Latest news with #Petkar
Indian Express
23-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Paralympic legend Murlikant Petkar meets Army para-athletes
India's first Paralympic Gold Medalist and Army veteran Murlikant Rajaram Petkar on Wednesday visited the Army Paralympic Node (APN) at Bombay Engineer Group and Centre in Pune. During his visit, he interacted with para-athletes of the Indian Army, as well as patients undergoing rehabilitation at the Artificial Limb Centre, Pune and the Spinal Cord Injury Centre, Military Hospital, Khadki. Starting his sporting career as a boxer in the Indian army before sustaining bullet injuries during 1965 war, Petkar went on to win gold in Swimming in 1972 paralympics. 'His story of unmatched resilience and fortitude served as a beacon of hope and inspiration to all present. His visit was a powerful tribute to the Indian Army's enduring legacy of nurturing champions – both on the battlefield and in the sporting arena.' said a press statement from the Army. Petkar's journey is the inspiration behind Kartik Aaryan starrer Kabir Khan film, Chandu Champion. Born on November 1, 1944 at Peth Islampur area of Maharashtra's Sangli, Petkar joined the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in 1962 as a Craftsman. Petkar's sports journey began when he represented the Indian Army in Boxing at Tokyo. It was during the 1965 India Pakistan war, Petkar sustained nine bullet injuries in the Sialkot sector resulting in a permanent disability. Refusing to be held back, he transitioned to Para sports and won the gold in the 50-metre freestyle swimming event in the 1972 Summer Paralympics held at Heidelberg in Germany. 'One bullet still remains lodged in my spine as a reminder. I spent 16 months in various hospitals fighting a battle for my recovery. The doctors suggested I take up swimming to help my recovery. It soon became my passion.' Petkar had said during an interaction with the Indian Express earlier. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2018. Petkar's visit on Wednesday marked a special moment as he interacted with Subedar Hokato Sema, Bronze Medalist in Sitting Shot Put at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, and Subedar Soman Rana, Vishisht Seva Medal, a two-time Paralympian from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Petkar was felicitated by Maj Gen Anurag Vij, General Officer Commanding, Dakshin Maharashtra and Goa Sub Area, for his remarkable contributions to the nation – both in uniform and beyond. 'The Indian Army has long been a cradle for world-class athletes, supported by cutting-edge training establishments and a robust ecosystem that blends physical excellence with indomitable spirit. This event reinforced the Indian Army's commitment to training and empowering its wounded warriors to achieve excellence in sports and stood as a testament to its focus on rehabilitation through sports.' the release stated.
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
How PLM is powering the auto industry's circularity push
Imagine this: A brand-new vehicle design is nearing completion. The team is holding its breath, brimming with anticipation to unveil the creation to leadership. Suddenly, a prompt from the Product Lifecycle Management ( PLM ) system pops up - a circularity compliance check has flagged gaps. The celebration halts, and the design is pushed back into revision. This might not have been a typical scenario in the past, but not anymore. PLM has evolved. It's no longer a siloed, engineering-centric tool, nor are teams confined to working in isolated digital environments. Today, PLM systems are collaborative, intelligent, and deeply integrated across functions - from design and sourcing to sustainability and compliance. And in the automotive sector, which is among the largest consumers of raw materials and also a significant contributor to waste, the role of PLM has never been more critical. The industry is now expected to not just respond to sustainability goals but to lead them. Circularity has become a foundational principle, shaping decisions right from the concept stage, embedded within every process, and ensured at every lifecycle checkpoint. 'Our aim should be zero waste to landfill,' asserts Rajendra Petkar , President and CTO, Tata Motors , speaking at the ETAutoTech Summit 2025 held recently in Bengaluru. He emphasized that 'circular economy is no longer a distinct goal but an urgent necessity,' underlining automotive industry's growing responsibility in leading the shift towards sustainable practices. India's circular opportunity India is emerging as a global automotive giant with over 30 crore vehicles running on India roads, estimated 28 million vehicles coming every year. 'The industry has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) of over $36 billion between 2000 and 2024 with major global players either expanding their footprint in India or have a significant plan,' shares Petkar , adding that it is the time to take a strong call of execution of the circularity ambition into action. Petkar sees this as an inflection point, 'It is time to execute the circularity ambition. India is already the largest producer of two- and three-wheelers and a major player in tractors and commercial vehicles. Engineering and innovation must now translate national mandates on scrappage and waste management into action.' Indicating that the regime for scrappage of vehicles is still evolving and at a nascent stage in India, Petkar emphasises that engineering circularity must begin with design and material selection. At the end of a vehicle's life (ELV), the recyclability of its components depends on whether original material properties and part relationships have been preserved. 'Leveraging modular product design, reuse-friendly components, easy dismantling, and sorting at ELV stations, choosing renewable over the natural materials, and avoiding use of toxic materials, and harmful materials like lead and asbestos are key enablers,' he explains. 'We need to build a holistic approach that is broad-based across areas of technologies for waste management, upstream material selection and product development processes. These should be engagement equations of stakeholders for profitable business growth. Organisations need to have a design manual or a PLM kind of IT system that will actually prompt the designers to check whether principles of circularity have been deployed as part of a new design.' Building intelligent circular systems Prof. Deepu Philip , Professor at Department of Management Sciences (DoMS), IIT Kanpur , reinforces the importance of intelligent PLM systems. 'By embedding circularity into PLM systems, the automotive sector can significantly reduce material waste, improve supply chain resilience, build intelligent products, minimize concept-to-market time, and meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations. This leadership will also encourage other industries like semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, industrial goods, etc., to follow, making PLM a key enabler of global sustainability goals.' Traditionally, PLM managed a product from concept through design, manufacturing, and end-of-life. However, in a circular economy, PLM must also support material traceability, responsible sourcing, and the reuse, recycling, and recovery of materials across multiple product lifecycles. 'Today, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasingly approaching product development with recyclability and reusability in mind from the early concept phase no longer as an afterthought. This shift is driven by sustainability goals, regulatory requirements, and growing consumer awareness,' says Vivek Salvi , Senior Sales Director, Customer Process Experience, Dassault Systèmes India. Adds, Kunal Kulkarni , Vertical Practice Director – Digital, Tata Technologies, 'PLM has developed from serving as a 'single source of truth' to supporting the creation of circular and environmentally conscious products. As customer preferences shift towards products with reduced environmental impact, automotive OEMs are investing in technologies that facilitate recycling and reuse of components, which can lessen the demand for entirely new parts within the supply chain.' Salvi highlights the value of virtual twins - real-time digital representations of products that enhances cross-functional collaboration, allows teams to simulate and analyse the product's performance, material flow, and environmental impact before physical production begins. 'This not only reduces waste and cost but also supports smarter decisions related to design for durability, repairability, and end-of-life recovery.' The regulatory pulse Around the world, regulatory and policy frameworks are evolving to drive circularity practices. From the EU's ELV Directive to state-level mandates and the strengthening of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules, governments are sending strong signals. India has responded with the National Vehicle Scrappage Policy, EPR mandates across six material categories, and Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 129, which provides guidance for the safe dismantling and recycling of ELVs with a focus on environmental protection. However, execution remains uneven. The ecosystem for ELV recycling is still nascent in India. There is limited awareness, a lack of well-distributed scrapping infrastructure, and inconsistent enforcement. The result is unregulated scrapping, low recycling efficiency, and massive untapped potential in recovering valuable materials. 'Increasing vehicle recycling rate, investment in organised scrapping facilities and execution of various policy initiatives is paramount,' says Petkar. A Circular Renaissance 'Over the next decade, linear models will give way to circular innovations,' says Gilroy Mathew , Senior Vice President & Global Head – Engineering Services, UST. 'Vehicles will re-enter the value chain—tracked, optimised, and reborn. This isn't just evolution. It's a renaissance in how we design, produce, and recirculate mobility.' Today, modern vehicles are a combination of composites, polymers, metals and fluids that are chosen as per their performance and functionality based on strength, weight, cost and safety. 'While many materials are recyclable, others pose challenges that requires industry-academia and innovation labs collaboration to improve recoverability and recyclability across various material types,' says Petkar. Petkar outlines four levels of circularity – L1, L2, L3, and L4. While L1 is about extending the useful life of products through reuse, repair, and maintenance, and it encourages designing products for durability, modularity and easy repair; L2 is about repurposing and remanufacturing wherein repurposing means using a product or material for a different function, or application, than originally intended, and remanufacturing is a process of restoring used products or components to give them a new life kind of a condition. L3 is of recycle and recover that highlights closing of material loops recycling waste into the raw materials. It aims to transform waste streams into valuable inputs for new production cycle, reducing landfill, and resource depletion. L4 is highest in the framework aimed at minimising resource consumption and waste generation from its outset. 'This is about doing more with less, but it should not change the leaner nature of production and consumption,' he exclaims. The Future of PLM Automotive OEMs are developing technical solutions by integrating multiple systems and refining new product introduction (NPI) quality processes to assess environmental impacts and work towards sustainability objectives. These efforts aim to help automotive companies retain competitiveness and deliver products aligned with future sustainability expectations. 'Key parameters in PLM applications that support sustainability include integration of material standards within product design software, enabling designers to select alternative materials that align with carbon reduction targets while meeting cost requirements, connecting digital manufacturing processes to enable 'what-if' analyses and carry out cradle-to-grave lifecycle assessments, and ongoing improvement in design by integrating data from mechanical, electronics, software, and simulation sources with circularity objectives,' says Kulkarni. 'The future of PLM lies in becoming an enterprise-wide, intelligent data platform that not only accelerates innovation but embeds sustainability into every product decision. The automotive industry, with its scale and global influence, is poised to lead the circularity movement by leveraging PLM to manage materials, processes, and partners with sustainability and reuse at the core' exclaims Salvi.
