Telangana, Ola sign MoU to strengthen Hyderabad traffic infra
The Telangana government and ANI Technologies-owned Ola Cabs, an app-based public transportation company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to towards strengthening the traffic infrastructure in the city. The first pilot project proposed to be implemented under this MoU is the dynamic mapping of riding quality of major roads in Hyderabad through the network of vehicles operating on the app’s platform.
This data will be provided to respective departments of the Telangana government, which monitor road conditions and maintain their overall quality in Hyderabad. The intended outcome of this pilot is to reduce accidents due to potholes, monitor the quality of road construction, and prioritize road repair budget, said a press release from the state government on Monday.
This new partnership will see Ola, share ‘intelligent insights’ that enable the state to implement smart solutions to the mobility experience in the city, added the release. “With mobility playing a key role in the development of a city and our focus on building a comprehensive smart city plan for Hyderabad, these valuable data insights from Ola will pave the way towards building future-ready transport infrastructure," said Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary, industries & commerce (I&C) and IT department, government of Telangana, in the release.
Special Stamp on Ice Stupa released
Stamps are to create awareness about depleting glaciers and affect on the ecology around the Himalayas.
Over 12 villages in Ladakh have built ice Stupas this year in various villages.
With the technical and material support by the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh ( HIAL) , village youths have enthusiasticly participated in building the ice Stupas.
To keep motivated, this yesr HIAL has organized a competition among the villages on ice Stupas .
Ramon Magsaysay and Rolex award winner Sonam Wangchuk said simple living in cities only would help and allow the ecology of mountains to just survive.
Global warming, ecological imbalance have caused irreparable damage oñ Himalayas, thus this awareness through the stamp release has been taken up, he said.
Ice Stupas is not any celebration but survival technique we in SECMOL have developed over a period, Wangchuk said.
Saving Winter water, that flows waste, in a cone shaped stupa which is not melted easily is the main idea behind it , he explains.
This stupa melts slowly and serves the purpose of drinking and irrigation, he said.
In each ice Stupa atleast 30-50 lakh ltrs of water is saved. This is apart from the naturally saved water in the slopes of mountains, Sonam Wangchuk said.
India bags 188 medals at Special Olympics World Games
India has so far won a total of 188 medals at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
The medals include 50 gold, 63 silver and 75 bronze medals.
The medal tally surged as Indian paddlers made history in table tennis with four gold and one silver medal. Coach Sheetal Negi said that the Indian contingent underwent four preparatory camps in Gurgaon, Jodhpur, Haryana and Mumbai before competing in Abu Dhabi.
The men’s team has also won two gold medals at the games.
In Judo, Sonu Kumar from Rohtak, Haryana won the gold medal by winning all three bouts. Muskan bagged a silver each in squat and bench press. She also won a gold in deadlifting.
In Roller Skating, Vijay, Hufeja Ayub Shaikh, Jashan Deep Singh, Harshad Gaonkar and Hardik Agarwal also brought laurels for the country. Four Silver medals were bagged by Santoshi Vijay Kauthankar from Goa in the female category.
PCB pays over Rs 11 cr as compensation to BCCI after losing case in ICC
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has paid 1.6 million US dollars, equivalent to over eleven crores in Indian currency, to the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) as compensation after losing a case in the ICC's Dispute Resolution Committee. This was stated by PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani in Karachi today.
The PCB had filed a compensation case against the BCCI last year before the Committee for an amount of 70 million US dollars for not honouring an MoU signed between the two boards.
According to the MoU, India and Pakistan were supposed to play six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023, which the BCCI failed to honour.
The BCCI said they were unable to play against Pakistan as the Indian government did not give them permission. India also dismissed the Pakistan board's claims as legally binding
BJP's Pramod Sawant sworn-in as new Goa CM
BJP MLA Pramod Sawant was sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Goa late last night. He succeeds Manohar Parrikar, who passed away on Sunday following a prolonged illness.
Goa Governor Mridula Sinha administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 46-year-old Sawant. He represents Sankhalim constituency in Goa Assembly.
The Governor also administered the oath to 11 other ministers, including those from BJP's allies Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP).
All the ministers who were part of erstwhile Manohar Parrikar-led Cabinet were sworn in by the Governor. MGP's two MLAs Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Ajgaonkar were sworn-in, while GFP MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Vinod Palekar and Jayesh Salgaonkar also took the oath.
BJP MLAs Mauvin Godinho, Vishwajit Rane, Milind Naik and Nilesh Cabral also found a place in the Sawant-led Cabinet. Independent MLAs Rohan Khaunte and Govind Gawade were also sworn in by Governor.
Before taking oath as the CM, Mr Sawant resigned from the post of Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly. Talking to reporters, Mr Sawant said his party BJP has given him a big responsibility. He also credited Parrikar for bringing him into politics.
Cyclone Idai: Zimbabwe school hit by landslide
They were asleep in their dormitory when rocks swept down a mountain and knocked over a wall, officials say.
A further three people are missing after a bus was washed away when the driver tried to cross a flooded river.
The tropical storm cut off power and communications in Manicaland province, along the border with Mozambique, where about 21 people have died.
The cyclone made landfall in Mozambique on Thursday, with winds of up to 177km/h (106 mph). It cut off more than 500,000 residents in the port city of Beira, one the country's largest cities. Roads were flooded and the airport was shut down.
Rains and flooding ahead of the storm's arrival had left about more than 120 people dead in Mozambique and Malawi.
Mukesh Ambani becomes world's richest sports team owner! Check details
Reliance Industries chairman and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani recently topped Forbes' The World's Richest Sports Team Owners 2019 list. The top 20 owners in the list include 13 rising fortunes, two static and five decliners. With a total net worth of about $50 billion, Ambani topped the list. He bought the IPL team Mumbai Indians for over $100 million in 2008 through a RIL subsidiary.
Former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer who own the Los Angeles Clippers team follows Ambani at the second spot in the list. He purchased the basketball team for about $2 billion after he retired from Microsoft. Red Bull energy drink company founder Dietrich Mateschitz followed at number three spot. He owns Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda, Formula One team Red Bull Racing and MLS club New York Red Bulls.
Other people in the top 10 include Hasso Plattner and family who own American ice hockey team San Jose Sharks, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich who is majority owner of Chelsea football club, David Tepper who owns American football team Carolina Panthers, Philip Anschutz who owns NHL's Los Angeles Kings, Mikhail Prokhorov who owns NBA team Brooklyn Heights, Micky Arison who owns Miami Heat and Stanley Kroenke who owns NFL, MLS, NHL, EPL and NBA teams.
New course gives Chinese a taste of Tamil language, culture
The 2011 Tamil film 7aum Arivu came in handy when Zhou Xin, 33, taught her students how to describe beauty in the Tamil language. A picture popped up on the screen, of Tamil actor Surya who plays Bodhidharma — a master of martial arts and medical remedies — who is sent to China to stop the spread of a pandemic disease.
“The film was not that China-friendly,” laughs Zhou, about a plot that revolves around a biological war against India. “All our language teaching is integrated with culture teaching. If I teach them about beauty, I won’t pick a random picture but I will pick one of Surya or Rajinikanth and talk to them about the films they were in,” says Zhou, known by her Tamil name Eswari, when she is teaching at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU).
Learning about Tamil culture, or more broadly about India, is reserved for an hour on Wednesday afternoons. For instance, last week the students watched the Oscar-winning documentary Period. End of Sentence. For the rest of the 11 hours each week, it is a challenging task to get ten enthusiastic 18-year-olds to twist their tongues in ways that will produce uniquely Tamil syllables.
Countering terrorism top priority of BRICS
The first BRICS Sherpa meeting, under the presidency of Brazil, has identified countering terrorism as one of its priority areas, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.
The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Sherpa meeting was held in Brazil's Curitiba city between March 14 and March 15.
T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the MEA, led the Indian delegation at the meeting.
"It is worth mentioning that Brazil has identified countering terrorism as one of its priority areas for BRICS nations under its presidency. Brazil's priorities for its presidency includes, inter-alia science, technology and innovation, digital economy, New Development Bank and BRICS Business Council as well as countering transnational crime and terrorism," said the Ministry.
The Ministry said India conveyed its support for the priority set out by Brazil, particularly to take forward BRICS cooperation on countering terrorism in a meaningful and concrete manner with the member countries of the group, which represents billions of people.
Goa CM Manohar Parrikar passes away at 63
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar passed away in Panaji this evening after a prolonged illness. He was 63. Mr. Parrikar was diagnosed with a pancreatic ailment in February last year. Since then, he received treatment at various hospitals across Mumbai, New Delhi, Goa and the US.
A six-time MLA and former Defence Minister, Mr Parrikar was born on 13th December, 1955. He graduated from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai with a B.Tech degree in metallurgical engineering. Mr Parrikar was first elected to the Goa assembly in 1994.
He served as Chief Minister of the state during October 2000 to February 2005; and March 2012 to November 2014. From November 2014 till March 2017, he served as the Union Defence Minister. Mr Parrikar returned to Goa in March 2017 as the State Chief Minister.
He served as a Rajya Sabha MP from November 2014 to September 2017. The popular leader would be remembered for his efforts in infrastructure and education development in the state and bringing the International Film Festival of India to Goa in 2004. for his role as the union defence minister and his dynamism.