Author: bangarulaxmimidathana

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Telangana: Forester finds new waterfall in Asifabad

A new waterfall plunging about 60 meters has come to light in the forests of Tiryani mandal, a remote area in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad forest division, Telangana after a forester on foot patrol on a new route made the chance discovery. 

The waterfall, which is now named Bison Waterfall, was discovered in Ginnedhari forest range by the forester a few days ago and is about 2km from the popular Gundala waterfalls.

Ginnedhari forest range officer (FRO) Thodishetty Pranay said he spotted the waterfall while perambulating in the forest. “While I was patrolling the area I happened to take a new route to see what lies ahead. After trekking for about 5km, I was surprised to discover this natural wonder that cascades down from around 60 meters.”

The FRO said even the tribal population in the area said they were unaware of the spot when he enquired with them.

“We decided to name it Bison Waterfall after noticing a huge rock adjacent to it resembling the head of a bison. There is also a deep gorge suitable for adventure tourism and can be added to the adventure tourism circuit of Asifabad forest division by taking some precautions to ensure there is no negative impact on local environment,” said Pranay.

The forest areas of Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district are primarily known for the presence of tiger population, some rare species of birds among other flora and fauna.

Give Data on Number of Deaths Due to Oxygen Shortage During 2nd Wave, Centre Tells States

The central government wrote to the states and sought data on the number of deaths that took place due to lack of oxygen during the second Covid-19 wave. The data will be collated and presented in Parliament before the monsoon session ends on August 13.

“We have been getting repeated questions on oxygen deaths in the parliament ” a govt official told CNN-News18.

Last week, responding to a question on the acute shortage of oxygen during the second wave of the pandemic, the Health Ministry had said in Rajya Sabha that “no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by States and Union Territories.”

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had then said that there have been several deaths because of oxygen shortage in Delhi and other places across the country.

The second wave had seen several private hospitals across the country, especially the national capital, take to twitter with SOS messages pointing out acute shortage of oxygen and demanding urgent help.

21.5 million lost jobs in tourism sector, says Centre

Significant job loss due to lockdown, Tourism Minister tells Rajya Sabha.

With the tourism industry among the hardest hit due to the pandemic, it is estimated that about 21.5 million people working in the sector lost their jobs during the nine-month period from April 2020-December 2020, as per the data shared by the government recently.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy said a significant number of jobs were lost in the tourism sector once the lockdown was implemented.

“About 14.5 million jobs during Q1, 5.2 million during Q2 and 1.8 million jobs during Q3 were expected to have been lost as compared to estimated 34.8 million jobs in the pre-pandemic period of 2019-20,” the Minister said.

Mr. Reddy said this was one of the key findings of the study done by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) for the Ministry of Tourism to assess the extent of losses to the sector.

As per the report, due to overall economic slowdown during 2020-21, tourism economy or tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) saw a fall of 42.8% in April-June 2020, 15.5% in July-September 2020 and fall of 1.1% in October-December 2020.

“Due to significant drop in tourist arrivals and hence tourism expenditure, during the pandemic, it is estimated that TDGVA plummeted by as much as 93.3% in Q1 of 2020-21 over its level in the same quarter of previous year,” the Minister stated, adding that it picked up slightly to post a decline of 79.5% and 64.3% in second quarter and third quarter respectively.

However, Mr. Reddy added that the Tourism Ministry did not maintain data on revenue generated from tourism.

Replying to another query, the Minister said no formal study had been instituted by the Ministry to assess whether the movement of people from all States increased at tourist places, which might raise fears of the increase in COVID-19 positive cases after the second wave.

Further, Mr. Reddy said that as per the Bureau of Immigration, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in India stood at 10.93 million in 2019, declining to 2.74 million in 2020 and about 0.42 million till June 2021.

According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Tourism, domestic tourist visits during the calendar year 2019 stood at 2321.98 million and in 2020 at 610.21 million.

Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra and their company Viaan Industries fined Rs 3 lakh by SEBI in insider trading case

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 lakh on Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra, her businessman husband Raj Kundra and their company Viaan Industries for violating insider trading rules.

Kundra, Shetty and Viaan have been fined for a three-year delay in the disclosure of an allotment of preferential shares.

In 2015, Viaan Industries had made a preferential allotment of 500,000 equity shares. Of this 1.28 lakh equity shares each were allotted to Kundra (referred to as Ripu Sudan Kundra) and Shetty, the promoters of the company.

According to SEBI’s Prohibition of Insider Trading Rules, 2015, the promoters had to disclose this transaction to the company within two days if it exceeded Rs 10 lakh in value. The company, in turn, has to relay this disclosure to the stock exchanges within two trading days.

In this case, SEBI said the value of the transaction was Rs 2.57 crore each and the disclosures pertaining to the 2015 transaction were made only in 2019.

In reply to a notice from the regulator, Shetty and Kundra acknowledged the mistake and said it was not done with malafide intent.

However, the SEBI adjudicating officer Suresh B Menon refused this explanation and imposed a fine.

Moneycontrol has reached out to Shetty and this copy will be updated when she replies.

Kundra could not be reached as he is police custody in an unrelated case. He was arrested on July 19 for allegedly making, publishing, and distributing pornography. Earlier a Mumbai court rejected his bail plea.

Billionaire Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Plans Ultra-Low Cost Airline

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is planning on having 70 aircraft within four years for a new airline he wants to set up in India on optimism more people will travel by air.

Mr Jhunjhunwala, who is considering investing $35 million and would own 40% of the carrier, expects to get a no-objection certificate from India’s aviation ministry in the next 15 days, he said in a Bloomberg Television interview Wednesday.

The ultra-low cost airline will be called Akasa Air and the team, which includes a former senior executive of Delta Air Lines Inc., is looking at planes that can carry 180 passengers, he said.

It’s a bold bet by Mr Jhunjhunwala, who’s known locally as India’s Warren Buffett, in a market that has seen some airlines collapse in the face of intense fare wars and high costs. Still, what was once the world’s fastest-growing aviation market holds an allure and Jhunjhunwala is looking at opportunities to woo flyers with a brand new carrier offering low fares.

“For the culture of a company to be frugal you’ve to start off fresh,” Mr Jhunjhunwala said. “I’m very, very bullish on India’s aviation sector in terms of demand.”

Even before the pandemic, airlines in India were struggling. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., once the country’s second-largest domestic carrier, ended operations in 2012, and Jet Airways India Ltd., which was recently approved to fly again, collapsed in 2019.

While demand for air travel has been hit globally, India’s aviation industry is at greater risk of delayed recovery as the threat of a third wave of infections looms. Airlines are feeling the impact.

Vistara, which Singapore Airlines Ltd. jointly owns with conglomerate Tata Group, is in discussions with Boeing Co. and Airbus SE to delay aircraft deliveries and make changes to the payment timetables. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, reported a wider-than-anticipated loss as Covid disruption crimped its revenue.

That’s not deterring Mr Jhunjhunwala, who according to Forbes has an estimated net worth of about $4.6 billion.

“I think some of the increment players may not recover,” he said. “I’ve got some of the best airline people in the world as my partners.”

Telangana: Want to Resume physical classes for primary students….!!!

With many states planning to start physical classes only for high school students, managements and teachers said that it is much more important to resume physical classes for primary students, as many of them unable to follow virtual classes.

They said that offline classes should be conducted at least two days a week for primary students. “Even as per ICMR, the impact of Covid-19 on children under the age group of 10 is much less when compared with elder children and adults. Why not start physical classes for them as well,” V Amarnath, director.

“These students are unable to concentrate, their confidence is low and communication skills have been impacted,” he said, adding that holistic development of a child has been impacted overall. Teachers said that physical classes should be resumed for all children in August within a gap of 10-15 days and all students should get to attend offline classes on alternate days.

“Now, almost all teachers are vaccinated. The same is the case with parents. So the risk of children spreading Covid seems to be comparatively lower. However, the state should provide sanitation, medical staff and allocate sufficient budget to follow Covid protocols in schools. By following all norms, physical classes should be started,” said M Ravinder, a government teacher, adding students are already facing memory and conceptual loss.

Parents agreed that it is a matter of urgency to resume physical classes, although they said that the same cannot be done in a haste.

The government should form a committee and study the impact of reopening of schools. They need to communicate with parents, explain what to expect and give an assurance about their children and family members’ safety.

France moves India to amber list from red

France has decided to remove India from the red list to amber as COVID cases decreased in India. The French government has classified amber-listed countries as nations where there is active circulation of the virus in controlled proportions, without further spread. After this news, VFS centres in Delhi and Mumbai have now opened and are accepting all visa categories. Also for kids, there won’t be any quarantine mandate in France.

Protocols to be followed

1) Fully vaccinated travellers holding a valid C-type Schengen visa for 3-5 years, can travel without any restriction to France. But the travellers must be vaccinated with any EMA-approved vaccines, which are Pfizer/ Comirnaty, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria/Covishield.

2) Passengers must travel after seven days of getting their second vaccine shot.

3) Travellers need to have proof of vaccination status. They must also have a attest statement saying they don’t have any infection symptoms.

4) The restriction will be applicable to unvaccinated travellers as well as those vaccinated with unapproved (yet) vaccines including Covaxin.

5) Those with ‘talent passports’, (students and researchers), fall under the list of compelling reasons. So they are allowed to travel to France. But they need to show their negative PCR test not older than 72 hours. A negative antigen test, not older than 48 hours before departure, is also acceptable.

Andhra Pradesh college gets permission to offer engineering in Telugu

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) gave its consent for the NRI Institute of Technology, a private autonomous engineering college in Krishna district, to introduce the programme in Telugu.

It is the only institution in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to get the permission for BTech Telugu medium with a 60-student intake into the computer science engineering stream.

In all, the AICTE allowed 14 engineering colleges across the country to offer the engineering programmes in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and other native languages from the 2021-22 academic year.

The move is expected to provide a level playing field for the students, particularly from the rural and tribal areas who have studied in their native languages since childhood.

One of the major recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020 is to promote regional languages in education.

While the NEET exam is currently being conducted in 11 languages, the Union Ministry of Education is holding the JEE (Main) in 13 languages.

Speaking to TOI, principal, NRI Institute of Technology, Dr C Naga Bhaskar, said that the AICTE has chosen the 14 autonomous and NAAC- and NBA-accredited colleges to give permission to offer engineering courses in native languages.

Students to have option of Telugu, Eng for exams

“The move would definitely improve the grasp, creativity, and comprehension levels of the students. Several advanced countries like Japan, Germany and China impart education in their mother tongue. Students would be given the option of writing exams in Telugu or English. The Board of Studies of our college will finalise the syllabus and other components of the programme,” said Dr Bhaskar.

Dr Bhaskar said that it is generally believed that the English medium students would be in an advantageous position compared to their Telugu counterparts. “But, several exams like NEET, JEE and UPSP are currently being conducted in various regional languages. It may be further extended to exams like the engineering services examination in the coming years. This would give an impetus to professional education in local languages,” said Dr Bhaskar.

In a recent Facebook post titled ‘Engineering courses in mother language – A step in the right direction’, posted in 11 Indian languages Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu lauded the move of 14 engineering colleges across eight states to offer engineering courses in regional language. “It is my desire to see the day when all vocational and professional courses like engineering, medicine and law are taught in mother languages,” said the Vice-President in the post.

Scuba diving academy to come up at Chintapalli in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

Here is some good news for all the watersport lovers in Vizag. A scuba diving academy will be coming up soon in the district, at Chintapalli. The city of beaches has been into the watersports trend, with activities like kayaking, snorkeling, jet skiing and scuba diving. Among these four, scuba diving is the more popular watersport. This watersport is not available at places in India such as Goa, Pondicherry, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. But fortunately, Vizag has adopted this highly thrilling and mesmerising underwater activity. 

Taking a big step towards promoting tourism in Vizag, a scuba diving academy at Chintapalli village in Visakhapatnam District. The academy will be started by Livein Adventures, a Vizag-based adventure sports firm, which operates water sports activities in the city with the support of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). This will be a first-of-its-kind scuba diving academy in Andhra Pradesh and one among very few such academies in India. The academy will come up on four acres of land at chintapalli and will be built at an estimated budget of Rs 2 crore. 

Speaking to Yo! Vizag, Balaram Naidu, of Livein Adventures, revealed, “The academy will have courses on basic diving, kayaking, and boating from October 2021. The courses will range from two days to 6 months in duration. Interested individuals, swimmers and non-swimmers, will be able to take globally certified courses on open water diving, rescue diving and advanced diving.” 

Heritage trains in India that you must enjoy a ride on

Heritage rails are more than just tourist attractions. Not only they helps create a romantic feel, but also give us a glimpse of the history of the land. Although heritage railways have renovated most of their trains for technical advancements and safety purposes, they still carry the old-school charm. The views on these routes are just unparalleled. Here’s a list of heritage trains that you need to definitely enjoy a ride on.

Kalka-Shimla Railway

This narrow gauge railway chugs between Kalka and Shimla, and is famous for offering beautiful views of forests and hill regions. It was built in 1898 to connect Shimla, the summer capital of India, with the rest of the Indian rail system. It is 2 ft 6 inch (762 mm) narrow gauge railway in North-West India, and was built by HS Harington. It is now operated by the Northern Railway. UNESCO added the Kalka-Shimla railway to mountain railways of India World Heritage Site in 2008.

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

The toy train, this train travels between New Jalpaiguri station and Darjeeling station. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway started in the end of the 19th century, and covers six zigzag routes and five large loops to reach higher altitudes. In 1999, this route was declared as a World Heritage Site; it has also been one of the country’s most famous tourist attractions. The setting of the train journey also has a vintage charm to it, a ride on this train will definitely change your outlook toward train travel.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is in Tamil Nadu, and was built in 1908 by the British. The route runs from Mettupalayam to Udhagamandalam (Ooty), and takes around 4.8 hours to complete. Most times, just one train travels on this route each way; however, during the peak summer season, four trains run each way, everyday. In July 2005, UNESCO designated it as a World Heritage Site, and is now operated by the Salem railway division.

Matheran Hill Railway

This train is on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, yet a ride on this train will be one of the best rides ever!. This narrow gauge train runs between Neral and Matheran in Maharashtra. Interesting thing to note here is that it chugs along the well-known Western Ghats, so in terms of views, you are in for a ride. Further, this 21 km long route has been in operation since 1907. The train starts its journey in Neral, and then ascends the Matheran hill by going through two large zig-zags before completing its 140 hours’ journey.

Tribals demand power supply in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

Tribals in villages under non-scheduled areas of Ravikamatam and koyyuru mandala in Visakhapatnam district on Friday protested, demanding power connection to their Hamlet’s.

President of the Primitive Tribals Group, koyyuru mandal, korra Mahesh said people living in Hamlet’s under Chimalapadu panchayat under Ravikamatam have been demanding for power connections for the past three years.  

5 common habits which are as dangerous as smoking

India is home to more than 12% of world smokers. In India alone, 10 million people die each year due to smoking. Smoking as a habit is seen more common in youngsters these days. These habits then become so addictive that for some people it is even carried to their death bed. But there are more habits that are as dangerous as smoking. We often ignore these habits but they have the potential of causing us the same harm as smoking does.

Loneliness:

Research has proven that loneliness can affect our overall health. Its impact is more significant on brain health. There are also studies that point out the connection between loneliness and developing diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. In India, almost 22% of elders stay alone.

Poor diet:

We all know that food is necessary to maintain good health but not many of us practice that on daily basis. Many of us eat junk foods, and foods rich in salt and sugars. Not just those, we often do not include vegetables and fruits in our diet. Taking poor diet causes diseases like obesity, diabetes, etc. In India, people consume more cereals and avoids proteins, fruits, and vegetables. There is an increasing status of obesity among men and women, especially in urban areas.

Inactive lifestyle: 

In the contemporary world, we all sit long hours in front of the screen. A study in 2014, by the University of Regensburg in Germany, showed that every 2 hours a person sit, increases the chances of colon cancer by 8% and chances of lung cancer by 6%. This was regardless of other physical activity during the day.

Sleep deprivation:

Sitting long hours before the screen aids in sleep deprivation as well. The blue light from the screen has been linked with problems like strained eyes, blurred vision, and even cataracts. Almost 33% of adults in the country suffer from insomnia and the bigger problems.

Pessimistic attitude:

We all have heard of the phrase that does not let negative attitude ruin your life. But negative attitude and pessimism are now a widespread problem. Pessimism is when you think that things will go wrong or will not go according to your plans. This leads to depression and unwanted stress.

These 5 habits are as dangerous as smoking. So, give up on that negative attitude, sleep well, be more active in daily life, eat balanced food and be happy. You will see positive results in your mind, body and spirit once you give up on all these 5 habits.

Work From Home Ends For 2.6 Lakh Infosys Employees

Infosys Ltd told employees last week they could resume work from offices, according to a memo seen by Reuters that offers an early sign of the country’s $190 billion technology services sector moving to get back on track.

Many IT businesses are mass-vaccinating their personnel to ensure that they are protected from Covid, while also preparing them to return to work once the situation gets back to normal, or the pandemic’s impact is reduced.

Most MNC employees have already received their first round of vaccination, and some have also completed their second dosage.

Infosys Ltd Will Resume Work From Offices….!!

Large corporations have allowed their staff to work from home but small businesses and startups are finding it difficult to adapt the work from home due to a lack of resources and technology.

Many corporations planned to reopen offices in full force at the moment, but with the second wave striking and more lockdowns being announced, these plans had to be postponed for a long period.

Infosys said the country’s safety situation seems to be improving, with growing vaccination coverage. Infosys did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the memo.

“We have been getting requests from certain accounts to allow their team members to work from Infosys campuses. In addition, some of our employees have also been asking to come back and start working from the office, as a personal preference.”

Infosys had a total employees of 2.67 lakh at the end of the June quarter, as compared to 2.59 lakh in the March quarter.

After reporting results last week, Infosys executives told analysts that roughly 99% of its staff was working from home, and the company would make efforts to get “more and more people to come to office” over the next couple of weeks.

Which countries are open for Indian tourists.

Destinations such as Maldives, Croatia, South Africa, Switzerland, Russia, Lebanon, Germany, Ukraine, UAE, Turkey and Iceland have started allowing non-essential travel, subject to vaccination or other conditions.

India’s biggest online travel portal, MakeMyTrip, has seen a 35% jump in searches for international leisure packages in July compared to that in the previous month, with the Maldives and Russia ranking high on the list of preferred destinations.

“As positivity rates drop, we hope it encourages more countries to open their borders to Indian travellers,” said Vinay Malhotra, regional group chief operating officer, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Americas at visa processing firm VFS Global.

Aloke Bajpai, group CEO at Ixigo, said search enquiries on the company’s platform for travel to overseas destinations have seen 80-85% increase in July as compared to last month. “With several countries easing travel restrictions, interest in leisure international travel to countries such as the Maldives, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar and Turkey is rising,” he said.

Some countries such as Qatar and Switzerland require a full vaccination certificate (Covishield) from Indian travellers. Iceland has given an option to travellers to either submit a full vaccination certificate or a Covid-19 recovery certificate. Unvaccinated travellers can travel to countries such as the Maldives, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Nepal and Ukraine by providing a negative RT-PCR report issued within 72 hours of departure.

To cash in on the increasing interest, SOTC Travel has introduced a range of offers such as ‘Buy One Get One Free – Get your Companion’s Holiday Free’ for overseas destinations. Daniel D’souza, country head for leisure at the company, said the most popular destinations in terms of enquiries include Dubai, the Maldives, Russia and Switzerland. The company has seen a 35-40% increase week-on-week in enquiries, he said.

Kanika TTekriwal, CEO, JetSetGo Aviation, said travellers are still conscious about the high likelihood of contracting the virus via regular flights. As a result, her private jet and helicopter services company has been seeing 10-12 booking queries each day since air travel suspension was lifted for the Maldives and some European countries.

Weekly positive rate falls below 5% across districts in Andhra Pradesh.

The Covid-19 weekly case positivity rate has finally dropped to below 5% in all districts of the state for the first time in months during the ongoing second wave. Even last week, when Andhra Pradesh’s average weekly positivity rate stood at 3.2%, East Godavari and West Godavari had crossed the 5% positivity rate threshold.

As per the latest weekly case positivity rate statistics between July 12 and 18, Kurnool has the lowest case positivity rate among all districts at 0.74%.

In all, Anantapur, Kurnool, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram have a less than 2% weekly case positivity rate. While the weekly positivity rate ranges between 3% and 5% in five districts, eight districts have a positivity rate less than 3%.

The case positivity rate is a key indicator to gauge the spread of the disease in the community at a certain point in time. The World Health Organisation (WHO), in an advisory released in May last year, stated that less than 5% samples testing positive for Covid-19, at least for two weeks, is an indicator that the disease is under control.

Corresponding with the lowering case positivity rate, the daily new infection numbers have now dropped to about the 2,000 to 3,000 range from the peak of 24,171 cases on May 16. But districts such as East Godavari, West Godavari, Visakhapatnam and Chittoor still continue to contribute a major chunk of the daily infection numbers. This can be gauged from the fact that while the state’s cumulative case positivity rate stood at 8.22% as of July 18, it is as much as 12.43% in East Godavari, 9.88% in Chittoor and 8.59% in West Godavari.

Despite the fall in case positivity rate, the state health department is augmenting infrastructure at all hospitals in its preparation for the anticipated third wave. A special focus has been laid on improving infrastructure to treat paediatric Covid-19 cases based on the assumptions of several experts and reports that the third wave may hit children.