Category: Business & Economy

** Money spider, ant-mimicking spider discovered at Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary

Discovery by researchers of Christ College, Irinjalakuda

Money spiders, commonly found in European meadows, have been reported for the first time in the country from the Muthanga range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The species is called so as it is “believed to bring luck” to the person who comes in contact with it.

Researchers of Christ College, Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, have discovered the spider that belongs to the family of dwarf spiders ( Linyphiidae) under the genus  Prosoponoides. It has been given the name  Prosoponoides biflectogynus.

“Only six species of spiders belonging to this genus have been identified from across the world so far. It is the first report of this genus from India and hence no extensive studies have been conducted on this species of spiders in the country,” said Dr. Sudhikumar A.V., Head, Department of Zoology, Christ College.

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** Gautam Adani, advocate Karuna Nundy, jailed activist Khurram Parvez in TIME’s 100 most influential list

Apart from them, Indian American Bela Bajaria, the head of Global TV at OTT platform, Netflix, is also part of TIME’s list.

TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2022 includes billionaire Gautam Adani, advocate Karuna Nundy, who has been championing the cause of the criminalisation of marital rape in India, and human rights activist Khurram Parvez, who is currently in jail as part of an investigation in a terror-funding case in Kashmir.

Apart from them, Indian American Bela Bajaria, the head of Global TV at OTT platform, Netflix, is also part of TIME’s list.

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** India registers success with BP treatment, control

The India Hypertension Control Initiative, started in 2018, has been expanded to more than 100 districts

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death among adults in India. One of the major drivers of heart attack and stroke is untreated high blood pressure or hypertension. Hypertension is a silent killer as most patients do not have any symptoms.

India has more than 200 million people with hypertension, and only 14.5% of individuals with hypertension are on treatment. Unlike many other diseases, hypertension is easy to diagnose and can be treated with low-cost generic drugs.

India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) is a multi-partner initiative involving the Indian Council of Medical Research, WHO-India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and State governments to improve blood pressure control for people with hypertension. The project initiated in 26 districts in 2018 has expanded to more than 100 districts by 2022. More than two million patients were started on treatment and tracked to see whether they achieved BP control.

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** India joins Biden’s new trade initiative for Indo-Pacific, negotiations to begin

U.S. officials made it clear that the IPEF would not be a “free trade agreement”, nor are countries expected to discuss reducing tariffs or increasing market access.

India signalled its readiness to join a new economic initiative led by the United States for the region, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and leaders of 10 countries, who joined virtually, for the launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) in Tokyo on May 23. The negotiations for the IPEF, which will begin on May 24, are expected to center around four main pillars, including trade, supply chain resiliency, clean energy and decarbonisation, and taxes and anti-corruption measures. The grouping, which includes seven out of 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), all four Quad countries, and New Zealand, represents about 40% of global GDP. 

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** World Economic Forum forms Indian CEOs’ alliance to supercharge race to net-zero

The World Economic Forum on Monday announced a new ‘Alliance of CEO Climate Action Leaders India’ that will work towards fast-tracking decarbonisation pathways along India’s net-zero journey.

A collaboration between Kearney and Observer Research Foundation, the Alliance brings together chief executives from India’s leading businesses. The Alliance is part of the Forum’s Climate Action Platform and will build upon learnings from global projects such as the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders and the First Movers Coalition.

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** ‘India-Japan are natural partners’: PM Narendra Modi meets Indian diaspora  in Tokyo

Addressing the Indian community here on the first day of his two-day visit to Tokyo, Modi also said that India’s relationship with Japan is of spirituality, of cooperation and of belonging. “India and Japan are natural partners. Japan has played an important role in India’s development journey,” said Modi, who is visiting Tokyo at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

“Today’s world needs to follow the path shown by Lord Buddha. This is the way to save humanity from the challenges facing the world today, be it violence, anarchy, terrorism and climate change,” Modi said.

Noting that India has always found a solution no matter how big the problem is, Modi said that during coronavirus pandemic, there was an atmosphere of uncertainty, but even in that situation, India supplied ‘Made in India’ vaccines to crores of its citizens and also sent it to more than 100 countries.

“Whenever I visit Japan, I witness your affection. Many of you have settled in Japan for years and assimilated the Japanese culture. Still, the dedication toward Indian culture and language is ever-growing,” Modi told the Indian diaspora amid chats of slogans ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.

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** Skyroot successfully test fires space launch vehicle ‘Vikram-1’ rocket stage

Named ‘Kalam-100’ after the renowned Indian rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Skyroot Aerospace, the national-award winning startup building India’s first privately built space launch vehicles has announced the successful completion of a full duration test-firing of its ‘Vikram-1’ rocket stage, representing a major milestone for the company on Thursday.

Named ‘Kalam-100’ after former President and the renowned Indian rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the third stage of ‘Vikram-1’ produces a peak vacuum thrust of 100 kN (or ~10Tons) and has a burn time of 108 sec, said the city based firm’s founders, in an official release.

The rocket stage has been built with high-strength carbon fiber structure, solid fuel, novel thermal protection system, and carbon ablative nozzle. “It’s a highly reliable stage with no moving parts and high level of automation in manufacturing. This testing will help us in development of orbital vehicle Vikram-1 and gives great confidence for our other rocket stages planned to be tested soon,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana.


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** Book on recovered temple assets released

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launches the book

Immovable properties, including waterbodies, belonging to 167 temples across Tamil Nadu under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department, valued at ₹2,566.94 crore, have been recovered between May 2021 and March 2022, according to a book released by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai on Tuesday.

A total of 1,375 encroachers have encroached these immovable properties. About 1,184 acre of land and plots, measuring about 467 grounds, buildings in about 47 grounds and waterbodies in about 36 grounds have been cleared of encroachments between May 7, 2021 and March 31 this year.

HR and CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu received the first copy of the book Properties of Temples recovered from Encroachments during 2021-22 released by Mr. Stalin. Senior officials of the HR&CE Department were also present.

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** Indian Navy successfully test-fires naval anti-ship missile

The Indian Navy on Wednesday successfully carried out the maiden test firing of the first indigenously developed naval anti-ship missile from a Seaking helicopter, officials said.

The test was conducted at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha’s Balasore.

“This firing is a significant step towards achieving self-reliance in niche missile technology and reaffirms the Indian Navy’s commitment to indigenisation,” said a senior Navy official.

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** Insurtech firm Sureify Labs opens new office in Hyderabad

Plans to raise headcount in Hyderabad to 1,000 in three years

California-based insurtech firm Sureify Labs formally opened on Monday its new office in Hyderabad and announced plans to increase the headcount at the facility from 220 now to 1,000 by 2025.

“We build technology and offer software-as-a-service for life insurance companies and annuity industry,” founder CEO Dustin Yoder said of the firm that is focussed on the North America market.

Sureify has done some work in Japan and is keen on exploring opportunities to work with large life insurers in India as well within the next couple of years. “We are starting to engage with them,” he said after Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao inaugurated the office.

On the new office in Hyderabad, Mr. Yoder and head of Product Engineering T. Vijay Kumar said the 12,000 sq.ft. tech development centre will be crucial to the company’s growth and was decided to be established in Hyderabad in view of infrastructure and talent availability. Most of the product development and delivery will happen at the facility. Sureify Labs has 100 employees in the U.S.

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