Daily News Wrap | Jammu-Srinagar NH opens for traffic; New rules for Work from Home announced

National

India logs 20,557 new COVID cases

India saw a considerable rise in daily COVID cases with 20,557 new infections in the past 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate has also risen to 4.13%. Also in the same period, a total of 4,98,034 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 87.06 crores.

The active caseload has marginally increased to 1,45,654 cases, accounting for 0.33% of the country's total positive cases. The recovery of 18,517 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,31,32,140. Consequently, the recovery rate stands at 98.47%.

Over 3.81 crores adolescents have been administered with a first dose of COVID-19 jab since the beginning of the vaccination drive for this age bracket.

Jammu-Srinagar National Highway opens for traffic

After remaining closed for a few hours due to landslides and pelting stones at multiple places, the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has opened for vehicular traffic from today.

The priority is to clear the backlog of the stranded vehicle before letting normal traffic move on the highway. The highway is the lifeline of the Kashmir valley and the main road link connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country.

Kashmir-bound trucks laden with essential supplies and other vehicles pass through the highway.

Business

Commerce Ministry announces rules for Work from Home

As per the Commerce Ministry, Work from home (WFH) is allowed for a maximum period of one year in a special economic zone unit and can be extended to 50% of total employees.

Keeping in view the demand from the industry, new countrywide regulations have been set up to bring uniformity to the WFH practice.

The new rule provides work from home for a certain category of employees of a unit in SEZ. These include employees of IT/ITeS SEZ units; employees who are temporarily incapacitated or employees who are travelling and who are working offsite.

Also, WFH may be extended to a maximum of 50 per cent of total employees, including contractual employees of the unit. Work From Home is now allowed for a maximum period of one year. However, the same may further be extended for one year at a time by the DC on the request of units, as per new guidelines.

Amazon Business announces offers for MSMEs ahead of Prime Day in India

Ahead of Prime Day 2022 in India, Amazon Business announced exciting deals and offers across categories to help business customers save more during Amazon's annual Prime Day event in India.

From smartphones, laptops, printers, electronics, and appliances to home and kitchen products, Amazon Business will offer MSMEs the best deals and savings across categories.

MSMEs can plan for both long and short-term business purchases with greater savings on account of bulk discounts, attractive deals, GST invoices for input tax credit and much more thanks to this sale.

Amazon Business aims to empower MSMEs by offering over 15 Cr GST-enabled products across top categories to cater to their distinct business needs. In addition to a wide range of products, Amazon Business also helps MSMEs run their business more efficiently by helping them manage their indirect spending (expenses incurred while running a business) effectively.

Finance

Sensex extends gains to 4th straight day

The Indian stock market's benchmark Sensex surged 630 points on Wednesday led by strong buying support in IT, banking and energy stocks on positive cues from the global equities and a cut in windfall tax on fuel exports.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex surged 629.91 points to 55,397.53 points. Earlier, the Sensex started the day sharply higher at 55,486.12 points and rose to a high of 55,630.26 points in the intra-day.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange surged 180.30 points to 16,520.85 points. The Nifty started the day sharply higher at 16,562.80 points and rose to a high of 16,588.00 points in the intra-day.

International

Britain's inflation hits fresh 40-year high as fuel, food prices surge

Amid rising prices for motor fuels and food, Britain's Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 9.4% in the 12 months to June, hitting a fresh 40-year high.

The country's CPI rose by 0.8% in June 2022, compared to a rise of 0.5% in June 2021, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The increase in annual inflation was driven by rising fuel and food prices, and these were only slightly offset by falling second-hand car prices.

The annual increase for transport was 15.2% in June 2022, compared to a negative 1.5% in June 2020 during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Within transport, the price of motor fuels saw a 42.3% rise in the year.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices have risen by 9.8% in the year to June 2022, the highest rate since March 2009.

The Bank of England (BoE), the country's central bank, expected inflation to rise above 11 per cent in October alongside a widely anticipated huge increase in the energy price cap.

Technology

Nikon unveils Z 30 camera, targets social media content creators

Japanese electronics giant Nikon unveiled another camera, geared toward content creators in Gurugram on Wednesday.

The Z 30, the newest mirrorless camera by Nikon, was showcased at the Museo camera centre for the photographic arts.

The camera comes with its prominently placed built-in microphone, a movie-record indicator light -- the REC lamp that notifies of recording in progress, auto switch to self-portrait mode when the monitor faces front, and an angle of view that is approximately 100 per cent even in 4K UHD/30p.

The Z 30 sports a 7.5cm vari-angle touch-sensitive monitor to give users the flexibility to get creative with their shooting.

Sports

Four-city Durand Cup trophy tour flagged off from Kolkata

A four-city Trophy Tour to kickstart the celebrations for the 131st Durand Cup Football tournament was flagged off from Kolkata on Tuesday.

The destinations for the Trophy Tour have been chosen keeping in mind that Guwahati and Imphal will be first-time hosts, whereas, the state of Rajasthan will be fielding a team in this prestigious tournament after a gap of Forty Years.

There will be a total of 47 games with both Guwahati and Imphal hosting 10 games of group C and group D each, even as all the seven knockout games are being held in three West Bengal venues. The opening pool matches are slated to begin on August 16 at Kolkata's Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) Stadium, August 17 at Guwahati's Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium and August 18th at Imphal's Khuman Lampakh Stadium.

The Tournament will culminate with the Grand Finale scheduled on September 18, 2022, at VYBK.