OPINION, P10 WELL BEING With puberty starting earlier 15-fold in past two decades, health experts urge caution and care Page 6 Democracy deserves a festival FOOTLOOSE ‘Last-chance tourism’ has gained traction in the past two decades Page 9 EARLY PUBERTY & WHY IT MATTERS ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM A vanishing glacier LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL XVIII NO. 41 5 COURSE WITH SATISH ARORA FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY AHMEDABAD SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024, 16 Pages, `12 F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , ● Nivetti’s 2.4 tbps router gives fillip to Digital India The obese numbers Obesity is rising at alarming levels. So is its economic impact. Unsurprisingly, the business of weight loss is also getting fatter by the day ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Republic of extreme inequalities In her latest book, Swati Narayan brings stories from the grassroots that otherwise would not have seen the light of day ■ Routers May Source: CDSL and NSDL Applied Materials looks to sell items to India's ■ PAGE 3 first fab unit routers have been deployed on various large networks, including power grids,Indian Navy,Centre forDevelopment of Telematics, DRDO and a host of private enterprises. “It’s really a momentous achievement for our country andamatterofprideforusthat anindigenouslydevelopedand manufactured router, secure and with a capacity of 2.4 tbps, has been launched today. Within networking a core router like this is very important, and is at the core of the Digital India initiative under our PM Narendra Modi. I am gladthatacomplexequipment like this has been designed, developed,and made in India,” Vaishnaw said during the launch event.“Manufacturing is no longer just a mechanical process.Today, manufacturing processes involve a lot of software, innovation, and brain powerin hardware,”he added. Aug Sep Dec 112.8 35.5 108.8 35.1 34.6 98.5 101 Nov 104.7 25.7 24.8 23.9 23.4 24.0 25.2 26.1 27.1 28.0 29.0 31.0 33.4 35.7 Oct N E W D E L H I , P U N E ● A `55,600-CRORE TREAT Jan Feb 2024 Prime Minister Narendra Modi feeds an elephant at Kaziranga National Park in Assam, on Saturday. On a visit to the northeastern states, the PM unveiled projects worth `55,600 crore, including inaugurating the world's longest twin-lane Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh ■ REPORTS ON PAGE 2 PTI Continued on Page 2 Three major compact SUV launches lined up this year VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, March 9 y-o-y additions (mn) 33.8 93.5 96.2 33.5 32.8 33.1 2023 Jun Jul 2023 M U M B A I , deployed on various large networks, including power grids, Indian Navy, DRDO, etc, as per company INSIDE NSDL 90.7 Apr CDSL 88.2 32.3 Mar 32 Feb 86.2 Demat accounts (million) Demat accounts (mn) Feb 112.5 Mar 114.5 Apr 116.1 May 118.2 Jun 120.5 Jul 123.5 Aug 126.6 Sep 129.7 Oct 132.3 Nov 135.1 Dec 139.3 Jan 143.9 Feb 148.3 L U C K N O W , IT'S A MOMENTOUS ACHIEVEMENT FOR OUR COUNTRY ● Toyota, Skoda & Volkswagen to enter space 2024 Compiled by Kishor Kadam 84.4 31.7 DAYS BEFORE the Lok Sabha (LS) polls are expected to be announced, election commissioner (EC) Arun Goel resigned on Saturday. His tenure was till 2027. The resignation comes at a time when the threemember Commission was down to two after the retirement ofAnup Chandra Pandey in February. THE SURGE IN RETAIL investor participation drove the addition of demat accounts to a new record high of 35.71 million in February this year. Consequently, the total number of demat accounts (combining CDSL and NSDL) now stands at 148.25 million, compared to 112.54 million a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, there was an additional 4.35 million new demat accounts added in February. 83.0 31.5 EC ARUN GOEL RESIGNS AHEAD OF LS POLLS high-security core router runs on Nivetti NiOS, India's first and only, fully indigenous operating system Demat account additions record a new high of 35.71 mn in Feb 81.4 31.2 PAKISTAN PEOPLE’S Party (PPP) cochairperson AsifAli Zardari was elected as Pakistan's 14th president on Saturday, becoming the head of state for a second time. Zardari, 68, was the joint candidate of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz while his rival Mahmood Khan Achakzai, 75, was the candidate of the Sunni Ittehad Council. ■ PAGE 16 ■ Nivetti's latest K O L K A T A , Union minister for communications, electronics & IT routing technique that guides data between nodes using labels instead of network addresses security products and solutions company Nivetti Systems on Saturdayunveiled the country's fastest homegrown internet protocol/multiprotocol label switching (IP/MPLS) router in Bengaluru, in the presence of Union minister for communications, electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. MPLS is a telecommunications routing technique that guides data between nodes usinglabelsinsteadofnetwork addresses.Nivetti’slatesthighsecurity core router has a capacityof 2.4 terabits persecond (tbps), and runs on India's first and only,fully indigenous operatingsystem,NivettiNiOS, which has been evaluated for security by Defence Research & Development Organisation-ScientificAnalysis Group (DRDO-SAG) and StandardisationTesting and QualityCertification. The company claims that its IP/MPLS ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 ASIFALI ZARDARI ELECTED AS 14TH PAKISTAN PREZ K O C H I , ASHWINI VAISHNAW, ■ MPLS is a telecom NETWORKING AND CYBER NEWS H Y D E R A B A D , HIGH-SECURITY PROJECT ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, March 9 IN THE C H E N N A I , READ TO LEAD B'luru firm develops India's fastest router WHAT'S INSIDE 34.2 P U B L I S H E D The celebrated chef talks about crazy food requests, innovation, and more Page 7 COMING SOON ■ The second will be Skoda’s unnamed compact SUV, which the Czech carmaker announced in February THE CURRENT CALENDAR INDIA AND FOUR-NATION expanding our reach with the upcoming launch of an allnew sub-4 metre SUV, targeting the largest segment in India,” Piyush Arora, MD and CEO, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India,said. “Our R&D expertise in India has enabled us to incorporate highly localised parts and components forourentire range. With the new sub-4 metre SUV, we are furthering this strategybydeveloping our local supplier base to provide parts and components of global standards and qualityat competitive prices.” Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 ■ The third is expected to be by Toyota Urban Cruiser Volkswagen—probably a rebadging of the Skoda Taisor—based on compact SUV Maruti Suzuki Fronx ‘Urban CruiserTaisor’with the Indian Patent Office, and this week a Delhi-NCR-based Toyota dealer told FE that Taisor is possibly the Fronx with the Toyota badge. The second model to be launched will be Skoda’s unnamed compact SUV,which the Czech carmaker announced in February. It will hit the roads in the latter part of the year. Skoda India said that the sub-4 metre SUV will help the carmaker meet the brand’s annual sales target of 100,000 cars in India by2026. “After the success of the Kushaq midsize SUV and the Slavia midsize sedan, we are PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, March 9 European bloc EFTAwill sign a free trade agreement on Sunday,which is likely to help promote investments and exports of key domestic services sectors such as IT, audio-visual, and movement of skilled professionals,an official said. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members areIceland,Liechtenstein,Norway and Switzerland. The official said that for the first time in the history of free trade agreements (FTAs), a legal commitment is expected to be included in the pact about promoting targetoriented investment from EFTA to India and creation of employment. India has sought an investment commitment of $50 billion during the first ten years after the implementation of the agreement and another $50 billion over the next five years from the member countries of the bloc and to facilitatethegenerationof1million direct employment in India through such investments. ■ The first will be year will see three big launches in the sub-4 metre SUV space,which is popularly known as compact sports utility vehicles (SUVs), the largest selling segment in the passenger vehicle space. There are already 15 models in this segment at present, forming 30% of the market.The three launches later this year will see all the major manufacturers have compact SUVs in their portfolios. Thefirstsuchlaunchwillbe Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor, which will be based on Maruti Suzuki Fronx. Toyota and Suzuki have a model-sharing agreement globally and share three models—Grand Vitara and Hyryder, Innova and Invicto, and Ertiga and Rumion—and the Taisor will be the fourth. In2023,ToyotaMotorCorp had registered the wordmark India, EFTA to sign trade pact today Americans get caught in cricket's spin, ticket prices hit a high ● Ind-vs-Pak T20 WC match going for `34L a ticket SHUBHANGI SHAH New Delhi, March 9 THE INDIA VS Pakistan cricket clash is never a low-octane event, and the match to be played on June 9 in NewYork,a part of the ICCT20World Cup, is no different. Notably, while the contest has always been much sought-after in the traditionally cricketing nations, thistime,it’sdoingthesamein a country not known for cricket, even as a US team will participate in the series. With the group-stage match still three months away, the tickets are already sold out on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) website. Notably, the match is to be played at the Nassau County InternationalCricketStadium, a pop-up stadium in Long Island,which will also serve as India’s home ground in its matches against Ireland, Pakistan, and the United States. While the tickets for India’s matches against Ireland (June 5)andtheUSA(June12)started at $90 (`7,445) on ICC’s website,thesamefortheIndia-Pakistan contest started at twice ASKING RATE ■ On SeatGeek, tickets starting from `1,14,720 ■ Tickets already sold out on ICC website ahead of group-stage match on June 9 On StubHub, tickets selling for over ■ Available on online ticket reselling platforms, but at exorbitant rates `34,14,586 for VIP box ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM the rate,at $175 (`14,475). While the tickets are sold out on the ICC’s website, they areavailableatexorbitantrates on the online ticket reselling platforms. On one such plat- form—StubHub—the ticket is sellingover`34,14,586forthe VIP box,while the lowest price it’s fetching is `1,17,067. Compare thiswith the Indiavs Ireland match, whose ticket prices range between `26,599 and `9,37,378, almost 1/4th of the marquee event. On SeatGeek, another onlineticketresellingplatform, the tickets are fetching similar rates starting from $1,434, or `1,14,720, at the time of writing this article on March 7. “We had amazing ticket interest. The ballot process showed there’s a really big demand,” Brett Jones, T20 WorldCupUSAchiefexecutive, told news agency AFP. “IndiaPakistan is obviously a game that at everyWorld Cup carries great interest.I think it’s really pleasingtoseethosetwocountries come to the USA,”he said. Notably, New York is home to around7,11,000and1,00,000 people of Indian and Pakistani origin,respectively. Arecord 20 teams are set to play in the ninth edition of the ICCMen’sT20WorldCup,tobe played from June 1 to 29 in the United States andWest Indies. The US will also host cricket’s comeback to the Olympics at the Los Angeles 2028 games after an exile of over 120 years. A part of the inclusion can be attributed to the increased popularity of the T20 format,especiallywith the popularity of leagues, particularlytheIndianPremierLeague, as earlier, the 50-over format was difficult to be accommodated in the Olympics. Ahmedabad