New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) In good news for Notepad users, Microsoft has rolled out spellcheck and autocorrect in the Notepad app in Windows 11 — 40 years after the text editor was first introduced in Windows in 1983.

The tech giant started testing both features in March. According to multiple reports, it has now quietly begun rolling out both the features for Windows 11 users.

The spellcheck feature is nearly identical to how Word or Microsoft Edge highlight misspelled words, with a red underline to show errors.

The users can enable or disable spellcheck on a file type basis in Notepad for Windows 11.

Microsoft has been adding new features to its Notepad app for Windows 11.

Notepad now offers character count, dark mode, tabs, Copilot integration, and even a virtual fidget spinner.

In December last year, Notepad app on Windows 11 received a character count feature at the bottom, similar to how Microsoft Word counts the number of words in a document.

When text is selected, the status bar shows the character count for both the selected text and the entire document.

Another latest addition is an autosave feature that eliminates the need for the pop-up save prompt when closing the app.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 8 (IANS) Global IT services firm Accenture on Monday said it has acquired Excelmax Technologies, a Bengaluru-based semiconductor design services provider, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition will enhance Accenture’s growing silicon design and engineering capabilities, the company said in a statement.

Excelmax provides custom silicon solutions used in consumer devices, data centres, artificial intelligence (AI) and computational platforms that enable edge AI deployments, to clients in the automotive, telecommunications and high-tech industries.

Karthik Narain, group chief executive-Technology at Accenture, said that the acquisition of Excelmax “enhances our expertise across every aspect of silicon design and development — from concept to production — so we can help our clients fuel innovation and drive growth.”

Founded in 2019, Excelmax will add approximately 450 professionals to Accenture in key areas such as emulation, automotive, physical design, analog, logic design and verification, expanding Accenture’s ability to help global clients accelerate edge computing innovation.

“Our focus has always been on developing the best talent to deliver tailor-made solutions for our global clients that help them build and maintain competitive advantage,” said Shekhar Patil, Founder and CEO, Excelmax Technologies.

“Joining Accenture enables us to remain at the forefront of innovation, providing new and exciting opportunities for both our clients and our people,” he added.

The semiconductor market is experiencing a surge in demand for silicon design engineering, driven by the proliferation of data centers and the increasing use of AI and edge computing.

This acquisition by Accenture follows the addition of XtremeEDA, a Canada-based silicon design services company, in 2022.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) The Indian economy is among the few in the region where investment rates rose between 2015 and 2023, a report showed on Monday.

The broad narrative around the pick-up in the investment upcycle is that it is driven mostly by the public sector, led by the Central government, according to a research note by DBS Bank.

According to Radhika Rao, Executive Director and Senior Economist, and Daisy Sharma, Data Analytics, DBS Bank, the private sector has led the pickup in capital formation post-pandemic, driven by households.

“Overall gross capital formation (GCF) rose to 33 per cent of nominal GDP in FY24, better than in recent years but still lower than a decade ago,” the report mentioned.

Digging deeper, the composition of investments showed that the share of the public sector in GCF was at 22 per cent in FY23, with the rest accounted for by the private sector – corporates and households – making up the bulk of the overall GCF.

Within the private sector, households led the pack with a 40 per cent share in FY23, followed by non-financial corporates at 37 per cent.

“Household investments rose to the highest in a decade in FY23 and, alongside corporates, totalling 25 per cent of GDP. Public sector financial as well as non-financial entities and general government comprise the rest 7 per cent of GDP,” read the note.

According to the note, dwellings and buildings have been at the forefront, also reflecting higher public sector participation.

“An upturn in machinery and equipment is a work in progress. We see similar stirrings in the sectoral breakdown as well. Lastly, we construct a multivariate regression model to gauge the drivers and outlook of gross fixed investments,” said Rao.

–IANS

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Chennai, July 8 (IANS) The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) has partnered with Tel Aviv University, Israel and KMCH-Research Foundation (KMCH-RF), Coimbatore, to offer a water quality course aimed at creating water-literate citizens, an official statement said on Monday.

According to IITM, the four-month course, in hybrid mode through the NPTEL online platform, is for final-year science and engineering students, and anyone with a technical background interested in water quality.

The course organisers are working towards building a water map of India and the world by students, who will contribute to building water literacy.

After a detailed introduction to fundamental aspects of water quality, students will conduct practical tests including surveys. They will receive a certificate upon completion which may be credited as part of their degree programme via their institution, IITM said.

Welcoming everyone interested in preserving water quality to take this course, Prof. Thalappil Pradeep, of the Department of Chemistry, IITM, said: “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations is possible only when people understand the reasons that limit their realisation. Water quality is one such aspect. This course will build reliable water quality data by people which will also make them water-literate. The course is part of an initiative to train water professionals for the world.”

The course has been designed based on a pilot study done during the last summer in different places across Tamil Nadu (such as Chennai and Erode, among others) involving college students. The data from this endeavour was collated to create online data on water quality with spatial coordinates, and inputs from surveys.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) Two-wheeler industry is expected to sustain a steady volume growth rate of around 7 to 9 per cent in FY25, considering both domestic and export markets, a new report said on Monday.

The growth in FY25 is expected to be driven by higher electric vehicle (EV) sales supported by the government’s Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) 2024, according to the knowledge-based analytical group CareEdge Ratings.

“Post-covid, sales volume of two-wheelers had consistently declined during FY20, FY21 & FY22 before starting to recover from FY23, with sales momentum continuing in FY24 as well,” said Hardik Shah, Director at CareEdge Ratings.

In FY23, the two-wheeler industry recorded sales of 19.51 million units, an 8 per cent growth compared to the previous fiscal year’s 18.01 million units.

In FY24, the industry continued its upward trajectory, achieving 9.8 per cent growth with a total sales volume of 21.43 million units.

However, this was short of the peak sales volume recorded in FY19 when annual sales volume had reached 24.46 million units, according to the report.

During FY24, the domestic two-wheeler industry witnessed a total sales volume of 17.97 million units, reflecting a growth rate of 13 per cent, while the export volume experienced a decline of 5 per cent though recovered from FY23.

The overall volume growth in FY23 and FY24 was supported by the increasing demand for EVs.

In FY23, EV sales reached about 0.73 million units, accounting for 4.54 per cent of total two-wheeler sales, reflecting a remarkable year-on-year growth of 188 per cent. Continuing the positive trend, EV sales grew by around 30 per cent in FY24 surpassing volume of 0.94 million units.

Segment-wise, motorcycles have dominated the market, contributing to the majority of the two-wheeler sales — while sales volumes of motorcycles grew by 8 per cent in FY24 that of scooters grew by 13 per cent during the year, the report mentioned.

This segment-wise growth trend is expected to continue in FY25.

–IANS

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