Category: Life & Style

The digital transformation (DX) spending in India is expected to reach $85 billion by 2026, as Indian organisations aim to reduce costs by increasing efficiency, improving security, and enhancing customer experience through tech-enabled digital transformation, said an International Data Corporation (IDC) report on Tuesday.

More than 95 per cent of Indian companies plan to increase DX spending or maintain at the same level in 2023, the report added.

DX is about accepting the right technologies. It combines people, processes, and operations that give companies the ability to develop and react to unpredictable and dynamic market conditions.

Manufacturing (discrete and process), professional services, banking, government, retail, and telecommunications are the top industries spending on DX in India. Indian companies are leaning towards the cloud, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), network infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), and other advanced technologies to transform digitally.

The IDC experts also warned that current headwinds such as IT supply chain disruptions, inflation, and global geopolitical issues will possibly persist, but Indian companies must see these factors as enablers of digital transformation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation helped Indian organisations survive the challenges and sustain competition. The lockdown and remote working forced the companies to pave the way for digitisation efforts.

India has climbed to the 48th position in the global aviation safety ranking by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday. Four years ago, the country was ranked at the 102nd position.

In the latest ICAO ranking, Singapore is at the top, followed by the UAE and South Korea at the second and third positions, respectively, the officials said. China is at the 49th place, they added.

Under its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach, an ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM) was undertaken from November 9 to 16, 2022. On November 16, the DGCA said the audit was conducted in the areas of legislation, organisation, personal licensing, operations, airworthiness and aerodromes.

DGCA Chief Arun Kumar told media that the regulator has worked tirelessly to upgrade India’s safety ranking. India’s score in terms of effective implementation of key safety elements has improved to 85.49%, putting it ahead of China (49), Israel (50) and Turkey (54). India’s score in the 2018 Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme was 69.95%.

The higher ranking in Universal Safety Oversight Audit implies that India has improved its air safety processes. Better aviation safety helps carriers to expand faster in overseas markets as permissions for new services are easier to get.

The Indian Railways registered a 76 per cent increase in revenue from the passenger segment between April and November year on year to total approximate earnings of Rs 43,324 crore against Rs 24,631 crore achieved during the corresponding period last year.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Indian Railways said, in the reserved passenger segment, the total approximate number of passengers booked was 53.65 crore between April 1 and November 30 against 48.60 crore during the year-ago period. It is an increase of 10%. The revenue generated in this segment during the period grew 50 per cent to Rs 34,303 crore from Rs 22,904 crore from last year.

With the fear of Covid-19 on the wane, the passenger traffic on Indian Railways has returned on the track of growth. The increase was seen in the unreserved passenger segment as well.

In the unreserved passenger segment, the total approximate number of passengers booked during April 1 to November 30, 2022, is 35,273 lakh, as compared to 13,813 lakh during the same period last year, with an increase of 155 per cent. The segment registered revenue of Rs 9,021 crore during this period as compared to Rs 1,728 crores in the same period last year, with an increase of 422 per cent, the statement said.

Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh has said that India’s bio-economy has grown eight times in the last eight years from $10 billion in 2014 to over $80 billion in 2022.

Dr Jitendra Singh Singh was addressing the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Biosciences and Chemical Technology in Shri Mata Vaishnodevi University, Katra, on Saturday. In his address, he said biotech start-ups have grown 100 times in the last eight years from around 52 to over 5,300. He said, a total of 1,128 biotech start-ups were set up in 2021 alone, indicating the rapid growth of the sector in the country. The Union Minister underlined that from a paltry investment of Rs. 10 crore in bio-economy in 2014, the fund growth saw 400 times hike to Rs. 4,200 crore in 2022, creating over 25,000 high-skilled jobs.

Fourteen international participants, including the USA, Greece, South Korea, Scotland, Singapore, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, and Vietnam, are part of the conference being organized by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, School of Biotechnology in collaboration with CSIR-IIIM Jammu and The Biotech Research Society of India. The conference, from 3-5 December 2022, also has 24 National keynote and invited speakers and around 300 participants from almost every state of India who are presenting their work in the form of oral and poster presentations.

Indian students have overtaken Chinese students as the largest group of foreign students studying in the United Kingdom.

Students from India registered a huge jump of 273 per cent in visas granted over the past few years, said the UK Home Office data. The data collated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that there were 1,27,731 (study visa) grants to main applicant Indian nationals in the year ending September 2022, an increase of 93,470 (273 per cent) compared to 2019 (34,261).

The new Graduate Route visa introduced in July 2021 to allow international students the chance to stay on and work at the end of their degree was also dominated by Indians – accounting for 41 per cent of visas granted. The special High Potential Individual (HPI) visa, launched in May 2022 to attract the brightest graduates from the world’s top universities around the world to work in the UK, also saw a 14 per cent grant to Indian nationals regardless of the fact that no Indian university was on the approved set of top global universities.

Indians also continue to be the top nationality granted visas in the skilled worker category, with 56,042 granted work visas in the past year. Indian nationals also represented the highest number of visas given, i.e., 36 per cent of the total under the customised Skilled Worker Health and Care visa targeted at medical professionals, underlining Indian contribution to the UK government funded National Health Service.

Indian Railways’ oldest living station, Mumbai’s Byculla has received UNESCO’s Asia Pacific Cultural Heritage Conservation award of merit for restoration work done in the last three years. The railway station commissioned in 1853 was recently renovated and restored to its almost original, Gothic, heritage architectural glory.

Non-governmental organisation I Love Mumbai, headed by Shaina NC, and The Bajaj Group Charitable Trust carried out the restoration work of the Central Line railway station of the Mumbai Suburban Railway station. Renowned heritage conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah did the project pro bono as part of their corporate social responsibility under the guidance of Central Railway officials.

The project was undertaken during the COVID-19 lockdown, when the architects made use of migrant labourers, who were stranded and present within the station precincts to complete the restoration, said Lambah. The architects peeled off all the cement and paint on the basalt stone facade of the buildings and restored to its original image. During the restoration process, the original signage bracket designs were discovered on site. The grill is now painted as per the historic paint scrapes found on site and stands of teak wood panelling forming a large ticketing window with a tinted glass fanlight.

The President of Egypt, General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be the Chief Guest for the Republic Day Parade in 2023.

This is the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt will be the Chief Guest at our Republic Day, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release, underlining the “warm and friendly relations” between the two countries based on civilizational and deep-rooted people-to-people ties.

This year, India and Egypt are marking the 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic ties. The MEA in the release stated that India has invited Egypt as the ‘guest country’ during India’s G20 presidency in 2022-2023. Notably, India will assume the G20 Presidency on December 1.

Egypt has been one of India’s largest trading partners in Africa, and India-Egypt bilateral agreement has been in operation since 1978.

India did not invite any foreign dignitary as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was the chief guest of the 2020 Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the all-women Ima market in Imphal on Sunday. The market, also known as the Mothers’ Market, Ima Keithel, or Nupi Keithel, is said to be nearly 500 years old and is solely managed and run by women.

Sharing the video and photos from his visit on Twitter, Jaishankar called the market a “great example of Nari Shakti powering economic growth.” The minister is in Manipur for a three-day visit, which began on Saturday, to attend the ongoing Manipur Sangai Festival 2022.

In Ima Keithel, around 5,000 women shopkeepers hold licenses. These licences are passed down from one generation to another in a family. It is believed to be Asia’s and perhaps the world’s largest all-women market. The market is supposed to have started in the 16th century with a few stalls run by women. The shops were initially housed in sheds, but the Imphal Municipal Council has now built a four-storey building for the market. Vegetables, fruits, textiles, toys, fish, spices, and utensils are available in the market. This market plays a vital role in Manipur’s economy.

The External Affairs Minister said that the Centre was working to improve connectivity and infrastructure in the Northeast. He added that India’s G20 presidency will be celebrated at various places across the country, including Manipur.

India is now the world’s second-largest gamer base with over 369 million gamers, says a report by games market intelligence platform Niko Partners.

The country makes up 50.2 per cent of all gamers in the top 10 Asian countries’ list, according to the data provided by the market research firm. Indian gamers spend 14 hours per week on average on mobile games. The report added that India is also the fastest growing market with a 5-year growth rate of 21 per cent for revenue, mentioned in the report The Asia-10 Games Market.

Niko Partners projects the Asia-10 PC and mobile game market will generate $35.9 billion in 2022, reaching $41.4 billion in 2026. “Gamers are increasing at a much faster rate than revenue. Niko Partners projects the Asia-10 PC and mobile gamers will total 788.7 million in 2022, reaching 1.06 billion in 2026,” the report said.

India, Thailand, and the Philippines are the fastest growing markets for games revenue and number of gamers. As per the report, China currently has the largest gamer base in the world. Japan and Korea are the most mature markets in the Asia-10 region, accounting for over 77 per cent of revenue, said the report.

In another report released earlier this month, gaming-focused Indian venture capital fund Lumika said that India’s gaming sector will almost quadruple to $8.6 billion in 2027 from the earlier $2.6 billion. 

Indian wildlife biologist Dr Purnima Devi Barman is among the winners of United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2022 Champions of the Earth award. The UN’s highest environmental honour is given for an individual’s work to avert, stop, and undo ecosystem degradation. She has been honoured with the award in the Entrepreneurial Vision category.

Dr Barman is the leader of Hargila Army, an all-female grassroots conservation movement dedicated to protecting the Greater Adjutant Stork from extinction in Assam. The women create and sell textiles with motifs of the bird in their attempt to raise awareness about the species while trying to become financially independent.

The endangered Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius), which was once well distributed in South East Asia has witnessed a massive decline of its population and is currently known to breed only in the Indian state of Assam and Cambodia. It is the second-rarest stork species in the world.

The UNEP website said that to protect the stork, Dr Barman knew she had to change perceptions of the bird, known locally as “hargila” (Assamese for “bone swallower”) and mobilised a group of village women to help her. Today, the Hargila Army has more than 10,000 women, who protect nesting sites, rehabilitate injured storks that have fallen from their nests, and arrange “baby showers” to celebrate the arrival of newborn chicks. The greater adjutant stork regularly features in folk songs, poems, festivals and plays.