Four AI missions launched for differently-abled to ensure ease of services
'India now has one billion digital Aadhaar IDs. The digi-locker, which can have all physical documents in digital form in just one device, and the UPI (Unified Payments Interface), which has made financial transactions easy. According to him, differently-abled students will receive scholarships in their accounts in 24 hours from now on and people with health problems can interact with a chatbot to clarify and seek medical and health advisory services from home itself.
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Mint
27 minutes ago
- Mint
Bhel looks to tap India's payments powerhouse to charge up govt's EV drive
New Delhi: State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd will seek the expertise of UPI-maker National Payments Corporation of India to develop a digital app with an integrated payments mechanism for a nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations, three officials said. Bhel is likely to be nominated to lead the tendering process for 72,300 EV public charging stations under the ₹10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme, Mint reported on 16 June. The Centre's marquee scheme to incentivize green mobility has allocated ₹2,000 crore to subsidize electric vehicle charging stations, but the PM E-Drive scheme has only about eight months left in its runtime. Bhel's latest efforts reflect its diversification from being a manufacturer of thermal power equipment to aggregating demand for EV charging infrastructure across the country. 'Bhel is going to reach out to NPCI for developing the app. This is the first time Bhel is making an app for EV charging," said one of the officials. 'Bhel is primarily a thermal power equipment manufacturer, (and) developing an app, especially for financial transactions, is not its expertise. That is why it was proposed that Bhel collaborate with NPCI on this app," said another official. Payments will be a crucial part of Bhel's app, especially as consumers have complained about incomplete payments, network and software issues, and inactivity of EV charging management systems, the second official said, referring to publicly available networks run by private companies. 'Many consumers also complained about their money being stuck in these charging systems," the official said. 'India has over 25,000 public EV charging stations managed by more than 40 charging point operators, often requiring users to navigate multiple apps to locate, access, and pay for charging," said Akshay Parihar, associate director (energy transition), at Deloitte. 'The proposed Unified Charging Platform, like UPI, will allow EV users to seamlessly locate, book, and pay across any CPO through a single, integrated app. This initiative is expected to improve accessibility, boost charger utilization, and enable EV charger interoperability across India's growing EV ecosystem," he added. Bhel and NPCI did not reply to Mint's queries emailed last week. India's buzzing EV market While most electric vehicle users charge their vehicles at home, India had 26,367 public EV charging stations at the end of March, according to a Lok Sabha disclosure by the heavy industries ministry on 4 April. New electric vehicle sales rose to about 1.9 million in FY25 from 1.6 million in the year before, according to data from Vahan, the central government's motor vehicle registry. S&P Global said in its 'India's EV Market: Trends and Future Prospects' report published in March that it expects total electric passenger vehicle production in India to surge to about 1.33 million units by 2030, accounting for about 20% of the country's total passenger vehicle production. NPCI, which oversees retail payments and settlement systems in India, has developed several products including UPI for realtime bank transfers, the RuPay credit card network, and FASTag for digital toll collections. Bhel's proposed unified payment mechanism for public EV charging infrastructure would also help capture data for estimating the range of batteries in different vehicles, said the third official mentioned above. 'The payment cycle would help in gathering data regarding the requirement of charging for different kinds of vehicles and the range of their batteries. This data would give a sense of required charging efficiency, which would be key for future innovation in chargers and batteries," this official said. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity as Bhel's plan to approach NPCI is still at an early stage. Multiple initiatives and starting troubles The PM E-Drive scheme is the Union government's second programme to incentivise the rollout of a nationwide EV charging infrastructure—essential for encouraging more customers to buy electric vehicles. In the earlier EV incentive scheme—Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) vehicles scheme (FAME)—the government allocated about ₹912 crore for installing EV charging stations across the country. It, however, disbursed only about ₹633 crore under the second edition of the FAME scheme, which ended in March last year. Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd were tasked with setting up EV chargers across their fuel stations. According to a parliamentary disclosure in February, these oil marketing companies installed about 4,500 public EV charging stations under the FAME 2 scheme, but only 251 of those were 'energized", or made operational. 'In addition to this, OMCs have set up 20,035 EVCS at their retail outlets from their own funds," the government informed Parliament.
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
CAT 2025 notification out: Know exam dates, steps to apply and more
The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025 notification has been announced. Interested applicants in pursuing an MBA from IIMs and other premiere business schools in India can apply on the CAT official website at from August 1, 2025. The exam will be held in exam centres spread across around 170 cities nationwide. Applicants have to choose any five exam cities seeing their preference. The complete list of cities may be subject to modifications based on the discretion of the CAT officials. Admission to MBA programs at IIMs and other prestigious B-schools in India requires passing the entrance exam. According to the announcement, CAT 2025 will take place online at several locations across the country on November 30. CAT 2025: Important dates 1. Commencement of Registration and time: August 1, 2025, at 10 am 2. End of registration date and time: September 13, 2025, at 5 pm 3. Date of downloading an admit card: November 5 to November 30, 2025 4. Commencement of exams: November 30, 2025 5. Result date: First week of January, 2026 (tentative). CAT 2025 Information in Brief Event Date(s) Time CAT of Registration August 1, 2025 10:00 AM End of CAT Registration September 13, 2025 5:00 PM CAT Admit Card Download Window November 5 – November 30, 2025 - CAT of Exams Date November 30, 2025 - Result Declaration (Tentative) First Week of January, 2026 - How to apply for IIM CAT 2025? Step 1: Go to the official website of IIM CAT at Step 2: Press on the 'New Registration' link and then fill in the valid email ID and other details. Step 3: Enter the details in the CAT 2025 application form with required right information. Step 4: Upload the essential documents, make the payment and then send. Step 5: Download the confirmation page and take a printout of the same for later reference. IIM CAT 2025: Documents required • Class 10 and 12 mark sheets • Graduation mark sheet • Signature • Work experience certificate (if applicable) • Photo identification • Passport-size photograph • Category certificates such as SC/ST/PwD certificates (if important). CAT 2025 registration dates and fee details 1. General category candidates: Rs. 2,600 2. SC, ST, and PwD categories: Rs. 1,300 The fee can be paid online using credit or debit cards, UPI, and net banking. Payment must be submitted during the application process in order to register for the exam. CAT 2025: Eligibility criteria A bachelor's degree from an recognised university with at least 50% (45% for SC/ST/PwD) is required of applicants for CAT 2025. Undergraduate students in their final year may also apply. The official CAT website has a complete list of eligibility requirements. What is CAT? The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) administer the Common Admission Test (CAT), a national entrance test, to candidates for admission to their postgraduate management programs, which include the Master of Business Administration. With scores accepted by the IIMs and other major business schools throughout the nation, it is regarded as the most prestigious MBA entrance exam in India. According to information, 21 IIMs, including IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, and IIM Kozhikode, accept CAT 2025 scores. Additionally, recent IIMs that accept CAT results include IIM Bodh Gaya, IIM Jammu, and IIM Visakhapatnam.
Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
Bank holiday today: Are banks in Gangtok closed for Drukpa Tshe-zi festival on July 28? Check full schedule here
Bank holiday today, on July 28: Banks in northeastern Gangtok city (Sikkim), will remain closed today, July 28 (Monday), due to the Drukpa Tshe-zi festival. All public and private banks in Gangtok and Sikkim, including the States Bank of India (SBI), will be shut today; to be followed by the weekend holiday on August 3 (Sunday). Drukpa Tshe-zi is a Buddhist festival that falls on the fourth day of the sixth month in the Tibetan lunar calendar, and marks Lord Buddha's first sermon. Meanwhile, August 2 is a Saturday, but not a weekend holiday. Only the second and fourth Saturdays, besides all Sundays are weekly holidays for banks in India. Overall, are a total oof 15 listed bank holidays in August this year. You can continue to use online or mobile banking services even on national holidays — unless notified to users for technical or other reasons. For cash emergencies, ATMs are open for withdrawals, app and UPI function as usual. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and state governments create a list of holidays for banks, taking into account national and local occasions, operational requirements, religious celebrations and other cultural observances. The central bank makes the announcement through its official website and notifications to banks and other financial institutions. Overall, the month has a total of 15 listed holidays, including Independence Day, Ganesh Chaturthi and Janmashtami, besides other regional celebrations, and the Saturday and Sunday weekly offs. August 3 — (Sunday) — Banks across India closed for Sunday weekend holiday. August 8 — (Friday) — Banks in Gangtok (Sikkim) to be closed for Tendong Lho Rum Faat. August 9 — (Saturday) — Banks in Ahmedabad (Gujatrat), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Kanpur and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) to be closed on account of Raksha Bandhan and Jhulana Purnima; and across India for second Saturday holiday. August 10 — (Sunday) — Banks across India closed for Sunday weekend holiday. August 13 — (Wednesday) — Banks in Imphal (Manipur) closed for Patriot's Day. August 15 — (Friday) — Banks across India closed for Independence Day and Parsi New Year (Shahenshahi) and Janmashtami celebrations. August 16 — (Saturday) — Banks in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Aizawl (Mizoram), Bhopal and Ranchi (Madhya Pradesh), Chandigarh (UT), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Gangtok (Sikkim), Hyderabad (Telangana), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Kanpur and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Patna (Bihar), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Shillong (Meghalaya), Jammu and Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir), and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) will be shut on account of Janmashtami (Shravan Vad-8) and Krishna Jayanthi. August 17 — (Sunday) — Banks across India closed for Sunday weekend holiday. August 19 — (Tuesday) — Banks in Agartala (Tripura) to be closed for Birthday of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur. August 23 — (Saturday) — Banks across India closed for fourth Saturday weekend off. August 24 — (Sunday) — Banks across India closed for Sunday weekend holiday. August 25 — (Monday) — Banks in Guwahati (Assam) will be closed on account of Tirubhav Tithi of Srimanta Sankardeva. August 27 — (Wednesday) — Banks in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Belapur, Mumbai and Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Telangana), Panaji (Goa), and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) will be closed for Ganesh Chaturthi and Samvatsari (Chaturthi Paksha) and Varasiddhi Vinayaka Vrata and Ganesh Puja and Vinayakar Chathurthi. August 28 — (Thursday) — Banks in Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and Panaji (Goa) to be closed for second day of Ganesh Chaturthi and Nuakhai. August 31 — (Sunday) — Banks across India closed for Sunday weekend holiday.
