For all the wrong reasons, Hyderabad is back in the news. After the gut-wrenching gang rape incident last month in the posh Jubilee Hills area of a minor girl by sons of MLAs and leaders from ruling AIMIM and TRS comes another horrific report of physical assault and sexual harassment from Hyderabad.A woman working for the UN (United Nations Organization) had gone to a lounge club at ITC Kohenur hotel in Hyderabad with two friends on Sunday. At 1.30 AM, she was molested and assaulted by eight youth who threatened to 'teach her a lesson' by raping her.Her friends, too, were attacked with bottled when they came to her defense. For several hours, the Cyberabad police refused to lodge a complaint to make matters worse. The case was filed only after higher police officials were approached.Abrar and Saad, only two of the attackers, were named. Initially, one of the attackers tried to get the woman's number. The eight of them started harassing her when she refused and threatened to forcibly take her out and rape her. The attackers claimed they were 'politically connected' and 'very powerful people.'&nbsp;It is reported that the hotel staff also couldn't control the assailants.

UN Employee Threatened With Rape in ITC Kohenur Hotel 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officially gave permission for Neera Cafe to operate services in Telangana state. Cashing in on the opportunity, the Telangana state government is gearing up to invest Rs 10 crore on this prestigious project at Necklace Road, Hyderabad.Speaking about the state getting permission to operate, the excise minister, V Srinivas Goud, expressed his happiness and said that the government is going to take this project as a prestigious venture. He also said that the state government is planning to sell Neera by-products like Sugar, Jaggery, and Neera syrups through the Neera cafes.As a long-term goal, the state government is keen on spreading Neera cafe to districts soon after its successful debut in Hyderabad, concluded the minister. The Telangana state chief minister KCR is also quite happy that the FSSAI license is issued to sell historical products of ancient Telangana.

Neera Cafe Worth 10 Crores At Necklace Road

Times are such that parents are worried about the hefty fees that they have to shell out for admission of their children into private schools. Despite this, parents do everything in their control to send their children to private schools. However, one government school in Medchal-Malkajgiri is offering Rs 5000 to parents who are admitting their children into the local Mandal Parishad Elementary School.This government-run school in Telangana has come up with this initiative to encourage more parents into admitting their children into government schools as they provide a decent education. As for the Medchal-Malkajgiri school, the idea behind the offer is the area’s sarpanch Mahendra Reddy and his deputy Anjaneyulu. They took up the initiative so that parents get enticed by the offer and admit their children to the school.The local public representatives also put up a Flexi at the school entrance to advertise the offer. It also highlights all facilities that the school offers to the students if they join their school. The school is able to manage the costs thanks to contributions from donors.The school has classes from class 1 to class 7, and they are offering two pairs of uniforms, shoes, socks, books, bags, and a bus pass, all free of cost. In addition to this, they will also get a mid-day meal under the government scheme.The local body has also spruced up the premises by including greenery. The school offers Telugu and English mediums.

This Municipal School Offers Rs 5000 for Admission

In a strange and rather hilarious story, Mohammed Fareed of Hyderabad stole mopeds, though he did not have the money to buy one. So, he stole one, and after that, he stole quite a few mopeds in the city and suburbs. Fareed was finally caught by Nacharam police on Monday along with 23 mopeds, all of the same model.Forty-yr-old Fareed was a resident of Mallapur and was once a fruit and vegetable seller. He once saw other vendors selling their produce on a moped. Fascinated by the ideal solution to his problem, he first stole a bike when he happened to see a moped with keys. Once done, he sold the moped for Rs 10,000.Now comes the hilarious part. As Fareed did not know how to drive a moped, he started stealing and making money out of it. He has collected 2 TVS XL bikes so far. He targeted vendors at fruit and vegetable markets and sold the bikes to them by the time police caught up with him. He stole the bikes over a span of two years.Fareed has been produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.&nbsp;

Man Who Stole Only Mopeds in Hyderabad

Top management institute Indian School of Business (ISB), which has its campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, is working toward creating a global corridor for Indian start-ups. This will help the start-ups to explore and pursue business opportunities in other countries and vice versa.Prof Bhagwan Chowdhry, faculty director, I-Venture, which fosters entrepreneurship and nurtures start-ups at ISB, shares that the B School is looking at pulling in its alumni members as mentors to nurture start-up ideas into scalable businesses. ISB’s I-Venture administers business incubators and facilitates the conversion of start-ups into entrepreneurial ventures. To this end, it has various programs that cater to ventures at all stages.Hitherto, the institute was doing work in pockets and wanted to bring them all into one umbrella. For this purpose, ISB will be asking its alumni members to turn into mentors. To date, ISB has 13,000 alumni members in 60-plus countries.The alumni members will do the hand-holding and take up different roles based on the type of ideas. While some may be latent entrepreneurs, some may opt to be co-founders in the ventures. Ideas will be matched with alumni members to take the projects forward. ISB is also making efforts to work with other entrepreneurship ecosystem players and educational institutions. The entire focus will be on hosting start-up activities jointly and bringing teams together.Some students in India might have ideas that are suited for Europe, the US, or other countries, and conversely, there could be ideas in other countries for India. I Venture will play a bridge and connect will local players, policymakers, and others.I Venture is also doing an entrepreneurship program under CM ST Entrepreneurship and Innovation Scheme to support and promote entrepreneurs among scheduled tribes of India. In all, 170 start-ups graduated, 70 raised funding, 2000 jobs have been created, and the total funding raised by start-ups is about Rs 730 crore.

ISB to Facilitate a Global Corridor for Start-ups

Access to potable water is a major issue in most countries these days, and so is the case in major cities in India. Unfortunately, Hyderabad is one such city that experiences this problem during the summer months, for now. The problem could only become severe in the coming years. So many enthusiastic entrepreneurs are trying to work towards finding solutions for this problem, and one such person happens to be Sachin Vaddavali.With groundwater in bad shape and the issue of water contamination, getting clean water through environment-friendly solutions is the need of the hour. So, Sachin has come up with a way to draw water from thin air or the atmosphere’s humidity.Towards this end, Sachin founded Aria Life Water to start air-to-water technology as he recognized flaws in the reverse osmosis (RO) process, which included water wastage and loss of essential minerals like calcium and magnesium. Incidentally, according to doctors, if certain minerals are lacking in drinking water, then they can lead to stomach problems.Sachin happily claims Aria Life Water is the world’s first packaged atmosphere mineral water that started in March 2021 and got its license in October 2021. “The water is processed through 5 stages of filtration. In the first stage of filtration, heavy particles, dust particles, and pollutants are removed, making the water pure. This is followed by other stages of filtration such as UV, UF, and carbon,” explains Sachin.Minerals are added to the water through patented technology from CSIR or the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad. Aria Life Water is certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).Located at BN Reddy Nagar near Cherlapalli, the water plant has 7 machines which are run on electricity for now. But Sachin says they will be moving to solar energy soon. On a normal day, they produce 5000 liters of water.

Aria Life Water Literally Creates Water Out of Thin Air

Property sales are on the rise in Hyderabad, and this has been a constant headline for quite a while. But one thing is obvious from this trend. It has been seen by various realty researchers that NRIs have been showing more and more interest in investing in Hyderabad. While most of them prefer luxury or ultra-luxury properties, some of them are also interested in buying commercial properties.While most NRIs did invest in Hyderabad for some decades, post-pandemic, they have become more choosy and picky about what they are investing in and where. Almost all of them want a home away from home in their homeland India, and they are ready to splurge on upscale properties, be it apartments or villas.The main reason for this uptick in sales is that they see it as a risk-free option and one wherein the ROI is pretty high. According to several reports, the demand for realty is at its peak and is driven by end-users. High net worth individuals and NRIs are quite interested in real estate trends in Hyderabad and want to make the most of it.According to one report, 360 realtors pointed out that NRIs invested $13.1 billion in the financial year 2021, and this is likely to grow by 12 percent to touch $14.9 billion in the financial year 2022. Thanks to this data, many realtors are now looking at constructing projects that cater to the needs and requirements of the NRIs. And this means an emphasis on spacious and smart homes.New-age technologies are playing a vital role in enabling NRIs to invest in India without physically being present. Fintech has created a one-stop solution for leasing, acquisition, loans, and financial modeling for property financing. The NRIs can now have a 360-degree digital tour of the property. They are also investing in commercial properties as they have a high capital appreciation and rental rates.

NRIs Put Their Monies in Hi-end Properties

In a first of its kind in Hyderabad, two sisters, Uzma and Zainab Khatoon have come up with Dovely, a bike taxi service exclusively for women and by women. The service has managed to successfully complete 37 rides to date and is hoping to hit the 200 mark to be able to become a full-fledged app.At a time when women’s safety is a major issue and women are looking for safe and pocket-friendly transport services, services like Dovely are timely. The sisters first got the idea when their mother wanted to visit their grandmother through a safe and budget-friendly ride.Later, once, when one of the sisters was riding in an auto, she realized that the auto driver was leering at her from the side mirror. That’s when the sisters discussed the idea with their parents. Then, they had to come up with a name. They sifted through 400 names before finalizing their father’s choice Dovely.The platform has 20 riders and 400 users and is manually operated. Also, they need to hit the 200 rides mark to become a complete app that can then be uploaded into Playstore. The application is being run by four people – Zainab, who is a B Pharmacy student, Uzma, who is a B.Com Computers student; Masarrath Fatima and Obaidulla Khan, both of whom are B.Tech students.

Hyderabad Sisters Create Dovely, Bike Taxies For and By Women

About 152.4km from the city of Hyderabad and about three hours drive is the 274-acre campus which is all about Gautama Buddha. The huge structure was thrown open to the public in December 2021. Buddhavanam, as the place is called, brings us close to the Buddhist principles, which mean a lot in the times of COVID and Omicron. One of Buddha’s teachings was that pain is inevitable for humans, but suffering is an option.So, one can skip the snarling traffic and pollution and head to the awesome, lush Nallamala forest, watching the quartzite rocks on the way and the river Krishna flowing alongside. Located on National Highway No 565 connecting the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Rs 65 crore Buddhavanam project is the latest attraction from the Telangana Tourist Development Corporation. It is known that in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, Nagarjuna Sagar was a seat of Buddhism and several scholars and seekers came from far and wide.As for Buddhavanam in Telangana state, it is a fruit of 5 years of hard work where world-class infrastructure has been developed to attract international tourists, especially from southeast Asia and local tourists. The maha stupa happens to be a white dome with golden lotus petals, and the stone walls are a replica of the original 1700-yr-old Amaravati stupa in dimensions, shape, and design.If one spends time walking around the Pancha Dhyana Buddhas on four sides and four cardinal directions, one will spot the panels from Nelakondapalli, a neighboring town that also happens to have Buddhist connections. 1200 artisans worked for five years to come up with this enticing stupa.Also, one has to observe and relish the beauty of heavily engraved doors that symbolize pragna or wisdom, a Buddhist heritage museum, a theater, and an interpretation center beside a 28-foot stupa of Buddha in dhyana mudra.However, that is not all. Soon, there will be a dhyanavanam, stupavanam. Also, popular monasteries of Southeast Asia will be starting their chapters here. There will be a Buddhist university, research library, hospital with Tibetan herbal medicine, a Buddhist crafts village, and cottages to stay in for tourists. For now, tourists can stay at the TSTDC resort in Vijay Vihar, which is about 3km away from Buddhavanam.

Get Entranced at Buddhavanam, 150 Kms From Hyderabad

The Start-up India campaign has helped many realize their dream of starting something independently. Many youngsters are now opposed to 9-5 jobs that their parents did. Instead, they are willing to work through the day to make their ideas work. This way, they not only get to be their own boss but also employ many others.Gone are the days when one passed out of college and looked for campus recruitments. Today, it is all about cracking an idea with a bunch of friends and setting up a company. Some start-up owners share that finally, Hyderabad is waking up to the idea of a variety of start-ups. There was a time when a start-up meant a tech start-up, and that is no longer the case.Ramesh N, who has recently started his start-up in the food industry, says there are many Indian CEOs worldwide, and this was bound to impact youngsters here. He adds that the education system, which once trained students for jobs in companies, is now pushing them to start something on their own. Also, with incubators and angel investors, things look positive for those looking to set up something of their own.And surprisingly, the lockdowns have helped many to kick-start their ideas. One such girl is Sripallavi, who started a start-up in the children’s domain. She says she had to wait for a joining date after getting a job and that it was during that time that she and her friend hit upon the idea. She says it has been gratifying and lots of fun and hard work.Similar thoughts are shared by Simhadri Prem Satish, an Agri start-up, Prerna Agri Nature Private Limited, and Dr. Sravanthi Ellasiri, owner of Boxwish, a business advising consultancy.

City Entrepreneurs Hinting At End of 9-5 Jobs?

As every year, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has rolled out an Early Bird Scheme for Property Tax payments for FY 2022-23. The scheme will commence on April 6th. Citizens can avail of this offer by paying the property tax online using the web link or can pay the tax by visiting the GHMC Citizen Services Centres.Under this offer, the rebate is given only on the current year’s tax and not on the arrears. Towards Property Tax, only Rs 1495.29 crore was collected in the financial year 2021-22. In 2020-21, the tax revenue was Rs 1633.75 crore and in the just concluded financial year, the collections are less by Rs 138.46 crore.GHMC assumed significant tax collection at the end of the financial year but only Rs 90 crore was deposited in the exchequer. This will make the payment of pending bills a burden on GHMC. In this context, the corporation has rested all its hopes on the Early Bird scheme. Citizens can get a 5% rebate on current year tax against PTIN&nbsp; by paying before April 30th, 2022.