National

Bypoll day: Agartala records highest voter turnout, Delhi witnesses least

With voting underway in seven constituencies in the country, Delhi recorded the least number of voters' turnout, while the Agartala segment of Tripura recorded the maximum.

26.24% voter turnout was recorded in Rajinder Nagar of the national capital while 44.81% voter turnout was witnessed in Jharkhand's Mandar. More than 45 per cent of voters' turnout was recorded in each of the four segments of Tripura.

46.56% turn out was recorded in Jubarajnagar of Tripura, 53.50% in Surma, and 52.16% turn out of voters in Town Bardowali. Meanwhile, the capital city of Tripura, Agartala observed the highest turnover of 54.20%.

The bypolls were necessitated in these seats due to the resignations of the legislators in two seats, disqualification of an MLA in one, and the death of one of the MLA's midterm.

The Atmakur constituency of Andhra Pradesh also witnessed a voters' turnout of 44.13 per cent till this noon.

Patna High Court to buy Apple iPhone for all judges

The Patna High Court has issued tender inviting suppliers or authorised dealers to provide Apple iPhone 13 Pro for all judges. A letter in this regard was issued from the office of the special duty officer of Patna High Court on June 21.

Reputed firms, authorised dealers, suppliers and service providers can file the quotation before the office of a special duty officer. Bidders can submit their Aadhar cards, pan cards, GST numbers, registered mobile numbers and other necessary documents.

One Apple iPhone 13 Pro 256 GB costs ₹1.38 lakh and Patna High Court has 31 judges, including chief justice Sanjay Karol.

Business & Finance

India's entertainment & media industry to reach ₹4,30,401 cr by 2026

India's entertainment and media (E&M) industry is expected to reach ₹4,30,401 crore by 2026 at an 8.8% CAGR, according to a report.

The PwC's Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2022-2026 report showed substantial growth across India's E&M industry segments such as OTT video, newspaper, advertisements, online games, cinema, and music.

During COVID, the total OTT revenue in 2020 and 2021 more than doubled. Growth rates are expected to lull, but the market will still expand at an impressive 14.1% CAGR by 2026.

The country's total video games and exports revenue was ₹16,200 crores in 2021 and is forecasted to reach ₹37,535 crores by 2026. India is the third fastest-growing video games market in the world, after Turkey and Pakistan.

India is also the third-biggest market globally in terms of the total number of cinema tickets sold.

Chaayos raises $53 mn to expand stores, hire talent

Leading "chai" (tea) cafe chain Chaayos on Thursday raised $53 million in Series C funding led by Alpha Wave Ventures. The company said it will use the money for tech enhancement, hiring and store expansion. The latest round saw participation from existing investors Elevation Capital, Tiger Global and Think Investments.

"The capital raise will help us deepen our technology investments enhancing our guest experience. We can build a ubiquitous brand that is an integral part of Indian society over decades to come," said Saluja, Founder and CEO.

At Chaayos, people can personalise and order their cup of tea in 80,000 combinations with IoT-enabled tea bots called 'Chai Monks'. This initially was a niche use case, but Chaayos online Chai deliveries now account for 45 per cent of revenues, said the company.

India's engineering exports rise to $9.79 bn in May

Exports of engineering goods from India surged by 13.5% to $9.79 billion in May 2022 from $8.62 billion recorded in the same month last year, according to EEPC India export trends.

Cumulative engineering exports for April-May 2022-23 were recorded at $19.39 billion. Compared with $16.60 billion of exports recorded in the last year, it is 16.84% higher.

The US remained the top market for Indian engineering goods in May, while shipments to China declined. As many as 18 out of 25 major markets for Indian engineering goods recorded positive growth in May 2022.

Among other countries which recorded positive growth in imports from India were Germany, Singapore, the UK, Italy, and Thailand. Meanwhile, exports of engineering goods to China declined 52% in May 2022 to $217.4 million as compared to $451.7 million in the last year.

The top 25 countries contribute almost 75 per cent of total engineering exports from India.

International

Philippine central bank hikes interest rate to 2.5%

The Philippine central bank on Thursday decided to hike the interest rate on the overnight reverse repurchase facility by 25 basis points on Friday to curb inflation.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said the Monetary Board also decided to raise the interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities to 2.0% and 3.0%.

The BSP's latest baseline forecasts have shifted higher, with average inflation projected at 5.0% in 2022 and 4.2% in 2023.

Technology

PCI Express 7.0 launches with 512GB/s of peak bandwidth

The PCI-SIG unveiled PCI Express 7.0 today. However, the final specifications reveal is anticipated in 2025, and the first PCI Express (PCIe) 7.0 devices are anticipated to go on sale in or around 2027.

Version 5.0 of PCIe was first demonstrated in 2017, but it has only recently gained popularity. Both Intel's new LGA1700 and AMD's upcoming AM5 socket will support PCIe 5.0.

Only a few motherboards and CPUs with PCIe 5.0 are currently available (such as Intel's Adler Lake desktop CPUs). Naturally, PCIe 6.0 will come before this; we should start seeing it in server parts as early as next year.

The new generation will put an emphasis on raising power effectiveness, reducing latency, and preserving backward compatibility with earlier standards.

Sports

Savita Punia to lead Indian women's hockey team for Commonwealth Games 2022

Hockey India named the 18-member Indian Women's Hockey Team for the Commonwealth Games, scheduled to begin on July 28 in Birmingham, England. The team will be Captained by Savita Punia and Vice-Captained by experienced defender Deep Grace Ekka.

India placed in pool A along with England, Canada, Wales and Ghana. They will begin their campaign on 29th July against Ghana.

In their previous outing at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, India finished fourth after a loss to England in the Bronze medal match. However, after an impressive campaign in their maiden FIH Pro League, the Indian team is keen on a podium finish in Birmingham.

Indian Women's Team for CWG 2022: Savita Punia (C), Rajani Etimarpu, Deep Grace Ekka (VC), Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Udita, Nisha, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Monika, Neha, Jyoti, Navjot Kaur, Salima Tete, Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, Sharmila Devi, Sangita Kumari.