The Kerala government has launched its fastest inland ferry, Vega 120, which connects Ernakulam, Kottayam and Alappuzha districts. The ferry is partly air-conditioned and can cruise at a speed of 25km/hour.

Owned and operated by the State Water Transport Department (SWTD),  the new vessel will cover the 35-km distance between Vaikkom and Ernakulam in 90 minutes, as compared to a two-hour timeframe of the buses on the same route.

The new vessel comes as a big relief for the commuters in the route, especially office-goers as this ferry service will be linked to other major points on the route through connection boats. The ferry can carry a total of 120 passengers – 40 in the AC cabin and 80 in the non-AC cabin with fixed ticket rates at Rs 80 and Rs 40 respectively.

Mathematician and Super 30 founder Anand Kumar will be awarded this week for his “pioneering” contributions to the field of education and illuminating the lives of many talented students. Kumar, 45, will be honoured with ‘Global Education Award’ on November 8 by ‘Malabar Gold & Diamonds’, flagship company of Malabar Group, a leading Indian business conglomerate.

“We take pride in honouring Mr Anand Kumar who has made a positive difference in the lives of many with his meaningful innovations. Anand Kumar’s life has involved a lot of struggle and his contributions to the field of education is indeed pioneering,” P A Ibrahim Haji, co-chairman Malabar Group, said.

He said a 12-member jury shortlisted Kumar from a list of 100 names working in the field of education across the globe after a three-month research and consequent deliberations.

“Hundreds of students mentored by him have made it to IITs so far and most of his students are from poor families and are first generation learners,” Ibrahim said.

“What Anand Kumar has done through Super 30 is bring about a generational change in those families and become an inspiration for the poor worldwide to pursue education to ward off poverty. It has underlined the power of education to transform lives,” he said.

Anand is a well known mathematician whose Super 30 is hailed for facilitating students from poor background crack IIT entrance exams by providing free food, lodging and teaching.

More than 500 such students have made it to different IITs since inception of Super 30 in 2002.

India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant Monday returned from its first deterrence patrol, successfully completing the establishment of the country’s survivable nuclear triad. The crew of the Strategic Strike Nuclear Submarine (SSBN) were felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who lauded the accomplishment calling it “historic” and a “fitting response to those who indulge in nuclear blackmail.”

Congratulating the crew, Modi said “Today is historic because it marks the completing of the successful establishment of the nuclear triad. India’s nuclear triad will be an important pillar of global peace and stability,” he said, adding that “our nuclear programme must be seen with regard to India’s efforts to further world peace and stability.”

The HRD ministry is to soon launch a campaign under which school kids will be encouraged to teach illiterate elderly members of their family, Prakash Javadekar said Sunday. Under the campaign, students from class 6 to 10 will be roped in for the eradication of illiteracy as they teach illiterate members of their family.

“The children will be the Guruji of their illiterate family members under the ‘padhna-likhna’ campaign which the HRD ministry is going to launch most likely in next two months,” the human resource development minister told reporters here.

“Proposal is that we will provide material to the students and they will be asked to teach their parents or grandparents who are illiterate,” he said.

The minister said he conceived the idea after recalling his school days when he used to help his mother, a teacher, in educating illiterate people. He said this during his visit to Jhalana kacchi basti where he met people and party workers and took feedback about the government’s work. He had tea with a family in the kacchi basti and spoke to the family members and children and there he motivated a child to teach his illiterate grandparents.

“I asked the boy to be the ‘sir’ (or teacher) of his grandmother. I motivated him and this is how I work. The scheme will be formally launched in two months but today I did an informal or soft launch by asking the boy to do so,” Javadekar said.

During his visit to the kacchi basti, he had lunch at a Dalit family’s residence. He had the meal at the home of Brij Mohan Kansotiya, whose wife is a beneficiary of PM Ujjwala Yojana and whose mother is a beneficiary of a social pension scheme. He also discussed with area residents and received feedback on government schemes and programmes. “Our work is to empower people,” he said.

State Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf, Mayor Ashok Lahoti and other leaders of the party accompanied him. PTI SDA  ABH

The country’s largest lender SBI Monday reported 69 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 576.46 crore in the second quarter ended September 30.

The bank’s net profit was Rs 1,840.43 crore in the July-September quarter of previous fiscal.

The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 4,875.85 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal due to higher provisioning for bad loans.

Its total income (consolidated) rose to Rs 79,302.72 crore in the quarter under review, compared to Rs 74,948.51 crore in the year-ago period, State Bank of India (SBI) said in a regulatory filing.

On asset quality, the gross non-performing assets (NPA) of the bank rose to 9.95 per cent of the gross advances as on September 30, 2018 from 9.83 per cent a year ago.

Net NPAs or bad loans stood at 4.84 per cent of the net advances, down from 4.53 per cent.

The provisions for bad loans came down to Rs 10,381.31 crore during the quarter, from Rs 16,842.18 crore in the same period a year ago.

On standalone basis, the bank’s net profit was down at Rs 944.87 crore as against Rs 1,581.55 crore.

The lender’s income was Rs 66,607.98 crore in the July-September quarter, up from Rs 65,429.63 crore.

Shares of the bank closed 3.45 per cent higher at Rs 295.30 on BSE.

The rupee depreciated 34 paise to 72.79 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank forex market Monday on foreign fund outflows. The rupee opened lower at 72.76 per dollar against the previous close of 72.45 and dropped further to quote 34 paise down at 72.79 in opening trade.

Traders said increased demand for the US currency from importers and losses in the domestic equity market weighed on the rupee. Besides, the dollar trading higher against some currencies overseas too put pressure on the rupee, they added.

The rupee on Friday clocked its biggest single-day gain in over five years, surging by 100 paise to close at 72.45 against the US dollar on easing crude oil prices. The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 100.54 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 34,911.11 in the opening session.

The benchmark Sensex slipped below the 35,000-mark by dropping over 100 points to 34,911.11 in early trade Monday after banking, metal and auto stocks declined following weak global cues and profit-booking.

The 30-share index fell 100.54 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 34,911.11. The gauge had rallied nearly 580 points Friday. The NSE Nifty, too, was trading 39.80 points, or 0.38 per cent, lower at 10,513.20.

Sectoral indices, led by power, metal, banking and auto stocks, were trading in the negative terrain, falling by up to 1.44 per cent.

Brokers said sentiments were weak largely in tandem with a negative trend in other Asian markets, tracking losses at the Wall Street, and profit-booking by investors after Friday’s rally.

NTPC fell the most by 3.01 per cent among Sensex scrips, followed by IndusInd Bank shedding 2.17 per cent.

Other laggards were PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Vedanta, M&M, Asian Paint, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Auto, RIL, Tata Steel, HUL and HDFC, falling up to 1.95 per cent.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, ONGC, Sun Pharma, SBI and Yes Bank were trading positive, rising up to 1.98 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 196.90 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares to the tune of Rs 852.99 crore.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was down by 1.16 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.52 per cent. Korea fell 1.50 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index shed 2 per cent and Taiwan lost 0.89 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial had ended 0.43 per cent lower Friday.

Justin Rose is No. 1 in the world again, and this time it feels even more special. More than having the top ranking, he goes home with a trophy. Rose rallied from a three-shot deficit Sunday with a 3-under 68, and then defeated Li Haotong of China on the first playoff hole with a par to win the Turkish Airlines Open for the second straight year.

The first time Rose reached No. 1 in the world was two months ago, a bittersweet moment because he lost the BMW Championship outside Philadelphia in a playoff against Keegan Bradley.

“This time I’ve got some silverware,” Rose said. “Last time it was muted because I was still so mad at not winning the tournament at the BMW. But this time I’ve got the double kind of winning feeling, so it might be a bit more fun to celebrate it at this time.”

Chennai: India’s first indigenous microprocessor designed by researchers of Indian Institute of Madras may soon power your mobile phone, surveillance camera and smart meters.

The microprocessor named Shakti was developed, designed and booted at Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) of Indian Space Research Organisations (Isro) in Chandigarh, making it the first ‘RISC V Microprocessor’ to be completely designed and made in India.

This microprocessor will be helpful in reducing reliance on imported microprocessors in Communications and Defence Sectors and is on par with International Standards.

The front-end design of the Shakti processors is developed with Bluespec, an open-source High-Level Synthesis (HLS) language. Shakti and its eco-system with its modular design approach enables design and development of application-specific end-user computing and communicating systems

Earlier, in July 2018, an initial batch of 300 chips, named RISECREEK was produced under Project Shakti, that were fabricated at the Multinational Chip Manufacturer Intel’s facility at Oregon, US, that successfully booted the Linux operating system.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced major steps including 59-minute loan portal for sanction of up to one crore rupees for small and medium enterprises (MSME). 

He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Government’s Support and Outreach Initiative for MSME. 

He said the measures are expected to boost the MSME since the sector is one of the major generators of employment opportunities and making a significant contribution to the overall growth of the country's economy. 

The Prime Minister said, mandatory procurement of 20 per cent from MSMEs by Public Sector Undertakings has now been increased to 25 per cent. 

Mr Modi said, it has also been decided that 3 per cent of the total purchases from it will be reserved for women entrepreneurs.

Mr Modi said, it will now be necessary for all Central Government companies to subscribe to Government E-Marketplace, GeM. 

The Prime Minister said, only one consent will be mandatory for MSMEs under air pollution and water pollution laws. He said, he will himself review the work of MSMEs in 100 districts.