Business & Economy – Page 16

German city honour for Bengaluru’s women’s rights activist

The senate of Bremen, a city in Germany, has awarded the 17th Bremen Solidarity Award to Garment Labourer Union president Rukmini V P in recognition of her activism and contribution to the women’s rights movement.

The award, which carried a purse of 10,000 euros and a sculpture by Bremen artist Bernd Altenstein, was presented by Andreas Bovenschulte, Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.

The winner of the 17th prize was chosen for the “commitment to combat violence against women and girls” and Rukmini Vaderapura Puttaswamy, co-founder of Munnade and GLU was chosen for her work in the sector.

Previous winners of the award include Nelson and Winnie Mandela (1988), Aung San Suu Kyi (1994), Sumaya Farhat-Naser (Palestine) and Gila Svirsky (Isreal) in 2003.

IKEA to open flagship store in India at Nagasandra today

June 22nd, 2022

The 4,60,000 sqft store that will sell over 7,500 products is expected to attract close to 5 million visitors this year

IKEA, the Swedish home furnishing brand, will open its largest store in India at Nagasandra, next to the metro station, on June 22, said the company on Tuesday.

The store that would display over 7,500 items would employ over 1,000 people to start with and is expected to attract close to 5 million visitors this year.

The company also said it would invest ₹3,000 crore in Karnataka and a part of it has already been deployed in setting up a 4,60,000 sqft store, it said.

Speaking at a media conference, former IKEA India CEO Peter Betzel said that at the time of the groundbreaking ceremony four years ago, the then Chief Minister himself was keen to see the store up and running at the earliest if possible in a few months. Although the pandemic had delayed it a bit, the outlet was worth the wait as it was IKEA’s flagship store in the country, he added.

Addressing the media, current CEO Susanne Pulverer said India was an omni-channel country for Ikea like no other.

IKEA Nagasandra, set up on a patch of 12.2 acres of land, is the brand’s third large store in the country after Hyderabad and Mumbai. The fourth store, in Delhi-NCR, is currently under construction. The store also features a 1,000-seater restaurant that serves both Indian and Swedish cuisines.

Mysuru hosts India’s first public yoga day event post-pandemic

The iconic Mysuru palace served as the perfect backdrop to 15,000-plus enthusiasts led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to celebrate the 8th edition of International Day of Yoga after a two-year break

Mysuru hosted the main event of the 8th edition of International Day of Yoga (IDY) with a mass yoga demonstration after a gap of two years. It was the first International Day of Yoga (IDY) public event after the outbreak of COVID-19.

There have been no yoga demonstrations in public in India since 2020 due to curbs on mass gatherings owing to the Covid-19 pandemic

Karnataka’s first wild orchidarium to come up at Kali Tiger Reserve

In an effort to conserve the wild orchid varieties of Karnataka, the forest department is all set to establish an orchidarium in Kali Tiger Reserve (KTR) of Uttara Kannada district.

In an effort to conserve the wild orchid varieties of Karnataka, the forest department is all set to establish an orchidarium in Kali Tiger Reserve (KTR) of Uttara Kannada district. The orchidarium is being constructed at Nujji vilage of Joida (Supa) taluk of the district and soon, it will be open for nature enthusiasts and visitors.

The building work has been completed and about 40 varieties of wild orchids that are found in KTR are being grown in the orchidarium. In the coming days, most of the orchid varieties found in the Western Ghats will be added, said Sachin Anil Punekar, Conservation Biologist and Founder of Biospheres-Ecosphere who has been helping the KRT set up the orchidarium project. The Western Ghats is home for a rich orchid population and a majority of them are found in the Kali Tiger Reserve, especially in the Anshi region of Uttara Kannada district. “Out of 170 orchid species that are found in Karnataka, 80 species are from the Anashi region alone. Nearly 20 wild orchids are endemic to this region only. The orchidarium will act as a rescue and rehab site for wild orchids,” Punekar said.

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PM Modi to dedicate to nation Konkan Railway electrified network today

The 741-km KRCL network between Thokur (Mangaluru) and Roha was certified for operating trains on electric traction on March 28 this year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the 741-kilometre-long electrified route network of Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) between Thokur (Mangaluru) and Roha (Maharashtra) in virtual mode from Bengaluru on Monday.

Mr. Modi will flag off trains running on electric traction from Udupi, Madgaon and Ratnagiri at a programme to be held at 3 p.m. in Bengaluru.

Inauguration of the complete electrification of the track, which was certified for operation of electric loco-hauled trains on March 28, facilitates seamless operation of trains on electric traction on the western coast of the country.

While Train Nos. 16515/16516 Yeshwantpur-Karwar-Yeshwantpur Tri-weekly Express was the first coaching train to run on electric traction between Mangaluru Junction and Karwar on January 20,

Mr. Nikam told The Hindu that as of now the Karwar Express was the lone coaching train running on electric traction in the State, while the corporation is operating almost all freight trains, except towards South Western Railway (SWR), on electric traction. South Western Railway is yet to complete electrification of the Madgaon-Londa and Mangaluru-Hassan sections.

He further said that all the seven, but one in Bali, Goa, electric substations in the Karwar region have been commissioned and are ready to feed electric locos. Post the inauguration on Monday, KRCL will commence handling coaching trains on electric traction from adjoining zones in a phased manner after notifying the zones concerned, he added.

A look at India’s first sand sculpture museum in Mysore

Synopsis

The museum was conceptualised by the famous sand artist, MN Gowri. She took around four months to create the whole look.

Mysore (or Mysuru) is a historic city of Karnataka brimming with incredible attractions including Mysore Palace, Vrindavan Gardens and Mysore Zoo, among others. But did you know that Karnataka’s cultural hub is also home to a unique sand sculpture museum which has taken the country by surprise. It is also India’s first sand sculpture museum.

The museum was conceptualised by the famous sand artist, MN Gowri. She took around four months to create the whole look.

So, first of all, let’s talk about the location of the museum which is awesome. The museum is built close to Chamundi Hill and displays the rich cultural heritage of the city. The incredible museum is home to around 150 monoliths made using 115 truckloads of sand, water and a little glue!

toi/timestravel

Bengaluru ranks 5th on global stage for tech venture capital investment

Tech firms have attracted VC funds worth $7.5 billion in the first half of 2022

Bengaluru has emerged as the top fifth city on the global stage for venture capital investment in tech startups in 2022, behind Bay Area (San Francisco), New York, London and Greater Boston, as per Global Startup Genome Report.

Tech firms in Bengaluru have attracted VC funds worth $7.5 billion in the first half of 2022, considerably higher than the previous record of$5.2 billion in the corresponding period last year, the report said.

C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT, told The Hindu that “Our city is a hub of the world’s top talent and our startups are very promising and growth-centric. This gives global investors confidence to invest in our companies in Bengaluru. Therefore VC and PE investment to city ventures are on the rise.’’

“Silicon Valley of India now attracts more investment than other global hubs like Singapore, Paris and Berlin and is trailing closer behind Greater Boston and New York,’‘ the report further said.

The Bay Area attracted $44.5 billion, New York $15.4 billion, London $ 11.3 billion and Greater Boston $8.9 billion.

The report highlighted Bengaluru’s formidable status with an ecosystem value of $105 billion, higher than Singapore ($89 billion) and Tokyo ($62 billion). Bengaluru’s massive growth in 2022 was largely attributed to greater access to funding with major funding rounds in 2022 forscale-up tech companies, including $55.7 million Series D for Ather Energy and Swiggy’s $700 million round in January.

Bidar farmer achieves what is considered impossible

A farmer hailing from Ghatboral village of Humnabad taluk in Bidar district has achieved that which is considered impossible for many of his peers. Apparao D. Bhosle has successfully created his own apple orchard on three acres of land.

Bhosle knew that Humnabad taluk is no Kashmir Valley but he was determined to prove that anything can be grown if there is fertile soil.

While the apple trees of this variety usually bear fruit in about four-five years in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, the saplings planted on his land started flowering and bearing fruit within two years. The trees bore 20 to 25 fruits and the yield is expected to be better in the second harvest. Though the fruits are small, they are tasty. The trees have grown 10 ft to 12 ft in height, Bhosle said.

Courier aggregator Coreyo set to expand services

Coreyo, a two-year-old Bengaluru-based aggregator of courier companies, is set to expand its operations by integrating more service providers, and introduce an option for customers to insure their articles.

Currently, there are four service providers — Delhivery, Shadowfax, Ecom Express, and Criticalog. Six more, including Amazon Shipping and India Post, are in the process of being integrated, said Vince M. Jose, co-founder and director of Coreyo. On the hyperlocal side Dunzo has been integrated.

“Coreyo is a pure-play courier aggregator platform with an end-user focus where people and enterprises get easy access to the right choice of services with instant enablement. It makes courier booking simple, less expensive, and fast; as easy as booking a cab,” said Mr. Jose.

In order to send a parcel, a customer has to go to www.coreyo.com, and key in the pin codes of the origin and destination of the parcel shipment. The dimensions and the weight of the parcel have to be filled in. The user is then taken to a page that lists the available service providers, along with the price. The customer can choose the provider and make the payment.

Ayushman Bharat digital tech centre comes to Bengaluru

The National Health Authority (NHA) will set up its Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) tech centre at Arogya Soudha in Bengaluru, which is expected to give a significant push to the mission’s progress in Karnataka that has been lagging so far.

Bengaluru is being chosen to house the ABDM tech centre as it is the digital hub with most of its service providers from the city.

Dr R S Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of NHA, which commenced the ABDM in September 2021, said at the NHA-NASSCOM Conclave 2022 on Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission – Revolutionizing Digital Health, on Monday that Karnataka is ranked 13th in India in the number of Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHAs).

Andhra Pradesh is leading with 2.99 crore ABHAs among the all-India figure of 22.33 crore, while Karnataka has only 64,42,081 ABDM accounts.

The highest number of accounts created are in COWIN followed by Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).

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