The Indian Army and the Defence Geoinformatics and Research Establishment (DGRE) have jointly installed the Avalanche Monitoring Radar, first of its kind in India, in north Sikkim, defence officials said on Friday.

Besides being used for detection of avalanches, this radar can also be employed to detect landslides.

The National Green Tribunal has imposed restrictions on the Odisha government's ambitious Bali Jatra project, for which the Cuttack district administration had reclaimed an area of around 426 acres of the Mahanadi riverbed, environmentalists said on Saturday.

As part of the Bali Jatra riverfront or the Barfi project, the district administration had reclaimed the floodplain zone of the river near Jobra barrage in Cuttack city by filling sand and garbage, they claimed.

Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday emphasized that with the advent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is now a force to reckon with and India's voice is heard by all.

Venkaiah Naidu on Friday unveiled the book Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas, a collection of selected speeches of the Prime Minister, along with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Union Minister Anurag Thakur in a function organized by the Directorate of Publications Division.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that his country has attracted $11 billion from its partners through the World Bank (WB) since the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Loans and grants, including from the US and Britain, totaling about $11 billion have been raised through the Bank's instruments since February 24," Shmyhal added on Facebook on Friday after the meeting in New York with WB Managing Director of Operations Axel van Trotsenburg and WB Vice President Anna Bjerde.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday in a lighter vein said twice he became deputy chief minister of Maharashtra and on both occasions, wanted the home portfolio, but "seniors" in his party thought if he gets the key ministry, he would not listen to them.

The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly made the comments during a meeting of the NCP's Pune unit where a functionary remarked that when the party becomes part of a government in the future, he (Pawar) should become home minister.

India's Byju's has paid 19 billion rupees ($234 million) to Blackstone Inc, settling its dues owed to the private-equity firm as part of a $950 million deal to buy Aakash Educational, a source directly involved with the deal said on Friday.

The payment made on Thursday was for a stake of about 38% owned by Blackstone in the learning center chain that Byju's acquired in April 2021.

Exide Industries, an automotive and industrial battery maker, is eyeing to invest Rs 6,000 crore in the next 8-10 years to set up a 12 gigawatt-hour lithium-ion cell manufacturing unit in Karnataka. The first phase with a capacity of 6 gigawatt-hour is expected to be completed in 27-30 months, a report by BusinessLine(BL) stated.

“We are a debt-free company and have sufficient reserves. So we will look at internal accruals (to fund the project) and some bridge loan facilities from banks as and when required,” Subir Chakraborty, MD and CEO, Exide.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is facing difficulties in finalising deals for 5G equipment as vendors are asking the telco to clear previous dues first. The deals for 5G equipment supplies and tower tenancies have also hit a roadblock with vendors demanding advance payments, a report in Economic Times (ET) added.

"Equipment vendors have been asking the telco to clear their 4G dues and have also asked for advanced payments for 5G radio procurement," a person aware of the matter was quoted as saying in the ET report.

The Uttar Pradesh government, through its investment promotion agency Invest UP, has been successful in attracting beverages industrial units in Gorakhpur, Amethi, Prayagraj and Chitrakoot.

Varun Beverages Ltd, all India franchisee of PepsiCo, has been allotted land in these districts through fast-track mode for setting up their units for producing carbonated soft drinks, fruit pulp or juice-based drinks.

Tata Steel’s board has approved merging six subsidiaries and an associate company into it, seeking to consolidate the metals and mining business and simplify the holding structure.

The decision on Thursday is for listed companies Tata Steel Long Products, The Tinplate Company of India Limited, Tata Metaliks, and TRF, said a press statement.

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