Author: News Desk

Lab grown Diamonds (LGD) is a technology and innovation-driven emerging sector with high employment potential. These environment-friendly diamonds have optically and chemically the same properties as natural diamonds. To encourage indigenous production of LGD seeds and machines and to reduce import dependency, a research grant of Rs.242 crore over a period of five years to IIT Madras has been approved.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while announcing the allocation for lab-grown diamonds in the 2023 Budget, had called it an ‘emerging sector with high employment potential’. IIT Madras has a rich history of undertaking cutting-edge and translational research with significant applications in…

Kawasaki has unveiled a new 400cc race machine. Kawasaki is renowned for producing some of the best sports bikes. The entry-level Ninja 400 has been replaced by the new Ninja ZX-4R series from the Japanese manufacturer, which features an entirely different powertrain and underpinnings. Prices for the ZX-4R in the US start at $9,699 (about Rs 7.95 lakh), and there are three different models to choose from: regular, SE, and RR. The purpose of the new ZX-4R line is to fill the space between the Ninja ZX-25R and Ninja ZX-6R. The ZX-4R shares many design cues with its other sport…

Magna and Yulu set up joint venture ‘battery-as-a-service’ company Yuma Energy. Yulu bikes, one of India’s pioneering micro-mobility electric two-wheeler players, and Magna, a significant global automotive component supplier, have gotten into a joint venture to launch Yuma Energy. This company offers ‘battery-as-a-service’ or, in other words, a swappable battery ecosystem for electric two-wheelers. Magna put in a total investment of $77 million to set up this joint venture in September 2022 and the service was launched on February 2, 2023.A part of Magna’s investment in the joint venture will be used for setting up a battery-swapping infrastructure that is…

SAMEER, the Ministry of Electronics and IT’s (MeitY) R&D laboratory, and Siemens Healthineers have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will help advance healthcare and diagnostics access in India. The MoU will be focused towards making available low-cost MRIs as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of providing quality, and affordable healthcare and diagnostic access for every Indian. The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. MRI tests are usually costly. In India the price ranges between Rs 1500 to thousands of Rupees depending on the body part…

Ending the long wait, the talks between Vodafone Idea and the central government over the equity conversion have come to an end. The government ordered Vodafone Idea Ltd to issue equity shares in exchange for deferred adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and spectrum obligations totaling 16,133 crore. With this, the Center will become the largest shareholder in the telecom joint venture involving Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group. The central government will have 33 percent stake in this joint venture. The Center had brought reform measures for the telecom sector in 2021 to bring Vodafone Idea out of bankruptcy. Markets regulator Sebi had already approved the conversion of the company’s dues into…

During the company’s Q4 earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly disclosed the company’s plans to introduce a ChatGPT rival. Pichai stated that Google has been working on its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot since the beginning of 2022 and that it has “huge ambitions” for it. These plans are anticipated to be unveiled over the coming months. Additionally, he emphasised how Google’s AI would enable customers to “interact directly” with the company’s “newest, most potent language models as a companion to search.” Google’s AI chatbot LaMDA will be among the first tools to be made available to the general public.…

According to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash, as of December 31, 2022, incubators under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) had received approval for more than 477 crore of a 945 crore corpus fund. Startup India’s flagship programmes, including the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS), the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS), provide assistance to businesses at various phases of their life cycles. The firms can then seek loans from commercial banks or other financial institutions, or obtain funds from angel investors or venture capitalists. With…

When McClelland decided to make bamboo bicycles, he had no idea that he would not only change the face of sustainable mobility, but also provide a living for many others along the way. Bryan learned about the possibilities and process of creating cycles during a trip to Africa in 2007, and with the help of his close ties to the country, he realised this innovation would have a better chance of success in the Philippines, where bamboo is naturally abundant. Bryan remembers the first time he built a Bambike back in 2009, and he learnt that the inherent qualities in bamboo would…

Foxconn and Vedanta are almost ready to welcome European chipmaker STMicroelectronics as a technical partner in their projected semiconductor chip manufacturing facility in India.The joint venture (JV) that was announced in February of last year. The joint venture (JV) that was announced in February of last year would have Foxconn as its principal partner. One of those listed above claimed that “the government is positive on Foxconn, which is committing substantial investments in India.” One of the five candidates for government incentives under a $10 billion programme unveiled in December 2021 to support local semiconductor manufacture is the Vedanta-Foxconn cooperation. One of the requirements for project approval and the granting of incentives is partnering with…

Lafe Healthcare is a startup that helps doctors who have completed MBBS to crack the entrance for PG education. In 2018, Lafe will start operations as a digital question bank. It was a very small venture with only around 10 users in the beginning. At the beginning of the Covid era, Dr. Sathish Srinivasan joined the team, became co-founder and head of technology. It is in this era that artificial intelligence is used to figure out how to differentiate the structure of an exam and present it in a very simple way that is beneficial to the students. Lafe’s application works by using its own developed…