Bengal, Odisha brace for Amphan
Extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Amphan' is expected to make landfall close to the Sundarbans between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) around Wednesday afternoon or evening. Amphan, which was initially classified as a super cyclone, weakened on Tuesday. However, it is expected to bring heavy rain and high-speed winds of 155-165kmph, gusting up to 185kmph, in coastal areas of Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
The IMD had described Amphan as being the most intense cyclone since the super cyclone of 1999 that devastated coastal areas of Odisha.
West Bengal evacuated around 3 lakh people from South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, East Midnapore and West Midnapore districts ahead of Amphan, while Odisha has evacuated around 11 lakh people from several coastal districts.
Delhi govt SOP for public transport operation
With public transport having resumed in Delhi as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions eased, the Arvind Kejriwal government is planning to release a standard operating procedure for the sector on Wednesday.
"A detailed SOP for the movement of buses, RTVS and other para-transit vehicles has been worked out and will be released by the Transport Department on Wednesday," an official told IANS. More than 2,000 buses resumed operations in Delhi, with social distancing in place. Commuters boarding buses were screened for their temperature and provided hand sanitisers for use.
Reliance Industries to launch rights issue
Reliance Industries is set to open its Rs 53, 125 crore rights issue on Wednesday. It is the largest-ever rights issue in the country and the first by Reliance Industries in around three decades.
One share will be offered for every 15 shares held at Rs 1,257, a 14 per cent discount to the closing price for April 30.
In these rights offerings, companies grant shareholders the right, but not the obligation, to buy new shares at a discount to the current trading price.
The Reliance Industries rights issue closes on June 3.
Pakistan to partially resume rail services
The Pakistan Railways will partially resume operations from Wednesday. It had stopped normal services on March 25. From Wednesday, a total of 30 trains—15 up and 15 down—will start. The Express Tribune reported, "The lockdown caused the railways a loss of Rs 10 billion in two months while 10.26 million passengers were affected by the measure..."
iPhone SE 2 sale to begin in India
Sales of Apple's new 'budget' iPhone, the SE 2, are expected to begin at Apple resellers and on Flipkart at 12pm on Wednesday. Flipkart is offering a five per cent cashback on the iPhone SE 2, along with six months of free YouTube premium. The price of the iPhone SE 2 starts at ₹42,500 for the base model with 64GB, ₹47,800 for the 128GB variant and ₹58,300 for the 256GB variant. The iPhone SE 2 comes in black, white and red colour variants.
