long-simmering debates about Europe's economic independence. In March, the European Commission announced its long-awaited Savings and Investments Union strategy, a plan to deepen the bloc's capital markets and make it easier for companies — especially startups — to raise money at home rather than fleeing to U.S. exchanges. The push builds on recommendations from the Draghi report, commissioned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which warned that Europe risks falling permanently behind unless it builds stronger homegrown tech and innovation ecosystems. Padraig Nolan, an advisory board member at the Europe Startup Nations Alliance, said Europe's deeper challenge is self-inflicted: a fragmented market and a chronic failure to help startups scale. 'The Trump curveball has really hit the reset button on the global economy, and for Europe in particular it's even more important now to stop relying on tech providers from other regions,' said Nolan, also a nonresident fellow at Strategic Analysis and Policy Advice, or SAPA, a think tank focused on European competitiveness and innovation policy. 'We have great startups here, but the problem is getting them to scale,' Nolan said. 'The successful ones often move to the U.S., where the bigger rounds of funding are, and the pathways to scale are clearer.' Europe's over-reliance on bank loans for startup financing has long been a drag, he said, with venture capital and private equity markets still shallow compared to what companies find across the Atlantic. Even European-born companies such as Spotify (SPOT) and Stripe had to look to the U.S. to scale, Nolan said, because that's where the bigger funding rounds are. 'If Europe's pension funds were investing in our own startups instead of sending 90% of that money abroad, that would be a game changer,' he said. 'But right now, we're still not there.' The E.U.'s new Savings and Investments Union is meant to change that by finally creating a true Capital Markets Union — something Brussels has been promising since 2014. But Nolan warned that the same old hurdles remain — political gridlock, protectionism, and national governments reluctant to see their pension funds used to back startups in other E.U. countries. For startups trying to grow beyond their home country, Europe's tangled bureaucracy remains a major headache. Nolan pointed to his own experience as an Irish founder based in Lisbon. Even to open an office in Germany, he said, entrepreneurs still have to show up in person, navigate local bureaucracy, set up a bank account, and sit through legal procedures. Germany still requires a notary to read all the company's legal documents aloud in German — even if the founders don't understand the language. 'It's not very logical,' Nolan said. The burden of regulation is also weighing on Europe's startup ambitions. Nowhere is that more apparent than in artificial intelligence, where Europe has moved aggressively to impose rules on companies. But critics warn the E.U.'s approach risks smothering the very innovation it aims to guide. Alexandra Ebert, who works with policymakers and OECD working groups on AI governance,, said the E.U.'s ambitious AI Act is already creating new friction for startups. 'It's not only the GDPR or the AI Act,' said Ebert, who is also chief AI and data democratization officer at the Vienna-based startup MOSTLY AI. 'There's the Data Act, the Data Governance Act, the Digital Market Act, the Digital Services Act, basically 80 of these massive regulations and directives already in effect or about to be. They regulate AI, data, and the digital economy, and it's just way too complex for an economic ecosystem to thrive in.' Europe's bet is that stricter rules will give its companies an edge in trustworthy AI. But Ebert warned that regulation alone won't close the innovation gap with the U.S. and China. 'Europe knows it can't rely on innovation from the U.S. and China alone,' she said. 'We need to build our own competency but there's still a lot of work to do to get there.' She sees one potential game changer on the horizon: military spending. Russia's war against Ukraine has triggered a surge in European defense budgets, and Ebert believes this could become an unexpected catalyst for innovation. In the U.S., decades of military spending helped drive breakthroughs like the internet and GPS. Ebert said the same could happen in Europe — if governments rethink how they award contracts and bring startups into the fold. 'If Europe can channel that spending into building a broader ecosystem, not just funding incumbents, it could help kickstart the kind of innovation loop we've long been missing,' she said. Despite Europe's push to stand on its own, the U.S. still casts a long shadow over the startup world. Ebert said most companies are in a wait-and-see position, reluctant to make new investments as U.S. instability ripples through global markets. 'There's a high degree of unpredictability,' she said, 'and this usually means that money is not as freely flowing as in a very stable economy.' For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Chicago Tribune
06-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Merrillville building trades teacher honored with state award
Those who know Terrell Taylor, Merrillville High School building trades instructor, know he is seldom at a loss for words. That was nearly the case on Tuesday as a surprised and clearly emotional Taylor was presented the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) Minority Educator of the Year award. Taylor said the honor came as a completely unexpected but wonderful surprise, one kept from him by even his wife, Dr. Marnita Taylor, executive director of curriculum and instruction at Merrillville schools. 'My three words: God is good,' Taylor said after the announcement. Taking part in the award presentation to Taylor was Bob Phelps, the school's Career & Technical Education Director; Jennifer Smith-Margraf, vice president of ISTA; and high school principal Michael Krutz. 'Mr. Taylor is a role model and an advocate for diversity in the trades which has opened doors for the underrepresented students in the construction trades industry. Terrell brings his industry experience, commitment to education and gigantic heart to work with him everyday which makes him a great choice for this award. On behalf of the high school and central office, congratulations Mr. Taylor,' Phelps said. Taylor, upon accepting the award, gave credit to his students: 'these young individuals lift me up.' 'He (Phelps) said I'm a role model. I'm not a role model. Some days I'm a good example; some days I'm a bad example. I don't want these kids to be like me. I want them to be better than me. By exposing myself to them transparently, I give them that opportunity,' Taylor said. He added: 'My responsibility being here is to give them unconditional love and I do that everyday. I do that everyday.' Smith-Margraf spoke of Taylor's very successful career in the construction trades before deciding to give back to his community by becoming an educator and helping train students and build up their confidence in the field he chose as his passion. 'Since he has taken over the building trades, it's my understanding that it has become one of the most popular classes here at MHS because of the positive relationships he has built with your students, the dynamic atmosphere he has created in the classrooms and the partnerships he has built with community members to create internships and other opportunities for your students,' she said. Taylor, whose wife, Marnita, was among those fellow educators who were there for the presentation, made history in 2004 when he and Richard Hardaway became the first blacks to serve on the Merrillville Town Council. Taylor said he had served in the construction industry for 31 years before deciding he wanted to go into teaching. He has served as an instructor for the past six years. 'My passion was construction and I found my purpose in teaching. To have those align is more than a calling,' Taylor said. He is also the founder of the Merrillville Education Foundation. The Taylors have two adult children and three grandchildren.
