Musk’s Boring Company gets nod to expand Loop under Las Vegas Strip

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Musk’s Boring Company gets nod to expand Loop under Las Vegas Strip

Elon Musk’s Boring Company has received the initial approval from officials to build a network of vehicle tunnels underneath Las Vegas.

Called the Vegas Loop, the system will allow passengers to hitch rides in Teslas to and from places like the hotel casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, the city’s new football stadium, the Las Vegas Convention Center, and McCarran International Airport, reports The Verge.

The Boring Company’s proposal for the Vegas Loop includes 29 miles of tunnels and 51 stations serving as many as 57,000 passengers per hour.

“Vegas Loop is expanding – 29 miles and 51 stations. Thanks to the Clark County team for the great partnership and to the Commissioners for unanimous approval,” the company said in a tweet.

The Boring Company already operates a preview version of the Vegas Loop under the Las Vegas Convention Center. The 1.7-mile tunnel stops at three stations around the convention center, the home of the massive CES tech convention.

Las Vegas is one of five current cities where the Boring Company has projects either proposed, approved, or underway.

Earlier, Boring Company pitched an underground transit system to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the US, the town’s Mayor said in a tweet.

As per report, it is the latest city to become transfixed by Musk’s quixotic “Tesla in a tunnel” concept. It is not a done deal, but Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis called it “an innovative and unprecedented approach to addressing traffic congestion and transit needs”.

Trantalis said the project, which would be called the “Las Ollas Loop”, would connect Fort Lauderdale’s downtown to the beach.

‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’: Priya gets on VJ Sunny’s nerves

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‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’: Priya gets on VJ Sunny’s nerves

With unexpected twists and turns, the latest episodes of ‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’ have been quite intense. A verbal spat was triggered between two contestants during the tasks this week, which has become a point of discussion among the viewers.

VJ Sunny and Priya who are always seen having a cold war got face-to-face with their verbals during the ‘Bangaru Kodi Petta’ task designed by the makers. Actress Priya, who alleged VJ Sunny had harmed her physically, took their fight to the next level.

Also, VJ Sunny’s temperamental attitude is being targeted by other housemates during Priya’s verbal fight as well. Priya warned VJ Sunny against using foul language, while Sunny was seen defending himself. Priya also spoke in a rude manner, while she also was seen blaming him for playing his task in his style.

Priya was earlier exposed for making serious allegations on Lahari Shari (eliminated now), which went unseen by host Nagarjuna. This time, the audience wants Nagarjuna to address this kind of behaviour by Priya.

“Priya is provoking Sunny as much as she can. She even takes gender into small and big fights. Hope the host takes this matter and schools her”, a netizen wrote.

“VJ Sunny is her prey. She has tortured him for weeks now. Priya needs to be eliminated,” expressed another person on Twitter.

VJ Sunny, who is playing his game so well, won the power to choose between the housemates’ nominations at the start of the week.

Shahid Kapoor to star in ‘full-blown’ actioner titled ‘Bull’

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Shahid Kapoor to star in ‘full-blown’ actioner titled ‘Bull’

Actor Shahid Kapoor will be starring in the upcoming high-octane actioner titled ‘Bull’. The film marks the directorial debut of Aditya Nimbalkar, who has worked extensively with filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj.

Shahid said: “‘Bull’ is a full-blown action film inspired by real events from the life of Brigadier Bulsara. It is a privilege to play a paratrooper who leads his boys through a historic and selfless mission that has now become iconic for its precision and bravado. The opportunity to play a paratrooper is exhilarating and truly an honour.”

Set in the 1980s, the film is inspired by real-life events. The principal photography is slated to begin in 2022.

Producer Bhushan Kumar will collaborate with producers Amar Butala and Garima Mehta for ‘Bull’.

Bhushan Kumar, Managing Director, T-Series said: “We’re all set to bring the audience an action extravaganza with our second collaboration with Shahid after ‘Kabir Singh’.”

Amar Butala, Partner, Guilty By Association, added: “We dedicate this film to men in uniform and our soldiers who brave through unimaginable turmoil to guard this great nation’s sovereignty. Shahid will be seen in an exciting avatar.”

Garima Mehta, Partner, Guilty By Association said: “It’s an honour to be able to tell a story that celebrates soldiers. The theme of this film will resonate with viewers across India.”

Gulshan Kumar and T-Series presents ‘Bull’, a Guilty By Association production starring Shahid Kapoor, with story and screenplay by Aseem Arrora and Parveez Shaikh. The film is directed by Aditya Nimbalkar and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Amar Butala and Garima Mehta. It is slated to hit the floors in 2022.

Ad revenue in Indian short video-app market logs 3x growth

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Ad revenue in Indian short video-app market logs 3x growth

After the ban on TikTok and other Chinese short-video making apps, the advertisement revenue from Indian short-form space has been growing at a rapid pace and has tripled in just six months, new data showed on Thursday.

According to the latest report released by homegrown consulting firm RedSeer Consulting, short-form content has grown 1.37 times in terms of monthly active user (MAU) and 1.1 times in terms of daily active users from June 2020 when Chinese app TikTok was banned in India.

While global social media dominates in the top 50 cities, Indian social media platforms and short-form video platforms garner a major chunk of share.

While the overall time spent growth in social media has been organic at 8 per cent, non-social media (short-form video) time has grown at 57 per cent, indicating a shift from social media consumption to short-form video, the findings showed.

“While short-form video ad monetisation is still at a nascent stage, and accounts for less than 1 per cent of the digital ad spend, the ad revenue in the sector has grown more than three times in last six months and as the user base continues to rise, ad revenue will continue to grow,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, associate partner at RedSeer.

The monthly active users of the short-form segment in the country are expected to grow more than two times to reach 650 million users by 2025, clocking the second spot after television.

This significant growth is largely expected to be driven by the new 300 million Internet users that will be added by 2025.

While traffic has increased, content creation velocity has grown 4.4 times in the last two quarters due to improvement in filter tools leading to users becoming creators at a higher pace.

Both Josh and Moj apps have seen a good jump in user and creator net promoter score (NPS) largely driven by users seeing more personalisation, fresher and more filtered content, and creators having access to new tools, increased reach and more collaboration opportunities.

“Livestream gifting and live e-commerce are also showing early signs of growth and will form an important monetisation opportunity for short-form players,” Chaudhry said.

India logs 18,454 new Covid cases, recovery rate maintained at 98.15%

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India logs 18,454 new Covid cases, recovery rate maintained at 98.15%

India reported 18,454 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday, and 160 deaths in the last 24 hours, even as the recovery rate continues to be 98.15 per cent as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data.

With the new 160 fatalities, the overall death toll has increased to 4,52,811.

The recovery of 17,561 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally of recovered patients to 3,34,95,808.

Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.15 per cent, currently at its highest peak since March 2020.

The active caseload has fallen below 2 lakh-mark and is presently at 1,78,831. Active cases at present constitute less than 1 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.

The testing capacity across the country continues to be expanded. India has so far conducted over 59.57 crore cumulative tests.

While testing capacity has been enhanced across the country, the weekly positivity rate at 1.34 per cent remains less than 3 per cent for the last 118 days now. The daily positivity rate stands at 1.48 per cent, below 3 per cent for the last 52 days and below 5 per cent for 135 consecutive days now.

India has achieved the landmark in vaccinating its population with over 1 billion doses.

According to the data shared by the health ministry over 10.85 crore balanced and unutilized vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs.

Fuel rates hiked again, diesel rises by highest margin

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Fuel rates hiked again, diesel rises by highest margin

Petrol and diesel prices on Thursday rallied to their highest-ever levels across the country, as fuel rates were hiked again for a second consecutive day by the highest margin so far this year of upto 45 paise a litre.

According to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers, the pump price of petrol in Delhi rose by 35 paisa to its highest-ever level of Rs 106.54 a litre while diesel prices rose by its highest margin so far this year of 45 paisa to Rs 95.27 a litre.

In the financial capital Mumbai, petrol prices have now risen to Rs 112.45 per litre while diesel to Rs 103.36 a litre, the highest among all metros.

In terms of price movement, diesel rates have increased on 21 out of the last 27 days taking up its retail price by Rs 6.75 per litre in Delhi.

The fuel is now available at over Rs 100 a litre in several parts of the country.

This dubious distinction was earlier available to petrol that had crossed Rs 100 a litre mark across the country a few months earlier.

Besides, petrol prices which had maintained stability since September 5 were finally raised last week.

Consequently, the petrol prices were raised on 18 of the previous 23 days taking up its pump price by Rs 5.35 per litre.

Crude price has been on a surge rising over three year high level of over $85 a barrel now as global demand remains firm while ‘OPEC+’ continues to move slowly on increasing production.

Since September 5 when both petrol and diesel prices were revised, the price of petrol and diesel in the international market is higher by around $9-10 per barrel as compared to average prices during August.

Indian short video-app market logs 3x growth after TikTok ban

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Indian short video-app market logs 3x growth after TikTok ban

After the ban on TikTok and other Chinese short-video making apps, the advertisement revenue from Indian short-form space has been growing at a rapid pace and tripled in just six months, new data showed on Thursday.

According to the latest report released by homegrown consulting firm RedSeer Consulting, short-form content has grown 1.37 times in terms of monthly active user (MAU) and 1.1 times in terms of daily active users from June 2020 when Chinese app TikTok was banned in India.

While global social media dominates in the top 50 cities, Indian social media platforms and short-form video platforms garner a major chunk of share.

While the overall time spent growth in social media has been organic at 8 per cent, non-social media (short-form video) time has grown at 57 per cent, indicating a shift from social media consumption to short-form video, the findings showed.

“While short-form video ad monetisation is still at a nascent stage, and accounts for less than 1 per cent of the digital ad spend, the ad revenue in the sector has grown more than three times in last six months and as the user base continues to rise, ad revenue will continue to grow,” said Ujjwal Chaudhry, associate partner at RedSeer.

The monthly active users of the short-form segment in the country are expected to grow more than two times to reach 650 million users by 2025, clocking the second spot after television.

This significant growth is largely expected to be driven by the new 300 million Internet users that will be added by 2025.

While traffic has increased, content creation velocity has grown 4.4 times in the last two quarters due to improvement in filter tools leading to users becoming creators at a higher pace.

Both Josh and Moj apps have seen a good jump in user and creator net promoter score (NPS) largely driven by users seeing more personalisation, fresher and more filtered content, and creators having access to new tools, increased reach and more collaboration opportunities.

“Live-stream gifting and live e-commerce are also showing early signs of growth and will form an important monetisation opportunity for short-form players,” Chaudhry said.

Bitcoin may touch $100,000 per coin by 2021 end: Experts

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Bitcoin may touch $100,000 per coin by 2021 end: Experts

Despite uncertainties and high volatility surrounding it, Bitcoin has crossed $65,000 per coin for the first time and according to industry experts, the most sought-after cryptocurrency may touch the $100,000 mark by the end of this year.

The Bitcoin market cap has touched $2.5 trillion amid its rising adoption globally, particularly in India.

According to Nigel Green, CEO and founder of deVere Group which has $12 billion under management, Bitcoin is undeniably a mainstream asset class and most investors should consider including crypto assets as part of a diversified portfolio.

“In July, we publicly predicted that Bitcoin would reach and most likely beat it’s previous all-time highs. I am confident that while there might be some profit-taking in the near-term, so that investors can accumulate more later, the momentum is such that we can expect prices to continue on their upward trajectory,” he said in a statement.

The Indian cryptocurrency market is expected to reach up to $241 million by 2030 in India and $2.3 billion by 2026 worldwide.

According to a report by the IT industry’s apex body Nasscom, there are 15 million retail investors in India investing in the cryptotech space.

According to Shivam Thakral, CEO, BuyUcoin, a homegrown cryptocurrency exchange, the launch of the first bitcoin ETF on the New York Stock Exchange is a moment of reckoning for the global crypto economy and the world’s oldest cryptocurrency.

“Bitcoin is witnessing its meteoric rise owing to the euphoria around the ETF debut and is expected to touch the $100,000 mark by the end of this year,” he said.

There has been a paradigm shift in the investment patterns across the globe which is underlined by the data shared by crypto exchanges from time to time.

“Bitcoin creating a new all-time high indicates wider acceptance of crypto assets across the globe. The listing of the first bitcoin futures ETF is a big leap of faith for crypto investors as it took eight long years to get the final approval from US securities,” said Jay Hao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange OKEx.com.

“As we speak, the bitcoin market cap has touched $2.5 trillion, another new all-time high that is expected to boost the confidence of institutional and retail investors, globally. Inflow of investments from institutions have also played a major role in creating the record high,” Hao added.

Denmark Open 2021: Saina bows out, Lakshya advances to next round

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Denmark Open 2021: Saina bows out, Lakshya advances to next round

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Denmark Open 2021 after losing to Aya Ohori of Japan in the opening round of the women’s singles event, here on Wednesday.

Nehwal, a bronze medallist from the London 2012 Olympics, struggled to find her rhythm and suffered a 16-21, 14-21 loss against the Japanese opponent, who took 34 minutes to wrap up the match.

PV Sindhu, the other Indian in women’s singles, had advanced to the second round after winning her opening round match on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, rising star Lakshya Sen registered an impressive 21-9, 21-7 win over compatriot Sourabh Verma in the opening round of the men’s singles event. Sen, a silver medallist at the 2018 Youth Olympics, will now face the Tokyo Olympics champion, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, who beat Loh Kean Yew of Singapore 21-19, 21-14.

However, the likes of HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap exited the tournament early. Prannoy lost 18-21, 19-21 to Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, losing, while Kashyap pulled out of his first-round tie against Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-Chen three points into the match.

The Indian doubles pairs in action at the Denmark Open also disappointed with their performance and failed to progress in their respective events.

In the women’s doubles on Wednesday, the experienced duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost to the former world championships medallists, Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan of South Korea 17-21, 13-21 while J Meghana and SR Poorvisha went down 8-21, 7-21 to Indonesian duo of Nita Violina Marwah and Putri Syaikah.

The mixed doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa showed great heart in their opening-round match, but they couldn’t see it through, losing to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Du Yue 17-21, 21-14, 11-21.

Putin backs plan for paid leaves to curb Covid spread

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Putin backs plan for paid leaves to curb Covid spread

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he supports a proposal to introduce paid non-working days across the country from October 30 to November 7 in an effort to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Local authorities can launch the days off earlier or extend them if necessary, Xinhua news agency quoted Putin as saying on Wednesday during a government meeting.

The proposal was made by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova on Tuesday and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin called it “a necessary measure”.

Russia is experiencing its toughest period since the pandemic began, with daily new infections and coronavirus-related deaths repeatedly hitting record highs.

According to the country’s official monitoring and response centre, Russia confirmed 34,073 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 8,094,825.

Meanwhile, while the nationwide death toll grew by a record daily increase of 1,028 to 226,353.

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