New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Elon Musk-run Tesla has regained the top position in BEV (battery electric vehicle) sales in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, despite a 9 per cent (year-on-year) decline, a new report showed on Monday.

Tesla takes the top spot in BEV sales with a 19 per cent market share in Q1, according to Counterpoint Research.

Among the top three OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), only BYD Group achieved growth with 13 per cent (year-on-year), while both Tesla and Volkswagen experienced drops of 9 per cent and 4 per cent (year-on-year), respectively.

According to the report, global passenger EV (BEV+PHEV) sales increased 18 per cent (year-on-year) in Q1 this year.

While BEV sales grew by a modest 7 per cent (year-on-year) during the quarter, PHEV (plug-in hybrid EV) sales grew 46 per cent (year-on-year).

“The cheaper upfront cost of PHEVs when compared to BEVs and the availability of a fuel tank that eliminates range anxiety were among the main reasons for high PHEV demand,” said Research Analyst Abhik Mukherjee.

As per the report, Tesla and BYD have managed to trim their BEV manufacturing costs, allowing them to offer competitive prices.

This has put pressure on other automakers like Ford and GM which are struggling to reduce their manufacturing costs. While analysts believe the EV market is set for significant growth in 2024, there are also signs of a slowdown and annual growth could fall below 20 per cent.

“The levelling off of early-adopter interest suggests a shift in consumer dynamics to the mass market in the long term and a new phase of evolution for the EV industry,” said Associate Director Liz Lee.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Homegrown geospatial software provider MapmyIndia on Monday reported operating revenue of Rs 379.4 crore in FY24, up 35 per cent (year-on-year).

The deep-tech digital map data platform clocked 47 per cent growth in operating revenue for the January-March period (Q4) to Rs 106.9 crore.

Annual new order bookings grew 63 per cent to Rs 834 crore in FY24.

“Our overall revenue growth during FY24 was broad-based, with consumer tech and enterprise digital transformation revenue up 49 per cent (YoY) to Rs 194 crore, and automotive and mobility tech revenue up 23 per cent to Rs 186 crore on the markets side,” informed Rohan Verma, CEO and Executive Director, MapmyIndia.

On the products side, the map and data revenue grew 23 per cent to Rs 138 crore and platform and IoT revenue surged 42 per cent to Rs 241 crore.

“Our profit after tax (PAT) grew 25 per cent to Rs 134.4 crore, with PAT margins at 32 per cent,” said Rakesh Verma, Chairman and Managing Director, MapmyIndia.

More than 20 million people have downloaded the company’s Mappls app.

“We continued to acquire new B2B and B2B2C customers — including many businesses and enterprises across industry verticals, new-age consumer-tech companies and key government organisations,” said Rohan.

MapmyIndia has built India’s most comprehensive and feature-rich digital map, down to address and urban building level detail, covering all towns, villages, and the entire road network of the country.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) As India continues to build a robust and resilient core digital infrastructure, the country can achieve gigabit connectivity to all households or at least 100-110 million households by 2030, industry experts have said.

While India is the leader when it comes to data consumption on mobile broadband and is the fastest-growing mobile broadband market in the world, the country still lags in fixed or wired broadband as compared to developed nations.

According to the independent think tank Broadband India Forum (BIF), data shows that there is an average data consumption of 187 GB per month in India which is still lower than the US data consumption of 641 GB per month.

Furthermore, fixed broadband subscriptions in India are at a mere 2.85 per 100 people, and almost one-fourth of the global average.

Speaking at a conference in the capital, the industry experts stressed the need for a much higher availability of optic fibre to cater to the exponentially increasing quantum of data.

“With fixed broadband data usage reaching 10-20 times mobile data consumption per capita, we need a minimum 20 per cent annual growth rate in fixed broadband subscriptions over the next six years to reach 100 million additional fibre connections,” said TV Ramachandran, President, BIF.

The conference dwelled on building key elements of digital infrastructure like, optic fibre, mobile towers, licensed spectrum, data centres and Wi-Fi, CDNs, undersea cables, etc.

RS Sharma, former chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), said that India needs to aggressively work to create massive and inclusive optical fibre infrastructure to reach at par with China, US, and Europe in fibre broadband.

“We also need to create millions of Wi-Fi hotspots in the country which ensures affordable broadband availability to our people in rural and semi-urban areas,” said Sharma.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Increasing tobacco smoking rates among women is a significant contributor to early menopause, which poses a significant health risk, warned doctors on Monday.

Premature menopause is the cessation of menstruation before the age of 40 and can have profound implications for a woman’s health and quality of life.

Jaishree Gajaraj, Senior Consultant, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MGM Healthcare, told IANS that smoking accelerates premature menopause, which further raises the risk of developing osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and psychological issues like depression and anxiety in women.

Nicotine, a primary component of tobacco, exerts detrimental effects on ovarian function by reducing the number of viable eggs and hastening the decline of ovarian reserve.

This premature depletion of follicles leads to an earlier onset of menopause. It not only impacts fertility but also contributes to the overall decline in ovarian function.

“Oestrogen has cardio-protective effects, and its abrupt reduction can lead to adverse changes in cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and vascular function,” Dr Jaishree said.

Research shows that women who smoke go into menopause about a year earlier than non-smokers and as much as two years earlier for heavy smokers.

“It has been observed that smokers who are currently smoking will experience a younger menopause than smokers who have never smoked,” Vidyashri Kamath C, Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecologist, KMC Hospital, Mangalore, told IANS.

The doctor noted that “smoking by-products decrease the quantity or quality of the ovarian follicles; it also causes changes in reproductive hormone levels during reproductive years; and smoke exposure during the intrauterine period may also affect the follicle pool and influence menopausal timing.”

“Smokers are 35 per cent more likely to break a hip after menopause than non-smokers. Former smokers have a 15 per cent greater risk of hip fracture. How long you smoked will affect your risk of fracture more than how much you smoked,” Sophia Rodrigues, Consultant – OBG, Manipal Hospital, Goa, told IANS.

A recent study showed that women who enter menopause before the age of 40 are more likely to die young. Premature menopause is a critical issue and underscores the urgent need for comprehensive education and awareness, the experts said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) In a world-first, China’s recent laws on increasing play time outside, while limiting online gaming and homework have shown promise to fight surging sedentary behaviour in children, according to a study on Monday.

Sedentary behaviour is known to raise risks of a host of health issues like obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, among others.

Researchers led by the University of Bristol revealed that the Chinese government introduced laws to restrict online gaming companies catering to this age group, limited the amount of homework school teachers can assign and also curtailed when private tuition businesses can provide lessons.

The measures helped achieve a 13.8 per cent drop in daily sitting time, which equals more than 45 minutes spent daily in this physically inactive mode.

Average daily screen-viewing time — including using mobile phones, handheld game consoles, tablets, televisions, games consoles connected to televisions, or computers — reduced by 6.4 per cent (10 minutes).

The study, published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, showed that the pioneering measures have proved effective, and may help develop future policies and measures aimed at improving children’s physical and mental well-being globally.

“The results are exciting as this type of regulatory intervention across multiple settings has never been tried before,” said Dr. Bai Li, from the Center for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the University’s School for Policy Studies.

The lead author said that traditionally, children and their parents or caregivers were left to make behavioural changes on their own, which never really worked.

But, the new measures helped shift the onus to “online gaming companies, schools, and private tutoring companies to comply”.

“This very different approach appears to be more effective because it is aimed at improving the environment in which children and adolescents live, supporting a healthier lifestyle,” Bai said.

The findings were based on surveillance data gathered from more than 7,000 primary and secondary school students from 31 urban or rural areas across 14 cities in China in 2020 and 2021, before and after the regulations were introduced.

–IANS

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