Union minister for road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari has unveiled Switch EiV 22, India’s first electric double-decker air-conditioned bus, in Mumbai (18th August 2022).

 

The electric bus was designed, developed and manufactured in India by Switch Mobility, Ashok Leyland’s electric vehicle arm.

 

The double decker has a lightweight aluminium body construction that provides higher passenger-to-weight ratio and a competitive cost per km, per passenger..

Source : Mint

Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, 18th Aug 2022 launched the Online Market Place feature "Aqua Bazar" in the “MatsyaSetu” mobile app during the 9th general body meeting of the National Fisheries Development Board(NFDB). 

 

The app was developed by the ICAR-Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar, with the funding support of the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad through the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). 

 

The online marketplace will help the fish farmers and stakeholders to source the inputs such as fish seeds, feed, medicines, etc., and services required for fish culture as well as farmers can also list their table-size fish for sale. The marketplace aims to connect all stakeholders in the aquaculture sector.

 

While addressing the gathering, Shri ParshottamRupala, Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, stated that capacity building of fish farmers should be given top priority. Intensive training courses should be organized and exposure visits should be organized for the farmers.

 

Shri L. Murugan, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry in his address told that the Government for the first time under the AzadikaAmritMahotsav has taken up promotion of Startup by the entrepreneurs to achieve the targeted fish production.

 

Shri Sanjeev Balyan, Minister of State for Fisheries Animal Husbandry stressed that the newer generation entrepreneurs should come forward to fulfill the growing fish demand in the country..

Source : PIB

Bajaj Electricals on Tuesday(16th August 2022) elevated its Executive Director "Anuj Poddar" to Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

 

The company has separated the post of Chairman & Managing Director and its patron Shekhar Bajaj will continue as Executive Chairman of the company, said a statement from Bajaj Electricals.

 

"The separation of the Chairman and Managing Director positions is in continuation of the professionalisation of the management of the company and marks the company's commitment to strong corporate governance standards," said Bajaj Electricals.

 

This announcement comes on the back of the ongoing transformation journey and keeping in mind the company's long-term strategy, it added.

 

"Over the last three years, Bajaj Electricals has undertaken multiple initiatives, including strengthening of the leadership, streamlining of its corporate structure, the turnaround of its performance and balance sheet and the planned demerger of the EPC business," it said.

 

Bajaj Electricals Chairman Shekhar Bajaj said over the last few years a significant transformation journey has been embarked at Bajaj Electricals involving many changes on the business as well as the organisational front.

 

Bajaj Electricals, part of business conglomerate Bajaj Group, had a turnover of Rs 4,813 crore in FY22. Its business portfolio spans consumer products such as appliances, fans, lighting and EPC (illumination, power transmission and power distribution)..

Source : Business Standard

For the first time since it started operations in January 2015, Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines joint venture Vistara has become the second biggest airline by domestic market share in July 2022. The carrier’s market share was 10.4 per cent in the month when it flew 1.01 million passengers.

Full service Vistara followed market leader IndiGo which owned a 58.8 per cent share. Vistara bagging the second spot is a big thing in itself as the the number two slot was rotating between SpiceJet, Go First and Air India for the past few months.

According to data from the aviation regulator, Vistara controlled 7.5 per cent of the market in January and was around 9 per cent in the subsequent months.

Following IndiGo and Vistara on the list were Air India, Go First, SpiceJet which were separated by just decimal points. While the Tata-owned Air India owned 8.4 per cent market share, up from 7.5 per cent in June; Go First was at 8.2 per cent and SpiceJet at 8 per cent..

Source : Times now News

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on 18 August 2022 announced that 'Dahi-Handi' will now be recognised as an official sport in the state. He also said that "Pro-Dahi-Handi" competitions will be introduced in the state.

 

Speaking on the occasion of Janmashtami, Shinde said, "'Dahi-Handi' will be recognised under the sports category in Maharashtra. 'Pro-Dahi-Handi' will be introduced. The 'Govindas' will get jobs under the sports category. We will provide insurance cover of ₹10 lakhs for all 'Govindas'."

 

Apart from this, if any Govinda loses his life, an insurance of ₹10 lakhs will be provided and ₹5 lakhs if they end up being partially handicapped, he said. "These Govinda's will get reservations in jobs too," he added.

 

Citing 'Dahi-Handi' as adventurous sport, he said that the decision was taken.

 

'Dahi-Handi' – also known as 'Gopalakala' – is a ritual in which devotees of Lord Krishna recreate the famous act of 'Maakhan Chori' or butter stealing which is one of the many mischievous acts from the Lord's childhood stories. It is observed on the next day of Janamashtami.

 

The Janamashtami festival is celebrated by Hindus to mark the birth of Lord Krishna and as per the Hindu calendar Lord Krishna was born on the eighth day of the month of Bhadra..

Source : Mint

Scotland will on Monday(15th Aug 2022) become the first country in the world to ensure universal access to free period products following the passing of landmark legislation in 2020.

 

Councils and education providers will be legally required to make period products available free of charge to anyone who needs them, the Scottish government said in a statement issued Sunday(14th Aug 2022).

 

"Providing access to free period products is fundamental to equality and dignity, and removes the financial barriers to accessing them," said Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison.

 

"We are proud to be the first national government in the world to take such action," she added.

 

The Scottish parliament voted unanimously in favour of the Period Products Bill, which made it a legal right to have free access to sanitary products in public buildings, in November 2020.

 

Sanitary products were already free for pupils and students, but the bill placed a legal duty on ministers to ensure anyone can get access to them..

Source : Hindustan Times

Tata Consultancy Services has partnered with Five Star Bank, a subsidiary of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI), on its digital transformation journey, helping it determine lending risk and deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences using the TCS Customer Intelligence & Insights (CI&I) analytics platform.

 

Five Star Bank is a premier provider of consumer and commercial lending services across Central and Western New York. The bank was looking for a solution that provides contextual customer insights to help them better meet customer expectations and drive competitive differentiation.

 

TCS will leverage the AI-powered CI&I platform's real-time contextual engagement capabilities to help the bank gain insights to avoid attrition blind spots and drive omnichannel customer personalization.

 

The bank will receive critical out-of-the-box AI/ML driven insights and self-serve customer and marketing analytics use cases enabling its relationship managers to gain deep insights on individual customers through 360 analytic profiles like sentiment score, churn score, product white space, customer persona, segments, transaction profiles, and calls to action.

 

CI&I includes a KPI-based alert framework to notify key stakeholders when customer thresholds have been reached, such as credit scores, account value, or life events..

Source : Business Standard

World Humanitarian Day is celebrated on August 19 every year to recognise all aid and health workers who volunteer to help victims of disasters and crises against all odds. The day aims to spread awareness about the need for humanitarian assistance worldwide. The UN hopes that the day will serve as a reminder to people of the risk taken by some to save lives and support humanitarian causes.

 

World Humanitarian Day History : A bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers on August 19, 2003. The lives taken away included the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years after this, the UNGA adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day (WHD).

 

WHD is a campaign by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

 

World Humanitarian Day Significance : The affected people themselves are the first to respond whenever a disaster strikes. There is also a global community that lends its support to the recovery. Such people remain far away from any limelight and do not even make it to the headlines. They just come together to ease suffering and bring hope. The day is an attempt to honour the efforts and contributions of such humanitarians from all around the world..

Source : News18

World Photography Day is commemorated every year on 19 August. On this day, photography enthusiasts come together to celebrate this beautiful art.

 

The devices used for taking photographs have gone through dramatic developments in technology. But the essence and language of photography has remained the same. Photography is a wonderful way to capture and immortalise the moments.

 

The theme of World Photography Day 2022 : This year on the eve of World Photography Day, the theme that went viral in 2022 is "Pandemic Lockdown through the lens". On Friday, the Department of Information and Public Relations, Kargil Ladakh tweeted, "We assure you that we would witness the expression of countless people through a mere picture this time."

 

World Photography Day 2022 Significance : World Photography Day is a day to celebrate the art and craft of photography and the passion that people have for this genre. The day also recognizes how the purpose of the medium has evolved from documenting historic events to a mode for personal fulfilment and memory creation.

 

World Photography Day History : The origin of World Photography Day can be traced back to the 19th century. Two Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce developed 'Daguerreotype' in the year 1837. It was a photography process. The French Academy of Sciences officially endorsed the Daguerreotype on 9 January, 1839.

 

On 19 August, 1839, the French government acknowledged the invention and called it 'a gift to the world'..

Source : First Post, Indiatimes

U.K. inflation rose to another 40-year high in July as spiraling food and energy prices continued to intensify the country’s historic squeeze on households.

 

The consumer price index rose 10.1% annually, according to estimates published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday(17th August 2022), above a Reuters consensus forecast of 9.8% and up from 9.4% in June.

 

Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, came in at 6.2% in the year to July 2022, rising from 5.8% in June and ahead of projections of 5.9%.

 

British 2-year Gilt yields surged on Wednesday morning after the release, adding more than 26 basis points to reach 2.41%, their highest point since November 2008.

 

Rising food prices made the largest upward contribution to annual inflation rates between June and July, the ONS said in its report.

 

* The consumer price index rose 10.1% annually, according to estimates published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday, above a consensus forecast of 9.8% and up from 9.4% in June.

 

* Rising food prices made the largest upward contribution to annual inflation rates between June and July, the ONS said in its report.

 

* The Bank of England expects inflation to top out at 13.3% in October.

Source : cnbc