Arvind Subramanian resigns as CEA to Modi govt, Jaitley announces in blog

Subramanian has informed Jaitley that he would like to go back to the United States on account of pressing family commitments

Union Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday that Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian will be leaving the finance ministry because of “pressing family commitments” and will return to the US.

Subramanian was appointed as CEA to the finance ministry on October 16, 2014 for a period of three years. In 2017 his term was extended for a year.

“Few days ago Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian met me over video conferencing. He informed me that he would like to go back to the United States on account of pressing family commitments. His reasons were personal but extremely important for him. He left me with no option but to agree with him,” Jaitley wrote in a Facebook post.

He further said that on expiry of Subramanian’s three year term in October last year, he had requested him to continue for some more time.

ALSO READ: Full text: In FB post, Jaitley says CEA Arvind Subramanian has resigned

“Even at that stage he told me that he was torn between family commitment and his current job which he considered the best and most fulfilling he has ever done,” the minister said.

Jaitley, who was the Finance Minister before undergoing a kidney transplant surgery in mid-May, also thanked Subramanian for hmacroeconomicn to macro economic management of Indian economy.

“Personally I will miss his dynamism, energy, intellectual ability and ideas. He would walk into my room – at times several times a day, addressing me as Minister to give either the good news or otherwise. Needless to say his departure will be missed by me. But I know that his heart is very much here. I am sure he will keep sending advice and analysis wherever he is,” Jaitley wrote.

Click here for full source : Arvind Subramanian

India Inc gives mixed response to Yoga Day, preparation hassles deter many

For many in India Inc, it is business as usual. Many companies are organising any event. But then there are those who would wake up early and perform asanas. 

 

Many in India Inc. might not wake up early this year along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to perform asanas on the fourth edition of International Yoga Day. Unlike last few years, when corporate India, startup communities, ecommerce and fintech players went all out by organising yoga meets with professional instructors and giving out free yoga mats and branded sportswear, this time the excitement seems to be pallid even though there are exceptions.

For quite a few, it is business as usual. Many companies are organising any event. “It takes a lot of time to organise an event as one has to rally employees, which is a lot of effort. Not everyone is ready to come early in the morning, plus the weather is quite warm and by the time everyone gathers it would be quite hot. Also bringing in instructors, organising for food and refreshments add to costs. That is why we took a conscious decision not to organise Yoga Day this year,” said a senior human resource development manager at one of the biggest IT companies in the country.

Till last year, a lot of companies used to start preparrations for Yoga Day months in advance. Yoga was even made a part of the corporate internal activities spend of many companies. Some companies spent between Rs 20,000 and Rs 70,000 to bring in celebrity yoga experts for an hour’s session. Some even made participation in the June 21 event mandatory for employees.

“For us, fitness is a daily activity. We have an in-house gym and yoga instructors, among other things. If someone wants to do yoga on that day, they can obviously go to the gym and do it. But we are not doing anything special,” said a senior vice-president of an ecommerce firm.

Click Here : Yoga day 2018

Over 7,000 Indians filed applications for asylum in US in 2017: UN report

There are about 40,391 asylum seekers from India at the end of last year

Over 7,000 people from India filed applications for asylum in the US last year, according to a report by the UN refugee agency which said America was the largest recipient of new asylum requests in 2017.

The UN Refugee Agency said in its annual Global Trends report that 68.5 million people globally were displaced as of the end of 2017. Among them were 16.2 million people who became displaced during 2017 itself, either for the first time or repeatedly indicating a huge number of people on the move and equivalent to 44,500 people being displaced each day, or a person becoming displaced every two seconds.

Wars, other violence and persecution drove worldwide forced displacement to a new high in 2017 for the fifth year in a row, led by the crisis in Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan’s war, and the flight into Bangladesh from Myanmar of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees. Overwhelmingly it is developing countries that are most affected, it said.

In the US, the trend of increasing asylum claims from people originating from the north of Central America also continued. Salvadorans made up the largest nationality of applicants with 49,500 claims, almost half again as much as the 33,600 submitted in 2016.

Asylum claims from Venezuelans increased by 63 per cent to 29,900, reflecting the challenging conditions in the country. Other nationalities from which there were more than 5,000 claims in 2017 were Mexico (26,100), China (17,400), Haiti (8,600) and India (7,400). Altogether claims were received from nationals from 168 countries, the report said.

According to the report, there were 197,146 refugees as at 2017 end in India and 10,519 asylum seekers with pending cases. There are about 40,391 asylum seekers from India at the end of last year, the report said.

It added that for the first time since 2013, Syria was not the most common country of origin for new asylum-seekers. The highest number of asylum claims filed by individuals were from nationals of Afghanistan who submitted 124,900 claims in 80 different countries.

Click here  : Application for Asylum

Delhi University admission day 1: Here’s what students said

Though the university has overhauled the admission process this year by making the system digitalized, long queues were seen in front of cyber cafes near Patel Chest institute

Students hoping for admission in Delhi University say they faced hassles due to slow connectivity while accessing the institute’s website (www.du.ac.in) on Monday, a day after 2018’s first cut-off list for undergraduate courses was announced.

“The admission portal crashed several times and the website also took ages to get loaded. I was finally able to download the application form and got a printout ten minutes before the deadline,” said Aashi, a student who has applied for History honors at Indraprastha College for Women.

“If there are problems with internet connectivity, they should at least increase the timings for admission. Instead of 9:30am-1: 30 pm, it (the closing time) should be increased to 5:30 pm,” said Aashi.

Though the university has overhauled the admission process this year by making the system digitalized, long queues were seen in front of cyber cafes near Patel Chest institute.

Telangana State Board students were confused over the calculation of their marks. “The colleges are not accepting our 12th class mark sheet and are denying to take our aggregate marks of class 11 and 12. It is an appeal to resolve our problem soon,” said one of them who wants to pursue Physics honors from Ramjas College.

Want admission in DU? Here’s a subject-wise cut-off of top colleges

Another point of confusion was the “provisional certificate” in cases where students from Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh did not have CBSE’s original marksheet.

“My sister has not received the original marksheet of her class 12th board results from her school and this year the university is not accepting the provisional marksheet, and because of this she did not get admission in Hansraj (College).”

By the end of the day, the university issued a circular for all colleges, asking them to accept the provisional marksheets of CBSE students, said Dr. Dhani Ram, admission convener at Ramjas College.

On the first day of the admission, the colleges did not see many enrollments. At Ramjas, out of the total 1334 seats, just 112 seats were filled and the highest enrollment was in the BCom department.

DU admission: St Stephen’s 1st cut off – 98.75% for Eco, 98.5% for English

Courses such as Sanskrit, Urdu and Hindi honors saw a poor response. Several colleges did not begin the admission process for quite a few humanities courses.

“It’s the first day, students are confused and are looking for their desired colleges, some are waiting for the second, third cutoffs, and that’s why the campus is not very crowded. But we are expecting a pace in the admission in the coming two days,” said a faculty member from Daulat Ram college.

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Tamil Nadu's Anukreethy Vas wins Femina Miss India crown for 2018

Nineteen-year-old Anukreethy Vas is a student of Chennai’s Loyola College, pursuing BA in French to become an interpreter

The 55th Femina Miss India World 2018 winner is Anukreethy Vas from Tamil Nadu, while first runner-up is Meenakshi Chaudhary from Haryana and second Shreya Rao from Andhra Pradesh.

Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar crowned her successor Anukreethy at the star-studded grand finale on Tuesday night in Mumbai at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium.

Nineteen-year-old Anukreethy is a student of Chennai’s Loyola College, pursuing BA in French to become an interpreter. Raised by a single mother, the just-crowned Miss India World 2018 wishes to become a supermodel as she loves facing the camera.

Anukreety Vas winner of Femina Miss India 2018 Anukreety Vas.

Participants proved their aptitude by facing some of the tricky questions from the judges’ panel which was studded with some of the iconic personalities like actor Bobby Deol, Kunal Kapoor, Malaika Arora, fashion designer Gaurav Gupta and cricketer Irfan Pathan, along with Manushi.

Manushi holds the crown of Miss World 2017 that she won last year after Priyanka Chopra won in 2000.

The event was hosted by Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Ayushmann Khurrana. Bollywood was prominently present at the grand finale as Jacqueline Fernandez set the stage on fire by shaking a leg on “Desi Girl”.

Top 5 winners of Femina Miss India 2018 Top 5 winners at the contest. Photo: Twitter
Dancing diva and actress Madhuri Dixit Nene performed a beautiful dance number during the India round, with her co-dancers presenting various forms of Indian classical dance.

She also hummed a few lines from her latest Marathi release “Bucket List” during an interaction with the hosts.

Anukreet Vas being awarded Miss Beautiful Smile Anukreet Vas being awarded Miss Beautiful Smile. 

Kareena Kapoor Khan looked ravising in her stage performance on “Tareefa” from her latest released film “Veere Di Wedding”.

All the selected participants were groomed by Neha Dhupia, Rakul Preet Singh, Pooja Chopra and Pooja Hegde.

The organising team of the beauty pageant toured all 30 states (including Delhi) of the country and crowned one representative from each state, all aspiring for the coveted Miss India crown.

Keep Reading :  Anukreethy Vyas

Noise Play 2 review: Budget action camera with flagship features, tools

From 4K videos, EIS, wide-angle lens, water resistant casing to an affordable price tag of Rs 9,999, the Noise Play 2 is a great value-for-money proposition in the action camera segment

 

Having visited many exciting places across India, I wondered why I never kept a pictorial record of my visits from the first time I started exploring the unexplored. For action cameras, the GoPro did cross my mind. However, considering the price involved, among other factors, I chose not to go for it. Instead, I started looking for a no-frills and more affordable action camera for amateurs. It was then that I came across Noise Play 2 action camera.

An affordable price tag of Rs 9,999, optional accessory pack with waterproof casing at Rs 3,999, and the strength to record videos in ultraHD (4K) resolution are some of the reasons that went in the Noise Play 2’s favour. I would have loved to take it out on a ride to the mountains, but that will be for later. For now, here is my review of the device while running it in city conditions.

In the beginning, the Noise Play 2’s small frame and cuboidal design made me question its capability. However, soon after setting it up and pairing it with my smartphone using the Noise Play 2 app, I realised how innovative and technologically sound even such little devices could be.

The Noise Play 2 sports a 2-inch LCD touchscreen, which also doubles up as a viewfinder. The screen is good enough for changing settings and viewing saved images and videos. However, due to limited brightness and pixels, it does not do the job of a viewfinder exceptionally well. When paired with a smartphone via in-built Wi-Fi, the camera shows live feed on the smartphone’s screen, which is one way around the limitation. Interestingly, the Noise Play 2 app also allows fetching videos and photos stored in camera wirelessly, thereby easing the transfer process.

Coming to the actual utility of the camera, the Noise Play 2 takes detailed videos in good daylight conditions. The electronic image stabilisation helps reduce wobbles while recording videos, but not enough to make the footage smooth. With supplied optional accessories, mounting the camera on motorbike or helmet is easy.

Keep reading : Technology News

Amazon’s Alexa will now butler at Marriott hotels

The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott’s select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains

 

Amazon.com said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Marriott International to help increase guest access to amenities with Alexa, through its voice-controlled device Echo, in an attempt to expand its presence in the hospitality industry.

Alexa for hospitality would assist in providing services ranging from ordering room service to requesting housekeeping or calling the concierge for dinner recommendations without picking up the phone.

The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott’s select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains.

Several media reports had said that Marriott had tested both Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa to select what was best suited for its hotels.

Marriott did not comment specifically on Apple, but said it has “great relationships with a number of technology companies and is always open to exploring opportunities to innovate and better the guest experience.”

Amazon has never disclosed the exact sales figure for its Echo devices. However, the company in January said it sold “millions” of Amazon devices and that the Echo Dot device was the best-selling product among Prime members.

The company’s move to tie-up with hotels is another strategy to woo more users for its Echo devices.Amazon Echo owners spend an average of $1,700 a year on Amazon, more than the $1,300 Amazon Prime members are estimated to be spending a year on the e-commerce site, CNBC reported earlier this year, citing a report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Keep reading  : Technology News 

You can no longer book an Uber cab ride directly from Google Maps app

The ability to book an Uber through Maps allowed users to avoid the official Uber app

 

Google has reportedly killed the ability of direct Uber ride booking from inside Google Maps without giving any reason.

The feature allowing users to book Uber rides through Google Maps was added in January last year, with which users could enter a location, identify their route, check Uber prices and request a ride without leaving the Maps app.

On one Google Maps Help page, Google simply says “you can no longer book Uber rides directly in Google Maps”, Android Police reported late on Monday.

Uber integration was pulled from Google Maps on iOS earlier than on Android, according to the report.

The ability to book an Uber through Maps allowed users to avoid the official Uber app, which has previously been criticised for its aggressive location tracking.

Click Here : Technology

Want admission in DU? Here’s a subject-wise cut-off of top colleges

Delhi University on Monday announced the first cut-off list for admissions in colleges affiliated to it

 

Delhi University on Monday announced its first cut-off list for merit-based admissions into undergraduate courses for the 2018-19 academic year. The overall minimum required marks for admissions this year are lower than that of last year.

The Lady Shriram College has set the highest cut-off marks at 98.75 per cent for its BA (Programme) course.

Delhi College of Arts and Commerce has a cut-off of 98.50 per cent for BA (Hons) in Journalism, while LSR College has a cut-off of 98.25 per cent for BA (Hons) in Psychology.

Last year, the highest cut-off was 99.66 per cent for B.Sc (Hons) in Electronics in SGTB Khalsa College. In humanities stream, Khalsa College had set the highest cut-off at 99 per cent for BA (Hons) in Political Science.

Also read: DU admission: St Stephen’s 1st cut off – 98.75% for Eco, 98.5% for English

St Stephen’s College was the first to release its cut-off. For commerce students, the cut-off for Economics (Hons) was pegged at 98.75 per cent, and 98 and 97.5 per cent for humanities and science students respectively. The cut-off for English (Hons) was 97.5 per cent.

Here are the cut-off marks for admissions into some of the top colleges under Delhi University:

Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR):

B A Programme: 98.75

B Com (Hons): 97.25

B A (Hons) Economics: 97.75

B A (Hons) English: 97.50

B A (Hons) Sociology: 96.25

B A (Hons) Sanskrit: 66.00

B A (Hons) Psychology: 98.25

B A (Hons) Political Science: 97.75

B A (Hons) Philosophy: 94.00

B A (Hons) Journalism: 97.25

B A (Hons) History: 96.50

B A (Hons) Hindi: 86.00

Hindu College

B A (Hons) Economics: 98.00

B A (Hons) English: 98.00

B A (Hons) Hindi: 91.00

B A (Hons) History: 96.25

B A (Hons) Philosophy: 93.25

B A (Hons) Political Science: 97.00

B A (Hons) Sanskrit: 77.00

B A (Hons) Sociology: 96.00

B A Programme: 97.00

B Com (Hons): 97.50

Hansraj College

B A (Hons) Economics: 98.00

B A (Hons) English: 97.25

B A (Hons) Hindi: 86.00

B A (Hons) History: 96.00

B A (Hons) Sanskrit: 71.00

B A Programme:96.25

B Com (Hons): 97.50

Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC)

B A (Hons) Economics: 98.50

B Com (Hons): 97.75

Miranda House

B A (Hons) Bengali: 65.00

B A (Hons) Economics: 97.75

B A (Hons) English: 97.50

B A (Hons) Geography: 97.00

B A (Hons) Hindi: 88.00

B A (Hons) History: 96.50

B A (Hons) Philosophy: 91.50

B A (Hons) Political Science: 97.00

B A (Hons) Sanskrit: 70.00

B A (Hons) Sociology: 96.25

B A Programme: 96.50

This year, the total number of male applicants are 144,248, women 134,297 and other applicants 29.

 Keep Reading : Education news

RITES IPO opens for subscription on June 20. Should you invest?

Established in 1974, RITES has undertaken projects in over 55 countries including Asia, Africa, Latin America, South America and Middle East

 

The initial public offer (IPO) of RITES – a government-owned railway consultancy firm and a Miniratna (Category – I) Schedule ‘A’ Public Sector Enterprise – opens for subscription on June 20. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 180-185 a share (discount of Rs 6 per share for retail shareholders and employees), and the government aims to raise up to Rs 460 crore via this sale. The issue closes on June 22.

Established in 1974, RITES has undertaken projects in over 55 countries including Asia, Africa, Latin America, South America and Middle East regions. It is the only export arm of Indian Railways for providing rolling stock overseas (other than Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia).

Also Read: Investors will know we are here for 44 yrs, like an Indian MNC: RITES CMD

Going ahead, the company plans to scale up operations in the transport infrastructure space (expansion into turnkey railway, airport, metro projects etc.) along with strengthening its international operations, reports suggest.

So, should you subscribe to this IPO? Here’s what leading brokerages across the country suggest.

ANGEL BROKING

In terms of valuation, pre-issue price-to-earnings (PE) works out to 12x of annualised FY18 earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 17 (at the upper end of the issue price band), which is reasonably priced considering: (a) 3.5x of order book with execution capability and experienced management, (b) maintaining the RoE level in the range of 17- 18%, (c) diversified client base and (d) increasing opportunity of revenue from Railways due to new investment in electrification and infrastructure.

Given that the RITES is a preferred consultant of Indian Railways along with other government authorities with exposure in international operation and fair valuation of issue, we recommend subscribing to issue.

CENTRUM WEALTH

Over FY13-17, RITES registered revenue and PAT CAGR of 9% and 11%, respectively. Average earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margins and return on equity (RoE) over the period stood at 28% and 18%, respectively. RITES is a virtually debt free company.

Keep Reading : RITES IPOs

Petrol price cut, diesel unchanged: Check today's rates in state capitals

Fuel prices in the country are largely determined by global crude oil prices, which have been on a downward trajectory for nearly a month now.

According to prices announced by Indian Oil Corp (IOC) on Tuesday, petrol prices were down 8 paise to Rs 76.27 a litre in Delhi. Petrol prices in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai were Rs 78.94, Rs 84.06 and Rs 79.16 a litre respectively.

Here are the prices of non-branded petrol across state capitals (Rs/litre), applicable from 6:00 am June 19:

1) Agartala: Rs 72.07

2) Aizwal: Rs 72.19

3) Ambala: Rs 76.39

4) Bangalore: Rs 77.51

5) Bhopal: Rs 81.86

6) Bhubhaneswar: Rs 75.09

7) Chandigarh: Rs 73.36

8) Dehradun: Rs 77.64

9) Gandhinagar: Rs 75.58

10) Gangtok: Rs 79.30

11) Guwahati: Rs 78.41

12) Hyderabad: Rs 80.79

13) Imphal: Rs 74.36

14) Itanagar: Rs 72.18

15) Jaipur: Rs 79.01

16) Jammu: Rs 78.00

17) Jalandhar: Rs 81.47

18) Kohima: Rs 74.75

19) Lucknow: Rs 77.12

20) Panjim: Rs 70.28

21) Patna: Rs 81.76

22) Pondicherry: Rs 75.07

23) Port Blair: Rs 65.76

24) Raipur: Rs 76.68

25) Ranchi: Rs 76.28

26) Shillong: Rs 75.67

27) Shimla: Rs 76.44

28) Srinagar: Rs 80.69

29) Trivandrum: Rs 79.37

30) Silvasa: Rs 74.20

31) Daman: Rs 74.12

The price of diesel was unchanged for the second consecutive day. In Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, it was sold at Rs 67.78, Rs 70.33, Rs 72.24 and Rs 71.54.

Here are the prices of non-branded diesel across state capitals (Rs/Litre), applicable from 6:00 am on June 19:

1) Agartala: Rs 65.92

2) Aizwal: Rs 65.11

3) Ambala: Rs 68.29

4) Bangalore: Rs 68.87

5) Bhopal: Rs 71.34

6) Bhubhaneswar: Rs 72.65

7) Chandigarh: Rs 65.82

8) Dehradun: Rs 68.11

9) Gandhinagar: Rs 72.84

10) Gangtok: Rs 69.55

11) Guwahati: Rs 70.75

12) Hyderabad: Rs 73.67

13) Imphal: Rs 65.85

14) Itanagar: Rs 65.07

15) Jaipur: Rs 72.19

16) Jammu: Rs 68.95

17) Jalandhar: Rs 67.70

18) Kohima: Rs 66.15

19) Lucknow: Rs 67.93

20) Panjim: Rs 68.98

21) Patna: Rs 72.46

22) Pondicherry: Rs 70.02

23) Port Blair: Rs 63.54

24) Raipur: Rs 73.18

25) Ranchi: Rs 71.57

26) Shillong: Rs 67.60

27) Shimla: Rs 67.42

28) Srinagar: Rs 71.17

29) Trivandrum: Rs 72.56

30) Silvasa: Rs 68.60

31) Daman: Rs 68.53

Fuel prices in the country are largely determined by global crude oil prices, which have been on a downward trajectory for nearly a month now.

Keep Reading : Fuel Price

How the unfinished city of Lavasa became a nightmare for Indian banks

The Lavasa civic body is privately managed so residents have little access to its functioning or fund management

This onetime hilltop paradise is becoming for some a hell on earth.

The days of zero crime are over. Garbage collection is sporadic, so litter soils the man-made lake. Storefronts are vacant. Signs of neglect are everywhere: maintenance is late or nonexistent. And that’s for the construction already done. For the unfinished building works—i.e. most of it—there is little happening.

Two decades ago, then-billionaire Ajit Gulabchand envisioned something very different: a city called Lavasa modelled on the cotton-candy harbour of Italy’s Portofino, a four-hour drive from the slums and pollution that pervade so much of India’s financial capital of Mumbai. To deliver that dream, he hired the architects at HOK, creators of LaGuardia’s Airport Central Terminal B in New York and the Barclays world headquarters in London. Design awards and global news coverage followed.

ALSO READ: HCC falls 15% on reports of subsidiary Lavasa Corp heading for bankruptcy

It would be India’s first privately built and managed city, one of five planned for 30,000 to 50,000 people each, soaking up settlers from the hinterlands looking for opportunities in urban areas. No more government bureaucracy. The cost would be billions of dollars. (The company declined to provide a full estimate.)

Today Lavasa is an incomplete shell housing some 10,000 people, a symbol of the excesses gripping the world’s second-most-populous nation. Lavasa Corporation Ltd. faces what may be its final reckoning, as India’s central bank forces lenders to restructure debts quickly or take defaulters to bankruptcy court.

Arguably even worse off than current residents are the thousands of people who have put down their life savings or borrowed money to buy property here, only to fear it may never get built.

“In 2012, when we first came to this place, it was booming—from being a vibrant place it has come down to be a ghost town,” said David Cooper, a 63-year-old resident of Lavasa’s home for senior citizens, Aashiana. “There is hardly anyone who wants to stay.”

Generally abandoned is the original plan of developing five towns with theme parks, school campuses, sports complexes and research centers in the scenic hills of the Western Ghats, a UNESCO world heritage site known for its evergreen tropical forests that shelter 325 species of vulnerable or endangered animals, birds and fauna. The first and only town to be built—Dasve—is littered with concrete skeletons.

Keep Reading : Lavasa city

Maharashtra govt’s move to ban use of plastic puts RIL in recycle mode

Company creating platform for building corpus and setting up full-fledged sustainability team

 

The Maharashtra government’s decision in March to partially ban the use of plastic has put the country’s largest polymer producer in recycle mode. The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is now creating a platform for recycling, building a corpus and setting up a full-fledged sustainability team.

“The ban from Maharashtra was more of a wake-up call for the industry,” said Vipul Shah, chief operating officer of RIL’s petrochemicals business. RIL had homework in place over the last couple of years. The ban accelerated the process, he added.

“There was earlier a small team of two to three people working on a smaller project like bottle recycling. We now have a full-fledged department for sustainability of seven to eight people working full time and another 10-12 moonlighting,” Shah added.

ALSO READ: Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Jubilant FoodWorks hit new highs

RIL is the country’s largest producer of polymer, the main raw material required for making plastic items. Shah did not share details on how much of the company’s polymer production is consumed through plastic bags and other items banned in the state.

“The exposure to banned items is minimal, less than three per cent maybe. It is more likely to affect small enterprises. As for RIL, there are other segments to cater to,” said a person with direct knowledge of the business.

Part of the sustainability team’s job is to develop an extended producer responsibility (EPR) platform for the industry. “Being the largest polymer producer, we want to design something that is adaptable to India and not a copy from Europe. We want to design the whole chain from segregation, collection, secondary segregation, recycling, generating energy and oil,” Shah added.

The corpus, he said, would be funded through RIL’s petrochemicals business, not as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

It makes for a curious case as to why RIL, with presence from oil to telecom, is not planning to enter bio-degradable bag manufacturing. “We have not considered making bio-degradable bags but continue to do research at the other end of it, in terms of whether we can make bio-degradable compounds for polymer,” Shah said. Himachal Pradesh was the first state to ban plastic bags in 2003. Delhi, Sikkim, Rajasthan and Goa are others that have followed suit.

Keep Reading : Plastic ban 

Fifa World Cup 2018: Today's match schedule, live streaming for Sunday

Today's matches are Costa Rica vs Serbia, Germany vs Mexico and Brazil vs Switzerland

 

 

The Fifa World Cup 2018 has started with a bang in Russia. The football feast sees the biggies Brazil Football Team and German National team playing.

 

Here's the matchday schedule list:

 

1st match: Costa Rica and Serbia.

When and where to watch:

Time: 530 PM

FIFA World Cup 2018 Costa Rica vs Serbia match will take place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 5.30 PM

Costa Rica vs Serbia will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Serbia vs Costa Rica match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers

2nd match: Germany and Mexico

When and where to watch:

Time: 530 PM

FIFA World Cup 2018 Germany vs Mexico match will take place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 8.30 PM

Costa Rica vs Serbia will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Germany vs Mexico match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers

3rd Match: Brazil and Switzerland

When and where to watch:

Time: 1130 PM

FIFA World Cup 2018 Brazil vs Switzerland match will take place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 at 11.30 PM

Brazil vs Switzerland will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Brazil vs Switzerland match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective

Read More : Fifa World Cup 2018