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The Economic Survey 2022-23 was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. The document, prepared by a team of economists led by chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, analyses developments in the economy in the past year and makes projections for the following year. Here are some of the key takeaways. Growth - The Indian economy is expected to expand 7 percent in real terms in 2022-23, following the 8.7 percent growth in 2021-22. The survey notes that the economy had staged a full and broad-based recovery in 2021-22 and was positioned to ascend to the pre-pandemic growth path. Inflation - India’s retail inflation rate peaked at 7.8 percent in April 2022, above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper tolerance limit of 6 percent. The overshoot of inflation above the upper end of the target range in India was, however, one of the lowest in the world. Read More Fiscal developments - The government’s finances showed a … [Read more...] about A quick guide to the Economic Survey 2022-23

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin There’s a dizzying amount of activity going on in some states and school districts, spurred by the push to bring classroom practice in line with the “science of reading.” But not all of that activity translates into better reading instruction. Some teachers are being required to take rigorous courses that ask them to re-examine and abandon deeply held beliefs about how children learn to read. Even if they become convinced that change is needed—that is, they have the why— they may not be equipped to put their new understanding into practice. Other teachers are simply being asked to follow a radically different kind of literacy curriculum. They have the what— the instructional materials. But they may not understand why change is necessary. That could lead them to depart from the new curriculum or implement it in a way that doesn’t work. Even if teachers have both the why and the what , a radical shift in … [Read more...] about Teachers Need The Why, The What, And The How For Change To Happen

Representative Image Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Group Corp said on Tuesday it has the technology to make humanoid robots quickly once it has identified how they could be effectively used. "In terms of technology, several companies in the world including this one have enough technology accumulated to make them swiftly once it becomes clear which usage is promising," Sony Chief Technology Officer Hiroaki Kitano told Reuters in an interview. "The key is the development of application," Kitano said. Sony launched a robot dog called Aibo more than two decades ago. It sold about 150,000 units of Aibo from 1999 until 2006 and launched an advanced version in 2018, selling about 20,000 units in the first six months. Humanoid robots have been in development for decades by Honda Motor Co and Hyundai Motor Co and in September, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk showed off a prototype of its humanoid robot Optimus. Read More Musk's company is … [Read more...] about Sony says it has technology for humanoid robots, just looking for use

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services have become increasingly popular as a payment method for online shopping and even travel, and major players are creeping into the world of health care. But while breaking up medical bills can provide some short-term relief, critics worry about the lack of protections in the BNPL industry and the threat of overextending patients' budgets. Key Takeaways BNPL services can break up payments into installments over the course of six weeks or longer. The approach can make medical bills feel more manageable for patients, but it can still overextend their finances. Critics also worry about the lack of consumer protections offered by BNPL services compared to traditional financial products. BNPL Services Present an Inexpensive But Complicated Alternative to Pay Medical Bills BNPL services like Afterpay, Affirm, and Sezzle offer consumers the chance to pay off online purchases, travel, and other major purchases over time. In some cases, … [Read more...] about Buy Now, Pay Later Firms Entering the Health Care Space

Larry Page (Image: Reuters) Last month, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s founders, held several meetings with company executives. The topic: a rival’s new chatbot, a clever A.I. product that looked as if it could be the first notable threat in decades to Google’s $149 billion search business. Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, who had not spent much time at Google since they left their daily roles with the company in 2019, reviewed Google’s artificial intelligence product strategy, according to two people with knowledge of the meetings who were not allowed to discuss them. They approved plans and pitched ideas to put more chatbot features into Google’s search engine. And they offered advice to company leaders, who have put A.I. front and center in their plans. The re-engagement of Google’s founders, at the invitation of the company’s current chief executive, Sundar Pichai, emphasized the urgency felt among many Google executives about artificial intelligence and that chatbot, … [Read more...] about Google calls in help from Larry Page and Sergey Brin for A.I. fight

The AI will sift through terabytes of satellite data to determine how climate change and natural disasters affect agricultural output and wildlife habitats. (Photo via Pixabay/Pexels) NASA and IBM have teamed up to push a novel use of AI technology on Earth observation data from Nasa satellites. The two groups have announced their intention to create many programmes to mine Earth observation data for information regarding climate change. For example, one project will employ NASA's Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 dataset, a record of land cover and land use changes acquired by Earth-orbiting satellites, to train an IBM geospatial intelligence foundation model. The AI will sift through terabytes of satellite data to determine how climate change and natural disasters affect agricultural output and wildlife habitats. In the meantime, another initiative will likely involve constructing a sizeable language model from Earth science literature. IBM has built a natural language … [Read more...] about Here’s why IBM and NASA have teamed up to study the effects of climate change using AI

Representative image (Source: AFP) Cities worldwide are warming by 0.5 degrees Celsius on average per decade, 29 per cent faster than in rural areas, according to a study which suggests that climate change and urban expansion are accelerating surface temperatures. Researchers from Nanjing University in China and colleagues noted that planting trees and vegetation in cities — also known as urban greening — is reported to offset about 0.13 degrees Celsius of surface warming per decade in European cities. People who live in cities experience greater heat exposure during heat wave events than the general population due to the urban heat island effect, in which urban land gets hotter than surrounding rural land, they said. Climate change and population growth in cities are projected to increase the surface urban heat island effect, but many current estimates of future human heat exposure assume equal rates of surface temperature increase between urban and rural areas, the … [Read more...] about Cities globally warming nearly 30 per cent faster than rural areas: Study

Indian vulture population in the country has declined, from 40 million to 19,000. (Photo by Shantanu Kuveskar via Wikimedia Commons) There was a time when the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) was in the running to become our National Bird. Its range extended all across western India - the Thar Desert and Deccan Plateau being its strongholds. Wildlife experts and enthusiasts recount spotting groups of up to 20 GIBs at a time in the dry grasslands. Rampant poaching, disturbance at breeding sites and loss of habitat have, however, reduced its numbers to 150 in the country (as of 2018). The critically endangered species could go extinct within 20 years, according to estimates by ornithologists. Unfortunately, it isn’t the only bird going the way of the Dodo. The fifth edition of the flagship science publication State of the World’s Birds, released last week, has declared that nearly half of the planet’s bird species are in decline. Painting a grim picture, it states that at least 187 … [Read more...] about Why the next decade is crucial for bird conservation in India

Climate warriors are the unsung heroes of our times, and our country is blessed with certain relentless fighters for Mother Nature, who brave all odds to keep the environment clean and green. CNN-News18, India’s No.1 English General News channel, recognizes and salutes the spirit of such climate warriors with the 12th edition of its flagship initiative CNN-News 18 Indian of the Year (IOTY) 2022. To be held on 12 October, the awards ceremony will felicitate the achievements of those Indians who, through their grit and determination, have brought pride to the country. The marquee property felicitates personalities across the categories of politics, sports, social change, entertainment, start-ups, and climate warrior. In a post-pandemic world where climate change is emerging as a major concern, the category of climate warrior is a new addition to recognise individuals who are working on impactful and sustainable change. The nominees in the climate warrior category consist of … [Read more...] about CNN-News18 Indian of the Year (IOTY) 2022 to recognize climate warriors from India determined to save our planet

(Image: AP) The share of stubble burning in Delhi PM2.5 pollution rose to 26 per cent on Sunday, the highest this year so far, amid an increase in farm fires and favourable conditions for transport of emissions to Delhi-NCR. On Saturday, farm fires accounted for 21 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution in the national capital. PM2.5 are fine particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter and can travel deep into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs and entering the bloodstream. The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi's PM2.5 pollution remained low (up to 7 per cent) till Friday due to a prolonged rain spell in early October and slow transport-level winds which were not strong enough to carry smoke from farm fires to the national capital. On Diwali (October 24), stubble burning contributed five to eight per cent to the total PM2.5 pollution in Delhi. Read More The share of farm fires in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution was 25 per cent on Diwali in 2021, 32 … [Read more...] about Stubble burning share in Delhi’s pollution rises to 26%