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Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Health
- Indian Express
Fadnavis, Shinde lead Yoga Day celebrations in Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde led large-scale events in Pune and Mumbai respectively on Saturday, as Maharashtra marked the 11th International Day of Yoga with widespread public participation. From university campuses to pilgrimage routes and the Mumbai coastline, thousands joined in synchronised yoga sessions aimed at promoting physical and mental well-being. In Pune, Fadnavis addressed a Warkari Bhakti-Yoga programme organised by Savitribai Phule Pune University, Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Sansthan (Alandi), and Sant Tukaram Maharaj Sansthan (Dehu). The event brought together Warkari pilgrims, students, faculty members, and officials in a collective yoga session. 'Yoga is the soul of India's cultural heritage and a path to a healthy and joyous life,' Fadnavis said, while giving credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for securing the United Nations' recognition of Yoga Day 11 years ago. While highlighting the scientific design of asanas and their relevance to holistic wellness, Fadnavis also launched a new initiative, 'Arogya Wari', to integrate yoga into college campuses statewide. 'Today, the Warkari community embodied the PM Modi's message of 'Ek Bhumi, Ek Arogya (One Earth, One Health)' through unified practice,' he added. Over 700 colleges across the state participated in coordinated yoga sessions, including more than 6,000 students and 1,200 faculty members in Pune district alone, according to the National Service Scheme (NSS). Participants practiced asanas such as Tadasana, Bhujangasana, Makarasana, Kapalbhati, and Anulom-Vilom, under the guidance of Dr Pallavi Kewhane's team. Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, Minister of State Madhuri Misal, and scholar Dr Sadanand More were among those present, along with senior civic, police, and university officials. Patil noted that nearly 10 million people worldwide participated in yoga events. 'This reflects yoga's growing global relevance as a bridge between ancient wisdom and modern wellness,' he said. In Mumbai, Shinde participated in a grand public yoga session at Marine Drive. 'Thanks to the leadership of PM Modi, yoga has been embraced globally,' Shinde said while extending the greetings on Yoga Day. 'It brings balance, peace, and discipline. We must make it a daily habit—not just an annual observance.' Sena MP Shrikant Shinde likened yoga to national defence, saying, 'Just as soldiers guard our borders, yoga protects our bodies and minds.' Shaina N C, Shiv Sena leader and president of I Love Mumbai, highlighted her organisation's monthly public yoga sessions and aligned the event with the government's 'One Earth, One Health' campaign. 'Yoga is not only for the body but for the soul. It connects us with nature and each other,' she said. Inspector General Bhisham Sharma, Commander of the Coast Guard Region (West), stressed on yoga's value for the physical and emotional resilience of armed forces personnel. Participants were guided through yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation by Mickey Mehta and instructors from The Yoga Institute. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde visited Drass in Kargil to inaugurate Sarhad Shauryathon 2025, marking 26 years of India's victory in the Kargil War. Organised by the Indian Army, Sarhad Pune, and Arham Foundation, the high-altitude marathon at 10,800 ft features over 3,000 participants. The event includes four races named after key battle points, paying tribute to the bravery and sacrifice of Indian soldiers.
Mint
8 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
From killer drones to robotaxis, sci-fi dreams are coming to life
The world is on fire, and that's giving some of the richest men the audacity of hope. Hope that their billions, brains and brashness can usher in a new world filled with robot cars, killer drones and solar power. In other words: hard tech. These sci-fi dreams—made popular by Elon Musk—have been building for some time. But they have become harder to ignore in the past month, with gambits from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Palmer Luckey and Daniel Ek. They're all pouring money into efforts that a few years ago would have seemed like the stuff of science fiction but are now becoming very real. Their collective interest is giving hard tech a moment, not unlike the rush of investment and entrepreneurs to software with the debut of the iPhone and the rise of mobile computing. The enthusiasm for hard tech is fueled, in large part, by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. It holds the eventual promise of greater autonomy for physical machines and new advances in science. Today's hard-tech moment, which is intertwined with the AI boom, presents the opportunity to change entrenched industries: defense, transportation, energy production and more. And with that, possibly create new winners. This past week, for example, Ek, who created his fortune with streaming music service Spotify, turned his attention to drone technology. It's an area that has taken on greater attention after high-profile drone attacks were used by Ukraine in Russia and by Israel in Iran. Ek's investment firm, Prima Materia, led a 600 million euro fundraising round, equivalent to $691.4 million, for Helsing, a German defense-tech startup developing AI drones. 'There's an enormous realization that it's really now AI, mass and autonomy that is driving the new battlefield," Ek told the Financial Times. Weeks earlier, the prospect of military application for another avant-garde hardware dream—extended-reality battlefield goggles—reunited Zuckerberg and Luckey, two billionaires who had a public break a few years earlier. Zuckerberg and Luckey's companies, Meta Platforms and defense-tech firm Anduril Industries, respectively, are teaming up to try to win a Pentagon contract for rugged headsets that could help soldiers on the battlefield. And Musk has said Tesla soon expects to begin public rides in the automaker's robotaxis in Austin, Texas. If the chief executive pulls it off, it could be a huge step in the company's pivot to robotics, which Musk has suggested could lead to humanoid robots outnumbering people. The imagination is seemingly the only limit amid the cocktail parties in San Francisco these days. Engineers talk giddily about how they see ways AI can aid in developing new lifesaving drugs and creating new materials that might be lighter and stronger for aerospace. It's a remarkable shift from a couple of years ago, when tech was seen as the problem—taking jobs, spreading hate, ruining the environment. Marc Andreessen, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who foresaw software 'eating the world," pushed back against cynicism in a lengthy 2023 essay titled 'The Techno-Optimist Manifesto." He argued that our societies are built on technology, which he called 'the glory of human ambition and achievement, the spearhead of progress and the realization of our potential." His firm, Andreessen Horowitz, launched an effort, dubbed 'American Dynamism," aimed at investing in founders involved in national interests, including aerospace, defense and manufacturing. The firm is a backer of such companies as Anduril, OpenAI and SpaceX. The effort comes as a new jingoism has emerged globally amid geopolitical tensions and renewed inward-facing domestic politics. Whether it is Ek investing in a European tech firm building drones for use in Ukraine against Russia or venture capitalist David Sacks leading the Trump administration's efforts to outpace China's AI development, new tech is suddenly the solution. Hardware, plus the huge cash requirements for complicated manufacturing, has long been seen as more risky for Sand Hill Road venture capitalists eager for a quick return on investment. In software development, moving fast and breaking things can work. In hardware, things often just break. On Wednesday, SpaceX's Starship spacecraft exploded into a giant fireball during a routine test, one of many setbacks as the company works to develop technology to travel to Mars. Still, Musk's other successes give entrepreneurs permission to dream big. This past week, Altman, OpenAI's CEO, was busy talking about his vision for a new personal AI device that could change how we interact with computers. His comments, made on his brother's podcast, came on the heels of OpenAI's data-center deal in the Middle East. The company also acquired Jony Ive's startup for $6.5 billion, part of an effort that tasks the former Apple design star with overseeing a consumer device to rival the iPhone. 'As OpenAI gets into a place of more resources and more potential, we can just do more things," Altman said. 'I would love to go build the Dyson sphere on the solar system and, like, you know, make the world's gigantic data center with the entire energy output of the sun."Building a Dyson sphere, a hypothetical structure that surrounds a star to capture its energy, might be a couple of decades off, he acknowledged. Still, on Earth, Altman is among those who are investing in ways to better capture solar energy as entrepreneurs look at the incredible demand for electricity in a future where cars, robots and AI data centers are all thirsty for juice. Hannan Happi's startup Exowatt is working to meet that need. He has seen the change in investor interest in hardware. Roughly a decade ago, he co-founded a drone company that was later sold to defense contractor Sierra Nevada. Then in 2023, he co-founded Exowatt, a solar company that aims to provide energy for AI data centers. 'I think investors this time around are less skittish about hardware aspects of our business," Happi told me. So far, he's raised $90 million. 'Every round we've raised has been oversubscribed," he said. 'We're just about to finish another fundraising event that we didn't even initiate—it just came together—and I think part of that is because we're riding the AI infrastructure wave." It's a good time to be working on hard things. Write to Tim Higgins at
CNBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Spotify's Daniel Ek leads $694 million investment in defense startup Helsing
European defense technology startup Helsing on Tuesday said that it's raised 600 million euros ($693.6 million) in a bumper new round of funding. The investment was led by Prima Materia, the venture capital firm founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and by Shakil Khan, an early investor in the popular music streaming app. Ek is also chairman of Helsing. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst and Saab also put money in, alongside new investors BDT & MSD Partners. Defense and the technology behind it have become a hot area for investors lately, amid major global conflicts, including the Ukraine war to Israel-Gaza. Last week saw a further escalation of war in the Middle East as Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran. In 2024, venture funding in Europe's defense, security and resilience sector reached an all-time high of $5.2 billion, according to a recent report from the NATO Innovation Fund. The sector grew 30% in the past two years, outperforming the broader VC market, which saw a 45% decline over the same period. Founded in 2021, Helsing sells software that uses artificial intelligence technology to analyze large amounts of sensor and weapons system data from the battlefield to inform military decisions in real time. Last year, the startup also began manufacturing its own line of military drones, called HX-2. Helsing, which operates in the U.K., Germany and France, said it would use the fresh cash to invest in Europe's "technological sovereignty" — which refers to attempts to onshore the development and production of critical technologies, such as AI. 'As Europe rapidly strengthens its defence capabilities in response to evolving geopolitical challenges, there is an urgent need for investments in advanced technologies that ensure its strategic autonomy and security readiness," Ek said in a statement out Tuesday. Helsing did not disclose its new valuation following the latest financing round, which is subject to "certain approvals," according to a statement. The firm was previously valued at around 5 billion euros in a 450 million euro funding round led by General Catalyst last year.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
German defence startup Helsing raises $693 million in latest investment round
Live Events German defence start-up Helsing has raised 600 million euros ($693.30 million) in its latest investment round, lead by Spotify founder Daniel Ek , the firm said on latest investment round has raised Helsing's value to $12 billion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the positions the start-up among the top five private tech companies in Europe, the FT investment round was lead by Prima Materia, an investment company founded by Ek and Spotify investor Shakil Khan, which doubled its investment in the investors included Lightspeed Ventures, Accel , Plural, General Catalyst and SAAB, Helsing said in a Munich-based defence start-up, which specializes in AI software and is moving to produce its own drones, aircraft and submarines, hopes to benefit from governments ramping up defence spending amid rising geopolitical tensions.
India Gazette
11-06-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel to attend 'Khedut Sammelan' as part of 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel tomorrow
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], June 11 (ANI): Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will preside over the Khedut Sammelan to be held on Thursday in Bardoli -- the 'Karma Bhumi' of Sardar Saheb -- as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Saheb is being celebrated across the country with various programs embodying the vision of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat', according to a release from the CMO. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, held across various states from May 29 to June 12, is paving the way for making farmers and the agriculture sector truly Atmanirbhar. The Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan was launched by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on 29th May from Odisha. The campaign will now conclude in the presence of the Union Agriculture Minister on Thursday, 12th June, at Bardoli -- the 'Karma Bhumi' of Sardar Saheb -- along with the Khedut Sammelan, the release added. Fulfilling the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for AtmaNirbhar Krishi and AtmaNirbhar Kisan, the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan has aimed to bring agricultural technology to villages and create awareness among farmers about the proper use of micro-nutrients and other technologies. Under this campaign, more than 4 lakh farmers across 2,250 rural clusters in 31 districts of Gujarat have been covered. On this occasion, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will e-inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for Horticultural Crops in Porbandar district, the Centre of Excellence for Banana and Vegetables in Petlad taluka, and the Primary Processing Centre which has become operational in Kutch, for the benefit of farmers in the state. Additionally, the e-inauguration of 14 godowns with a total storage capacity of 25,000 metric tonnes and the e-Foundation Stone Laying of the Centre of Excellence for Sugarcane in Bardoli will also be held during the Khedut Sammelan. The Khedut Sammelan, organised by the State Government's Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Welfare and Cooperation, will take place on Thursday, 12th June, at 10:00 AM at the Sankari BAPS Mandir Complex in Bardoli. Agriculture Minister Shri Raghavji Bhai Patel will also grace the event, the release added. (ANI)
