Delhi school students pitch ideas to investors at Business Blasters expo

 

It is a warm Saturday spring afternoon, and the air is almost electric at Delhi’s Thyagaraj stadium as queues form outside the gates. The excitement isn’t for a sports event. Those who’ve turned up at the stadium on March 5 are here for a unique expo-style exhibition. Inside is an army of students from Delhi’s government schools. They are here to pitch their ideas to investors and venture capitalists and seek both capital and mentorship. The mega event — the Business Blaster expo — is the next step of Delhi government’s entrepreneurship mindset curriculum, launched in September 2021 wherein some 300,000 students received Rs 2,000 each as seed money to build on their proposed business ideas. Now 775 of those students, split in 126 teams, have made it to the expo in the hope of taking their entrepreneurial dreams to the next level. In a separate meeting room, investors sit down with team leaders of projects they are interested in, working out deals. At the end of the day, 200 Letters of Intent are signed. But first, the investors get a demo on the business ideas. At the end of the hall, a siren goes off from time to time. Turns out the sound is emerging from a stall selling security alarms for home. A few metres away, at Stall No 68, visitors sample a healthy powder made from date seeds but which tastes like coffee. Among them is marketing professional Ritesh Jain, whose mother saw the project on the Business Blasters TV show and was intrigued by the concept. “It seems interesting and I am keen on seeing what their business plan and total addressable market is,” says Jain.

States should stop blaming each other on stubble burning: Kejriwal

 

Boss Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said state governments should quit accusing one another and cooperate to discover an answer for the issue of stubble copying, one of the significant purposes behind the yearly issue of helpless air in Delhi-NCR during winters.

Kejriwal said while ranchers of neighboring states and individuals of Delhi are enduring the worst part of stubble consuming, governments have closed their eyes.

State governments should quit accusing one another. We need to cooperate to discover an answer for the issue All organizations and governments need to pay attention to it now, he told journalists in Hiranki town in Narela where the showering of Pusa bio-decomposer arrangement began on Tuesday.

The arrangement, specialists state, can transform the stubble into compost in 15 to 20 days and in this manner, can forestall stubble consuming.

I am stressed over homestead fires in neighboring states. The smoke has begun influencing Delhi's air qualityAir contamination was leveled out throughout the previous 10 months, yet it has begun expanding once more, the central priest said.

Envision the effect of stubble consuming on the groups of ranchers who have no choice except for to consume the yield buildup. Ranchers don't consume it obstinately, he said.

Covid-19: 17 new cases in Andhra Pradesh, 13 traced to Nizamuddin meet

A day after the Telangana government announced the death of 6 coronavirus patients from the state - all linked to Nizamuddin visit in Delhi, 17 new positive cases were registered on Tuesday. Thirteen of the new cases have been traced back to the religious congregation at the Markaz Tablighi Jamaat.
With the additional 17 new cases in a single day, the total number of confirmed coronavirus patients in Andhra Pradesh has jumped to 40, spread across nine out of the thirteen districts in the state. Prakasham and Guntur districts have registered the largest number of 11 and 9 coronavirus cases respectively.
It may be noted that most of many of those who attended the Markaz religious congregation in Nizamuddin have either tested positive or are being tracked and kept in quarantine in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Authorities of both the states are continuing their efforts to trace those who had attended the Markaz meeting in hundreds, in a bid to put them in quarantine facilities.
According to the AP government's medical bulletin, the five of the 17 people tested positive for coronavirus infection are found to have visited Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia while some of them have also attended the Delhi meeting. The infected vary between the range of 10 to 65 years of age. Overall, 30,000 persons are under the government surveillance for potential infection of coronavirus.
Though Telangana has relatively lower number of people under surveillance for potential infection, the number of confirmed cases stand as high as 72 apart from 6 deaths, mostly concentrated in the city of Hyderabad.

Last week Telangana government said the number of people under quarantine have declined to 13,000 from a level of over 20,000 persons as people were allowed to go home after completing the mandatory 14 day period in the quarantine facilities created by state medical and health department.

Connaught Place 9th most expensive office location; Hong Kong tops chart

International News

New Delhi's Connaught Place (CP) is the ninth most expensive office location in the world with an annual rent of nearly $144 per sq ft, according to property consultant CBRE.
CP, located in the heart of the national capital, was at the ninth position even last year.
In its annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey, CBRE tracks the cost of leasing prime office space globally.
For the second year, Hong Kong's Central district retained the top spot as the world's most expensive market for prime office rents, with the prime occupancy costs valued at $322 per sq.ft.
"New Delhi's Connaught Place - central business district (CBD) retains its ninth position in the list as last year and the office occupancy cost is valued at $143.97 per sq ft," the report said.
Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex and Nariman Point CBD slipped to 27th and 40th positions, respectively.
Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) was ranked 26th and Nariman Point at 37th in 2018 ranking.
The current annual prime rent of BKC is valued at $90.67 per sq. ft and the Nariman Point CBD is valued at $68.38 per sq ft.

 Indian markets continued to have greater investment grade space in the CBDs of the different cities as prominent domestic and global corporates continued to favour investment grade space for setting up front their front offices in these cities," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE...Read More

Mumbai expects 20% salary hike, Bengaluru's IT staff expect least increment

Economy policy
Professionals in the financial capital are looking at higher pay hikes of 20 percent or more, while those in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru expect only about 10 percent increment this year, says a survey.
Professionals in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai are looking for higher pay hikes of above 20 percent, while their counterparts in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru expect only 0-10 percent hike, says a survey by jobs portal Shine.com conducted across professionals from across industries in Mumbai, Delhi- NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.

It has found that in Mumbai almost 37 percent of those polled are expecting increment of above 20 percent, while in Pune and Chennai it is 36 and 38 percent, respectively. As many as 62 percent of employees in Mumbai are looking for over 20 percent appraisal in the education or training sector, around 56 percent in the auto sector are eyeing the same.

"It is interesting to note the variance in employee expectations across different metro cities and across sectors. While employee sentiments are high across most sectors, it is a given that not all organisations will be able to meet these expectations," said Zairus Master, CEO, Shine.com.
Further, 48 percent in the auto sector and 38 percent in the education/training sector are also looking for over 20 percent hike in Pune. In Bengaluru, professionals are expecting up to 10 percent hikes, while those in Delhi-NCR are on a lower side.


 Over 46 percent of e-commerce sector employees in Bengaluru are only expecting an average growth of 11-15 percent. A sector-wise analysis of appraisal expectations reveals that the highest appraisal sentiment is being carried by professionals in the banking, financial services and insurance and BPO/BPO/ITES sectors with over 35 percent expecting over 20 percent hikes.

Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi among world's cheapest cities to live in: Report

Economy & Policy:
Move over Singapore — the world's most expensive city has two new rivals.

After topping the Economist Intelligence Unit's Worldwide Cost of Living Survey for five years, Asia's Lion City has been joined by Paris and Hong Kong in a tie at the top of the table.

Zurich and Geneva rounded out the top five, while New York and Los Angeles reclaimed spots in the top 10 — ranking in seventh and 10th respectively — after slipping to 13th and 14th last year thanks to a weakening dollar.

The survey is designed to help companies calculate cost-of-living allowances and build compensation packages for expatriates and business travelers.

The trio of cities sharing the top spot are 7 percent more expensive to live in than New York, according to the EIU, which compiles its list from a survey of 160 products and services across 93 countries.

The Japanese port city of Osaka was another re-entry, moving up six spots to number five. Seoul (joint seventh place), Copenhagen (also seventh) and Tel Aviv (10th) round out the top 10 — which actually consists of 11 cities thanks to tied places.

"Weaker local currencies have pushed all five Australian and two New Zealand cities surveyed down in the ranking," the EIU said, accounting for Sydney's absence after it scraped into 10th position in last year's report.


 Outside the top 10, the EIU said the cost of living in Chinese cities remains relatively stable, while Southeast Asian destinations were moving up the ranks...Read More

Air pollution from stubble burning costing India $30 bn annually: Study

Current Affairs

Air pollution due to crop residue burning in northern India is a leading risk factor of acute respiratory infections and causes an estimated economic loss of $30 billion annually, according to a study unveiled Monday.

Researchers from the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and partner institutes found that living in districts with air pollution from intense crop residue burning (CRB) is a leading risk factor for acute respiratory infection (ARI), especially among children less than five years.

The study that estimates -- for the first time -- the health and economic costs of CRB in northern India also found that CRB leads to an estimated economic loss of over $30 billion annually.

"Poor air quality is a recognised global public health epidemic, with levels of airborne particulate matter in Delhi spiking to 20 times the World Health Organization's safety threshold during certain days," said Samuel Scott, IFPRI Research Fellow and co-author of the study.

"Among other factors, smoke from the burning of agricultural crop residue by farmers in Haryana and Punjab especially contributes to Delhi's poor air, increasing the risk of ARI three-fold for those living in districts with intense crop burning," Scott said in a statement.

The study also estimated the economic cost of exposure to air pollution from crop residue burning at $30 billion or nearly Rs 2 trillion annually for the three north Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, researchers said.


 To be published in the upcoming edition of the International Journal of Epidemiology, the study analysed health data from more than 250,000 individuals of all ages residing in rural and urban areas in India...Read More

IL&FS crisis: ED files PMLA case, conducts raids in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai

Companies News:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on at least six locations in Mumbai and Delhi-NCR region in connection with the multi-crore IL&FS payment default crisis, officials said.

They said the action by the central probe agency came after it registered a criminal complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the alleged payment default case and searches were being conducted at the residential locations of executives linked to the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (ILFS) including its former chairman Ravi Parthasarathy and few others.
The raids are on in Mumbai and locations in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR) including Gurugram, they said.

Officials added that the investigators are looking at collecting additional evidences and documents apart from what they have obtained till now as part of the probe.

The debt crisis at the infrastructure lender came to light following a series of defaults by its group companies beginning September, 2018.

IL&FS has defaulted on payment of loans to SIDBI and along with its subsidiaries has a combined debt of over Rs 91,000 crore.

The ED's case is based on an FIR filed before the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police in December last year.


 Ashish Begwani, Director of Enso Infrastructures (P) Ltd, had filed the case against officials of IL&FS Rail Ltd for allegedly causing Rs 70 crore loss to his company by fraudulent means.

Pak, China share the blame for Pulwama attack but India must introspect to

Current Affairs:

Millions of Indians will by now have seen the twisted wreckage of buses carrying dozens of Indian paramilitary soldiers from the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF; at least 40 of them died when a car loaded with explosives rammed into their convoy as it passed through Pulwama district of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a group of militant Islamic extremists who pioneered suicide bombings in the disputed region of Kashmir, claimed responsibility for the attack. As one Kashmiri politician wrote on Twitter, it was “reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre 2004-05.”

Jaish-e-Mohammed is based in Pakistan. Its leader, Masood Azhar, gives speeches freely and the group has built a sprawling training complex in the city of Bahawalpur, which features a wall painting of suitably militant-looking horses bearing down on Delhi’s Red Fort. Periodically, the Pakistani government pretends to crack down on militant Islamists such as Azhar; in fact, the terrorists continue to raise funds, recruit and strike at will across Pakistan’s borders. Nor is it just India that suffers. The Afghan government tells all and sundry that it cannot defeat the Taliban as long as the militants are supported by Pakistan. Just a day before the Kashmir attack, the Pakistan-based Sunni extremist group Jaish al Adl killed 27 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, also using a car bomb.


 Pakistani officials often like to say that their country is among the foremost victims of Islamist terrorism. Perhaps. But, their response has been at best to accommodate extremism, and at worst to try and convince terrorists that their efforts are best turned outwards, towards India, Afghanistan or Iran. Indian government officials -- like the Afghans -- are caught in a bind. They have little leverage over the militants’ patrons within the Pakistani military establishment. Nor are the Americans any longer influential enough to help: Jaish-e-Mohammed went quiet in the mid-2000s at American insistence but reemerged soon enough.

GoAir bird strike case: Pilots shut down wrong engine, says DGCA probe

Current Affairs:

While engine number 2 of the flight was affected due to bird strike, the pilots on GoAir's Delhi-Mumbai flight decided to shut down engine number 1, stated a report of Indian aviation watchdog DGCA on the incident that occurred on June 21, 2017.

Once the aircraft stopped climbing at an altitude of 3,330 feet, the pilots "realised their mistake", and consequently started engine 1 and brought back the plane to Delhi airport, stated the Directorate General of Civil Aviation report dated November 5, 2018.

"(The) incident was caused by incorrect identification of engine affected with high vibration followed by non-adherence to recommended procedures, lack of situational awareness, poor cockpit resource management and poor handling of aircraft during emergency subsequent to bird strike," it said.

The probe report has recommended that "suitable corrective action" should be taken for both the pilots "as deemed by the DGCA headquarters in view of the above findings".


The incident happened on an A320 aircraft, which had a total 156 passengers, at 5.58 am on June 21, 2017...Read More

Patiala only Indian city with clean air as new anti-pollution plan stumbles

Current Affairs:

Almost a month after the launch of a national programme for air pollution abatement, cities across India--home to 14 of the most polluted cities in the world--continued to breathe toxic air during the winter of 2018-19.

Only Patiala among 74 cities assessed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) met the national safe air standards as on February 4, 2019, said a CPCB daily bulletin.

On January 17, 2019, Ghaziabad, an industrial city bordering capital Delhi, reported a 24-hour average for toxic particulate matter (PM) 2.5 that was 14 times higher than World Health Organization’s (WHO) safe standard. The PM 2.5 average that day in Ghaziabad was six times higher than even India’s own, more lenient, safe-air standard. The national standard allows 2.4 times higher levels of particulate matter than the WHO’s.

The air quality in the world’s most polluted city, Delhi--home to 20 million people--remained above safe limits almost all days this winter between November 2018 and the first week of January 2019, IndiaSpend reported on January 17, 2019.


To fix this pollution crisis, the Indian government launched its first-ever national framework called National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) on January 10, 2019.

38 more cities to get diesel at doorstep as 3 OMCs plan to extend service

Companies News:

Residents of 38 more cities would soon be able to have diesel delivered at their doorstep as the three oil marketing companies (OMCs) plan to extend this service by March.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) are providing home delivery of diesel in nine cities — Pune, Delhi, Jaunpur, Chennai, Bengaluru, Aligarh, Rewari, Udaipur and Navi Mumbai.

“By the end of January, we will be having this facility in eight more cities and will extend it to 30 more cities by March 31,” said an official close to the development.
Home delivery of diesel had kicked off in Pune on March 16 last year. Among the cities with this facility, Navi Mumbai has the largest sales of 150 kilo litre a month while sales in other cities are at an average 40-50 kl per month. “The move helps large fleets of commercial vehicles as it saves both time and money for the fleet owners,” he added.


 The customer should buy a minimum of 200 litres at a time. However, the petroleum and explosives safety organisation is yet to give clearance for the supply of petrol to homes, owing to its inflammable nature. Firms supply diesel to homes using small tankers that has been retrofitted with a fuel dispenser. Based on the existing norms, any customer ordering more than 2,500 litres will need a clearance from PESO for storage...Read More