Carlos Alcaraz secured a 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Lloyd Harris on Thursday to advance into the third round of the US Open. The match shed light on both Alcaraz's brilliance and areas requiring refinement, a critical aspect he must address to effectively safeguard his title defense.
As the National Cricket Academy emerging camp players sweated it out at the KSCA Alur stadium on Thursday morning, in the adjoining ground, players from Netherlands were hard at work getting used to Indian conditions.
Newly-crowned world champion Neeraj Chopra was not at his best but still finished second with a final round throw of 85.71m in the men's javelin event of the Diamond League Meeting here on Thursday. The 25-year-old Chopra, also the reigning Olympic champion, produced three legal throws of 80.79m, 85.22m and 85.71m while the remaining three were fouls.
Paris St Germain will kick off their quest for a maiden Champions League trophy in a strong Group F featuring Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle United following the draw on Thursday. Holders Manchester City will take on RB Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys in Group G. City captured their first European crown this year and Pep Guardiola's side should have few problems in making the last 16, having handed Leipzig a 7-0 thrashing in last year's tournament.Bitcoin stepped into Thursday trading in losses. The most expensive cryptocurrency, that incurred a loss of 0.67 percent today, is trading at the price point of $27,190 (roughly Rs. 22.4 lakh). Bitcoin finally was able to break out of its $26,000 (roughly Rs. 21.5 lakh) spell a day ago. Despite today's minor loss, Bitcoin held onto its risen value. In the last 24 hours, BTC value slipped by $306 (roughly Rs. 25,292).
Ether joined Bitcoin on the loss-registering side of the crypto price chart on Thursday. Dipping by 1.15 percent, Ether is currently trading at the price point of $1,699 (roughly Rs. 1.40 lakh). Over the last 24 hours, losses reduced Ether's price by $19 (roughly Rs. 1,570).
“BTC seems to have lost the momentum it had gained after Grayscale's historic win against the SEC. However, analysts predict a 75 percent chance that Bitcoin ETFs will get approval this year. The SEC is also expected to rule on the ETF applications submitted by other players like BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco, and WisdomTree, this week,” Shubham Hudda, Senior Manager, CoinSwitch Markets Desk, told Gadgets 360, hinting at an optimistic future for Bitcoin in the coming days.
Most major cryptocurrencies recorded price dips on Thursday alongside BTC and ETH.
These include Tether, Binance Coin, Ripple, USD Coin, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Solana.
Furthermore, minor losses were also registered by Tron, Polkadot, Polygon, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, and Avalanche.
The overall crypto market cap slipped by 0.89 percent in the last 24 hours to be at $1.08 trillion (roughly Rs. 89,20,972 crore) as of August 31, showed CoinMarketCap.
Investor sentiment, however, continued to climb and jumped three points since yesterday; currently in the neutral zone with a score of 52/100.
“The crypto market has traded sideways with downward pressure in the last 24 hours. Most of the top 10 cryptos by market capitalisation were trading in the red today,” Hudda added.
Meanwhile, a small number of cryptocurrencies did see profits today.
These include Leo, EOS Coin, Zcash, Dash, Augur, and Circuits of Value.
“In other news, Robinhood, one of the largest financial brokers in the US has been gaining significant traction in its wallet app after enabling wallet support for BTC and DOGE. Even though this seems like a late development in a crowded market segment, investors seem to be welcoming the move,” Hudda noted.
Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.
Apple is testing the use of 3D printers to produce the steel chassis used by some of its upcoming smartwatches, according to people with knowledge of the matter, heralding a major change to how the company manufactures products.
The technique would obviate the need to cut large slabs of metal into the product's shape. That would reduce the time it takes to build devices while also helping the environment by using less material, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is private.
The new approach has the potential to streamline Apple's supply chain and kick off a broader shift. If the work with Apple Watch models goes to plan, the tech giant will look to expand the process to more products over the next several years, the people said. A spokeswoman for the Cupertino, California-based company declined to comment.
To date, Apple has used a more conventional manufacturing approach for its stainless-steel watches, which account for about 10 percent of the product line's total units. A process called forging is used to form bricks of material into a smaller block of metal close to the size of the device. A CNC, or computer numerical control, machine is then used to cut into the metal and create the exact design and button holes.
The new technique uses a type of 3D printing called binder jetting to create the device's general outline at close to its actual size, or what is known in manufacturing as the “near net shape.” The print is made with a powdered substance, which afterward goes through a process called sintering. That uses heat and pressure to squeeze the material into what feels like traditional steel. The exact design and cutouts are then milled like in the previous process.
The news gave a boost to 3D printing companies such as 3D Systems Corp. and Stratasys Ltd. The shares of 3D Systems soared as much as 10 percent, while Stratasys jumped 6.9 percent. The stocks later pared those gains. Apple was up 1.8 percent to $187.46 (roughly Rs. 15,492) as of 2:48pm in New York.
Apple and its suppliers have been quietly developing the technique for at least three years. Over the past several months, they've been testing the process with steel cases destined for the Apple Watch Series 9, which is set to be unveiled on September 12. The smartwatch will get a performance increase and new case colours, though its look will largely stay the same, Bloomberg has reported.
There's no guarantee the first consumer shipments of the new steel Apple Watches will be built with the revamped manufacturing technique, but the test run suggests the company is serious about the approach. Apple also plans to apply the process to its titanium Ultra watch, but such a shift isn't planned until 2024.
The approach benefits the environment because it only uses the approximate amount of metal necessary to create the device enclosures. In another move toward sustainability, Apple is planning to use new materials to replace leather in some of its new iPhone cases and other accessories, other people with knowledge of the matter said.
The 3D printing work is being led by Apple's manufacturing design team, which is overseen by Rob York, a company vice president, and reports up to operations head Sabih Khan. The move to 3D-printed watch cases has been an expensive endeavour for Apple and its suppliers, but it should prove to simplify production and potentially lower costs over time. For now, the cost per watch case with the new process is in line with that of the prior method.
The work is still nascent and, for the time being, will be reserved for lower-volume products. Most Apple Watch casings are aluminium, not stainless steel. The company hasn't made headway on mass-producing 3D-printed enclosures with that material, which is also used for Macs and iPads, as well as lower-end iPhones. But the company is discussing bringing materials that can be 3D-printed, like steel and titanium, to more devices.
The initiative is one of the first cases of using binder jetting to mass-produce a high-volume metal part. Making the Apple Watch a test case for new technology is part of a pattern for the company. For instance, Apple added steel frames to the iPhone two years after they appeared on the original Apple Watch. And this year's high-end iPhone models will use titanium a year after the material debuted on the Apple Watch Ultra.
© 2023 Bloomberg LP
Zhang Zhizhen orchestrated a stunning upset on Wednesday, ousting fifth seed Casper Ruud from the US Open and etching his name in tennis history as the first male player from China to defeat a top-five opponent.
Swiss player Dominic Stricker achieved the most significant victory of his career on Wednesday by triumphing over Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a thrilling five-set match, with a final score of 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-3. This win propelled Stricker into the third round of the US Open.
Newly appointed captain Mitch Marsh's career-best unbeaten score of 92 propelled Australia to a commanding 111-run victory over the host team, South Africa, in the inaugural Twenty20 International held in Durban on Wednesday.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Wednesday fired a warning shot with a dazzling ton ahead of the marquee India vs Pakistan Asia Cup clash on September 2. Leading his team from the front, Babar scored a sensational 131-ball 151 to power his side to a crushing 238-run win over minnows Nepal in the tournament opener in Multan.
Before Neeraj Chopra’s historic back-to-back podium finishes at the World athletics championships – including the recent gold won in the men’s javelin throw competition in Budapest on Sunday night – it was long jumper Anju Bobby George who gave India its first Worlds medal 20 years ago at the 2003 edition in Paris.
Erling Haaland of Manchester City and Rachel Daly of Aston Villa were awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year awards for 2023 for their exceptional contributions to English football. Haaland won the award after a remarkable debut season, scoring 52 goals in the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.
Venus Williams suffered a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Greet Minnen in the opening round of the US Open. The defeat marked the passing of the torch in tennis, as Williams, known for her trailblazing contributions, was overpowered by Minnen, a 26-year-old who displayed impressive court skills. Minnen, born just weeks before Williams' first Grand Slam final in 1997, showcased her impressive performance.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou faced his first defeat as Fulham won a penalty shootout, sealing a 5-3 win after a 1-1 draw in the League Cup second round clash. Postecoglou had a successful debut season, securing Premier League victories over Manchester United and Bournemouth. However, he faced opposition as he made nine changes to his starting lineup at Craven Cottage.The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope instrument onboard 'Pragyan' rover of Chandrayaan-3 has unambiguously confirmed the presence of sulphur on the lunar surface near south pole, through first-ever in-situ measurements, ISRO said on Tuesday.
It also said the instrument also detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen, as expected.
"The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard Chandrayaan-3 Rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters," the space agency said in a statement.
According to ISRO, LIBS is a scientific technique that analyses the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses.
"A high-energy laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a material, such as a rock or soil. The laser pulse generates an extremely hot and localised plasma. The collected plasma light is spectrally resolved and detected by detectors such as Charge Coupled Devices. Since each element emits a characteristic set of wavelengths of light when it's in a plasma state, the elemental composition of the material is determined," it said.
Preliminary analyses have unveiled the presence of Aluminum (Al), Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Chromium (Cr), and Titanium (Ti) on the lunar surface. Further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O), it said.
"Thorough investigation regarding the presence of Hydrogen is underway," ISRO said.
LIBS instrument is developed at the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems at Peenya Industrial Estate, Bengaluru where the first India satellite was fabricated in 1975.
India on August 23 scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the decision to name the spot where Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander made soft landing as 'Shiv Shakti Point' and the site where the Chandrayaan-2 lander crash-landed on the Moon's surface in 2019 would be known as "Tiranga Point".
Also, August 23, the day the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface, would be celebrated as ‘National Space Day', Modi had said.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi reported a 4 percent revenue drop in the second quarter, tracking a shrinkage in China's handset market, but said its move into making electric vehicles was running ahead of schedule.
Sales dropped to CNY 67.4 billion (nearly Rs. 76,450 crore) from CNY 70.17 billion (nearly Rs. 80,650 crore) in the same quarter a year earlier, but beating analysts' estimates of CNY 65.13 billion (nearly Rs. 74,860 crore).
Net income rose to CNY 5.14 billion (nearly Rs. 5,830 crore) over the period, an increase of 147 percent from CNY 2.08 billion (nearly Rs. 2,390 crore) a year earlier, also beating expectations. The company put the increase down to cost cutting and efficiency improvements, particularly in its physical stores.
"Despite the macroeconomic headwinds in the global market we continue to expand our footprint," Xiaomi President Lu Weibing said on an earnings call.
"Several of our peers already exited from certain areas in this challenging environment, but no matter how hard it will be we will reinforce our presence across regions and markets," Lu said.
Consumer demand in China's smartphone market continued to shrink in the second quarter, dropping 5 percent to 64.3 million units, according to Canalys, a consultancy that tracks the smartphone industry.
Xiaomi's shipments declined by 19 percent to 8.6 million, while in major overseas market India, shipments fell 22 percent to 5.4 million units, Canalys said.
In light of declining handset sales, Xiaomi is planning to move into the manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs) and has received approval from China's state planner, Reuters reported this month.
The company has pledged a $10 billion (nearly Rs. 82,600 crore) investment over a decade in the automobile business.
Lu said the company's plans to start mass production of EVs in the first half of 2024 remains unchanged. "Our current progress is ahead of expectations and of the original production schedule," he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Nubia is working on a new smartphone with a vastly improved camera, according to details shared by a tipster. An image of a prototype that has leaked online alongside the company's existing Nubia Z50S Pro smartphone. Compared to the Nubia Z50S Pro, the unreleased smartphone is shown to have a much larger rear camera module that will house a 35mm camera with a 1-inch type sensor, according to the tipster. The company is yet to announce any details regarding its plans to launch a new smartphone.
Tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese) leaked an image of the purported Nubia flagship smartphone via Weibo. The prototype is seen next to the Nubia Z50S Pro, which was launched in China last month. Aside from the larger rear camera module on the unreleased handset, both phones appear nearly identical, which suggests that the company could launch it as the top-of-the-line model in the Z50S series.
The upcoming smartphone from Nubia will be equipped with a 35mm camera with a 1-inch type sensor, according to Digital Chat Station. The handset's primary camera will use a Sony IMX989 sensor, the tipster says, adding that the company will have to "optimise volume" before it launches the smartphone and that it could arrive at a later date.
By simply comparing the size of the two smartphones, it is evident that the 1-inch type sensor on the Nubia prototype requires much more space compared to the 1/1.49-inch camera sensor that is found on the Nubia Z50S Pro.
While the rear camera module on the latter also protrudes outside the rear panel to a certain extent, it seems like users will have to use the upcoming Nubia smartphone with a rear cover to protect the protruding module, like Google's Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series of smartphones.
Given the close resemblance to the Nubia Z50S Pro — aside from the camera — it appears that the upcoming smartphone could be equipped with the similar specifications. The handset that was launched in China in July is powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, features a 50-megapixel triple rear camera setup, and sports a 6.78-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,200 nits of peak brightness.
A medal may have eluded them but by finishing a creditable fifth in the final of the men's 4x400 relay at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, the Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh proved that they belong to the big stage.
Karnataka batsman Karun Nair, the only Indian batsman to score a triple century after Virender Sehwag, smashed a belligerent century off just 40 balls during the second semi-final match of Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 2023 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday.Pepe Coin ecosystem is undergoing turbulent times since last week as speculations about the project being a big scam heated up on social media. A Pepe developer has claimed that three members of the memecoin's developer team ‘went rogue' last week and made bulky transfers outside of Pepe's multi-sig wallet for their malicious motives. Since the developer team behind the memecoin remains anonymous, no names of responsible parties have been revealed on public domains.
“$PEPE has unfortunately been plagued by inner strife with a portion of the team being bad actors led by big egos and greed,” the unnamed developer who claims to be in control of the project now published in an explanatory tweet.
Disclosing more details, the developer said the three now ex-members of Pepe's developer team stole 16 trillion or 60 percent of the 26 trillion tokens from its multi-sig wallet and wired them for sale to centralised exchanges.
“They then removed themselves from the multi sig in an attempt to absolve any association to $PEPE, deleting all of their social accounts and leaving me behind nothing but a message stating “the multi-sig has been updated, you are now in full control,” the tweet added.
Without revealing the intensity of losses to the Pepe community and any plans to compensate victims, the anonymous developer did say that most or all of the tokens stolen from Pepe's multi-sig wallet were quickly sold on OKX and Binance.
For now, the remaining 10 trillion tokens in the multi-sig wallet are under the oversight of a trusted project loyalist, the developer claimed.
an announcement to the $PEPE community:
— Pepe (@pepecoineth) August 26, 2023
Yesterday on August 24th, 2023, a series of unexpected transactions took place from the $PEPE multisig CEX
Wallet in which ~16 Trillion $PEPE tokens (worth roughly $15m USD) were transferred to various crypto exchanges (OKX, Binance,… pic.twitter.com/iZmXV1TAvw
While some have lauded Pepe team's transparency following this tweet, the others commented under the post saying they now have concerns about the project.
Only newbies would believe that story
— Klown :slot_machine: (@klown_777) August 26, 2023
Name and shame, take accountability.
— ROLLABLAZΞR :frog: (@rollablazer) August 26, 2023
Last week, the value of Pepe dived by 15 percent and is currently trading at $0.0000008727 (roughly Rs. 0.000072). Not only were the settings of Pepe's multi-sig wallet changed, but also 16 trillion Pepe tokens amounting to $15 million (roughly Rs. 123 crore) were transferred from Pepe's multi-sig wallet into four centralised exchanges.
These factors triggered a climate of FUD — fear, uncertainty, and doubt — among the Pepe community members, many of whom suspected that the entire Pepe project was a sham.
Currently, over 391 trillion Pepe tokens are in circulation out of its pre-decided total supply of over 420 trillion tokens.
The gold in Budapest on Sunday was Neeraj Chopra's second Worlds medal, after a silver last year. But despite garnering so much success, Neeraj is hungry for more. He makes no secret of it. "There is a saying that throwers have no finish line. The best thing is that we have our javelin. We can always push ourselves. I may have won a lot of medals but the motivation is to throw farther and farther," Chopra told gathered members of the media over a Zoom call from Budapest after winning the gold on Sunday.
Neeraj Chopra just gave us the Moon landing in reverse, when he flung his thunderbolt in the warm Budapest air. Flying across lands, sneaking over borders, spanning generations perhaps, it was headed homewards, landing silently, piercing our collective consciousness as a sporting never-before. “I want to thank my fellow Indians back home for their late-night vigil for this. This is for all of India!” India’s first World Athletics Championship gold medal winner would say.Oppo is all set to launch new A series phones, which also includes Oppo A38. The smartphone has reportedly been spotted on various certification sites. While the company is yet to confirm the launch of the smartphone, a recent report has leaked the renders and specification of the purported Oppo A38. The handset is expected to be the successor of the Oppo A36, which was launched last year in January. It came equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SoC, paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB internal storage.
An Appuals report, in collaboration with tipster Sudhansu Ambhore, has leaked the renders, price and certain specifications of the upcoming Oppo A38. The smartphone is said to come in Black and Gold colour variants. The pricing of the smartphone is expected to be around EUR 159 (nearly Rs. 14,200) for the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant.
While the company has not revealed any details about the smartphone, it is reportedly slated to launch in Europe in September. The phone could also come to India and other Asian markets soon. In terms of specifications, the Oppo A38 is said to sport a 6.56-inch LCD HD+ display with 1612X720 pixel resolution, and a refresh rate of 90Hz.
The smartphone from Oppo is expected to be powered by a MediaTek Helio G80 SoC, paired with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. The Oppo A38 could run Android 13 OS with Oppo's ColorOS 13 skin on top. For camera, the smartphone will reportedly pack a dual camera rear unit, led by a 50-megapixel camera with another 2-megapixel macro sensor. On the front, it is said to pack a 5-megapixel selfie lens.
The report also mentions that the OPPO A38 will be backed by a 5,000mAH battery, which could be charged using a USB Type-C cable. With a plastic body, the smartphone is expected to feature an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance.
Neeraj Chopra hit the 88.17 mark on his second try, securing India's first medal in this ongoing World Athletics Championships.
The Oval Invincibles clinched their maiden victory in the men's edition of The Hundred. Overcoming a challenging start, they orchestrated an impressive turnaround to defeat the Manchester Originals by a margin of 14 runs in the final showdown at Lord's on Sunday.
Neeraj Chopra's remarkable journey from a Haryana village, where he was initially persuaded to embrace sports for weight loss, has evolved into a truly spectacular narrative. At the age of 25, he is poised to etch his name as one of India's most revered sporting figures.
Indian superstar Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, becoming the first Indian to achieve this feat at such a prestigious event. Despite facing a minor setback in the opening round, Chopra made a stunning comeback in his second attempt, hurling the javelin to a distance of 88.17m, securing his top position.
Pakistan's Asia Cup squad has welcomed middle-order batsman Saud Shakeel into their ranks, cementing their position as the premier ODI team in the upcoming tournament. This commanding standing follows Pakistan's impressive clean sweep of Afghanistan in a 3-0 series triumph.
The women’s 3000m steeplechase final at the Budapest Worlds will have a tinge of Indian flavour amid an imposing African presence. Meerut girl Parul Chaudhary will compete against long-distance running superstars Faith Cherotich, Beatrice Chepkoech and Jackline Chepkoech of Kenya, Sembo Almayew, Zerfe Wondemagegn and Lomi Muleta of Ethiopia and Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai in Budapest on Sunday.
In a commanding display, Pakistan ascended to the summit of the one-day international rankings by securing a convincing 59-run victory against Afghanistan in the third and final match held in Colombo on Saturday. This triumph marked a resounding 3-0 series sweep by Pakistan.
Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has put forth the notion that Virat Kohli could be the solution to India's persistent dilemma at the No. 4 batting position for the upcoming ICC World Cup.
India will field a new-look team at the World Championships next month. Eight out of the 12 wrestlers selected in the women's freestyle and greco-roman disciplines for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou skipped the selection trials for the Belgrade Worlds held in NIS Patiala on Friday. Three other Asiad-bound grapplers failed to make the cut after losing their final bouts to their respective rivals.
Youngest World Cup chess finalist R Praggnanandhaa has reached a new high in his budding career. The 18-year-old has jumped nine places to achieve a career-high 20th rank in the world and has become India's new No. 3 behind his Chennai mates D Gukesh and mentor Viswanathan Anand.
The non-inclusion of senior team players in the Indian football contingent for the Asian Games and a lack of clarity on whether clubs would release players for the Games were the two primary reasons, apart from the government's selection criteria, why Sports Authority of India (SAI) initially refused to sanction the men's squad for the September 23 to October 8 event in Hangzhou.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has picked his squad for the upcoming ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. The roster features some notable decisions, particularly surrounding the inclusion of players recuperating from injuries.Swiggy, the Softbank-backed food delivery company, is eyeing a 2024 stock market listing and has initiated talks with bankers to assess its valuation, after halting the process for months due to weak markets, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Swiggy, which delivers food from restaurants and also groceries, was valued at $10.7 billion (nearly Rs. 88,350 crore) in its last fundraising in 2022 but like many Indian startups put its IPO plans on hold amid a funding crunch and investor concerns about stretched valuations.
But as global and Indian markets have rebounded Swiggy has restarted its IPO planning by inviting eight investment banks to make pitches in early September to work on the IPO, including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Bank of America, two of the sources said.
Swiggy is using the last funding round valuation of $10.7 billion as a benchmark for IPO planning, said one of the sources, who is directly involved in the planning process. But this source said the company has yet to decide on a potential stake sale or final valuation.
Invesco, a minor shareholder in Swiggy, in May valued the Indian company at around $5.5 billion (nearly Rs. 45,400 crore), it said in a filing.
Swiggy had initially considered raising $800 million (nearly Rs. 6,600 crore) to $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,260 crore) via the IPO, banking sources who worked on it in early 2022 have said.
Swiggy, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment, while Bank of America declined to comment.
The three sources said Swiggy is aiming to list between July-September 2024 which would be after national elections in India due by May.
Swiggy rival Zomato's shares have risen 54.8 percent so far this year, in a sign that investor confidence is returning to India's financial markets.
On Friday, Indian grocery startup Zepto said it has raised $200 million (nearly Rs. 1,650 crore) in fresh funding at a valuation of $1.4 billion (nearly Rs. 11,560 crore), making it the first Indian startup to cross the billion-dollar valuation mark in nearly a year.
Swiggy in May said its core food delivery business had turned profitable, nine years after starting operations, even as its newer grocery delivery service, Instamart, continues to make losses.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Indian badminton player HS Prannoy secured a medal at the World Championships by defeating Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in a thrilling quarterfinal match. The match was a rollercoaster ride as Prannoy fought back from a game down to eventually clinch victory in three tight games.
Indian visually challenged cricket team secured a 7-wicket victory over Bangladesh, propelling them into the final of IBSA World Games 2023, set for an intense title match against Pakistan.Telecom subscriber base in the country grew marginally to 1,173.89 million at the end of June on account of new customer additions led by Reliance Jio, sector regulator TRAI said on Thursday.
The subscriber base growth was driven by mobile telephony where Reliance Jio added over 2.27 million new customers and Bharti Airtel added 1.4 million customers.
"The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,172.57 million at the end of May-23 to 1,173.89 million at the end of June-23, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.11 percent," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in its monthly subscriber report.
However, the overall growth was mitigated by the loss of subscribers by state-owned BSNL, MTNL and Vodafone Idea (VIL).
BSNL lost 1.87 million mobile subscribers, VIL lost 1.28 million subscribers and MTNL (1,52,912 subscribers).
The net addition in wireless subscribers of telecom operators in the month of June was 3,73,602.
"Total wireless subscribers increased from 1,143.21 million at the end of May-23, to 1,143.58 million at the end of June-23, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.03 per cent," Trai said.
After a marginal decline in May, wireline connections increased in June.
The growth in the wireline segment was led by APFPL which added 6,56,424 new connections. It was followed by Reliance Jio with the addition of 2,08,014 connections, Bharti Airtel (1,34,021), V-Con Mobile and Infra (13,100), Tata Teleservices (12,617) and Quadrant added 6,540 connections in June.
The total broadband subscribers increased to 861.47 million at the end of June 2023 from 856.81 million at the end of May with a monthly growth rate of 0.54 per cent, the report said.
"Top five service providers constituted 98.37 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of June-23. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm 447.75 million, Bharti Airtel 248.06 million, Vodafone Idea 124.90 million, BSNL 24.59 million and Atria Convergence 2.16 million," the report said.
Telecom subscriber base in the country grew marginally to 1,173.89 million at the end of June on account of new customer additions led by Reliance Jio, sector regulator TRAI said on Thursday.
The subscriber base growth was driven by mobile telephony where Reliance Jio added over 2.27 million new customers and Bharti Airtel added 1.4 million customers.
"The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,172.57 million at the end of May-23 to 1,173.89 million at the end of June-23, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.11 percent," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in its monthly subscriber report.
However, the overall growth was mitigated by the loss of subscribers by state-owned BSNL, MTNL and Vodafone Idea (VIL).
BSNL lost 1.87 million mobile subscribers, VIL lost 1.28 million subscribers and MTNL (1,52,912 subscribers).
The net addition in wireless subscribers of telecom operators in the month of June was 3,73,602.
"Total wireless subscribers increased from 1,143.21 million at the end of May-23, to 1,143.58 million at the end of June-23, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.03 per cent," Trai said.
After a marginal decline in May, wireline connections increased in June.
The growth in the wireline segment was led by APFPL which added 6,56,424 new connections. It was followed by Reliance Jio with the addition of 2,08,014 connections, Bharti Airtel (1,34,021), V-Con Mobile and Infra (13,100), Tata Teleservices (12,617) and Quadrant added 6,540 connections in June.
The total broadband subscribers increased to 861.47 million at the end of June 2023 from 856.81 million at the end of May with a monthly growth rate of 0.54 per cent, the report said.
"Top five service providers constituted 98.37 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of June-23. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm 447.75 million, Bharti Airtel 248.06 million, Vodafone Idea 124.90 million, BSNL 24.59 million and Atria Convergence 2.16 million," the report said.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday said that Pragyan Rover began its moonwalk on the lunar surface. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), ISRO said, "Chandrayaan-3 Mission. Chandrayaan-3 Rover to MOX, ISTRAC, Moon walk begins!"
Chandrayaan-3 Rover to MOX, ISTRAC, Moon walk begins!#Chandrayaan3
— LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION (@chandrayaan_3) August 24, 2023
Earlier today ISRO also released the images of the Lander Imager Camera which captured the moon's image just before the touchdown on the lunar surface.
"Here is how the Lander Imager Camera captured the moon's image just prior to touchdown," ISRO posted on X.
Here is how the Lander Imager Camera captured the moon's image just prior to touchdown.#Chandrayaan3 #ISRO pic.twitter.com/K6922vjlQi
— LVM3-M4/CHANDRAYAAN-3 MISSION (@chandrayaan_3) August 24, 2023
After a 40-day journey into space, the Chandrayaan-3 lander, 'Vikram', touched down on the uncharted lunar South Pole on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to do so.
India also became only the fourth nation after the US, Russia and China to successfully conduct a lunar landing mission. The country has also become the first nation to make a soft landing on the south pole of the Moon.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft put down the Vikram lander on the lunar surface, tilting to a horizontal position ahead of landing.
The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota on July 14.
A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then, it went through a series of orbital manoeuvres before zeroing in on the moon's surface.
The US Justice Department sued Elon Musk-owned rocket and satellite company SpaceX on Thursday for allegedly discriminating against asylum seekers and refugees in hiring.
"The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act," the Justice Department said in a statement.
In job postings and public statements over several years, SpaceX wrongly claimed that under federal regulations known as export control laws, SpaceX could hire only US citizens and lawful permanent residents, sometimes referred to as "green card holders," the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department also pointed to online posts from the company's billionaire owner Musk as example of "discriminatory public statements."
The lawsuit cited a June 2020 post on X, formerly called Twitter, by CEO Musk to his then 36 million followers that said: "US law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are advanced weapons technology."
US law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2020
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
"Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their hire regardless of their qualification, in violation of federal law," said US Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's civil rights division.
Clarke also said SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials "actively discouraged" asylum seekers and refugees from seeking work opportunities at the company.
The United States seeks fair consideration and back pay for asylum seekers and refugees who were deterred or denied employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination, the Justice Department said.
The lawsuit also seeks civil penalties in an amount to be determined by court and policy changes to ensure SpaceX complies with the federal non-discrimination mandate going forward.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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If having Pele, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi was not enough, India could next host Brazilian superstar Neymar when his new club, Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal, visits the country to play against Mumbai FC in an AFC Champions League game.More than a dozen of the world's biggest tech companies face unprecedented legal scrutiny, as the European Union's sweeping Digital Services Act (DSA) imposes new rules on content moderation, user privacy and transparency this month.
Across the EU, a host of internet giants – including Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms, Chinese-owned video app TikTok and a handful of Google services – are adapting to the new obligations, including preventing harmful content from spreading, banning or limiting certain user-targeting practices, and sharing some internal data with regulators and associated researchers.
The EU is seen as the global leader in tech regulation, with more wide-ranging pieces of legislation – such as the Digital Markets Act and the AI Act – on the way. The bloc's success in implementing such laws will influence the introduction of similar rules around the world.
But researchers have raised questions over whether these companies have done enough to meet lawmakers' expectations.
For now, the rules only apply to 19 of the largest online platforms, those with more than 45 million users in the EU. From mid-February, however, they will apply to a variety of online platforms, regardless of size.
Any firm found in breach of the DSA faces a fine worth up to 6 percent of its global turnover, and repeat offenders may be banned from operating in Europe altogether.
Reuters asked each company designated under the DSA to discuss changes they had made. Most pointed to public blog posts on the matter, declining to comment further, or did not respond at all.
Two of the companies singled out for early regulation – e-commerce giant Amazon and German fashion retailer Zalando – are currently challenging their inclusion on the list in court.
"We can expect that platforms will fight tooth and nail to defend their practices," said Kingsley Hayes, head of data and privacy litigation at law firm Keller Postman. "Especially when new compliance rules encroach on their core business models."
Stress tests
Over the past few months, the European Commission said it had offered to conduct DSA "stress tests" with the 19 platforms.
Such tests assessed whether these platforms could "detect, address and mitigate systemic risks, such as disinformation," a Commission spokesperson said.
At least five platforms have participated in such tests -- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), TikTok and Snapchat. In each case, the Commission said more work was needed to prepare for the DSA.
Now, just as the rules come into effect, research published on Thursday by nonprofit Eko shows Facebook was still approving online ads containing harmful content.
The organization submitted 13 ads containing harmful content for approval, including one inciting violence against immigrants and another calling for the assassination of a prominent Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
Eko said Facebook approved eight of the submitted ads within 24 hours and rejected five. Researchers removed the ads before they were published, so no Facebook users saw them.
In response to the Eko research, Meta said, "This report was based on a very small sample of ads and is not representative of the number of ads we review daily across the world."
This year Global Witness, another nonprofit, claimed Facebook, TikTok and Google's YouTube had all approved ads inciting violence against the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in Ireland.
Responding to the Global Witness research, both Meta and TikTok said at the time that hate speech had no place on their platforms, and that they regularly review and improve their procedures. Google did not respond to a request for comment.
Tricky business
While none of the designated companies have said they will disobey the DSA, Amazon and Zalando have disputed their inclusion on the list.
In July, Amazon filed a legal challenge with the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second highest, arguing that bigger rivals in these countries had not been designated.
It has still introduced a number of new features as part of its DSA compliance programme, such as a new channel for users to report incorrect product information.
Fashion retailer Zalando launched a similar legal challenge, arguing that because only 31 million monthly active users bought from third-party sellers on its platform, it fell below the 45 million user threshold.
It will soon become obvious if any of the designated companies had "skirted their legal responsibilities," said Hayes. "Ironing these obligations out will be a tricky business for any platform with a large user base."
© Thomson Reuters 2023
The moon rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 exited the spacecraft on Thursday morning to begin its exploration of the lunar surface, the country's space agency said on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The spacecraft landed on the unexplored south pole of the moon on Wednesday evening, days after Russia's Luna-25 failed, making India the first country to achieve that feat.
"The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon!" the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in its message.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) August 24, 2023
Chandrayaan-3 ROVER:
Made in India ??
Made for the MOON?!
The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and
India took a walk on the moon !
More updates soon.#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3
Accomplished with a budget of about Rs. 615 crore ($74.58 million), this was India's second attempt to touch down on the moon. A previous mission in 2019, Chandrayaan-2, successfully deployed an orbiter but its lander crashed.
Chandrayaan means "moon vehicle" in Hindi and Sanskrit.
The moon's rugged south pole is coveted because of its water ice, which is believed to be capable of providing fuel, oxygen, and drinking water for future missions, but its rough terrain makes landing challenging.
People across the country tuned in to watch the landing on Wednesday, with nearly 7 million people viewing the YouTube live stream alone.
Prayers were also held at places of worship, and schools organised live screenings of the spectacle for students.
Chandrayaan-3 is expected to remain functional for two weeks, running a experiments including, a spectrometer analysis of the lunar surface's mineral composition.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
A new memecoin going by the name of Shiba Memu is stirring an evident frenzy among members of the crypto community. The AI-laced cryptocurrency has managed to raise over $2 million (roughly Rs. 16 crore) in its pre-sale, that is slated to conclude on September 1. Modelled like the popular Shiba Inu cryptocurrency, the Shiba Memu altcoin is represented as SHMU. At the time of writing, each SHMU is trading at $0.022150 (roughly Rs. 1.83), showed its official website.
Loaded with AI capabilities, the Shiba Memu cryptocurrency has been labelled as self sufficient by its developer team, based in London.
“Unlike other meme tokens, which require significant marketing efforts from human teams to gain traction, Shiba Memu will create its own marketing strategies, write its own PR, and promote itself in relevant forums and social networks,” the project's official website said.
All updates, warnings, and predictions about this cryptocurrency will be published on various social media platforms while also analysing the performance of its marketing strategies and making necessary improvements in real time.
The AI token's tendency to generate hype around it may have a significant impact on its market position and pricing, a Techopedia report said.
“AI-personalised marketing messages based on user behavior, preferences, and other data – massively increase engagement. AI-powered NLP algorithms will (also) analyse social media posts, forums, and other online communities to identify relevant discussions and topics related to Shiba Memu,” the company website noted.
The cryptocurrency will soon be made live to be listed on centralised and decentralised exchanges. The altcoin could first be listed on the BitMart crypto exchange, a CoinTelegraph report said.
Back in May, another memecoin called the Pepe Coin launched discreetly with a ‘no tax policy' making it appealing to small and experimentative investors. $PEPE had also stirred quite the frenzy on social media at the time. Currently, PEPE is trading at $0.0000000002001.
Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.
India cricket legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni's daughter Ziva celebrated the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3's lunar module on the moon's surface. In a video shared by Dhoni's wife on her Instagram stories, Ziva can be seen cheering the historic moment.
R Praggnanandhaa has begun the soft landing towards the World Cup chess title in the knockout format, drawing the second classical game against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on Wednesday.
Jasprit Bumrah, a comeback pacer, led the Indian team to a 2-0 series win against Ireland. The three-match series ended with an abandoned third T20I due to rain in Dublin. Bumrah took four wickets in the two matches, with an average of 9.75.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa's sensational run to the final of the Chess World Cup has drawn praise from several quarters, including legends like Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov.
Pakistan star pacer Haris Rauf claimed a maiden five-wicket haul to hand Pakistan a resounding 142-run victory over Afghanistan in the opening ODI at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota on Tuesday. With this win, Pakistan took 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
As India look to achieve a comfortable clean sweep of Ireland in the three-match T20 series on Wednesday in Dublin, Jasprit Bumrah will need to strike a balance between adding miles to his legs and assessing his team's bench strength.VMware on Tuesday said it has developed a new set of software tools in partnership with Nvidia aimed at businesses which want to develop generative artificial intelligence in their own data centers rather than the cloud.
VMware, which is close to being acquired by chip firm Broadcom in a $69 billion (nearly Rs. 5,73,000 crore) deal, makes software that corporations use to run their privately owned data centers. For more than two decades, VMware's tools have been used by businesses to divvy up the computing power in central processor chips, which are the brains of traditional servers.
On Tuesday, the company released a new set of tools help designed to manage Nvidia chips, which dominate the market for AI systems that can read and write text in human-like ways. Companies like Microsoft, for example, are offering cloud-based systems that can read through a business team's emails and chats and help generate a short update on a the team's progress.
Raghu Raghuram, VMware's chief executive, told Reuters businesses are interested in the technology for everything from helping software developers write code faster to writing legal contracts more quickly. But some VMware customers want to do that work in their own data centers when the data is sensitive.
"Imagine a common use case: I want it to read all my legal contracts so I can generate new contracts faster. Obviously, that is going to be super, super secretive — you don't want that data escaping anywhere," Raghuram said.
VMware said the new tools will be available next year. The company declined to say how it will be priced, other than saying that the cost will be based on how many Nvidia chips the customer uses the software to manage.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Sha'Carri Richardson finally lived up to the promise she had shown for three years. On Monday, the American beat the difficulty of being stuck in lane nine by making a late surge and winning the world 100-meter title in 10.65 seconds, which was a championship record.
Few batsmen terrorized the bowlers like Brendon McCullum did. The best part about this Kiwi is that he is still going after the rival bowlers, thanks to his Bazball theory!As children return to school, two problems have risen to the top of their parent's concerns, the impact of social media and the internet on children's life.
According to the University of Michigan Health CS Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, more than half of parents rank mental health issues as the top health concern for their children and teens.
Overall, mental health and technology use topped this year's top ten list of parent worries about health-related issues for children in the United States, surpassing childhood obesity, which parents ranked as the top children's health issue a decade ago.
“Parents still view problems directly impacting physical health, including unhealthy eating and obesity, as important children's health issues. But these have been overtaken by concerns about mental health, social media and screen time,” said Mott Poll co-director and Mott pediatrician Susan Woolford, MD, MPH.
Two-thirds of parents are worried about children's increased time on devices, including overall screen time and use of social media, taking the No.1 and No.2 spots on the list of children's health concerns this year, according to the nationally representative poll.
“Children are using digital devices and social media at younger ages, and parents may struggle with how to appropriately monitor use to prevent negative impacts on safety, self-esteem, social connections and habits that may interfere with sleep and other areas of health,” Woolford said.
Screen time became a growing concern for parents during the pandemic, previous reports suggest. Woolford encourages parents to regularly evaluate their children's use of technology and consider limiting use if they notice signs of unhealthy interactions or behaviours. Certain social media and device settings can also help protect kids.
Mental, and emotional health concerns are top of mind.
The poll findings, which are based on 2,099 responses collected in February, also demonstrate parents' continued concern about children's mental health. The majority of parents view depression, suicide, stress, anxiety, and related topics like bullying as big problems.
And nearly half of parents expressed concern about a lack of mental health services. “The mismatch between the growing number of youth with mental health concerns and the limited access to mental health services has serious implications for children's well-being,” Woolford said.
Parents also shared a high level of concern about school violence, which may reflect direct experience with school shootings or fights as well as media coverage about such events, Woolford says.
She added that changes to the school environment, such as metal detectors, armed guards and locked doors, as well as active shooter drills may remind children and parents about the potential for school violence. Parents may struggle with how to manage their own stress and anxiety while they try to reassure their children.
“Parents may want to talk with their child periodically about how safe they feel at school and what they've heard about violent incidents,” Woolford said. “They should tailor the information to their child's age and avoid sharing graphic details while offering reassurance about safety measures that their school has in place.”
Parents in low-income households were more likely to view several children's health issues as a major concern, including depression and suicide, bullying, school violence, unsafe neighbourhoods, drinking and drugs, smoking and vaping, teen pregnancy and sexual activity, child abuse and neglect, parental stress, discrimination, COVID, and health risks from pollution.
Meanwhile, parents in middle and high-income homes are more likely to rate overuse of devices and social media as significant problems.
“Differences in how parents view children's health problems may reflect their day-to-day experiences dealing with environmental challenges such as unsafe neighbourhoods, as well as discrimination that may be more frequently experienced by children from low-income homes,” Woolford said.
Concern about a greater number of child health issues may be reflected in this group's higher reports of parental stress as a big problem, Woolford added.
But parents across income groups rated other topics similarly, including unhealthy diet, obesity, healthcare costs, and lack of mental health services.
Falling just outside the top 10 children's health concerns are obesity (48 percent), guns/gun injuries (47 percent), lack of mental health services (47 percent), poverty (45 percent), drinking/using drugs (44 percent), child abuse/neglect (42 percent), followed by unequal access to health care (35 percent), parental stress (35 percent), inaccurate/misleading health information (31 percent), teen pregnancy/sexual activity (31 percent), discrimination (31 percent), unsafe neighbourhoods (30 percent), gay/gender issues (LGBTQ) (29 percent), and health risks from polluted water and air (23 percent).
At the bottom of the list: the safety of vaccines (16 percent), over-involved parents/parents doing too much (13 percent) and COVID (12 percent).
“Today's school-aged children have experienced dramatic shifts in classroom environments, technology norms and increased mental health challenges,” Woolford said.
“Parents should partner with schools, mentors and their child's health care providers to address both ongoing and emerging health concerns. They should also regularly revisit conversations with their children and teens that encourage them to share any concerns they might be experiencing, both physically and emotionally.”
