Local Round-up: India's first AI City, Shubhanshu Shukla to Become the Second Indian to Travel to Space and more!

Local Round-up brings to you what's happening across the country in the travel, food, infrastructure, sports, and herein, we have curated for you, the updates from the weekend and the initial of this week. So, read these out below. 

The union government empowered more than 10,000 technology startups in the last 5 years 

In response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha, Jitin Prasada, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, stated that over 10,000 technology companies had received support from the Union government over the past five years through a variety of programs. Through incubators, the Center has given entrepreneurs a total of Rs. 580 crore in funding. Of these, over 3,600 tech startups have received funding from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which has given out Rs. 212 crore in total.

Telangana to build India's first and largest Artificial Intelligence (AI) city

After the declaration of the T-square, the state of Telangana has decided to build an Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the outskirts of Hyderabad. TGIIC (Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation) has identified 200 acres of land along the Outer Ring Road in Maheshwaram, Serilingampally, Chevella and Ibrahimpatnam mandals for setting up the city to house and promote the AI ecosystem and to invite top companies to set up their AI centres.

India ups its ranking to 39th position in the Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024

According to the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2024 report published by the World
Economic Forum (WEF), India is ranked 39th among 119 countries. In the previous index published in 2021, India was ranked 54th. However, due to a revision in the WEF's methodology, India's 2021 rank was adjusted to 38th place. As per the TTDI report, out of the TTDI pillars mentioned, India's scores have improved in three areas: Prioritization of Travel & Tourism, Safety & Security, and Health & Hygiene.

Shubhanshu Shukla to be the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma 

40 years after former Indian Air Force Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma became the first man to travel in outer space, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is poised to make history again. He will be the second Indian to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) for the ISRO-NASA mission. Shukla has been named the ‘prime’ astronaut for this Axiom-4 joint mission with the USA along with Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair as a backup.

Lake levels rise 7% in 24 hours in Maharashtra 

The water level in the seven lakes in Maharashtra rose to 7% in one day on Sunday, 4th August. This made the water levels reach 89.1% of the total required quantum of 14.47 lakh million litres. Middle Vaitarna in the Palghar district became the fifth lake to overflow on Sunday. According to BMC data, on Sunday morning, the total water stock in the seven lakes stood at 12.9 lakh million litres compared to 11.9 lakh million litres (nearly 82%) the previous day.

No plans to hike the property taxes in Mumbai: BMC

The civic body of Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned to issue the tax bills for 2024-25 without revising the tax rates. The last hike implemented on the property tax was back in 2015-16 and plans were there to revise the rates back in 2020-21 and 2022 but were rejected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Flood warning in Godavari River, Nashik district on alert 

Due to heavy rains, the Godavari River's water level has risen, prompting the Nashik district government in Maharashtra to warn the public to remain vigilant, officials said on Sunday. The official stated that the water flow has raised the water level in the Godavari and that Saikheda and Chandroi villages in the district's Niphad taluka may experience flooding downstream.