Search

Just another WordPress site

Kerala: Registration of CNG vehicles touches double digits in Ernakulam district

by auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com Leave a Comment

Registration of compressed natural gas ( CNG ) only vehicles touched double digits in the first three months this year in the Ernakulam RTO limit.

Though Ernakulam has witnessed rising demand for CNG vehicles following the Covid-19 pandemic, registration of these vehicles touched double digits for the first time in January with 14.

As per the details available from the dashboard of ministry of road transport and highways, it was 16 and 12 in February and March, respectively.

As many as five CNG vehicles were registered in the first 12 days of April.

A total of 47 CNG vehicles were registered with the Ernakulam RTO in first three-and-a-half months this year as against total 36 in 12 months in 2020.

There is tremendous growth in demand compared to previous years. Fuel station at Chakkaraparambu and another one near a multi-speciality hospital at Edappally witness good takers for CNG fuel. The price of CNG has come down to Rs 54.50 per litre compared to previous months. Spokesperson, Indian Oil-Adani Pvt Ltd

Rising fuel price, environment friendly and high mileage encouraged customers to drive towards CNG vehicles.

As the CNG vehicle sector is in nascent stage in Kerala, the optimum utilization of the existing fuel stations is almost nil. There are 10 CNG fuel stations in Ernakulam and one more is likely to be commissioned near Pathadipalam next month.

“Each fuel station has a capacity to supply 1,000 litre CNG per hour. But the daily supply from 10 stations comes to around 25,000 litre per day only, though the demand is rising. As only 15-20% utilization of these stations are happening now, our purpose is not to set up more stations. Instead, make full utilization of the existing ones,” said spokesperson of Indian Oil-Adani Pvt Ltd in Ernakulam.

As many as 27,957kg CNG fuel was sold through these 10 stations on Monday.

“There is tremendous growth in demand compared to previous years. Fuel station at Chakkaraparambu and another one near a multi-specialty hospital at Edappally witness good takers for CNG fuel. The price of CNG has come down to Rs 54.50 per litre compared to previous months. People should understand that liquid fuels are not fuel of future and is definitely pollutants,” he said.

Private buses have also started converting into CNG-powered vehicles. As many 25 buses were converted into CNG so far in Ernakulam.

Nine stations, commissioned in last three to six months, are in Thrissur and the utilization is less.

Meanwhile, the automobile sector finds it difficult to meet the rising demand as there are no ample production. As the second wave of the Covid looms large over Kerala, automobile dealers are keeping their fingers crossed over the sustaining the momentum for demand of CNG vehicles.

“The demand is still in nascent stage, but there is rising demand. Of the total inquiries, 5% is related to CNG vehicles. But the problems we face is that we cannot meet the rising demand due to shortage of production of such vehicles,” said a automobile dealer in Kochi.

7 useful tools for a quick and easy digital spring cleaning

by www.foxnews.com Leave a Comment

Fox News Flash top headlines for April 17

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.

After a year mostly spent at home channeling Marie Kondo, I bet you’re like me, and every drawer, closet, and room is organized. Now, let’s tackle your digital life.

Start with Google search results. Look yourself up, and I bet you will find a lot of results you want to remove. Tap or click for insider tricks to make embarrassing, outdated, or personal info (including the Google Street View of your home) vanish from the internet.

While you’re cleaning things up, tell your digital assistants — looking at you, Siri and Alexa — to butt out. Tap or click to stop smart speakers, social media sites and even your computer from listening to your every word .

Here are seven more ways to get your digital life in ship shape.

1. Clean up your browser

Your browser doesn’t just store your passwords and favorite sites. There are also browser cookies, the trackers that follow you around the web and power the ads and content you see. Plus, your internet history, cache, and download history could be clogging things up.

A free program called CCleaner helps you sort out the cookies and archives you don’t really need. When you download the app, you can focus on a specific browser you would like to clean up. CCleaner analyzes its backlog of information and lists the data that seems unnecessary.

Tap or click here to get the details and links you need for CCleaner .

You can delete cookies from your phone, too. Tap or click here for the step-by-step instructions whether you’re using iOS or Android .

2. Speed up your smartphone

You remember to clear your cluttered computer from time to time, but what about your smartphone? Our phones are essentially handheld computers, and when they overflow with useless information, their operations can also slow down. Think overburdened call logs, search history, and saved texts.

For Android users, try Clean Master or Magic Toolbox. You can use these apps to clean out junk files, clean your cache, delete cookies, wipe out temporary files. Note: Both are free to use but ad-supported.

Tap or click here for direct links to download Clean Master or Magic Toolbox .

iPhones don’t have an equivalent app, but clearing your cache is simple. Tap or click here and scroll down to “Clear that cache.”

3. Remove duplicate photos

Digital photos are easy to shoot, upload, and copy, handy in almost every respect, especially if you grew up lugging rolls of film to the one-hour photo lab. The downside is that you may end up with multiple copies of the same picture.

The trick is to delete redundant photos without losing the original image safely. This is the premise behind Remo Duplicate Photos Remover, which is designed to filter through your photo collection in search of double-takes. It works with Android and iPhones.

Tap or click here for direct links to download Remo Duplicate Photos Remover, along with reliable options for your Mac or PC.

4. Delete old accounts you no longer use

You know by now, the more online accounts you have, the more at risk you are when hackers come calling. With a new data breach around every corner, your usernames and passwords are in high demand.

You can delete your unwanted accounts, but that’s not always easy. Sites like Pinterest and Evernote are nearly impossible to erase from your digital life. Other sites hide their delete links, meaning you have to dig pretty deep to find them.

That’s where JustDelete.Me comes in. The site has a directory of links to get rid of hundreds of various accounts. This makes deleting old accounts so much easier.

Tap or click for directions and a link to start deleting.

5. Scan your app list

Here’s an item to add to your quarterly to-do list: Audit your apps. This frees up valuable digital real estate and protects you from yet another developer who wants to get their hands on your data.

Scroll through your app list. You’ll find at least a couple you no longer use. Do you have multiple perform the same function? What about a game you gave up long ago or a loyalty app for a company that went out of business?

Before you just hit the big X, you need to know the right steps to take. Tap or click here for a step-by-step guide for deleting apps and their data the right way.

6. Catalogue your physical belongings

You may be the type of person who likes to keep track of every ironing board and lampshade in the house, or you may want to compile a report for insurance companies, so there is no question whether something has been stolen or lost.

The Encircle app works on iOS and Android and was created to take inventory of your worldly possessions. Just take a photo of each valuable object, then attach notes to the image, including its original cost, relevant serial numbers, and even appraisals. It makes the process a breeze.

Tap or click here to download Encircle.

7. Sell your second-hand stuff online

By now, you have probably had lots of computers, smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets. When you upgrade, the older one just sits around. Why not make some extra money?

Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace aren’t the best places to turn to with all the scams and false advertisements going around. And who wants to haggle with someone over the price or find a place to meet?

A safer, more reliable option is DeCluttr. They purchase from you directly, so you don’t need to create a listing, write a description, or negotiate. You don’t need to include the original box, charger, or accessories, either. Who has those anyway?

Tap or click here to get started with Decluttr .

NEED A HAND WITH SLOW WI-FI, BUYING QUESTIONS OR A PROBLEM YOU CAN’T CRACK? Post your tech questions for concrete answers from me and other tech pros. Visit my Q&A Forum and get tech help now .

What digital lifestyle questions do you have? Call Kim’s national radio show and tap or click here to find it on your local radio station . You can listen to or watch The Kim Komando Show on your phone, tablet, television, or computer. Or tap or click here for Kim’s free podcasts.

Copyright 2021, WestStar Multimedia Entertainment. All rights reserved.

Learn about all the latest technology on The Kim Komando Show , the nation’s largest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com.

Why India needs a lot more talent that can craft chips

by www.gadgetsnow.com Leave a Comment

V Ramgopal Rao, director at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, is involved in two startups. One is trying to make an explosive detection kit on a chip. The other is building sensors for agricultural applications. Both these require VLSI (very large-scale integration) talent. VLSI is the process of creating an integrated circuit (IC) by combining millions of transistors onto a single chip. Different applications often require different kinds of chips. Off-the-shelf chips may not be good enough, or may be too expensive. Rao is trying to bring down the cost by creating unique chip designs.

But VLSI talent is too expensive in India. “I cannot afford my own PhD students,” Rao said at the Times Techies Webinar last week. The students’ salary as soon as they graduate, Rao said, is almost half of his. “In five years they would be earning much more than what I would be making. So just imagine the condition of startups. They have a huge requirement of VLSI implementation and they have nowhere to go,” he said.

India produces excellent chip design talent. But most of them are either overseas, or in the India R&D centres of the global semiconductor companies, the likes of Intel , Qualcomm, Samsung , Western Digital and Huawei . The kind of salaries these companies pay, the kind of lab facilities they offer, the startups cannot hope to match.

Neither can Indian academia. What academia can pay is a fraction of what industry pays. “Even in established IITs like Delhi, Bombay, we are short of VLSI faculty. At IIT Delhi, we could recruit 10 people tomorrow in the electrical engineering department if they are available. All 23 IITs together, it could be 500 faculty,” Rao said.

So, even as chips are becoming core to everything around us – VLSI, as Rao said, is at the heart of today’s technology revolution – India is in this peculiar bind where it finds it difficult to produce the VLSI talent it needs. “Data from the ministry of electronics & IT suggests we have a requirement currently of some 500,000 (VLSI) people, and what we have is half of that,” Rao said.

Satya Gupta, president of the VLSI Society of India, and former chairman of the India Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA), said the government’s newest SMDP (Special Manpower Development Program), focused on incentivising moves from chips to system design, provides substantial funding to academic institutions. The programme provides some 70 odd institutes with the tools needed for chip design, provides training on those tools, organises faculty workshops. He believes if the funds are utilised well, it can go a long way towards improving VLSI talent supply.

Rao was sceptical. He said while a student may be able to design a chip, the crucial element is the ability to implement it on silicon and test it. “Many tier-2 institutions cannot afford the silicon chip implementation cost. It costs Rs 2-3 lakh to get a chip fabricated (from a foundry outside the country). And when it comes back, even the testing facilities are not there except in some premier IITs,” he said.

Rao urged the large semiconductor companies to share their resources to help academia implement their designs. He also said that India’s traditional Bachelor’s programme of electronics & communication should be changed to an electronics & VLSI programme. “Students will then have many more job opportunities,” he said.

Preet Yadav, member of the VLSI Society of India, agreed on the need to revisit curriculums. “We need to create space for the advanced topics in the curriculums by shifting the basics to the 10th and +2 level. The advanced topics can come in the four years of the BTech curriculum,” he said.

Yadav and Gupta also underlined the importance of industry professionals being involved in teaching a part of the curriculum to ensure students are ready for industry when they graduate, and to bring in new thought processes. Gupta noted that some institutions have started the concept of `professors of practice’, under which professionals come to teach.

Rao said that while `professors of practice’ is good in theory, the reality is that good industry professionals are under tremendous pressure to meet their design deadlines at work. He suggested looking at faculty appointments jointly by academia and industry. “Can we come up with a 50:50 arrangement? The faculty member can be shared between industry and academia, the person gets decent salaries and bridges the gap between industry and academia,” he said.

The consensus was that good VLSI education must become as ubiquitous as IT education. The latter has made India a global IT powerhouse.

Silicon is fast replacing steel everywhere. There is disruption happening in every industry because of this. Who would have thought just ten years ago that Apple alone will sell 30% more watches today than all the Swiss watch companies combined. Tesla is now giving a tough fight to all the traditional car makers. VLSI is at the heart of this revolution. India has a huge opportunity to become a major player in this space if we play our cards well. In India, the Bachelor’s programme is always electronics & communication. We should make it electronics & VLSI, make it a dual degree, five-year programme. Students will then have many more job opportunities. There’s a huge shortage of VLSI talent now.

V Ramgopal Rao, Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi

There was a time when good talent from premier institutes were going to e-commerce. I think the tide is turning, they are going once again to core jobs. Good jobs are available, and cutting edge work is happening. I want to make a commitment here. Those of us who have been in this industry a long time and are kind of retired, we will contribute to bringing industry knowledge to academic institutions. On curriculum, let’s make a commitment here that in the next one year, academia and industry together will work to create an electronics & VLSI programme. Let’s start that dialogue in two weeks.

Satya Gupta, President, VLSI Society of India, and Former Chairman, IESA

Semiconductor technology is changing very fast. We need to revisit our curriculums. We need to create space for the advanced topics in the curriculums by shifting the basics to the 10th and +2 level. The advanced topics can come in the four years of the BTech curriculum. We need to start involving experts from industry to deliver advanced topics to students, to bridge the practical skill gap.

Preet Yadav, Member, VLSI Society of India

Follow Gadgets Now on Facebook and Twitter . For the latest news , tech news , breaking news headlines and live updates checkout Gadgetsnow.com

Beware home loan customers! Non-repayment of EMIs will impact Cibil score; penalty and more

by zeenews.india.com Leave a Comment

Prices of homes plummeted due to the pandemic-led economic slowdown. As a result, many who had money bought homes at cheaper prices. Homes sold like hotcakes, leading to a serious demand for home loans as well. However, if you have taken a home loan and are unable to pay the dues on time, you can face a serious penalty that can also negatively impact your Cibil score.

What is Cibil score?

In simple terms, a Cibil score is a three-digit number that represents an individual’s creditworthiness. The higher the score the better your creditworthiness is.

How non-repayment of loans impact your Cibil score?

If you don’t repay the monthly instalments of your home loan on time then it could have a negative impact on your Cibil score. Experts suggest that if you miss a single monthly instalment then your Cibil score can nosedive by 50-70 points.

How you can improve your Cibil score?

You can easily improve your Cibil score by paying your missed monthly instalment with the next EMI along with the late fee. Your Cibil score will then improve again slowly.

Other penalties on non-repayment of monthly instalments

Besides negatively impacting your creditworthiness, non-repayment of monthly instalments also calls for late fees and penalty. Usually, banks charge 1-2% of your monthly instalments as a penalty. In some cases, however, you’ll also have to pay interest on the defaulted amount in addition to the late fees.

What to do if you can’t repay your home loans?

If you are not able to repay your home loans in case of job loss or other emergencies then you should contact the lending bank or NBFC as soon as possible. Usually, banks listen to your problem and can extend your repayment time to 90 days.

If you don’t repay any monthly instalment within 90 days then banks can mark your loan as a non-performing asset of NPA and then will put your house on bidding according to the Bank Sarfaesi Act 2002.

You can also increase your loan duration to reduce your monthly instalments. However, doing so will increase the overall interest that you’ll be paying to the bank in the long run.

Live TV

#mute

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage .

Mukesh Ambani home bomb scare | NIA arrests Sachin Vaze’s associate Riyaz Kazi

by www.thehindu.com Leave a Comment

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on April 11 arrested police officer Riyaz Kazi, an associate of suspended cop Sachin Vaze, in connection with the case of an explosives-laden SUV found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, a police official said.

Assistant Police Inspector (API) Kazi was called for questioning again by the NIA on April 11 and later placed under arrest, he said.

He was previously also questioned by the NIA in connection with the case of the SUV with explosives found near Mr. Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai on February 25 and the subsequent death of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran.

Mr. Kazi was shunted out of the Mumbai Crime Branch last month, the official said.

Earlier, in a CCTV footage, Mr. Kazi was seen entering a number plates shop in Vikhroli area in Mumbai and having a conversation with the outlet’s owner. He was also seen taking away a digital video recorder and a computer of the shop.

Mr. Kazi was also seen collecting CCTV footage from Mr. Vaze’s housing complex in neighbouring Thane, the official said.

The probe agency suspects that Mr. Kazi assisted Mr. Vaze in obtaining fake number plates used for the SUV found with explosives near Mr. Ambani’s residence in south Mumbai, he said.

Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV, was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5.

The NIA arrested Mr. Vaze on March 13 in connection with its probe into the case.