mismatch between employer demand and graduate skill level.
The report also released that the employability of graduates from Tier-I colleges stood at the highest & 48.4%, followed by those in Tier-II (46.1%) and Tier-III (43.4%).
Moderate performing states: Delhi (53.4 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (51.1 per cent) and Punjab (51.1 per cent).
Indian graduates have doubled to 46% (from 2023) on being employable in AI & ML roles.
MoRTH annual report 2024
Annual Report 2024-25 of The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH)
Ironically, now year-on-year (y-o-y) losses up to Rs 30,000 crore in FY22 are reported for all State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) across the nation.
It is a 68 per cent increase in losses over three years.
A total of 58 SRTUs reported a combined loss of more than Rs 29,000 crore during the FY21.
The fleet utilization rate for FY21, FY20 and FY19 was 62.54%, 87.56% and 88.6% respectively.
The occupancy in FY20 was 74.03 per cent which is massively decreased to 68.49 per cent as FY22.
The total number of inter-city buses = 97,165Approximate numbers for Urban Operations City Buses = 48,325Only 356 inter-city buses have been made accessible in the field and only less than 10517 out of them are made fully wheelchair accessible!
Other than wheelchair-accessible, the rest of the buses for intra-city and uptdown purposes are 24,860 authors and 15,308 readers per intercity day.
Bima ASBA - First in India
Bajaj Allianz Life is also the first insurer to go live on BIMA-ASBA (Bima-Appliation Supported by Blocked Amount) functionality.
This is in line with IRDAIs objective to enhance policyholder convenience and promote transparency while making premium payments.
Bima-ASBA allows the policyholder to provide an ‘One-Time Mandate’ for blocking of upto Rs 2 lakh in his bank account using UPI as SIP (Systematic Investment Plan).
It is only debited after the insurance company under-writing and accepting the policy proposal.
The frozen amount will be automatically returned to the customer account if failed or not processed within 14 days from SBI.
This way the funds will remain available to policy buyers while they earn interest, until the policy issuance is confirmed.
The Bima-ASBA facility needs to be made available by all insurers from March 1.
Pashmina Festival 2025
It was the inaugural three-day International Pashmina Festival cum Exhibition held in Kathmandu, Nepal by Nepal Pashmina Industries Association.
Pashmina has been harvested through natural shedding of the undercoat of Chyangra goats through hand combing.
In a bid to highlight the superiority of the product, Nepali Pashmina is sold as Chyangra Pashmina.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - ECOWAS
Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso formally quit the main political and trade group in West Africa, ECOWAS.
ECOWAS has the three countries as founding members.
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have since established a confederation of their own, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
The trio has almost severed its security relations with France and resorted to get the help of Russia, Iran and Turkey.
U.S Tariffs Against Mexico, Canada, And China
The broad based tariffs by the U.S president Donald Trump 25 percent on all imports into the country by Canada and Mexico and another 10 percent on goods out of China.
As of 2023, US. imports include almost 900 billion dollars worth of goods in terms of imports with Canada and Mexico.
There is also substantial U.S agriculture imports in Mexico and Canada.
In Canada, almost 80 percent of its good exports are directed to the US that are estimated to be worth some 410 billion dollars.
The export of Mexico to the United States amounted to 84 percent of the goods that it exported to the globe.
In the year 2023, Mexico provided 63 percent of U.S vegetable imports, and almost half of the U.S fruit and nut imports.
USAID 2025 status
Administration under the President Donald Trump has taken drastic actions on the American agency mandated with the role of providing humanitarian aid in foreign countries.
During the Cold War, the USAID (U.S. Agency for the International Development) had been founded by the Then-President John F. Kennedy.
In 1961, the Congress enacted the Foreign Assistance Act and Kennedy established the USAID as a stand-alone agency.
Proponents of USAID claimed the U.S. aid to the countries is a counter to Russian and Chinese interference.
There had also been a 90-days freeze on foreign assistance issued by Trump on the first day of his office.
Deflation in Sri lanka
In January 2025, the consumer prices in Sri Lanka declined by 4.0 percent.
This rated is the highest deflation rate this has been experienced since July 1960.
The Colombo Consumer Price Index also reveals January was the fifth consecutive month of deflation.
Deflation is the continuing fall in the average price level of products and services.
It comes about when supply surpasses demand and this causes spending among consumers to decrease.
During the time of the country being in the state of economic crisis, inflations peaked at 69.8 percent in September 2022.