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EV Reliability As Varied As Gasoline Cars, Consumer Reports Finds

Loknath Das

Battery electric vehicles accounted for about 1.5% of U.S. new vehicle sales last year, a small and growing number that will grow over the next decade as automakers bring out more offerings and more consumers discover some of the advantages over gas cars. Already there are enough different models for Consumer Reports and J.D. Power to create electric vehicle categories in their annual car ratings. The reliability of electric vehicles turns out to be as varied as their gasoline counterparts, said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports’ senior director of automotive testing. Surveys Find…

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California School Districts Fear Major Budget Cuts as Enrollments Drop

Loknath Das

Despite this year’s return to in-person learning, districts throughout the state are seeing major declines in both enrollment and average daily attendance, and fear the reductions could result in significant funding cuts next school year. Without state intervention, many districts face substantial cuts in state funding and could be forced to make significant budget cuts in the 2022-23 school year, due to a drop in enrollment and attendance. Districts’ baseline funding depends on the number of students enrolled, minus the daily average number of absent students. For the past two…

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BlackBerry (BB) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

Loknath Das

BlackBerry (BB) closed the most recent trading day at $5.44, moving +0.55% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.32%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.38%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.4%. Heading into today, shares of the cybersecurity software and services company had lost 2.17% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 2.58% and the S&P 500’s gain of 2.51% in that time. Wall Street will be looking for positivity from BB as it approaches its next earnings…

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Travel Texas Names MMGY NJF As New North American PR AOR

Loknath Das

AUSTIN — The state-run Texas tourism department has handed MMGY NJF its North American PR business, which was most recently handled by Edelman. As Travel Texas’ North American PR and social media agency of record, MMGY NJF will be responsible for developing earned media and social strategies targeting domestic tourists, who make up 90% of Texas visitors. Out-of-state visitors were responsible for 44% of the $80.3bn Texas travelers spent in 2018. The remit includes targeting national and regional media through proactive pitching efforts, media missions to target markets and marketing…

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Kentucky police use new technology to nab suspects in hours instead of weeks as rapid DNA market takes off

Loknath Das

The Kentucky State Police started using a new DNA test in February that law enforcement officials say could completely revolutionize criminal investigations, analyzing the data in under two hours instead of days or weeks. Colorado-based ANDE Rapid DNA is offering its quick DNA testing to Kentucky state police for free as part of an ongoing pilot program. Kentucky is the first state to use ANDE’s technology for sexual assault cases and it’s getting a lot of notice from other states. ANDE Rapid DNA declined to provide its sales data, but…

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AU Small Finance Bank gains as Edelweiss initiates coverage, sees 24% upside

Loknath Das

Edelweiss Securities has initiated coverage on AU Small Finance Bank with a buy rating and target price of Rs 880 apiece, implying 24 percent potential upside from current levels. At 0916 hours IST, it was quoting at Rs 712, up Rs 3.85, or 0.54 percent on the BSE. The non-banking finance company continues to deliver high loan growth without any asset quality incident and 30 percent-plus asset CAGR remains plausible for an extended period, the brokerage said. It feels operating and financial leverage will continue to play through and return on average…

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Central banks push green finance as global warming losses rise to $160 b

Loknath Das

With insurers shouldering a record $160 billion in climate-related losses from last year alone, a group, including 30 central banks, called for measures to spur green finance and better assessment of the risks from higher global temperatures. The move, led by the Bank of France, Bank of England and People’s Bank of China, draws the group deeper into a controversial area of policy-making, where they advocate funding for alternatives to fossil fuels. They set out a road-map for authorities to use in prodding executives and investment funds to weigh up…

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[Validity Of Finance Act 2017- Day-3] Majority Judgment In Aadhaar Case Covers My Case, Submits AG As Constitution Bench Reserves Judgment

Loknath Das

As Attorney General K. K. Venugopal resumed his submissions on the constitutionality of the passage as a Money Bill of the Finance Act of 2017 on Monday, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked for a copy of the Supreme Court’s order in Rajiv Garg, where the court had considered whether different conditions of service could be prescribed for different tribunals. In that case, the court had taken on record the assurance of the then-AG to speak with the different ministries as to uniformity in the retirement, functional facilities and accommodation of…

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China bans 23m from buying travel tickets as part of ‘social credit’ system

Loknath Das

Beijing railway station. Local governments and agencies have been piloting aspects of the system. Photograph: Roman Pilipey/EPA China has blocked millions of “discredited” travellers from buying plane or train tickets as part of the country’s controversial “social credit” system aimed at improving the behaviour of citizens. According to the National Public Credit Information Centre, Chinese courts banned would-be travellers from buying flights 17.5 million times by the end of 2018. Citizens placed on black lists for social credit offences were prevented from buying train tickets 5.5 million times. The report released…

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Technology as an enabler in the social sector

Loknath Das

There are hundreds of NGOs in India that are striving to make a measurable impact for the greater good. But running an NGO comes with a number of challenges – of which raising funds is a major one. Other issues linked to this are getting volunteers on board and maintaining a long-term relationship with them. Unfortunately, this sector has lacked substantial transparency, and not all NGOs are involved in serious work with large-scale impact. Technology has helped organisations take a step in the right direction and has enabled ease of…

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