Author: News Desk

Ecologist Dr Manju Vasudevan and her team started Forest Post in 2017 with the aim to create livelihood opportunities for basically three tribal communities near the Chalakudy and Karuvannur river basins in Kerala. Let’s take a look at the story of Forest Post. The communities – Kadar, Malayar, and Muthuvar – are entirely forest dependent. Dr Manju who was in touch with them wanted to develop a livelihood solution for them based on the knowledge and wisdom of these indigenous communities. The programme started as an offshoot of some of the work Manju and her team were doing on forest…

The DGCA has granted Jet Airways its air operator’s certificate Officially paving the way for the grounded airline to take to the skies once again The airline intends to restart commercial flight operations in the July-September quarter With DGCA officials on board, the airline had successfully operated five proving flights on May 15 and 17 Jet Airways’ flying licence or AOP was made dormant, months after it stopped flying

The Saudi Tourism Authority and EaseMyTrip have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) It is to boost inbound tourism to Saudi Arabia by leveraging the company’s travel network The entities will explore opportunities to jointly collaborate on key initiatives It will undertake various activities to promote and develop quality tourism experiences in Saudi Arabia And expand their presence in the Indian market easeMyTrip will raise destination awareness in India, and amplify Saudi Arabia’s diverse travel experiences It will also undertake various online and offline initiatives

Mastercard to allow shoppers to pay with a smile or wave of the handThe new biometric payment system is being piloted in Brazil One won’t be needing a card or a mobile phone at checkout Mastercard said the benefits of the technology include faster transaction times, better security, and a more hygienic process The contactless biometric technology is set to reach $18.6 billion by 2026 Mastercard’s program follows similar moves by rivals like Visa and Amazon who are developing their own biometric systems Shoppers in Brazil will be the first to pilot the new system this week

Stellantis Group plans to launch its first electric vehicle (EV) in India in 2023 The company wants to source components from India It will launch the EV under the Citroen brand With Jeep growing steadily in India, Stellantis plans to cater to the core of the B segment market With a hatchback, an SUV, and an MPV in the coming three years All these models will come with an electric powertrain

Electric Vehicles’ smart EV charging system makes charging super cool and easy The last few years have witnessed the Electric Vehicles (EV) gaining momentum across the world. Hailed as a perfect alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles, EVs promise a decarbonized society. Like world nations, India is also investing in electric vehicles with its EV market expected to hit a CAGR of 90 per cent by 2030.As part of the efforts to establish Electric Vehicles in India, the country is envisioning a cloud-based smart system for EV charging. The ‘Smart EV charging’ is a system where electric vehicles, charging stations and charging operators are connected by sharing data links. Contrary to the conventional charging devices, this system allows the charging station owner to…

Ratan Tata was seen driving up to the Taj hotel in the quaint little Nano albeit any fancy cars and security The Tata Nano, to this day, remains India’s most affordable and cheapest car The 84-year-old Ratan Tata was seen sitting in the front, driven to the hotel by his executive assistant Shantanu Naidu He was later escorted inside by the hotel staff without any procession of bodyguards The simplicity of the 84-year-old industrialist traveling around without much fanfare won over the internet, who dubbed him a “legend”

Walmart-woned digital payments firm PhonePe will acquire WealthDesk and OpenQ for $50 million and $20 million respectively, say reports. This acquisition is part of PhonePe’s efforts to strengthen its financial and wealth management services. PhonePe has confirmed the deal but is yet to confirm the amount. WealthDesk is a wealth management firm. After the acquisition, the founder of WealthDesk and the entire team will be working as part of the PhonePe group. Both platforms will remain independent. WealthDesk will be open to all players and founder Ujjwal Jain will continue to oversee the platform. OpenQ is a smart beta wealth…

Japanese investment firm SoftBank is all set to cut its spending on startups as it reported a huge net loss of $13.14 billion for the year ending March 31. SoftBank also reported its biggest-ever quarterly net loss of $16.2 billion for the January-March quarter. The firm said it would be forced to reduce startup funding by more than half this year. SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, launched in 2017, also suffered a historic loss of $27 billion for the year. It is due to heavy losses in investments in tech companies like Coupang and Didi Global. According to SoftBank, fast-rising…

Smartwatches have always been quite popular among Indians. Adding to the list of smartwatches is ‘boAt Primia’, developed by the tech brand boAt. It is boAt’s first-ever Bluetooth Calling Smartwatch with a 1.39 inch round AMOLED display. It has 454×454 pixels for providing sharper details even under bright sunlight. boAt Primia has a built-in speaker and microphone to let users access Voice Assistant directly from the device. The smartwatch is equipped with an in-built heart rate, SpO2, stress level tracker, and a sleep tracker for ensuring better health. The watch has 11 Active Sports Modes such as basketball, badminton, football,…