Vice Admiral Ashok Kumar is Vice Chief

New Delhi: Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar on Wednesday assumed charge as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. He replaces Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar who has been shifted to head the Western Naval Command, Mumbai. Prior to this, Vice Admiral Ashok Kumar served as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff. An alumnus of Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar, and NDA, Khadakvasla, Pune, he was commissioned into the Executive Branch of the Navy in July 1982. TNS

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Uber launches boat service in Mumbai          

Mumbai: Uber on Wednesday formally announced the launch of UberBoat, its speedboat service, in Mumbai. Prabhjeet Singh, who heads the India and South Asia operations of Uber, said the company would commence operations between Gateway of India in downtown Mumbai and the Elephanta Caves and Mandwa on the mainland across the Arabian Sea. While UberBoat with a capacity of 6 to 8 passengers can be hired at Rs 5,700, UberBoat XL with a capacity of around 10 passengers could be hired for Rs 9,500. The speed boats can reach either Elephanta or Mandwa in around 20 minutes--conventional ferries take an hour. TNS

Petition for pad-vending machines on trains             

New Delhi: Tanvi Mishra's harrowing experience of using paper towels as she did not have sanitary napkins on a 14-hour-long train journey has given shape to a petition urging the railway ministry to install sanitary pad-vending machines on board trains. In the petition on Change.org, which has garnered almost 8,000 signatures in three weeks, Mishra, a 27-year-old engineer, details her experience on board the Gorakhpur-bound Humsafar Express from here. The Railways said it had already started installing pad-vending machines at stations. PTI