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Hardeep Singh Puri: Government Actively Considering Follow Up Scheme To AMRUT To Cover All Urban Areas

New Delhi (PTI): The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) covers only about 60 per cent of the urban population and the government is actively considering a follow up scheme which will cover 100 per cent of the urban areas, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Thursday. The AMRUT scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015 to establish an infrastructure that would ensure robust sewage networks and water supply for urban transformation. Responding to a question in Lok Sabha, Puri said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget statement had talked about a follow up to the AMRUT scheme. The AMRUT scheme only covers 60 per cent plus of India’s urban population and the government is actively considering a follow up scheme which will cover 100 per cent of the urban areas, the minister said amid continuous protests by Opposition members over the Pegasus spying row and farmers” issue. To a question on the number of ongoing projects under Smart Cities Mission in Karnataka, Puri said the smart city programme is a unique programme that has been implemented in the country for the first time. It was conceived soon after the Modi government took office in May 2014 and it was announced in June 2015, he pointed out. “The idea was to use technology in order to introduce ease of living and inclusive and sustainable development. The process of selecting the 100 smart cities was not a selection process ordained by the central government. In fact, a system of competitive bidding was announced and all cities that wished to compete for inclusion in the smart cities project were invited to submit specific proposals which they would implement over a five-year period,” Puri said. Will there be a follow up to the 100 smart cities that is something we will need to see, he added. Source: Press Trust of India (PTI)

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Disney Plus Hotstar: Get to Know New Price and Subscription Plans for Users in India

Hotstar VIP plan to be discontinued For all users registered with Disney Plus Hotstar, there is going to be a change in plans soon. Disney Plus Hotstar has taken a Netflix-like approach and has announced a change in the price plans and subscription details for users in the Indian market.  It comes as sad news for some as the popular Hotstar VIP plan will be discontinued soon. While new plans will be implemented soon, they are affordable for the Indian masses.  The Disney Plus Hotstar new plan starts at Rs 499 instead of the old Rs 399 (Hotstar VIP Plan). The access to all premium content still remains the same at Rs 1,499. Here is what the new plan will look like.  Disney Plus Hotstar New Plans Instead of the old two-plan approach, Disney Plus Hotstar will offer three different plans for users starting September 1, 2021.  New Subscription Plan: The Disney Plus Hotstar mobile-only subscription – Rs 499 (Access to only one mobile device at a time) The Disney Plus Hotstar Super Plan – Rs 899 (Access to two devices at a time including mobile, TV and web) The Disney Plus Hotstar Premium Plan – Rs 1,499 (Access to four devices at a time including mobile, TV and web) While the major jump is clearly visible in the basic plan, Disney Plus Hotstar has promised their subscribers that irrespective of their plans all Disney+ Originals, blockbuster Hollywood movies, Marvel movies and latest American shows will be made available on the platform for all users.  The basic mobile plan and the super plan support HD video qualities while the premium plan offers top-notch 4K resolution to their subscribers.  It is yet to be disclosed how these new plans will affect the current VIP subscribers of Disney Plus Hotstar.

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Employees mental and physical stress is now a priority for HR

symposium

Introduction The human resource department plays a key role in maintaining a quality workforce. There are a lot of issues that have approached the working organization in various ways. The physical and mental stress of employees is one of the major problems. That HR has to face during the pandemic. The effect of the covid-19 pandemic Shaked the base of the working class. According to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMEI). The average employment went down from 404 million in March 2019 to 283 million in April 2020. This signifies that almost 122 people lost their jobs out of which 27 million were youth. As per data estimation, there were 78 million entrepreneurs and businesses in 2019-20, which got reduced to around 60 million in April 2020.  All these factors have affected the market, economy, and people adversely. In this meantime, health became the major concern for the Human Resource Department of any organization. The physical health of employees got hampered to a great extent during a pandemic. The restricted physical movement and lack of interaction from the outer world made employees weak. In the sense of wrong eating habits, lack of exercise and not being able to move. This impacted their work quality as well. Health concerns also became a priority and no one knew till how long covid-19 infected employees shall be on leave. Extended leave. Lack of proper workforce and providing extra support to employees during covid-19. Did create a hole in the company’s pockets. With that, it became difficult to manage the human resource fluently.  An imbalance by HR was noticed in the work-life of its employees. As the home and work got mixed making it a forced work from home situation. Along with that HR had to deal with the uncertainties of letting work restart from the office again and ensuring safety for a longer run became another major concern. A lot of employees went through various stress issues that led to certain health problems like Blood Pressure, hypertension, and many more. Thus, the lack of productivity was a major concern for the Human Resource department of any organization.  Fear of losing jobs is another reason for increased depression among employees.  Now to deal with cutting down on unwanted workforce. Along with not letting other employees be affected mentally, became a major challenge for the Human Resources department. Conclusion A lot of concerns got generated by the Human Resource department of any organization. For ensuring the productivity of its employees. Hence encouraging employees to take continuous health checkups. Organizing online webinars on stress management became a priority for the Human Resource department. With that managing the health-related data of employees and keeping a track of tending out to the most important task of Human Resource department during the pandemic.

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Government (Smart City Initiatives)

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Launches Light House Projects in India Under the Global Housing Technology Challenge India New Delhi: Light House Projects (LHPs) are model housing projects with houses built with shortlisted alternate technology suitable to the geo-climatic and hazard conditions of the region. This will demonstrate and deliver ready to live houses with speed, economy and with better quality of construction in a sustainable manner. The period of construction is a maximum of 12 months from the date of handing over of sites to the construction agency after all statutory approvals. Approvals will be accorded through a fast track process by the concerned State Government. These LHPs shall serve as live Laboratories for different aspects of transfer of technologies to field application, such as planning, design, production of components, construction practices, testing etc. for both faculty and students, builders, professionals of private and public sectors and other stakeholders involved in such construction. Six technology providers have been selected through a rigorous online bidding process for the construction of Light House Projects (LHPs) at six different locations in six states including Indore, Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi, Agartala and Lucknow.  Salient Features: – LHP shall mean a model housing project with approximate 1,000 houses built with shortlisted alternate technology suitable to the geo-climatic and hazard conditions of the region. This will demonstrate and deliver ready to live houses with speed, economy and with better quality of construction in a sustainable manner. – The minimum size of houses constructed under LHP shall be in accordance with the prevailing guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban). – Constructed housing under LHP will include on-site infrastructure development such as internal roads, pathways, common green area, boundary wall, water supply, sewerage, drainage, rainwater harvesting, solar lighting, external electrification, etc. – Houses under LHP will be designed keeping in view the dimensional requirements laid down in the National Building Code (NBC) 2016 with good aesthetics, proper ventilation, orientation, as required to suit the climatic conditions of the location and adequate storage space, etc. – Convergence with other existing centrally sponsored schemes and Missions such as Smart Cities, AMRUT, Swachh Bharat (U), National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), Ujjwalla, Ujala and Make in India shall be ensured during the designing of LHPs at each site. – The structural details shall be designed to meet the durability and safety requirements of applicable loads including earthquakes and cyclones and floods as applicable in accordance with the applicable Indian/International standards. – Cluster design may include an innovative system of water supply, drainage and rainwater harvesting, renewable energy sources with a special focus on solar energy. – The period of construction will be a maximum of 12 months from the date of handing over of sites to the successful bidder after all statutory approvals. Approvals will be accorded through a fast track process by the concerned State/UT Government. – Technology Providers successfully completing the construction of LHPs within the stipulated 15 month’s period of the contract (including 3 months for preparing relevant drawings and taking all statutory approvals from various agencies in the State followed by 12 months period for actual construction) will be rewarded with USD 20,000 each. A further incentive for early completion is being provided wherein technology providers who complete LHPs in less than 12 months will receive an incrementally higher bonus of USD 2,000 for each month less than the stipulated period of 12 months. – For the subsequent allotment of constructed houses under LHPs to the eligible beneficiaries in States/ UTs, procedures of existing guidelines of PMAY (U) will be followed. Source and Credit: GHTC-India, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Image to be shown while posting the article online:Source of the Image to be mentioned compulsorily as caption below the image. Source: GHTC-India

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All-India Quarterly Establishment-based Employment Survey (AQEES) to Cover Nine Sectors

The survey is aimed at studying changing trends in jobs across industries like manufacturing, construction, trade, transportation, education, health, accommodation and restaurants, IT/BPO, as well as financial services sectors The Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment will soon conduct an All-India Quarterly Establishment-based Employment Survey (AQEES) across nine various sectors including manufacturing, construction, trade, transportation, education, health, accommodation and restaurants, IT/BPO, and financial services sectors.  This survey is being carried out to study the change in trends in jobs across various industries due to the current circumstances. The survey will look at the rate and level of employment generation in the formal and informal sectors.  The two main components of the survey are, the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) – responsible for establishments that contain at least ten workers – and the Area Frame Establishment Survey (AFES) – responsible for establishments employing nine or less than nine workers.  Recently, the Ministry of Labour has also revealed that the proposed migrant’s survey will examine the details of migrants, including their housing, finances, consumption expenditure, and financial inclusion.  It will also survey factors and demographics like the migrant’s gender, level of education, vocational/technical teaching, social group, and change in income post-migration to different places. This study will help the government by providing them with important information on the socio-economic front of the migrant workers in the country.  The technical part of the survey is planned to be carried out by a panel of experts.  Four surveys were scheduled to be undertaken and it was predicted to yield results by April 2021, but the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the process.

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NBE Releases Schedule for 2021-22 Medical Exams

National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2021 will be conducted on September 11, NEET Superspeciality (SS) 2021 will be held on November 13 and 14, and NEET MDS 2022 is scheduled for December 19. New Delhi: The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has announced tentative dates for different medical exams scheduled between July, 2021 and March 2022. National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2021 will be conducted on September 11, NEET Superspeciality (SS) 2021 will be held on November 13 and 14, and NEET MDS 2022 is scheduled for December 19, the NBE said. DNB-PDCET 2021 is scheduled for September 19 and FET 2021 for November 20, it said. Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) December 2021 session, and Foreign Dental Screening Test 2021 will be conducted on December 12. Fellowship Entrance Test (FET) 2021 will be held on November 20. NBE Medical Exam Calendar 2020-22 DNB/DrNB Final Practical Examinations – December 2020 Session – July/August, 2021 DNB/DrNB Final Theory Examinations – June 2021 Session – August 24, 25, 26, and 27 NEET-PG 2021 – September 11 DNB-PDCET 2021 – September 19 NBEMS Recruitment Test – September 20 DNB/DrNB Final Practical Examinations – June 2021 Session – November/December NEET-SS 2021 – November 13, 14 FET 2021 – November 20 FMGE December 2021 session – December 12 Foreign Dental Screening Test 2021 – December 12 DNB/DrNB Final Theory Examinations – December 2021 Session – December 16, 17, 18 and 19 NEET-MDS 2022 – December 19 Fellowship Exit Examination 2021 – February/March, 2022 “The candidates are advised to check the exact dates of examinations from the Information Bulletins/ NBEMS website as the above dates are purely tentative and subject to approvals & confirmations. Please refer to NBEMS website www.natboard.edu.in and https://nbe.edu.in for information bulletins, application forms and other details of these examinations as and when notified,” the NBE said in a statement. Source: Careers360

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Delta Variant Is Around 40-60% More Transmissible Than The Alpha Variant: Dr NK Arora

The Delta variant of the novel Coronavirus spreads faster than the Alpha variant, said Dr NK Arora, the Chief of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI). New Delhi: The Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Dr NK Arora said that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is around 40-60% more transmissible than the Alpha variant. He said, “It is around 40-60 per cent more transmissible than its predecessor (Alpha variant) and has already spread to more than 80 countries, including India, UK, US, Singapore and others.” Dr Arora explained the scientific reason for the higher transmissibility of the Delta variant. He said, “The Delta variant has mutations in its spike protein that helps it bind to the ACE2 receptors present on the surface of the cells more firmly, making it more transmissible and capable of evading the body’s immunity.” The super spreading Delta variant was discovered in India last year in October. Experts have suspected the highly infectious Delta variant to be the primary cause of the second wave of COVID-19 in India. It is held accountable for over 80 per cent of the cases in the country.  It emerged in Maharashtra and is suspected to have travelled northwards affecting the country’s western states before proceeding to towards the central and the eastern parts of the country.  Currently, there is a significant decrease in the number of active cases in most parts of the country; some regions are still witnessing a high Test Positivity Rate (TPR). The north-eastern and southern states are experiencing a high TPR.  According to a statement by the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the spread of the Delta variant heightened due to the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in India.  Is the Delta Plus variant more severe than the Delta variant? According to Dr Arora, “It is difficult to say that the Delta Plus variant is more severe.” The Delta Plus variant – AY.1 and AY.2 has so far been found in 55-60 people across 11 states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh. AY.1 variant has been detected in countries like Nepal, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, and Japan. The AY.2 variant, as of now, is less prevalent.  INSACOG, a government panel involved in genome sequencing of Coronavirus, said, “Delta sub-lineages AY.1 and AY.2 are declining globally with near-zero cases in the last week of June in either the UK or US, where they were most frequently seen. They also continue to be below 1 per cent in available sequences from June in India. Neither AY.1 nor AY.2 is likely to be more transmissible than Delta.” “The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is the dominant lineage for new cases across India in recent samples and remains the most rapidly rising lineage globally”, added INSACOG.

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Edtech trends that can make the older education system face the music

Introduction Education forms the base of any society, nation, and region. Any development and improvement of people and community depend on education. But more than that ensuring quality education is a major task for the whole education system. Covid-19 pandemic has dragged the whole world online and education too. Today the teaching, assignments, learning, and evaluation all are happening online. A new intuitional network is formed in the education system. This new era has brought several new trends in education with updating technology on a day-to-day basis.  According to Association for education communication and Technology (AECT), edtech is something that facilitates learning and improves performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.  As published in Analytics Insight, Google suggests that the Edtech market is expected to cater to around 9.6 million users and has a market share of US $1.96 billion by 2021. Several edtech trends have emerged and are expected to stay in the market for a long.  Virtual augmented reality: Virtual reality is giving the student a whole new experience of learning. Gone are days when students have to depend on teachers drawing with chalks on boards or using appropriate charts or else a traditional presentation. Now through virtual augmented reality, students are getting an insight into every topic. It is giving students a feel of every detail related to any subject and visualizes learning making it much easier.  Blockchain technology: The Disrupted Ledger Technology from Blockchain brings a great deal of storing data effortlessly. Gone are days for keeping piles of books, notebooks, and notes. With fluent blockchain technology transfer of data has also become transparent and fast. The whole education material can be saved and surfed online. This will save a lot of time for students as well as teachers. Along with that, it will make the work effective and easily accessible for students as well as teachers.  Smartphone technology: Gone are the days when the non-affordability of the laptop was a hurdle to get all the technical assistance. The millennial generation has the opportunity to explore the ocean of possibilities with a variety of smartphones and applications. Students can save all their education-related material in one single folder on their phones. Controlling everything they need to study in one small smartphone. It allows a great deal of flexibility and lets students get rid of heavy bags. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence is known as the base of edtech. Artificial intelligence is gaining a lot of importance and can be seen as a prevalent player in a lot of sectors, including education. AI has made it a lot easy to take attendance through its face recognition technology. It is also allowing to invigilate online exams. So that scope of any cheating is minimized and the monitoring of exams can be done without human assistance. This has ensured the quality of online exams and helped in maintaining a decorum examination even online. Robotics: In many cases where students need extra attention. For example, for a visually impaired student having voice assistance can be very helpful. Robotics can help a normal student too, for learning various topics without teachers’ assistance all the time. Robots learn from humans and humans learn from robots. Thus, in the field of education, the more a robot will learn the more it can help students in learning. Through various artificial intelligence technologies. Big Data: Today data is said to be the new oil. The one who has it can change the game. In the case of education as well. The right kind of data at the right time can create wonders for making the education process fluent and easy. Not just for students but also teachers.  Conclusion A lot of education technology have made their way to comfort zone of the education system. Today’s generation doesn’t miss the essence of the old education system. Because the new edtech trends are letting them explore endless possibilities. There are still a lot of new trends yet to approach the edtech community. With that, we are yet to see how fluent and easily accessible education is going to become in coming future.

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Reopening of schools: A concern as well as the need of the hour

The covid-19 pandemic gave the world several shocks. Nonetheless, this didn’t leave the education system behind. In the whole world, the total scenario of education changed. Be it, classes, lectures, assignments, and tests came online. Although while education did become available online. Schools drifted apart from students. It’s been more than a year and students still have no near hopes of enjoying school days any day soon. As per the United Nations agency, 1.5 million schools remained closed during the 2020 lockdown, which saw the damage of study opportunities for 247 million children to be enrolled in elementary and secondary school. In addition to over six million girls and boys who were already out of school prior covid-19 the crisis began.  Many states have decided to reopen schools, like Bihar, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. Many private colleges have reopened in metro cities but with no compulsion over attendance. In 2018 many schools were shut in Maharashtra and other states of the country. Saying there was a need to shut these schools as it was near to no use. That also made the village students travel more and did hamper their education.  A year ago teaching went fully online but that couldn’t maintain the education wavelength. A school and college not only provide knowledge and information. It’s a place where the overall development of a person happens. A great matter of concern especially for the young kids missing primary education and basic developments. On the other hand, it has involved and taken a lot of involvement of parents to indulge their kids into studies. As a matter of concern, virtual education may ensure teaching but doesn’t ensure learning.  UNESCO said more than 888 million children worldwide, continue to face disruption to their education due to full or partial school closure. Globally schools for more than 168 million children have been completely closed for almost a full year, as per the reports. With this, around 214 million children all over the world have missed out on three-quarters of their in-person learning.  According to a study, only 8 Indian states and union territories have reopened schools from class I to XII. Whereas another 11 states have reopened schools for classes VI to XII and 15 states opened schools only for classes IX-XII. In addition, three states have reopened Anganwadi centers, with these younger children are losing a lot on their foundational learning phases.  Even if schools do reopen it will not be the same again any sooner. Putting on a mask and with the fear of third-wave effecting children the most. It is again a dilemma whether children shall go to school or stay at home. When this wasn’t enough, many schools and colleges attempted to hike fees during a pandemic. This act has to face a huge backlash from parents. While a lot of people are facing financial crunches, it is considered very insensitive by an educational institution to hike fees. On the other hand, a lot of parents demanded compensation from schools. Stating the online education does not fulfill the criteria to charge the whole fee.  Another concern raises in judging the intellects of students who cleared exams and degrees during the pandemic. The students are going to suffer for no reason. With no doubt, we can say it has discouraged students from studying hard. In the coming days, the matter of concern is not just the reopening of school. But also reopening of a normal education environment with safety. No one knows if that time is coming any sooner.

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4 Emerging Trends Shaping the Media and Entertainment Industry in 2021

Introduction: Since COVID-19, the way we consume online content from different media and entertainment sources has evolved drastically. All it takes is an internet connection and one swift touch, and you have innumerable options to surf through.  Due to the pandemic induced lockdown, not only youngsters but even middle-aged and senior citizens are engaged in entertainment programs, web series, movies, films, etc. There has been a paradigm shift in the media consumption and production scenario in India.  Last year, a digital media trends survey of 2000 plus people in the USA revealed that 69% of the consumers had subscribed to at least one online video streaming service. An average American is already spending 12 hours a day on various media platforms. It won’t take long for this trend to become common amongst Indians.  Thanks to content creators, they are helping or rather aiding people to stay indoors. Increased screen timing is becoming a pressing issue, but with limited options, people are easily getting hooked to their devices consuming various types of content to spend their time.  Behind the scenes, the increased consumption of online content has triggered a rise in technological advancement and the study of consumer behaviour, likes and dislikes.  The media and entertainment sector was amongst the few that succeeded at harnessing the various benefits of technology. Therefore, we need to understand various trends that will shape the future of the media and entertainment industry.  Emerging Trends: New Ways of Distribution Democratization of technology and the internet, the proliferation of smartphones and tablets has caused a shift in the demands and expectations of media and content consumers. There is an astounding variety of digital services available in the common market.  Video on Demand (VoD)  According to statistics, the VoD market is expected to grow globally at a CAGR of 8.3% by 2021. Subscription-based online streaming services such as Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu are amongst the consumers’ favorites.  With mobile penetration rising amongst millennials, media companies are most eager to tap into this market. Live Streaming Streaming is becoming the most engaging way to deliver content. Therefore, brands and media platforms are now leveraging live streaming to reach out to the masses.  Brands routinely go on social media platforms to engage their followers by organizing Q&As, live polls, quizzes, games, etc.   Intelligent Media In the case of traditional media, preference and popularity were calculated by measuring TRP (Television Rating Points). However, with the rise in VoD platforms, they have hacked the way to track and map consumer behaviors. By using data analytics on each individual’s viewing session, crafting a personalized user profile has never been easier.  Contextual Media Advertisers have figured out that context and content is the way to flaunt their brands around. Hence, advertisers are selected and served based on the intelligence of automated systems. Advertising It’s no secret that the advertising industry is flourishing and dominating all aspects of media. Behind closely guarded algorithms triggering targeted advertising, users have never seen the extent of personalized ads until now.  Different types of advertisements like pre-rolls, in-stream and post-rolls have helped distributors in increasing monetization effectively.  New technologies like Dynamic Ad Insertion are also capable to display ads on the user’s demand. This is going to develop a win-win situation for both parties.  Consumer Engagement via New Media In the age of diminishing attention spans, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are creating seismic shifts in engaging consumers.  Though these technologies have been around for quite a while now, the continuous evolution still hasn’t worn off. When used as communication tools, they have the potential to generate an otherworldly experience for the user.  For instance, with the help of VR, music enthusiasts are live-streaming their concerts so the attendees from any part of the world can experience the aura of the concert.  These new cutting-edge technologies will lead marketing strategies in the future.  Conclusion: It is important to note that the competition in the media and entertainment industry is going to be intense. With the advancement in technology and more people willing to invest in this industry, OTT platforms, advertising, gaming and various other sectors are going to expand exponentially in the future and will pave way for new business and marketing models.  To cater to the ever-changing consumer demands, the media industry is gearing up by leveraging the full potential of data analytics and analyzing consumer behavior and preferences to successfully make their mark in the industry.

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