Voting machines worth Rs 45.55 bn needed for simultaneous polls: Law Panel

The Law Commission has said over Rs 45 billion (Rs 4,500 crore) will be needed to buy new EVMs and paper trail machines for "imminent" simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

In its draft report on simultaneous polls issued last week, the law panel quoted the Election Commission as saying that around 10,60,000 polling stations will be set up for the 2019 general elections.

"It (EC) further informed that as of now there is a shortfall of about 1.29 million ballot units, 940,000 control units and about 1.23 million VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trail machines or paper trail machines), if simultaneous elections are to be held," the report read.

According to it, an electronic voting machine (EVM), which includes a control unit (CU), a ballot unit (BU) and a VVPAT, costs about Rs 33,200.

Worm found in vegetable biryani at IKEA store in Hyderabad; notice issued

In an embarrassment for the recently opened IKEA store in Hyderabad, a man allegedly found a worm in the vegetable biryani served to him, prompting the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to issue a notice to the firm, an official said Sunday.

The civic body also imposed a fine of Rs 11,500 on the IKEA store, opened last month marking the Swedish home furnishing major's entry into the country, for allegedly flouting norms related to dry and wet waste segregation and use of plastic covers, the official said.

Apologising over the "unfortunate experience", IKEA said it is investigating the matter and will take corrective action.

The GMHC issued the notice after a customer alleged on social media that he found a caterpillar in the vegetable biriyani he ate at the store's restaurant on August 31.

Food safety and health officials visited the IKEA store and collected food samples on Saturday.

"IKEA representatives said they did not prepare the food in their kitchen and were procuring semi-cooked and frozen food from a Nagpur-based snack manufacturer," the official said.

Indian men outnumber women online shoppers by over three to one: Report

Indian millennials might have taken to e-commerce in a big way, with around 35 per cent of all online transactions being driven by this one age group, but it's still their older siblings or parents that are making the large purchases online.

According to the latest report from WATConsult, the ride-hailing sector sees the highest number of transactions per month compared to any other e-commerce category, but travel and electronics were by far the two biggest categories with respect to money being spent.

The gender gap in online average ticket size between men (Rs 1,865) and women (Rs 1,818) is very similar, but what is striking is that men outnumber women online shoppers by over three to one. Interestingly, while every other category has a smaller share of female spenders, in the range of 20 per cent, home decor category witnesses over 40 per cent female shoppers.

Fake news: Companies say top bosses may quit over persecution fears

The blow-hot-blow-cold relationship between the government and social media and technology-backed firms seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Some companies now fear exits of their India heads and senior management if the government goes ahead with its plans to carry out criminal proceedings against top bosses over spread of fake news via their platforms.

Apart from global technology giants Google and Facebook (which together have four to five social media platforms), Twitter, LinkedIn, smaller social media portals and payments apps with chat capabilities are planning to approach the government on putting back its plans of booking their top bosses.

While it has not been decided if they would form a common front, the public policy teams in these firms are getting ready for a long discussion with the government. “We are constantly in touch with government officials. We want them to know that we are taking steps to prevent spreading of fake news and such drastic actions are unnecessary,” said a senior public policy executive at one of the tech firms.

19-day-old Haryana girl becomes first Ayushman Bharat beneficiary

19-day-old Karishma, born at Kalpana Chawla government hospital in Karnal on August 15, has become the first new-born beneficiary of Prime Minister's Ayushman Bharat Yojana (National Health Protection Scheme).

Lauding the government for the scheme, Karishma's mother Mausami said, "'The government will bear all medical expenses. This scheme is very good."

Prime Minister Modi, on the occasion of Independence Day, had announced that the 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyaan' will be launched on September 25.

The scheme is the flagship project of Ayushman Bharat, the national healthcare policy, launched by the government earlier this year.

Ayushman Bharat, also referred to as 'Modicare', was launched by the Government of India in February this year. The ambitious healthcare policy promises to cover over 100 million poor and vulnerable families, based on SECC (Socio-Economic Caste Census) database, providing coverage up to Rs 500,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

Delhi's smoggy winter: 64% fine-particulate pollution comes from outside

Delhi contributes no more than 36 per cent to its fine-particulate (PM 2.5) pollution during winters, with 64 per cent coming from sources outside the 56,800-sq-km area of the national capital region (NCR), according to a new study.

During the winter of 2016-17, the average concentration of PM 2.5 in Delhi-NCR was 168 microgram per cubic metre (μg/m3)–about three times higher than the national standard of 40 μg/m3 and about 16 times higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) tighter standard of 10 μg/m3 , said the study, released on August 16, 2018.

The average maximum concentration of PM 2.5 during winters was 254 μg/m3, while the minimum average concentration was 92 μg/m3, said the study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI).

Emitted when coal, kerosene, petrol, diesel, biomass (like wood and cow-dung) is burnt, PM 2.5 is about 30 times finer than a human hair. These particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and respiratory diseases. Their measurement is considered to be the best indicator of the level of health risks from air pollution, according to the WHO.

IndiGo festive sale: Flights for as low as Rs 999! Bookings open from today

Budget carrier IndiGo on Monday announced all-inclusive discounted fares starting as low Rs 999. The sale fares will go on for four days, starting today, September 3.

As part of this four-day special sale, the airline will also offer 1 million seats and this sale is valid for travel between September 18, 2018, and March 30, 2019. This offer is valid only on non-stop flights in various sectors across IndiGo’s domestic and international networks. The airline's website also states that the discounts are valid for bookings made during the 'Offer Period', at least 15 days prior to the date of departure, provided that the date of travel is no later than March 30, 2019.

Apart from that, the carrier is also offering special offers on online transactions. Customers can avail of a 20 per cent MobiKwik super cash discount of up to Rs 600. This offer is available for single use by a customer during the offer period.