Indian Railway Solarises more than 960 Stations

 Indian Railways has solarised more than 960 stations till date to achieve its objective of becoming 100% self-sustainable for all its power needs and to contribute to national solar power goals. Also, orders have been placed for 198 MW solar rooftop capacity for 550 stations which are under execution.

In order to achieve its objective of becoming 100% self-sustainable for all its power needs and to contribute to national solar power goals, Indian Railways has solarised more than 960 stations till date. Orders have been placed for 198 MW solar rooftop capacity for 550 stations which are under execution.

It may be noted that Indian Railways had recently organised a meet of leading solar power developers who had shared their expectations of being partners in the journey of Indian Railways to become “net zero carbon emitter” before 2030. Indian Railways is set to produce solar energy for meeting all its energy consumption needs of more than 33 billion units by 2030.Current annual requirement is about 20 billion units.

Indian Railways has a mega plan for installing solar plants of 20 GW capacity by utilizing its vacant land by 2030. Some of the Stations solarised are Varanasi, New Delhi, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Secunderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Howrah etc.

About 51,000-hectare vacant land available with Indian Railways and is now ready to extend all support to the developers for installing solar power plants on Railway’s vacant un-encroached land.It may be noted that Railways is also set to achieve 100% electrification by the year 2023.

It may be noted that Indian Railways is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its traction power requirement and become a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’. This is in line with the recent directive of Hon’ble Prime Minister to solarise railway stations and utilize vacant railway land for Renewable Energy (RE) projects.

The use of solar power will accelerate the Railways’ mission to achieve the goal of becoming ‘Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway’.In order to achieve this, Indian Railways has developed a mega plan for installing solar plants of 20 GW capacity by utilizing its vacant land by 2030.

In this regard, to begin with, bids for 3 GW solar projects on vacant Railway land parcels and land parcels along the railway track have already been invited by Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL), a PSU of Indian Railways. These solar projects, besides supplying power to Railways at reduced tariff, will also protect the Railway land by construction of boundary wall along the track.

India's electronic exports can rise 16 fold to $180 billion by 2025

 

With global supply chain for electronic goods witnessing a restructuring as companies look to reduce dependence on China, India's domestic electronic goods industry is staring at a potential windfall. Estimates by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) suggest electronics exports from India may potentially hit $180 billion by 2025 from just $11.28 billion in 2019-20.

The industry believes it needs proper long-term policy support from the government. ESC has submitted a charter to the government that proposes expanding the existing production linked incentive scheme beyond just mobile and smartphones to the entire electronic manufacturing sector.

"We have created a roadmap for taking India's electronics exports, which includes mobile phones and accessories, components and other electronics and hardware items to $180 billion by 2025 to bring exports from the segment more or less at par with software exports," says Mr. Sandeep Narula, Chairman, ESC

India's domestic production in the sector at $70 billion accounts for just 3.3 percent of the global electronics market estimated at $2.1 trillion giving it a significant headroom for growth. The domestic industry however suffers from disabilities like higher taxation, cost of finance and power which make it uncompetitive against China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam or Japan.

"The disadvantage works out to at least 8 to 10 percent, which is enough to price out Indian products from the global market. This would also make Indian products, particularly components, costlier for Indian electronic product manufacturers, forcing them to go for large scale imports," says Narula.

India is a significant importer of electronic goods components and a substantial portion of them comes from China. According to an analysis done by World Trade Centre Mumbai, India imported electronic goods worth Rs 3.59 lakh crore between April 2019 and February 2020 with China accounting for 40 percent of them. It accounts for a third of all imports from China and any reduction in this area will go a long way in reducing trade deficit with the dragon.

"There is a need for bringing down the minimum incremental investment under PLI from Rs 100 crore so that MSMEs across the spectrum can take advantage of the benefits under the scheme," Narula says. "The phased manufacturing program to promote local sourcing of components is more directed at mobile phone. It has helped in that segment, but it should be extended to all components manufactured in India. A measure of protection to the domestic component industry should be provided by increasing import duty on such products."

ESC has also asked for income tax incentives to be extended in the sector to help tide over the current crisis due to the pandemic. "It may take at least 2 to 3 years for the impact of the supply and demand disruptions caused by the COVID-19 to get bottomed out. Till that time at least the Income Tax incentives should be extended to exports and the domestic production should be treated as deemed exports," Narula added.

Indian Micro-businesses Remain Resilient Amidst COVID-19 Economic Impact: GoDaddy's 2020 Global Entrepreneurship Survey Finds

 

GoDaddy has released the 2020 Global Entrepreneurship Survey which finds micro-businesses in India are optimistic about the future of their very small business, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The overwhelming majority of Indian very small business owners surveyed (88 percent) believe that their business will grow in the next three to five years, with 43 percent responding they expect growth of at least 50 percent, and another 45 percent expecting to the growth of at least 25 percent

With more than 60 percent of the Indian very small business owners responding that despite the slowdown and negative impact brought on by the pandemic, they are confident that their business will continue (as compared to 52 percent globally). The survey further reveals strong values of resilience, self-reliance and zeal for digital skilling amongst Indian entrepreneurs – indicating a strong commitment to fight back in a post-COVID-19 new normal environment. Micro-businesses continue to remain positive despite setbacks.

 

The survey also studies the challenges micro-businesses are facing during the current pandemic. 83 percent of the Indian entrepreneurs surveyed reported a reduction in revenue and nearly half of them had to shut their business (45 percent) temporarily. Additionally, 45 percent had to make changes in the way they operated. Many small businesses in India are being impacted by low financial investment due to the COVID-19 environment, with more than 70 percent of respondents reported experiencing an overall decrease in investment. 48 percent of these small businesses said that maintaining cash flow was the most pressing need to keep their business running during this crisis period. Additionally, 37 percent say they started donating to charitable causes as compared to 17 percent globally.

 

The survey also highlights how digital technology has proven to be a key growth enabler during these tough times. As a result of the national lockdown due to COVID-19, 53 percent said they will focus on accelerating online/social selling capabilities.  Moreover, about one third of the respondents from India said that this year they might increase financial investment in digital education (35 percent) and cybersecurity & data privacy (32 percent). Thinking about the long-lasting implications on work post-COVID-19, 40 percent of the entrepreneurs in India are ready to modify their policies related to allowing remote work.

"It is encouraging to see the resilience and optimism of Indian micro-business owners during these challenging times…They may have had to shut down even if only temporarily, but they are adapting and working to rebound and help their small business grow," said Nikhil Arora, Vice President and Managing Director, GoDaddy India.

India's maintains its high Recovery Rate: total Recoveries cross 27 lakh

 

With more patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation (in case of mild and moderate cases), India's COVID-19 total recoveries have crossed 27 lakh today. Recovery of 27,13,933 patients has been made possible because of effective implementation of the Centre conceived and led policy of TESTING aggressively, TRACKING comprehensively through timely surveillance of close contacts and TREATING effectively through a widening medical care infrastructure across the country.

With the recovery of 64,935 cases in the last 24 hours, India's Recovery Rate amongst the COVID-19 patients has improved to 76.61 per cent and is demonstrating a continuous progress. The number of patients recovering is on a steady rise over the past several months.

The number of recoveries in India today exceeds the active cases by 3.55 times.

India has posted nearly 19.5 lakh (19,48,631) recoveries more than the active cases (765302, which are under active medical care). The record high recoveries have ensured that the actual caseload of the country viz. the active cases, continues to decline and currently comprises only 21.60 per cent of the total positive cases. This has aided the fast widening gap between the number of patients recovered and the active cases.

Timely and effective clinical management of the patients in critical care through a slew of holistic measures has been instrumental in keeping the Case Fatality Rate low and on a steady downward trajectory. It has further dipped to 1.79 per cent today.

For all authentic and updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.

Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in and @CovidIndiaSeva.

In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free). List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf

Boat Lifestyle eyes Rs 1,000 crore revenue in FY24

 

Boat Lifestyle, a consumer tech products maker, plans to double the top-line by FY24 to Rs 1,000 crore (US$ 141.86 million) on the back of strong demand for products like audio devices and accessories in the country. The company registered gross revenue of over Rs 500 crore (US$ 70.93 million) in FY2019-20.

"We had a target of Rs 500 crore (US$ 70.93 million) revenue in FY21-22, we have already crossed that, we had an outstanding year in FY20. We have grown 2.5X from the previous year...Since inception, our financial performance has been strong and have been EBITDA positive," said Boat Lifestyle co-founder Mr Aman Gupta.

He added that the company has a sustainable approach to growth, is not burning money like many start-ups and "FY23-24 is where we should do Rs 1,000 crore (US$ 141.86 million) revenue".

The company was started in 2016 and has raised venture debt from Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal's BAC Acquisitions, InnoVen Capital and equity from Fireside Ventures till date.

Boat Lifestyle has a portfolio in products such as headphones, earphones, speakers, travel chargers and premium cables. In July 2020, it entered in wearable segment with the launch of its smart band.

The company has created a community of over 2 million 'boAtheads' (consumers) and sells between 14,000-15,000 units a day.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, company saw a 20 per cent surge in demand for its products.

"There was a pent-up demand we saw because of work from home (WFH), workout from home and study from home. We are witnessing a strong uptake month-on-month as we continue to expand our portfolio," he said.

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Launches "Chunauti"- Next Generation Start-up Challenge Contest

 

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad today launched “Chunauti”- Next Generation Start-up Challenge Contest to further boost start-ups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns of India. The government has earmarked a budget of Rs 95.03 crore (US$ 13.48 million) over a period of three years for this programme. It aims to identify around 300 start-ups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of up to Rs 25 lakh (US$ 35,466) and other facilities.

Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite start-ups in the following areas of work:

• Edu-Tech, Agri-Tech & Fin-Tech Solutions for masses
• Supply Chain, Logistics & Transportation Management
• Infrastructure & Remote monitoring
• Medical Healthcare, Diagnostic, Preventive & Psychological Care
• Jobs & Skilling, Linguistic tools & technologies

The start-ups selected through Chunauti will be provided various support from the Government through Software Technology Parks of India centers across India. They will get incubation facilities, mentorship, security testing facilities, access to venture capitalist funding, industry connect as well as advisories in legal, Human Resource (HR), IPR and Patent matters. Besides seed fund of upto Rs 25 lakh (US$ 35,466), the start-ups will also be provided cloud credits from leading cloud service providers. Start-ups who are in the ideation stage may be selected under the pre-incubation programme & mentored for up-to six months to evolve their business plan & solution around the proposed idea. Each intern (start-up under pre-incubation) will be paid Rs 10,000 (US$ 141.86) /- per month up to a period of 6 months.

Startups can apply by visiting the website of STPI or by clicking at the link https://innovate.stpinext.in/

Union Minister also laid foundation stone of the digital training and skilling center of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. This center will be developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India at a cost of Rs. 9.17 crore (US$ 1.30 million). The government of Bihar has allocated one acre of land for this institution. This center will be equipped with the state-of-the-art training facility with a digital laboratory. Different courses such as O level, CCC, BCC, Programming and multimedia training will be offered from this center.

Speaking at a virtual event in presence of Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I urge the young, talented innovators of India to come forward and avail benefits of Chunauti challenge of Government and create new software products and app. This launch is a bold initiative under the clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

PM highlights importance of Poshan Maah in converting nutrition awareness into a mass movement

 

In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, the Prime Minister noted that the month of September will be observed as Poshan Maah - Nutrition month. He said that nation and nutrition are very closely interrelated. He recalled the maxim - "Yatha Annam Tatha Mannam," which means that mental and intellectual development is directly related to the quality of our food intake. He said that nutrition and proper nourishment play a big role in helping children and students to attain their optimum potential and to show their mettle. He stressed that for children to be well nourished, the mother needs to receive proper nourishment. He added that nutrition merely does not only imply eating but getting essential nutrients like salts, vitamins etc.

Prime Minister noted the efforts made in the country during the past few years especially in villages where public participation in nutrition week and nutrition month is converting nutrition awareness into a mass movement. He added that schools have been integrated into this mass movement with efforts being made to ensure competitions for children to increase nutrition awareness.

Prime Minister said that in a class, just like there is a Class Monitor, there should be a Nutrition Monitor. Similarly, just like a Report card, a Nutrition Card should also be introduced. He informed that during the course of the Nutrition Month, a food and nutrition quiz as well as meme competition will be organized on the My Gov portal. He asked the listeners to participate in it.

Prime Minister informed that at the Statue of Unity, a unique kind of nutrition park has also been created where one can witness nutrition related education along with fun and frolic.

Emphasising that India is endowed with a lot of diversity in food and drink, Prime Minister said it is very important that according to the season of a particular region, a well-balanced & nutrient rich, diet plan should be drafted to includelocal food grains, fruits and the vegetables cultivated there. He informed that an ‘Agricultural Fund of India’ is being created that will have complete information about the crops that are grown in each district and their related nutritional value. Prime Minister asked the listeners to eat nutritious food and stay healthy during the nutrition month.

PM inaugurates College and Administration Buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi through video conferencing

 

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today inaugurated the College and Administration Buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, UP through video conferencing. He interacted with the students at the University.

PM congratulated everyone and expressed hope that students after graduating from this university will actively contribute to empowering the country’s agriculture sector. He hoped that new facilities provided due to the new building would encourage and motivate students to work harder.

Invoking Rani Lakshmi Bai’s Quote that “I will not give my Jhansi”, the Prime Minister urged the people of Jhansi and Bundelkhand to make Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan a success.

The Prime Minister noted that Agriculture has a major role to contribute in Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. He said self-reliance in Agriculture targets at making Farmers both- producer as well as entrepreneur. PM said in line with this spirit, several historic agricultural reforms were taken. Just like other industries, now Farmers can also sell their produce anywhere in the country, wherever they fetch better prices. He said a special dedicated fund of Rs 1 Lakh crore (US$ 14.19 billion) has been set up for providing better facilities and promoting industries in a cluster-based approach.

Saying that steady efforts are continuing to connect farming with modern technology, the Prime Minister noted that Research Institutions and Agricultural Universities have a vital role to play. He said now there are three Central Agricultural Universities in the country, compared to just one Central University six years ago. Besides this, three more National Institutions viz. IARI Jharkhand, IARI Assam and Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Integrated Farming in Motihari, Bihar are also being established. He remarked that these institutes will not only give new opportunities to the students, but will also help in increasing their capacity, in providing technology benefits to the local farmers.

Speaking about use of modern technology in meeting agriculture related challenges, the Prime Minister gave an example of recent locust attack. He said the Government worked on war footing to control the spread of the attacks and to reduce the damage. He mentioned that dozens of control rooms were set up in several cities, arrangements were made to alert farmers in advance, drones to spray, dozens of modern spray machines used to kill locusts were procured and provided to farmers.

The PM said that in the last six years, the Government has endeavoured to establish a link between research and farming, and to provide scientific advice to the farmers, at the ground levels in the villages. He sought the cooperation of the universities in developing the ecosystem to streamline the flow of knowledge and expertise from campus to agriculture fields.

Stressing on the need to take knowledge related to agriculture and its practical application to school level, the Prime Minister said efforts are to introduce the Agriculture subject at Middle school level in villages. It will have two benefits- One, it will develop agriculture related understanding in the students and secondly, it will enable the students to give information about agriculture, its modern farming techniques and marketing, to their family members. This will promote Agro-entrepreneurship in the country, he added.

Talking about the steps taken to minimize the problems faced by the people during the coronavirus pandemic, the Prime Minister said free rations are being provided to crores of poor and rural families in Uttar Pradesh. Around 10 lakh poor women in Bundelkhand have been given free gas cylinders during this period. Under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, over Rs 700 crore (US$ 99.30 million) have been spent in UP so far, under which employment was provided to lakhs of workers.

The Prime Minister said, as promised earlier, the campaign to provide drinking water to every house is being executed at a rapid pace. Around 500 water related projects worth more than Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.42 billion) have been approved for this area. Out of this, work on Projects worth Rs 3,000 crore (US$ 425.59 million) has commenced in the last two months. It will directly benefit lakhs of families in Bundelkhand. He added that work is in progress on Atal Groundwater Scheme to raise the level of groundwater in Bundelkhand. He said work on projects involving more than Rs 700 crore (US$ 99.30 million) is underway to increase the water level in hundreds of villages of Jhansi, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Lalitpur as well as West UP.

The Prime Minister said in spite of Bundelkhand surrounded by Rivers Betwa, Ken and Yamuna, the entire area does not get the full benefit of the rivers. He said the Government is making steady efforts to change this situation. PM noted that Ken-Betwa River Link Project has the potential to change the fate of the region and said the government is cooperating and working with the state governments in this direction. PM expressed confidence that once Bundelkhand gets enough water, life here will change completely. He said that projects worth thousands of crores like Bundelkhand Express Way, Defence Corridor will create thousands of new employment opportunities here. He said the mantra of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan' will be echoed in all four directions in Bundelkhand. The Prime Minister reiterated the commitment of the union government and the government of Uttar Pradesh to enrich the ancient identity of Bundelkhand.

Infosys inks five-year deal with Genesys

 

IT services major Infosys signed a five-year deal with cloud customer experience and contact centre solutions provider, Genesys.

This five-year partnership with Genesys will help both companies to develop and deploy innovation and best-in-class solutions in the customer experience market, said a statement released by the company.

Under this partnership, Infosys will launch Genesys' contact center solutions in market.

"Clients of both organisations stand to benefit from the enhanced capability that will come from a combined investment in innovation, a broader ecosystem of strategic partners and a shared commitment to delivering world-class customer experiences," it added.

Moreover, Infosys will utilise the Research and development (RandD), operations and customer service for Genesys PureConnect, it said.

"It (partnership) will bring the industry-leading cloud communications solutions from Genesys to our clients and partners and enhance our ability to accelerate their migration to cloud communication solutions," said Infosys CEO Mr Salil Parekh.

Sales and marketing will be managed by Genesys along with additional functions for this solution, the statement added.

"Our strategic partnership with Infosys will be instrumental in enabling organizations of all sizes around the world to realise the Genesys vision of Experience as a Service," said Mr Tony Bates, CEO of Genesys.

“Both companies share a commitment to ongoing investment in the latest contact center technologies and delivering the highest levels of support so that customers can always provide differentiated and personalized experiences – a paramount component for business success today”, he added.

Cooperation, Collaboration and Commitment will guide the strategic partnership between India and ASEAN countries, says Shri Piyush Goyal

 Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal today said that 3Cs- Cooperation, Collaboration and Commitment, will guide the strategic partnership between India and ASEAN countries. Addressing the ASEAN-India Business Council virtual meet, Shri Goyal said the COVID-19 pandemic period provided a unique opportunity to India to demonstrate itself as the trusted partner to the world, particularly in times of stress. Shri Goyal extended a hand of friendship to the ASEAN region, which he described as deep and valuable partners, and partners in the progress.

The Minister said that Aatamnirbhar Bharat connotes a self-reliant country which is ready to engage with the world from the position of strength and confidence, and on equal and fair terms.He said that India and ASEAN have not been able to harness the full trade potential, for various reasons, but now is the time to open matrix to expand trade, address concerns of all nations and businesses, and resolve the differences. He extended India’s friendship and partnership to ASEAN through businesses, so that together both the partners can succeed, secure future, work together, attain prosperity, and achieve a target of US$ 300 billion trade. Shri Goyal said that the business council meeting is a good forum to discuss concerns and best practices, share ideas, and flag the problems.

Shri Goyal said that during the early days of pandemic, India went out to the world for its requirements to fight COVID-19, but didn’t get much traction, as everyone was holding on for their own requirements. But, India, on the other hand, with the ability to provide medicines, acted as the Pharmacy for the world. We supplied medicines to over 150 countries of the world, to every part of the world, particularly to the less developed nations. Restrictions were imposed initially but that was with the noble intent of ensuring that the poor nations are not deprived of the medicines.All this showed that India is a resilient country, a trusted partner, and a friend indeed.

 

Shri Goyal said that the country developed adequate capacity to manufacture PPE, masks, and ramped up our testing capabilities from under 1000 per day to about a million a day. “We have been self-sufficient under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. During the period, Indians developed commitment and consciousness to maintain social distancing, to adequately take care of personal hygiene, always wear a mask and care for near ones.”, the Minister said. He said that India demonstrated its resilience, ability to overcome problems and our collective efforts ensured that we could protect lives and livelihoods. We enforced strictest lockdown to save lives, and then ensured quick un-lockdown to bring take care of the livelihood issues, he added.