Leading Electric Scooters Brand, <a href="https://www.atherenergy.com/">Ather Energy</a> has launched another showroom in the city in view of the growing demand for electric vehicles. The showroom was setup in association with Pride Motors at Nagole Ex-Road in Hyderabad. The first showroom is present in Madhapur and it was set up in February this year.Speaking on the occasion, Ravneet Singh Phokela, Chief Business Officer, said, "Sales have quadrupled since the inception of the first outlet and there has been a huge demand for EVs in recent times. We are planning retail outlets very soon in Warangal and Khammam".The company has already set up Seventeen fast charging stations in Hyderabad in the wake of customers experiencing charging difficulties. It is also planning to set up ten more stations soon. The company currently sells Ether 450X worth Rs 1,46,926 and Ether 450 Plus scooters worth Rs 1,27,916 in Hyderabad.

Ather Energy Starts Second Showroom In Nagole

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that new airports will be needed as the number of passengers on flights across the country has increased significantly. "There should be two airports for every city, especially for the metro cities. Airports in metro cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi as well as Bangalore were the busiest," he said."The construction of new airports in Delhi and Mumbai is already underway. There is a need to build a second airport in Hyderabad as well as cities like Kolkata and Bangalore. Five new airports, 6 heliports, and 50 UDAN routes would be launched in the next 100 days. If not launch, we would at least start the construction," he said.&nbsp;However, it is not clear whether Hyderabad will get the chance any sooner. However, aviation industry experts cast doubts on the feasibility of a second airport in Hyderabad since the city’s lone airport was far from realizing its optimum capacity. The current passengers' number would be nowhere near pre-Covid times.

Second Airport For Hyderabad?

Crops are being damaged by heavy rains. Especially with the damage to vegetable crops, their prices are skyrocketing. Prices of almost all the vegetables have skyrocketed as yields have fallen due to the recent heavy rains. Almost all prices are at a minimum of 60 Rupees per kilo. Tomato prices have skyrocketed.&nbsp;At present, the price of tomatoes has reached Rs 140 per kg at the farmer's market. Apples are a lot cheaper than Tomatoes in Hyderabad. Only a couple of months ago, the tomatoes were available for as low as Eight rupees per kilo in the retail markets. Pulses, carrots, and Bitterguard sell for Rs 60 to Rs 70 per kg.&nbsp;Spinach, green chilies, and brinjals are costing 100 Rupees per kilo. People are lamenting that spending 500 Rupees do not even get vegetables for two days. Agriculture officials say prices have risen as heavy rains have damaged the ready-to-yield crops. In addition to this, transport charges are going up due to the rise in oil prices. Farmers say it is costly to bring vegetables from villages to towns.

Apples Cheaper Than Tomatoes

On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.absolutebarbecues.com/index">Absolute Barbecues</a> (AB's), a leading barbecue restaurant chain, opened its 48th restaurant (and 7th in Telangana) in Kompally. AB's invited its top admirers as chief guests for the inauguration, which is their trademark. Ritam Mukherjee, South Operations Regional Head, Absolute Barbecues, and Debabrata Mishra, Corporate Chef, Absolute Barbecues, did the ribbon cutting along with the other chief guests.AB's was started in 2013 and has 9 restaurants in Andhra and Telangana, of which 7 are in Hyderabad. AB's restaurants are located at Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Miyapur, Gachbowli, Inorbit Mall, Secunderabad, and now Kompally.The barbecue chain also has plans to organize a Carnival this festive season to celebrate Christmas and New Year, from 22nd December to 2nd January, which will have food plus entertainment, with a lot of interesting recipes and engagement on the floor – with music, dance, and fun.&nbsp;During the carnival, there will be a lot of exotic roast foods, grills, cake stations, desserts to go with the flavors of the Christmas season.&nbsp; &nbsp;The restaurant also has a 'complete' open kitchen, where the guests can see the food being prepared for them, be it the starters or main course.&nbsp;Absolute Barbecues is famous for its novel 'Wish Grill' concept, which provides its customers with a Do-It-Yourself experience.The Kompally branch has a seating capacity of 130 guests, which can be booked for any celebration or event. The barbecue delicacies can be enjoyed at just Rs 649.

Absolute Barbecues 'Wish Grill' Restaurant Now in Kompally

In the early hours of Wednesday, an auto driver named Syed Zahid rescued a six-year-old girl near Abids GPO who was being molested. The minor girl was sleeping on the footpath with her maternal uncle and mother when a man molested her and tried to rape her.Auto driver Zahid, who was on the road waiting for passengers, noticed this, rushed to the spot, rescued the girl, and woke her mother up. The offender, identified as Mohammed Chotu, was then handed over to Abids police, where a case was registered against him by Zahid and her mother.Hyderabad Police Commissioner <a href="https://twitter.com/CPHydCity">Anjani Kumar</a> felicitated Zahid for foiling the rape attempt. Inquiries revealed that Chotu is a habitual offender and was arrested in a theft case by the Afzalgunj police in July this year.

Police Commissioner Felicitates Auto Driver for Foiling Rape Attempt

Zenwork is a digital tax compliance and regulatory reporting solutions provider, which recently managed to raise Rs 1200 crore from Spectrum Equity. Now, it is gearing up to upscale its operations both in Hyderabad and the US. As of now, the company has a 60-member team, and it is planning to up the number to 180-200 by the end of 2022.The company will use its newly acquired funds to build capabilities globally for its go-to-market strategy. It will also accelerate its product innovation and meet the growing demand for automated technology solutions that address regulatory compliance and enable electronic filing and information management.Sanjeev Singh, co-founder, and CEO of Zenworks, shares that they intend to increase the number of employees to 120-140 in Hyderabad. For the same, they are looking at a talent pool with skills such as engineering, product management, business analytics, digital marketing, and sales operations.While the company’s base is in the US, they have now started catering to India, APAC, and European markets. Singh adds that they have a full-fledged analyst team in Hyderabad. Zenworks is also extending fintech services helping out the banking sector in terms of KYC and identity checks. It also works with the largest credit card processors and ensures to mitigate risk. The company operates in a highly regulated ecosystem going through audits related to data privacy.Singh also says that they have innovated for the market and built the first API to connect with clients and partnerships to differentiate their services. For the uninitiated, Zenworks helps companies manage compliance and offers solutions that transform resource-intensive, manual processes into highly automated, digital experiences. In the process, it serves over 1,00,000 small businesses, including 30,000 CPA firms as well as large enterprises.The company’s CEO shares that Zenworks will engage with several fintech start-ups in Hyderabad to build the ecosystem further and build transformative digital solutions.

Zenwork to Expand Base, Increase HeadCount

The state government is committed to the idea of having electric vehicles or EVs on roads. And by the year 2035, petrol and diesel cars would be a thing of the past, according to many analysts. Road Transport Authority (<a href="https://www.transport.telangana.gov.in/">RTA</a>) of the west zone, CPV Rao, says that EVs are indeed the future.&nbsp;Given the increasing prices of fuel and scarcity of fossil fuel, it looks like EVs will be a reality sooner than expected by many. It is estimated that diesel vehicles will come down to a mere 20 percent in a few years and are likely to disappear from the market and roads too. In fact, according to Rao, diesel vehicles are likely to end up in scrap.However, the only hitch for faster conversion happens to be the speed. Battery-operated EVs are no match to the speed of diesel and petrol-run vehicles. Also, those who have combustion vehicles will have a tough time maintaining them, and re-registration charges will also go up, making it costly to maintain such vehicles.Already, there is a policy in the pipeline with regards to having all EVs on the road by 2035. Then there is the breed that owns vintage cars. One such person from the city happens to be Capt Kayarmin Piston, the owner of <a href="https://www.chermasindia.com/">Chermas</a> Showrooms and a lot of vintage cars. He shares that it has indeed become a problem to own and maintain vintage vehicles as the parts need to be imported from the countries they were manufactured in. However, he adds that they permission from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways that allows them to register a vehicle that is older than 50 years. He says such owners can also run their vehicles all across the country with this national permit, in case they have fitness certificates and insurance.In all, it would be prudent to invest in an EV instead of regretting later.

Vintage or Outdated? EVs to Take Over Automobile Industry in a Big Way

If you happen to wake up quite early in the morning or if you happen to return from someplace during the early hours of the morning, i.e., before sunrise, then you are bound to see sweeping vacuum machines doing their work on the roads. The whole idea is to reduce dust and improve the quality of air. However, not everything is hunky-dory when it comes to their performance and the cost of maintenance.Incidentally, the sweeping machines are run by private agencies chosen by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (<a href="https://www.ghmc.gov.in/">GHMC</a>). While the heavy-duty sweeping machines are run with GPS on, they cost GHMC quite a bit. Right now, GHMC has decided to hire 18 more compact, heavy-duty vacuum sweepers for sweeping in five zones. The cost of hiring them is estimated to be Rs 32 crore.In 2015, GHMC entered into an agreement with Marlin Infra Lion Service to main and operated the sweeping machines. While the machines are expected to work for 10 hours from 9 pm to 7 am on a daily basis, what happens, in reality, is that they barely work for three hours. Also, they usually clean one road along the meridian or so and totally ignore other lanes.However, GHMC regularly pays bills to these operators, and higher officials from GHMC claim that 60 percent of the bills are fake. In fact, several crores are being swindled by private agencies involved and ground-level staff of GHMC.While no one from the private agencies is willing to talk, GHMC pays Rs 2457 per hour to sweep the city roads, spending Rs 7.37 lakh per machine every month. On the whole, the civic body spends Rs 1.84 crore on 26 sweeping machines.Now, GHMC has decided to hire 18 more sweeping machines at the cost of Rs 114,46,400, and these will operate in five zones that include LB Nagar, Secunderabad, Kukatpally, Serilingampally, and Khairatabad. The selected agency will take up night cleaning for 10 hours per day on all 365 days of the year. The total package will cost GHMC Rs 32 crore per annum.

GHMC’ s Vacuum Cleaners Suck Money Out of the Civic Body

Remember those famous songs of Shammi Kapoor in Kashmir? Well, another thing that just everyone across generations know about is the world-famous Kashmiri saffron.&nbsp;Saffron in Kashmir is grown just once a year and is harvested between October till mid-November. It is used in many industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and perfumery, as well as textile dyes. So, now a start-up in Hyderabad, <a href="https://www.urbankisaan.com/">Urban Kisaan</a> has grown saffron for the first time in Telangana.Big news is that Kashmiri saffron has been grown in Telangana for the first time, and it has been one of the most successful and gratifying experiences for the people who are behind this. Dr. Sairam Reddy Palicherla, co-founder of Urban Kisaan, shares that saffron was grown only in Kashmir as it required specific weather conditions. Apparently, his team met some Kashmiri farmers, got the seed in August, and went about creating the exact conditions right here. Even the requisite carbon dioxide conditions were created so that the flowers could come and the strands could be harvested.Dr. Reddy claims that they have been able to grow saffron in less space and in a more efficient manner when compared to the actual farmers in Kashmir. His team is now trying to grow saffron twice a year right here in Kanha Shanti Vanam in Hyderabad.

Yahoo! Kashmiri Saffron Grown in Telangana for the First-time Ever

Going to work in metro rail and reaching the station near the office, or school or college. Then, getting down at the other station and either walk or take a cab to the office, school, or college. This is the usual itinerary of many people in the city. Well, the troubles of IT employees and those going to schools and colleges will be ending soon.&nbsp;Already available in metros such as Bengaluru, Noida, and New Delhi, 'Metro Ride' will soon be available in Hyderabad too.On a normal day, it is pretty tough to get a cab from the metro station to the office, school, or college. So is the case with the auto wallahs, who charge almost double when the passenger is in a hurry. Share autos are another horror story altogether.So imagine if you had an auto waiting for you once you get off the metro station. It will pick you up from your doorstep and drop you at the nearest metro station. Then, it will pick you from the office and drop you at the nearest metro station. All one needs to do is to download their app and enter the details of travel.And imagine if you got all this at minimum fare? A similar thought happened to pass through the minds of the people behind '<a href="https://www.zaubacorp.com/company/THINKCRAZY-TECHNOLOGIES-PRIVATE-LIMITED/U72900KA2019PTC129009">Thinkcrazy</a> Technologies Private Limited' who are using AI or artificial intelligence to take 'Metro Ride' to people.It's just a matter of minutes that one can download the Metro Ride app on their smartphone and get going. With loads of traffic on roads and increased pollution, this is a viable option to reach from place to place, say the promoters. Also, with high diesel and petrol rates, people are bound to get used to taking the metro, instead of relying on cabs and autos.Another plus is that 20 percent of Metro Ride drivers happen to be women. Also, if more than a couple of passengers are taking the same route, Metro Ride pools them. And the charges are mere Rs 18. The first kilometer is charged at Rs 10, and the Metro Ride autos operate within the 5 km range. The highest price that one will pay could be Rs 30 max.Though no date has been formally fixed, if all things go as planned, Hyderabadis will soon enjoy 'Metro Rides.'

City to Have Eco-friendly, Cost-effective 'Metro Rides' Soon

It is estimated that Hyderabad Metro Rail is losing Rs 80 lakh a day, even though it is carrying 2.80 lakh people to their destinations through 820 trips a day in the three corridors. HMRL is desperately trying to overcome the damage caused by COVID-19 but has not been able to catch up with the number of passengers in the past.Metro revenue has not increased despite running trains from 6 AM to 11.15 PM. By the end of the previous financial year, Metro had a revenue of Rs 386 crore and a loss of Rs 1,766 crore, according to L&amp;T sources. The project has to pay Rs 1,412 crore annually in interest on loans taken from various banks. L&amp;T officials say the losses are compounded by poor revenues from the malls and declining advertising revenue.Currently, the revenue generated by tickets, parking, and shopping malls is not enough to cover the maintenance costs and salaries of the employees. Telangana Government has promised to help the corporation but then, nothing has happened. Government officials announced at a meeting with L&amp;T and Metro officials two months ago that they would provide Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore as immediate relief for interest payments on loans.But not a single penny has been released so far. Before COVID-19, the LB Nagar-Miyapur, JBS-NGBS, Nagole-Rayadurg corridors handled between 3.80 lakh and 4.20 lakh commuters a day. In addition, the management of shopping malls and advertising on a large scale generated huge revenue. Metro tickets and malls generate over Rs 300 crore a year in advertising. The revenue has fallen sharply from February 2020 after the Pandemic started. L&amp;T is looking to exit from the project to avert the losses.