India
UPI for Feature Phones from RBI

On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced UPI123Pay, a new digital payment option for feature phones based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The UPI system has so far been restricted to smartphones with internet access. India’s mobile phone population is estimated to be at 180 million. 78 crore of these people have smartphones, while the remaining 78 crores have feature phones. Due to the phone they use, tens of thousands of users have been unable to do UPI transactions. The central bank of India introduced this new payment mechanism to incorporate all such users and bring them into the mainstream of digital payments.
“UPI123Pay would enable NPCI to accomplish its goal of a billion or more daily UPI transactions,” said Biswamohan Mahapatra, head of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the country’s umbrella organization for retail digital payments.
Working of UPI on Feature Phones?
Users will be able to conduct UPI transactions on feature phones using UPI 123Pay. Except for the scan and pay UPI option available for smartphones, consumers will be able to use all other functionalities. Transactions with the new digital payment mode don’t require an internet connection. To utilize the UPI 123Pay service, people must link their bank accounts to their feature phones. People with feature phones can now use the UPI 123Pay option for a variety of payments, from person to person to the merchant. UPI 123Pay would employ Hindi and English as their primary languages at first.
“We feel that the novel functions available on feature phones would give UPI a boost in many geographies across the country, transforming the way payments are perceived,” Mahapatra said.
UPI: India’s Most Popular Payment Method
In recent years, UPI has become one of India’s most popular payment methods. UPI is the country’s single largest retail payment system in terms of transaction volume.
“A substantial portion of digitalization is limited to people with smartphones, notwithstanding our tremendous growth in digital payments.” “About 40 crore feature phone users had limited access to digital payments,” said T Rabi Sankar, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He stated that the goal is to attract a significant number of feature phone users into the UPI payment system.
“To further popularise the usage of digital payments, a framework for retail offline payments across the country has been proposed.” This announcement has its roots in a series of successful pilot studies. The results of these experiments strongly suggest that there is more leeway for digital payment-related solutions, particularly in rural areas. According to Nitin Mathur, CEO of Tavaga Advisory Services, “the RBI is enthusiastic about expanding the ease of doing business in India as well as more innovative fintech prospects to capitalize on” as a result of this development.
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Concerns Emerge as Juhugaon Lake’s Algae Odour Remains After 24 Lakhs Spent on Cleaning

NMMC fails to eliminate Algae odour at Navi Mumbai’s Juhugaon lake.
The Smell
The Municipality Spent Rs. 24 lakhs to clean & revitalise Juhugaon lake in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. But the people are still quite Unhappy since the lake continues to smell bad because of algae build up.
23 natural lakes were once present in Navi Mumbai, all of them were a part of the expansive lake Vision project that the NMMC had started. However, Concerns have been raised by the recent lakes closure in Koperkhairane Sector 19 due to pollution & algae growth. There are now just 22 lakes that are accessible to the general public, & conditions at the lake where Shree Ganesh murthi’s are submerged are less than ideal due to on abundance of green algae that produces unpleasant smell.
Similar to a situation from two years ago, the villagers fear that Sewage from the community may be Spoiling the lake. The Municipality had lately made significant efforts to clear the silt from the lake & improve its condition, but the present situation has raised doubts on the success of these efforts.
Further Shree Kiran Patil who’s the Deputy Engineer from Vashi Division has assured that the lake cleaning contractor’s has been requested to address the algae issue of the lake.
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The Rotary Club pledges to eradicate thalassemia by the year 2026 in Navi Mumbai

By 2026, Rotarians under the leadership of the Rotary Club of Millennium City (RCMC) have committed to eradicating thalassemia in Navi Mumbai, and a campaign has already begun with a number of institutions. End Thalassemia Now 2026 is the drive’s tagline. The DY Patil Hospital in Nerul is supporting a plan to establish a thalassemia facility. Along with the hospital managed by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the RCMC in Vashi since 2012, this facility is an addition. More than 50 children with thalassemia are receiving care at the RCMC as part of the “End Thalassemia Now 2026” initiative. With the addition of the new facility, the club will be able to meet the needs of more than 100 of these kids.
By August 15, the new facility with DY Patil Hospital is expected to open. According to a Rotarian, RCMC and other Rotary clubs in Navi Mumbai are working to eradicate thalassemia through the “End Thalassemia Now” project. Rotarian Diwakar Kallianpur, who assumed leadership of the RCMC club for 2023–24, proposed the initiative, which Rotarian Jitendra Jadhwani, the project’s chair, endorsed. “RCMC has been developed and put into action with the goal of eliminating thalassemia within the next three years, according to three basic goals: care, awareness, and prevention. It is a plague that can be avoided and handled, so long as all significant social actors band together to forward the project, according to Kallianpur.
“Thalassemia is painful to manage, but there is a bright side to this condition,” said Jadhwani. As long as people in the community are informed, it can be fully avoided. Major and mild forms of thalassemia exist. People with small variations lead nearly typical lives, although they must exercise caution when choosing a spouse. They ought to abstain from getting married to a minor with thalassemia. Due to the possibility that the infant may have significant thalassemia, this might cause problems at birth. A hereditary condition called thalassaemia can have an effect on a newborn. Such children need blood transfusions for the rest of their lives.
The youngster must take lifetime iron-removal medications as a result of these ongoing monthly transfusions. The difficulties associated with thalassemia in children are many, and they also run the risk of essential organ failure, including as heart and kidney failure. Thalassemia is a characteristic that affects 2% of people worldwide.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold move was praised by CM Eknath Shinde and MLA Manda Mhatre

Maharashtra’s honorable Chief Minister Shree Eknath Shinde & Belapur BJP MLA Shreemati Manda Mhatre welcomed Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi’s decision of introducing the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill.
The Bold Decision
On Thursday, September 21, 2023, the Rajya Sabha unanimously approved the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill, granting women 33% reservation. This decision was warmly welcomed by the Chief Minister Shree Eknath Shinde, who expressed it as a proud moment for women that will go, down in the country’s history books in “golden letters.”
Shreemati Vrushali Srikanth Shinde, daughter- in-law of Chief Minister Shree Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena Spokesperson Shreemati Sheetal Mhatre, Thane District Mahila Aghadi Sanghatika’s Shreemati Meenakshi Shinde & more than 100 women officials of Shivsena from Mumbai, Thane & Navi Mumbai were also all present for the event.
Women’s are taking amazing strides in variety of sectors, & this law will give them a chance to lead in the political sphere, said Chief Minister Shree Eknath Shinde. He emphasised that this decision is a turning point for the country, crediting its success to PM Modi’s creative & Courageous decision making skills. further he thanked & Congratulated Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi on the bills approval. Speaking on the matter Shreemati Manda Mhatre said, “We all Consider India’s Prime Minister Shree Narendra Modi as a World leader. The entire world watches him with great respect. And it is indeed true that the entire country says there’s no one like him in this era. Our honourable Prime Minister also has an insight that the country cannot achieve progress without the happiness & prosperity of its women. Therefore, on behalf of all the women of Maharashtra, we extend our sincere appreciation & compliments for PM Modi.”
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