How do improvements in transportation affect trade

The flood situation in Assam improved considerably on Friday with waters receding in most rivers even as over 5 lakh people continued to suffer in the deluge in ten districts of the state, an official bulletin said. The toll due to flood and landslides remained at 30 with no reports of any death in the last 24 hours, as per the bulletin issued by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA). Kopili in Morigaon district was the only river flowing above the danger mark, it said. At least 5,00,852 persons are suffering due to the floods in Cachar, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro), Morigaon and Nagaon districts. Nagaon is the worst affected with over 3.11 lakh people affected, followed by Cachar with nearly 1.47 lakh persons and Morigaon with more than 41,036 people suffering. More than 62,289 people have taken shelter in 201 relief camps, with the highest of 47,749 people displaced in Cachar, the ASDMA said. An Inter-Ministerial … [Read more...] about Flood Situation in Assam Improves as Water Level of Most Rivers Recede

A pause in rainfall over the past 40 hours has helped improve the flood situation in Assam but the receding water took two lives on May 26, according to an official statement. The drowning of two people, including a child, has taken the flood death toll to 30. Five of them died due to landslips. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), 12 districts in the State have reported floods while a landslide was reported from Dima Hasao district in the last 24 hours. Of the 5.61 lakh people affected by flood, 66,836 are taking shelter in 295 relief camps. A total of 956 villages were flooded, an update from the ASDMA said. “So far, 26,599 people have been safely evacuated by rescue workers. Indian Air Force personnel had to airlift 425 of them from Dima Hasao, one of the worst-affected districts,” an ASDMA spokesperson said. A bulletin issued by the Central Water Commission on May 27 said the Kopili was flowing above the danger mark in the Dharamtul area of … [Read more...] about Assam flood situation improving but toll goes up to 30

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is gearing up to launch a closed-loop mobility card targeting 50 lakh commuters, to enable cashless travel in buses. The receipt of funds in advance could earn the agency approximately ₹100 crore (at the rate of a minimum top up of ₹200), which it can use as working capital, said its Chairman and Managing Director Biju Prabhakar. A closed-loop card, like the one being used by the Hong Kong Metro, will also help ensure security, as the KSRTC itself will manage the system. It also does not need Internet connection, unlike open-loop mobility cards, he added. Sadiq Ali P.H., who retired as Regional Transport Officer (RTO), Ernakulam, hoped that the value-addition in the form of a contactless, stored-value smart card would attract more youths to public transport. “The card will have more takers if it can be used for commercial transactions as well. On its part, the government could encourage employees at IT parks and government … [Read more...] about KSRTC readying to launch mobility card for cashless transit

The Minister of Power and Energy of Sri Lanka announced on Thursday that the socialist government would implement the use of a mobile phone app to monitor how much gasoline, diesel, and other fuel citizens purchase to prevent hoarding. Minister Kanchana Wijesekara claimed that police nationwide were already testing the app, designed to “share real-time data with filling stations island-wide” so that drivers could not evade national rations, according to Sri Lankan news outlet Ada Derana. The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is currently undergoing an unprecedented economic crisis that has caused shortages of gasoline, diesel, liquified petroleum gas, basic medicines, food, water, and electricity, in addition to nearly every other basic good. Protests against incumbent President Gotabaya Rajapaksa have resulted in the resignation of every member of his cabinet except the president – including the brother and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and several other … [Read more...] about Sri Lanka Debuts Phone App to Enforce Gasoline Rationing

Sign up for Tom’s newsletter, Peacefield, here. The U.S.-government mandate requiring mask wearing on transportation is now dead, and it was killed in the worst way possible. A judge deemed “not qualified” by the American Bar Association wrote a muddled decision that invalidated a regulation hated by the president who picked her, while overriding the authority of the executive branch and its expert advisers to make policy. And yet, Federal District Judge Kathryn Mizelle just did President Joe Biden a favor. She got him out from under a policy that served little purpose. His administration will challenge the Trump-appointed jurist’s ruling—and it should, not to reimpose the mandate, but to preserve the power of the executive branch to issue national health regulations when needed. But Biden should be glad, as the airlines clearly are, that the masking theater is over. Mask mandates were a stopgap, an emergency safety measure imposed by governments with few other options to … [Read more...] about The Playacting Over Masks Really Needed to End

Stagecoach has sealed a £20 million deal to buy Kelsian Group’s east London bus operations. The travel business said it has “entered into binding agreements” to purchase the operations, which also include a deport at Lea Interchange, for an initial £10 million followed by £1 million each year for 10 years after the move is completed. Kelsian’s east London operation operates 11 contracts on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), using a fleet of around 150 buses, with an annual turnover of around £38 million. It said the move is “a good strategic fit” alongside Stagecoach’s existing London operations. Stagecoach added that the new depot will also provide the business with a platform to bid for new contracts in the area. Recommended What Rishi Sunak announced to tackle the cost of living crisis More Tory MPs withdraw support from PM over ‘shameful’ parties The group said it expects its net debt to increase by around £20 million upon … [Read more...] about Stagecoach strikes £20m deal to snap up east London buses

Babies love to be touched. It is one of the senses that develops even before they are born, and one of the best ways for parents to quickly bond with their little ones. Massage is a form of skin-to-skin contact that helps improve the bond between parents and infants. This is as it helps to engender trust, especially in the first few years of a child’s life. Both fathers and mothers should also engage in other forms of physical contact, such as cuddling, hugging and rocking their newborns. Big benefits Massage is a primal form of intimacy between a mother and her baby. One of its benefits is that it helps stimulate maternal feelings, as well as the release of the hormone oxytocin. This hormone is usually secreted before pregnancy, during birth and later as mum comes into physical contact with baby. It is responsible for triggering various physiological functions and emotions such as happiness, attraction, love and affection. Another benefit is that touch also helps … [Read more...] about Bond with your baby through massage

Whether it’s a housewife or a working woman, they often focus too much on taking care of others. And in that, they also, more often than not, ignore their health. However, it’s high time they started taking equal care of themselves. So all the ladies out there, note these vitamins that you must include in your diet to stay healthy. Vitamin B6 and Vitamin D According to a report published in Medicalnewstoday, nutritional inadequacy is common among women aged 19 to 50, breastfeeding mothers, and pregnant women. The most common deficiencies are vitamin B6 and vitamin D. To avoid them, women of this age should take 15 mg of vitamin D. At the same time, vitamin B6 requires roughly 1.3 mg per day, 1.9 mg during pregnancy, and 2 mg per day for lactating women. Iodine Iodine is necessary for the development of an unborn baby. According to a national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012, women aged 20-39 had lower iodine levels than any other age group … [Read more...] about 6 Vitamins Women Must Ensure In Their Diet To Stay Healthy

It was not long ago that the baseball world cast an eye of confused suspicion on the Yankees. That was before the 32-13 start that’s caused the haters to clam up. But an offseason without any superstar acquisitions felt peculiar, especially as the Yankees could have, theoretically, taken their pick of any of the available shortstops at the right price. Instead, the increasingly frugal front office used the trade market to find their shortstop, with general manager Brian Cashman confirming that the team never even made an offer to Carlos Correa . It has more than paid off so far, as the Yankees have ridden the combination of improved infield defense and altered approaches at the plate to become a much more complete team than the talented but limited one they had in 2021. We’ll never know how Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story or Marcus Semien would have began their 2022 seasons had they signed with the Yankees. But through roughly 45 games with their new teams, a few have … [Read more...] about Checking in on the superstar shortstops the Yankees passed on during the offseason

Since the last annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the course of history has changed dramatically. Russia invaded Ukraine, shaking the European Union, which was established to prevent war from returning to the continent, to its very core. Even when the fighting stops, as it eventually must, the situation will never revert to the status quo ante . Indeed, the Russian invasion may turn out to be the beginning of World War III, and our civilisation may not survive it. The invasion of Ukraine did not come out of the blue. The world has been increasingly engaged over the past half-decade, or longer, in a struggle between two diametrically opposed systems of governance: open society and closed society. Let me define the differences as simply as I can. In an open society, the role of the state is to protect the freedom of the individual; in a closed society, the role of the individual is to serve the rulers of the state. Other issues that concern all humanity – … [Read more...] about We must defeat Putin – the fate of civilisation depends on it