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New York comes to a halt to salute Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Actor Adivi Sesh has ignited patriotism in every Indian across the globe with Major that celebrates the inspirational life of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. Over the weekend, New York took a moment to salute Major Sandeep in their special way.

For the first time in the history of Indian cinema, people gathered at Times Square and celebrates his life amidst a lot of cheering classical dance performances and camaraderie.

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WB CM Mamata admits 'No jobs in Bengal for Graduates and above'

There are no jobs in the state, thousands of boys and girls are unemployed even after passing out. This time the question is raised by Bengal's Agriculture Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee. Speaking at a meeting on Saturday, he said, "12 lakh candidates have passed Madhyamik. Almost 86 per cent.  All the educated unemployed have been created. Even after graduation, MA, there is no job. Half of those who come to my house only ask for a job. But where can you go and get a job?" He added, "There are so many boys and girls roaming around. But there are no jobs. This year 12 lakh students passed the secondary examination. 86% passed. All the educated unemployed were created. This is followed by higher secondary, followed by graduation, master's (mastered), polytechnics. So many students are being made every day. But, they're moving around. There is no one to guide them."

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Facebook whistleblower accuses India bosses of bias in favour of BJP MP

A whistle-blower at Meta (previously Facebook), who was with the company’s US operations till late 2020, has disclosed purportedly internal documents alleging that the company refused to act against fake Facebook accounts that supported a Member of Parliament of the ruling BJP, even as it went ahead with blocking fake users supporting Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the same violations.

Sophie Zhang, the former data scientist who was with Facebook between January 16, 2018, and September 4, 2020, had previously offered the documentation for consideration by the parliamentary standing committee on communications and IT, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, although it was not taken up pending an approval by the Lok Sabha Speaker, as per her submission.

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Tamil Nadu makes a turnaround, going northward

When Tamil Nadu was gearing up for industrial investments from overseas marquee brands and conglomerates in the 1990s, post-liberalization, the state’s southern districts were in the news for caste clashes. Identifying lack of employment opportunities as the root cause for such social disturbances, successive state governments worked to push industrial investment in the south. But with limited success. The much-hyped Nanguneri SEZ, for example, never really took off.

But the tide is finally turning. Plots in Sipcot’s Gangaikondan industrial estate in Tirunelveli district are almost sold out. Sipcot is now looking to acquire more land in adjacent areas. Signs that the state’s push to get more industrial investments in the southern region, especially in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin, is succeeding. The recently inaugurated furniture park in Tuticorin could turn out to be a major hub with both domestic and overseas players showing interest. And Gangaikondan is set to become the hub for ‘renewable’ manufacturing, with bo th Tata Power and Vikram Solar planning big investments.

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New companies take major roles in govt-funded highway projects

The roll-out of a large number of National Highway (NH) projects, fully funded by government in the past 6-7 years, has resulted in the emergence of several new players in this space while the traditionally known companies have taken a backseat. None of the earlier construction majors found mention in the top 10 companies that are bagging high-value NH projects, being bid out on government funding or EPC mode, shows a list of “provisionally qualified” companies put out by NHAI.

The NHAI has come out with a list of highway builders who have been “provisionally pre-qualified” for NH projects being implemented under three different modes – EPC, Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT-toll). The pre-qualification of highway builders has been done based on the bidding documents submitted by these companies between October 2021 and March this year. This pre-qualification is linked to the government’s estimated project cost.