Author Archives: Naresh Kumar

NASA to stream launch and docking of ‘Progress 94 cargo spacecraft’ to ISS

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NASA is set to broadcast the launch and arrival of a Russian cargo spacecraft carrying essential supplies to astronauts aboard the International Space Station, as part of routine resupply operations that keep the orbital lab running.

The uncrewed Progress 94 spacecraft, operated by Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, is scheduled to lift off on Sunday, March 22, at 7:59 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission will ride aboard a Soyuz rocket and is loaded with nearly three tonnes of food, fuel, and other critical materials for the station’s crew.

NASA will begin live coverage of the launch at 7:30 a.m. EDT. The broadcast will be available on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s official YouTube channel, alongside other digital platforms.

Following a two-day journey in orbit, the spacecraft is expected to dock automatically with the space-facing port of the Poisk module at around 9:34 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 24. Live coverage of the rendezvous and docking is scheduled to start at 8:45 a.m.

Once attached, Progress 94 will remain at the station for roughly six months. During that time, it will serve both as a supply vessel and a storage unit for waste. At the end of its mission, it will detach and burn up upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, safely disposing of onboard trash.

The mission follows the departure of Progress 92, which undocked from the station on March 16 and disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean without incident.

The International Space Station has been continuously inhabited for over 25 years, serving as a hub for scientific research in microgravity. The platform continues to support studies that cannot be conducted on Earth, while also helping space agencies prepare for longer missions beyond low Earth orbit, including NASA’s Artemis programme aimed at returning humans to the Moon, and eventual crewed missions to Mars.

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NASA to Brief Media on X-59 Supersonic Aircraft Flight Tests After 2nd California Mission

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NASA is scheduled to host a media teleconference Friday at 6 p.m. EDT to outline the next phase of flight testing for its X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, with the briefing set to follow the plane’s second test flight over California the same day.

The call will include NASA leadership, representatives from the agency’s Quesst mission, and officials from primary contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. The X-59’s test pilots are also expected to participate, addressing questions about flight conditions and pre-flight preparation protocols.

The Quesst mission, short for Quiet SuperSonic Technology, is designed to gather data on how communities on the ground perceive sonic disturbances from supersonic flight, with the goal of informing potential regulatory changes to current restrictions on overland supersonic commercial travel in the United States. The X-59 is engineered to reduce the sonic boom typically associated with supersonic aircraft to what NASA describes as a quieter “sonic thump.”

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the advanced development division behind the aircraft’s construction, has been working alongside NASA on the program since the agency awarded the contract in 2018. The X-59 completed its first flight in March 2024 at Lockheed’s facility in Palmdale, California.

Full teleconference details and dial-in credentials are expected to be made available through NASA’s media channels ahead of the Friday briefing, which will be streamed on NASA’s YouTube channel. An instant replay will be available online.

Participants include:

  • Bob Pearce, associate administrator, NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Washington
  • Cathy Bahm, project manager, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
  • Peter Coen, Quesst mission integration manager, NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
  • Jim “Clue” Less, X-59 test pilot, NASA Armstrong
  • Pat LeBeau, Lockheed Martin X-59 project manager

To participate in the virtual call, members of the media must RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the event to: kristen.m.hatfield@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.

 

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Scared of spiders? A world without them is true nightmare tale: Study

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The objects of revulsion, disgust and fear are frequently members of the arachnid class–think spiders, scorpions and harvestmen (daddy long legs). However, they are essential towards the prosperity of the ecosystems.

Considering the plummeting global biodiversity, and some even refer to it as the insect apocalypse, two ecologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst chose to see what is generally happening with insects and arachnids in the United States, only to find huge gaps in the data. Their study, which was recently published in PNAS, suggests that an imminent need to evaluate, preserve and appreciate insects and arachnids, which is a major support of planetary health.

The senior author of the paper is Laura Figueroa, an assistant professor of environmental conservation in the UMass Amherst, who writes that insects and arachnids are basic to human society. They are useful in the pollination and control of pests biologically; they may also be used as environmental indicators to monitor air and water quality, and have become so ingrained in various other cultures all over the world that we can think of Aragog in the Harry Potter books, as an example. Many humans are interested in popular charismatic animals on earth such as the lion and the panda which deserved the international conservation interest rightfully. Since insects and arachnids do not normally receive the same attention, we were interested in how they were doing.

To determine the health of our creepier crawlier neighbors, Figueroa and her graduate student, Wes Walsh, the lead author of the paper, compiled conservation assessments of the 99312 known insect and arachnids species in North America, north of Mexico.

Findings mind boggling

As Figueroa says, almost 90 percent of the species of insects and arachnids, or 88.5 percent to be exact, have none of the conservation status. “We do not even know how they are doing. Little is known concerning the conservation requirements of the majority of the insects and arachnids in North America.”

The small data available was skewed to aquatic species that are crucial to water quality surveillance (mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies), and more popular insect fauna such as butterflies and dragonflies got a disproportionate portion of protection.

Even the arachnids are not enjoying conservation; most states do not even protect one species of the spider group. More information and security to the insects, yet arachnids as well, says Walsh.

Another finding made by the team was that states that were most dependent on extractive industries, e.g., mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, had lower chances to protect either insects or arachnids but those with more eco-centric views by the populace were protecting more species.

Comparatively, Figueroa refers to the conservation of birds, which has been much more successful in conservation and preservation of species. According to the research, it turns out that you will get the best conservation efforts when there is a broad and diverse coalition of people. In the example of the birds, they were the hunters, the bird watchers, the nonprofit organizations and many more constituencies that joined their hands in an effort to achieve a unified objective.

Insects and arachnids are not things to be feared, as Walsh ignores with a gorgeous spider tattoo on his arm. It is time to value them and recognize their ecological significance, and this should start with the gathering of more information and the recognition that they deserve conservation.

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New strategy prevents pancreatic cancer removing microscopic lesions early

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A recent preclinical trial using mice reveals that the precancerous cells of the pancreas can be disposed before they can develop into a tumor. Application of an experimental therapy to attack microscopic precancerous lesions in the pancreas was shown to increase survival in mouse models of a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) by nearly 2 times even when the same therapy was administered when the cancer was already present.

The study was carried out under the leadership of physician-scientists of the Perelman school of medicine in the University of Pennsylvania and Abramson cancer center of Penn medicine, which is released to date in Science.

It is also the first instance that scientists have demonstrated that a medical intervention could prevent growth of pre-cancerous lesions in the pancreas before it becomes pancreatic cancer and this is a good indication to the growing area of cancer interception.

I believe that the next age of cancer treatment will be interception, and I am confident that such an endeavor will be developed by cancer treatment experts like Robert Vonderheide, the director of the Abramson Cancer Center. Pancreatic cancer has had a stubborn poor prognosis, scarce treatment options as well as no tested screening and prevention measures. And should we be able to get a means of intercepting it–of detecting and counteracting abnormalities in their first beginnings of malignancy, it would be an issue game changer.

Cancer interception is different to cancer prevention.

Contrary to prevention approaches, like HPV vaccination or ceasing a smoking habit, which seek to ensure that the cancer never develops at all, cancer interception focuses on the first stages of a cell becoming malignant. Colonoscopy can be taken to illustrate an instance of a mechanical interception where the precancerous polyps are removed before they turn into colorectal cancer. Since the harder the malignancy is to treat, the larger it is, the idea of curing the malignant growths before they become cancer is quite a logical one in theory, yet challenging to be proven.

“The paper is a preclinical evidence-of-concept demonstrating that medical cancer interception is better than treatment of a diagnosis,” said the lead author, Minh Than, a clinical and research fellow in the field of Hematology-Oncology. “This research demonstrates the strength of using a proactive approach to cancer, as opposed to a reactive one. This will be interesting to test in our patients in the second stage of this work.”

RAS inhibition is an efficient way of intercepting cancer in mice.

In this research, the researchers employed two experimental inhibitors that are directed to the cancer causing gene, KRAS. KRAS mutations that cause more than 90 percent of pancreatic cancers are the most frequent cancer-causing gene mutation found in all cancers and has been traditionally thought to be undruggable.

The first KRAS inhibitor was approved in 2021 to treat non-small cell lung cancer and since that time, there have been additional KRAS inhibitors entering clinical trials treating various types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer.

The majority of PDAC tumors are seen to be as a result of microscopic lesions referred to as PanINs (pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias), which are too small to be detected through scans, and nearly all the PanINs have KRAS mutations. PanINs are typical in adult pancreases, but the few who become cancer only rarely; researchers are yet to understand the reason behind this unusual malignant conversion. Though this study did not aim at learning the biology or at better detection of PanINs, the research team hypothesized that removing these early lesions with the help of KRAS inhibitors, regardless of their awareness of which have malignant potential, would be an effective approach to preventing their ever transition into PDAC.

The group evaluated the two compounds identified by Revolution Medicines whose scientists participated in the analysis.

Both the compounds are meant to block the RAS when it is in the active or ON form and mediate cancer growth. RMC-9945 is a preclinical tool compound a selective inhibitor of KRAS G12D, the most frequent type of KRAS mutation in pancreatic cancer and it is one of a class of oral RAS(ON) G12D-selective inhibitors, such as the investigational drug candidate zoldonrasib (RMC-9805). RMC-7977 is a compound of clinical tool that targets several variants of RAS(ON) and is an example of oral RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitors that contains an investigational drug candidate daraxonrasib (RMC-6236).

The research team considered the gold standard in the preclinical assessment of potential therapies of PDAC using an immunocompatible mouse model that was developed by Penn and that had a healthy and functional immune system. They firstly laid a baseline of PanIN to PDAC progression development in a control group. Then they treated an intervention group to either RMC-9945 or RMC-7977, following PanIN development, but prior to tumor development. It was also found that the reduction of the precancerous lesions occurred after 10 days of treatment and further reduced upon 28 days of treatment. In this milestone, Tumors took longer to form, and the survival of the mice was higher than in those mice that were not given the intervention. The team then discovered that extended administration of RMC-7977 to PanIN-bearing mice increased median overall survival time threefold in comparison with untreated control group with PanINs. Lastly, the intervention group that was treated earlier before the development of tumors had almost twice the lifespan compared to the group of mice that was treated after tumor development.

Further clinical trial to target high-risk patients.

The direct analogy in this paper places PanINs on the map as the possible targets of intercepting cancer and opens the field to investigate KRAS inhibitors in a new context, co-corresponding author Ben Stanger, MD, PhD, the Hanna Wise Professor in Cancer Research and director of the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center. Nevertheless, due to the fact that PanINs are not visible on imaging tests and we are dealing with the case of treating people who are not cancer-diagnosed, we should seriously consider how to transfer this preclinical study to the appropriate population so that human trials can be conducted.

The team seeks to apply the research to a clinical trial where it targets high-risk patients who are already under monitoring over growths that exceed PanINs in size but still at a low risk of cancer but are usually removed once they attain a specific size. Should such a strategy proceed, the research group believes that it would be most relevant to people with a genetic susceptibility to pancreatic cancer, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 gene mutations, hereditary pancreatitis, precancerous cysts, or other high-risk factors. Eventually, the strategy could be considered for a broader range of individuals at intermediate risk.

Weekender: Inside India’s Global Capability Centre Boom

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Over the past decade, India has quietly become the operational backbone of some of the world’s largest corporations. The country now hosts more than 1,500 Global Capability Centres (GCCs)—specialised hubs where multinational companies manage everything from software engineering and financial analysis to artificial intelligence research.

Bengaluru sits at the heart of this transformation.

The southern technology capital has long been known as India’s Silicon Valley, but its role is evolving. What once began as outsourcing support centres has matured into high-value innovation hubs.

According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), GCCs in India employ nearly two million professionals and generate tens of billions of dollars in annual economic activity.

Companies including Goldman Sachs, Walmart, JPMorgan Chase, Airbus and Bosch operate large centres in Indian cities, particularly Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.

“These centres are no longer just back-office operations,” said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president at NASSCOM. “They are increasingly responsible for product development, digital transformation and advanced research.”

Shift Reflects Logic and Talent Availability

India produces hundreds of thousands of engineering graduates each year, providing companies with a vast pool of skilled workers. Labour costs remain significantly lower than in North America or Europe, but the quality of technical expertise has steadily improved.

At the same time, multinational corporations are seeking to centralise operations and accelerate innovation.

Global capability centres allow companies to bring together diverse functions—from cybersecurity and data analytics to financial planning—under one roof. Many centres now operate around the clock, coordinating with teams across continents.

The growth has also reshaped urban economies.

In Bengaluru, demand from GCC employees has fuelled the expansion of housing markets, commercial real estate and transportation infrastructure. Entire neighbourhoods around tech corridors such as Outer Ring Road and Whitefield have developed to accommodate the growing workforce.

Hyderabad, meanwhile, has emerged as another major GCC hub, attracting companies with lower real estate costs and proactive state government policies.

MNCs largest occupiers of office space in India

Real-estate consultants estimate that multinational firms are among the largest occupiers of office space in India’s technology cities.

The boom shows little sign of slowing.

Industry forecasts suggest the number of GCCs in India could exceed 2,000 within the next five years as companies expand their presence in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and financial technology.

For India, the implications extend far beyond employment.

“These centres place India at the core of global innovation networks,” Gupta said. “The country is moving from a services economy toward a knowledge and technology powerhouse.”

Australian researchers construct tiny AI chip that ‘travels’ at the speed of light

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Australian scientists have developed a miniature-sized artificial intelligence (AI) chip that can perform computations based on the power of light, on a speed comparable to that of light.

The prototype of nano photonic chip, which uses the power of the light particles (photons) is entirely in-house in the Sydney Nano Hub in the University of Sydney.

According to the researchers, the prototype can be significant in creating more energy-efficient hardware in the field of artificial intelligence because the global demand of artificial intelligence is still increasing and such technology might reduce the total energy footprint of future computer systems.

Conventional computer chips are made using electricity to control information; that is, to move tiny and charged particles (electrons) with wire. This produces heat.

The prototype of nano photonic chip utilizes light. Light is able to pass through electrically non-resistant materials and hence does not produce heat in the same manner as electricity. The calculation is automatically done through the nanostructures as the light traverses the chip prototype.

The nanostructure of the chip occupies tens of micrometres, the thickness of a human hair. The combination of the nanostructures assists in creating a neural network: the artificial neurons that imitate the human brain to recognise and perform calculations.

The prototype is capable of calculations at the picosecond level, trillionths of a second – the duration in which light exits the nanostructure.

According to the researchers, the benefits of photonics use is that it is much faster and occurs at the speed of light. Light is also used to run the technology as opposed to electricity. This is in comparison to the existing data centres that use huge quantities of water and energy to operate them.

Professor Xiaoke Yi of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Photonics Research Group said that they had re-imagined how the photonics can be used to create new energy efficient and ultrafast computer processing chips.

Artificial intelligence becomes more or less limited to the energy consumption. This study carries out neural computation with light, which has been demonstrated to be faster, more energy-saving and can be made significantly smaller AI accelerators.

The study was published in Nature Communications, and it illustrates that AI models could be made into nanoscale photonic structures capable of manipulating light in such a way that the mathematical operations necessary to carry out machine learning could be implemented.

The researchers tested the nanophotonic chip by training it on over 10,000 biomedical images (breast, chest and abdomen MRI scans, etc.) and validated the technology.

The nanophotonic neural network demonstrated an approximation of 90 to 99 percent classification in simulations and experiments.

The technology provides a way forward to sustainable AI infrastructure which can facilitate the increasing needs of computing without the proportional increase in power usage.

Better, faster, stronger AI hardware

The science of light particles control is known as photonics, which is abbreviated to photon-based electronics. It has been applied in driving technology that is utilized in day-to-day lives like lasers, fiber-optic network and in medical imaging.

However, the harnessing of photonics to computer processing has been a relatively recent discovery and there has been a growing acuity as the need to harness AI demands grows.

The prototype demonstrates how intelligence can be incorporated directly in nanoscale photonic structures, according to PhD student Joel Sved who was instrumental in design and implementation of the prototype.

The Photonics Research Group of the University of Sydney has a long history of over 10 years of research on how to push the limits of photonics as well as how to upgrade our technology.

It involves application of photonics in solving problems in wireless communications and high-technology sensing that are able to detect and measure chemical or biological traces in the environment.

After the successful experiment with the prototype of the nanophotonic chip, the team headed by Professor Yi is currently developing the technology to the level of larger-scale photonic neural networks.

AI disclosure labels can be more harmful than good, finds Chinese Study

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The increased application of AI-generated scientific and science-related texts, particularly social media, is the source of concern: they can include fake or highly persuasive information, which cannot be easily detected by the users, and can influence the way people think and make decisions.

Various jurisdictions and platforms are heading in the direction of explicitly disclosing AI-generated or AI-synthesised content to safeguard the population. Nevertheless, according to a recent study published in Jacom there is a risk that such labels can backfire, reducing the effectiveness of legitimate scientific knowledge and boosting alleged knowledge.

The Dangers of AI-Scientific Content.

AI content can be deceptive at least on two grounds. To start with, language models can hallucinate and make statements that are valid, but are factually incorrect. Second, the users can intentionally request AI systems to produce fake and plausible messages. Due to this reason, various nations have come up with transparency requirements whereby online content created or synthesized by AI should be clearly labeled.

Teng Lin, a PhD student at the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS), Beijing, and Yiqing Zhang, a Master student at the same school, in their new study tested whether these disclosure labels do what they claim they do; that is, protect the public against misinformation.

Experimental Study

According to Teng, they concentrated on science-related news posted on the social media.

The experimental research was conducted on 433 participants who were online recruited via the Credamo site in the month of March to May 2024. The authors developed four categories of social media posts, including correct information with or without an AI label, and misinformation with or without an AI label. The researchers used GPT-4 to adapt the texts based on the items published by the Science Rumour Debunking Platform in China to produce the correct and deceptive versions of the text in Weibo and were subsequently vetted by the researchers themselves. The participants were requested to provide a rating on the perceived credibility of each of the posts on the basis of 1 to 5. The negative attitudes of the participants toward AI and the level of engagement with this subject were also measured by the researchers.

A Paradoxical Effect

The findings showed an anti-intuitive trend. Teng says that its most significant result is what he refers to as a truth-falsity crossover effect. The same AI label creates two ways and two directions of credibility across messages as to whether the message is true or false where it lowers credibility of true messages and raises credibility of false messages. He further notes that it does not necessarily imply that the effect would be the same on all platforms or formats but in their experimentation the trend was evident.

In this regard, AI disclosure fails to assist individuals in selecting real and fake information. Rather, it seems to redistribute credibility in a counter-intuitive fashion.

Teng and Zhang also discovered that the personal attitudes towards AI are involved. The people with more negative attitudes to AI punished the correct information even more punishments when it was referred to as AI-generated. Nevertheless the credibility enhancement that was seen on misinformation did not entirely vanish in the negative attitudes, rather it was simply attenuated and was attenuated in topics specific manner, not being removed in general.

It implies that so-called algorithm aversion does not contribute to the homogeneous rejection of AI-generated content, but rather causes an even more sophisticated and asymmetrical response.

The necessity of a careful policy formulation.

Such studies emphasise the importance of thorough-testing the regulatory interventions before they are implemented because well-meaning transparency initiatives can have unintended effects.

Teng says, “We provide some recommendations in our paper but they have to be confirmed in order to be accepted as valid.” One of the suggestions is to use a dual-labeling protocol. Rather than just writing that the material is the result of the work of AI, a label might also contain a disclaimer, that the information has not been evaluated separately, or place a warning of a risk. In brief, it might not be enough to tell audiences that a text has been created by AI.

Another suggestion, Teng makes, is the use of graded or categorical system of labeling. Various forms of scientific information have varying risks. As an example, a warning can be more intense with medical or health-related information and less serious with information about new technologies. “Accordingly, we would propose various degrees of disclosure, based on the nature and the risk of the content.”

Charged over false Walmart kidnapping charges, Indian-Origin Man files lawsuit now

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A Georgia man who spent more than six weeks behind bars after being accused of trying to kidnap a toddler inside a Walmart has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging that police and prosecutors pursued charges despite video evidence that contradicted the accusation.

 

Mittal’s Hike Shuts Down After India’s Real-Money Gaming Ban; Decade-Long Journey Over

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Hike, once touted as India’s homegrown rival to WhatsApp and later a promising player in online gaming, has officially shut down after the Indian government imposed a ban on real-money gaming.

Founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal confirmed the closure in a note shared on Substack, calling it “a difficult decision” made after discussions with investors and employees. “Scaling globally would require a full recap, a reset that is not the best use of capital or time,” he wrote, acknowledging that regulatory hurdles in India had curtailed the company’s ambitions.

Launched in 2016 as a messaging platform, Hike had repositioned itself in 2021 as a gaming venture with its platform Rush. Featuring 14 mobile titles, Rush integrated Web3 elements such as play-to-earn mechanics and digital asset ownership. The app grew rapidly, boasting more than 10 million users, $500 million in gross revenue, and nearly $480 million in annual winnings distributed to players.

Ban on Online Gaming

Despite the traction, India’s blanket ban on real-money gaming effectively shut off Hike’s largest market. Mittal noted that while the company’s U.S. operations launched nine months ago were “showing strong growth,” the inability to build scale at home made global expansion unviable.

At its peak, Hike employed about 100 people across India, the U.S., Dubai, and Singapore, organized into what Mittal described as lean, high-performance “SWAT teams.” The venture had backing from some of the world’s biggest investors, including SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, Bharti, Foxconn, Jump Crypto, Tribe Capital, Republic, and Polygon. Individual investors such as Rajeev Misra, Elad Gil, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus had also placed bets on the company.

The shutdown brings an abrupt end to a startup that once symbolized India’s ambition to build global internet platforms, from social messaging to Web3 gaming. Moreover, the abrupt closure of Hike underscores a hard truth for India’s digital economy ahead such as scale, innovation, and marquee investors are no match for abrupt regulatory interventions. Kavin Bharti Mittal’s decision to shut down the once-celebrated startup reveals how vulnerable even well-backed ventures remain in sectors that lack policy clarity.

Platform Rush Experiment

Hike’s trajectory reflects both promise and pitfalls. From its early days as a homegrown rival to WhatsApp, the company successfully reinvented itself by riding India’s booming mobile gaming wave. Its platform, Rush, was no small experiment: it blended traditional casual games with Web3 features, drew over 10 million users, and claimed $500 million in gross revenues. Few Indian consumer internet firms outside e-commerce had achieved such traction in a short span. Yet, one regulatory stroke effectively erased its biggest market.

Above all, the challenge lies in the timing. Mittal argued that while Hike’s U.S. operations were beginning to show growth, building a truly global platform required strong domestic roots. India was intended to provide that base. Instead, the blanket ban on real-money gaming turned a growth story into a cautionary tale. This regulatory unpredictability does not just deter entrepreneurs, it shakes investor confidence in India’s broader digital ecosystem.

The investor roster behind Hike, SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, Polygon, and others, signals that global capital is eager to back Indian startups. But sudden rule changes, without phased implementation or alternative frameworks, risk driving talent and capital abroad. The shutdown also raises questions about India’s ability to nurture world-class consumer internet products, even as the government pushes for “Digital India” and startup-led growth.

Concerns of Addiction Leads to Shutdowns

At the same time, the government cannot remain mute to concerns of addiction over inevitable financial risk without stifling gaming sector. innovation. In fact, the ban on real-money gaming in India has triggered a wave of shutdowns and exits across the country’s once-thriving gaming startup ecosystem. Hike, the messaging-app-turned-gaming company, was the first high-profile casualty, but several others have quickly followed.

Dream Sports, parent of fantasy sports giant Dream11, has begun winding down its real-money gaming divisions. The company has suspended its “cash contests” on platforms like Dream Picks and Dream Play, assuring users that deposits and winnings remain safe.

Mobile Premier League (MPL), another major player in India’s online gaming sector, also suspended deposits and halted its real-money operations. The company has reportedly laid off nearly 60% of its India workforce, underscoring the severity of the regulatory shock.

PokerBaazi, operated by Moonshine (a Nazara Technologies subsidiary), has also ceased offering real-money poker games. While Nazara continues to evaluate the regulatory environment, its gaming subsidiary has been forced to hit pause on its most lucrative business line.

Other firms, including Zupee, Probo, Gameskraft, and WinZO, have likewise suspended or shut down their real-money offerings. Zupee has retained its free-to-play titles, while Gameskraft’s rummy platforms have disabled all “add cash” features. Probo too has discontinued real-money segments to comply with the new rules.

RummyCulture, one of India’s largest online rummy brands, has also closed its cash-game services, further shrinking the space for real-money card-based gaming.

Together, these shutdowns highlight the scale of disruption caused by the new legislation. Startups that collectively served tens of millions of users and attracted billions of dollars in global investment have been forced to exit their primary business overnight.

After tariffs, what’s Trump’s next Move? Watch out US dollar weakening

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As the dust begins to settle down on President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs, speculation is growing over his next move. With the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, Trump has powerful tools to pressure allies—credit access, dollar funding, and payment systems, which may be wielded as powerful weapons to subject compliance from foes and allies together.

Deploying these weapons would carry major risks for the U.S. economy and could backfire, but some experts warn they remain on the table if tariffs fail to cut the trade deficit. A weakening US dollar can have wide-ranging effects across global markets, businesses, and consumers. When the dollar loses value against other currencies, imported goods become more expensive for American consumers, increasing the cost of electronics, automobiles, and household products. Inflationary pressures may also rise as businesses pass on higher costs, eroding purchasing power.

On the other hand, a weaker dollar benefits US exporters by making American goods and services more affordable for foreign buyers. This can boost demand for US-made products, potentially leading to increased revenues for companies with international markets. Sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism often see gains as foreign customers find US goods and destinations more cost-effective.

“I could well imagine Trump getting frustrated and trying to implement wacky ideas, even if the logic isn’t there,” Barry Eichengreen, economics professor at UC Berkeley, told Reuters.

The administration’s apparent goal is to weaken the dollar to rebalance trade, potentially through a Mar-a-Lago Accord—a nod to the 1985 Plaza Accord and Trump’s Florida resort.

Stephen Miran, a Trump adviser, has suggested the U.S. could pressure foreign central banks to strengthen their currencies by leveraging tariffs and security commitments. But analysts say such a deal is unlikely, as higher interest rates would risk recession in Europe and Japan, and China needs a weaker yuan to revive growth.

If currency talks fail, Trump could take more extreme measures, such as restricting foreign access to dollar liquidity. Cutting off Federal Reserve swap lines—vital for global banks in times of crisis—could roil financial markets and hit European, Japanese, and British lenders hardest. Investors and financial markets also react to a weakening dollar in various ways.

US-based investors with holdings in foreign assets may see gains as those investments appreciate in dollar terms. Conversely, foreign investors holding US assets could experience lower returns if the dollar depreciates. The currency’s decline may also impact the bond market, as investors demand higher yields on US Treasury securities to compensate for currency risk.

Though the Fed controls these programs, Trump’s reshuffling of key financial regulators has raised concerns. “It’s no longer unthinkable that this could be used as a nuclear threat in negotiations,” said Spyros Andreopoulos of Thin Ice Macroeconomics.

But such a move could ultimately weaken the dollar’s status as the world’s dominant currency.

Commodity prices often respond significantly to dollar fluctuations. Since key commodities such as oil and gold are priced in US dollars, a weaker dollar generally pushes their prices higher. This can lead to increased costs for businesses that rely on raw materials, further fueling inflationary trends. On the flip side, commodity-producing countries may benefit from stronger revenues as the prices of their exports rise.

Another pressure point is the U.S. payments industry. Visa (V.N) and Mastercard (MA.N) process two-thirds of card transactions in the eurozone. While China and Japan have developed alternatives, Europe remains reliant on U.S. payment networks.

If the White House pressured these firms to cut off services—similar to actions taken against Russia—European consumers would be forced to rely on cash or slow bank transfers. “A hostile U.S. is a huge setback,” said Maria Demertzis of the Conference Board think tank. International trade dynamics can shift as countries reassess their economic strategies in response to currency fluctuations.

Ultimately, a weaker dollar carries both advantages and disadvantages depending on one’s perspective. While US manufacturers and exporters may enjoy competitive benefits, consumers and businesses reliant on imports could face higher costs. Investors must navigate currency risks carefully, and policymakers must balance economic growth with inflation control. The dollar’s movements influence economies worldwide, making its strength or weakness a critical factor in global financial stability.

Weakening Dollar

A weakening US dollar can have wide-ranging effects across global markets, businesses, and consumers. When the dollar loses value against other currencies, imported goods become more expensive for American consumers. Precisely because it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of foreign currency, raising the cost of imported electronics, automobiles, and everyday household products. Inflationary pressures may also increase as businesses pass higher costs on to consumers, reducing purchasing power.

On the other hand, a weaker dollar benefits US exporters by making American goods and services more affordable for foreign buyers. This can boost demand for US-made products, potentially leading to increased revenues for companies with international markets. Sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism often see gains as foreign customers find US goods and destinations more cost-effective.

Investors and financial markets also react to a weakening dollar in various ways. US-based investors with holdings in foreign assets may see gains as those investments appreciate in dollar terms. Conversely, foreign investors holding US assets could experience lower returns if the dollar depreciates. The currency’s decline may also impact the bond market, as investors demand higher yields on US Treasury securities to compensate for currency risk.

Commodity prices often respond significantly to dollar fluctuations. Since key commodities such as oil and gold are priced in US dollars, a weaker dollar generally pushes their prices higher. This can lead to increased costs for businesses that rely on raw materials, further fueling inflationary trends. On the flip side, commodity-producing countries may benefit from stronger revenues as the prices of their exports rise.

Government policies may force the Federal Reserve respond by adjusting interest rates to stabilize the currency and control inflation. Meanwhile, other central banks might intervene in currency markets to prevent excessive volatility. International trade dynamics can shift as countries reassess their economic strategies in response to currency fluctuations.

 

India’s Employability Up From 33.9% in 2014 to 51.3% in 2024: Skill Development Ministry

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India is experiencing a remarkable transformation in youth employability, with the rate rising from 33.9% in 2014 to 51.3% in 2024, driven by government-led skill development initiatives. As the country with one of the youngest populations in the world, India is harnessing its demographic dividend and positioning itself to become a global skill capital.

Key Government Initiatives

One of the flagship initiatives fueling this growth is the Internship Scheme, which was introduced in the Union Budget 2024-25. This program aims to offer one crore internship opportunities to Indian youth over the next five years, focusing on top 500 companies. These 12-month internships are designed to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical industry experience, preparing young Indians for the evolving demands of the workforce.

The pilot phase of this program was launched on October 3, targeting 1.25 lakh internships in the fiscal year 2024-25. Companies participating in the program were selected based on their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributions, and the scheme functions independently of other government skill development programs. A dedicated portal opened for applications on October 12.

Comprehensive Support for Interns

Interns selected for the Scheme receive financial and logistical support throughout their tenure. Each intern is provided a monthly stipend of ₹5,000, with ₹500 contributed by the company’s CSR fund and ₹4,500 transferred directly by the government to the intern’s Aadhaar-linked bank account. Additionally, a one-time grant of ₹6,000 for incidental expenses is provided when the intern joins. The company covers training costs from its CSR funds, ensuring that interns are well-prepared for the workplace.

Interns are also insured under government schemes, with companies having the option to provide additional accidental coverage. This approach ensures that young professionals are financially supported and protected during their internships, promoting a safe and structured learning environment.

Indian Institute of Skills: Preparing for Industry 4.0

In addition to the internship program, the establishment of the Indian Institute of Skills (IIS) represents a significant effort in preparing India’s youth for Industry 4.0. Opened in Mumbai, the IIS offers training in cutting-edge fields such as factory automation, artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, mechatronics, and data analytics. These programs are designed to develop an industry-ready workforce that is capable of adapting to modern technological advancements.

Both the Internship Scheme and the IIS are part of a larger government strategy to bolster the employability of India’s youth and equip them with the skills necessary for the future workplace.

 

Sensex Drops 230 Points as Auto and Finance Stocks Weigh on Markets

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Indian equity markets closed lower on Friday, with the Sensex falling by 230 points, or 0.28%, to 81,381, and the Nifty slipping by 34 points, or 0.14%, to 24,964. The decline was primarily driven by a sell-off in financial and auto stocks, alongside weakness in shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The banking sector bore the brunt of the downturn, with the Nifty Bank index falling by 358 points, or 0.70%, to 51,172. However, there was some relief in the midcap and smallcap segments. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose by 276 points, or 0.47%, to 59,212, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 108 points, or 0.58%, to 19,008.

Sector-wise, IT, pharma, metal, media, energy, infrastructure, commodities, and consumption stocks performed well, while auto, financial services, real estate, private banks, and services were the major laggards.

Among the top gainers in the Sensex pack were HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Titan, Wipro, Sun Pharma, L&T, SBI, Bharti Airtel, and Tata Steel. On the other hand, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, ITC, HDFC Bank, and TCS were the top losers.

Market experts attributed the sideways movement to a lack of strong triggers that could drive the market decisively. An uptick in the US 10-year bond yield, driven by an unexpected rise in US core inflation, and caution ahead of the earnings season contributed to the cautious sentiment. Additionally, ongoing geopolitical tensions led foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to shift their focus toward more affordable markets, impacting domestic liquidity.

FIIs continued to sell off on October 10, offloading equities worth Rs 4,926 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying spree, purchasing shares worth Rs 3,878 crore on the same day.

The markets opened on a negative note earlier in the day, with the Sensex down by 142 points, or 0.17%, to 81,469, and the Nifty down by 36 points, or 0.12%, to 24,960.

Strategic Surge: Indian Auto Sector Sees Record 32 Deals Worth $1.9 Billion In Q3

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The Indian auto sector recorded a remarkable $1.9 billion across 32 deals in the third quarter of 2023, marking the highest level of quarterly deal activity since the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a report by Grant Thornton Bharat. This surge in deals highlights a significant recovery for the sector, driven by strong investments in technology, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and an increased focus on global partnerships.

The growth was largely propelled by three high-value deals totaling $300 million, a sharp increase compared to the previous quarter, which saw only one $100 million deal. The most notable investment was WestBridge Capital’s $200 million infusion into Rapido, a clear sign of the growing investor confidence in the sector.

Mergers and acquisitions in the auto sector saw a considerable boost, with six deals worth $74 million in Q3, representing a 20% rise in deal volumes and a 30% increase in value compared to Q2. This uptick reflects the sector’s ability to recover from the global pandemic and signals an increasing focus on international collaborations. Notably, outbound M&A activity grew, with two key deals centered on auto components and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, indicating a shift towards technological innovation and global expansion.

Increased Focus on Auto-Tech and Components

The report also pointed to a growing investor interest in auto-tech and auto-component subsectors. This shift towards technological advancement, particularly in EVs and automation, resulted in a 30% increase in deal values compared to the previous quarter. The industry’s recovery, following a 67% decline in Q2, underscores its resilience and adaptability to shifting market demands.

The report further highlighted the growing concentration of high-value deals. The top two investments in the quarter accounted for 55% of total private equity (PE) deal value, reflecting increased investor confidence in the auto sector’s long-term potential. The average deal size also jumped to $25 million, up from $18 million in the second quarter, showcasing the rising interest in larger, more strategic investments.

The Indian auto sector’s record deal activity in Q3 reflects its growing attractiveness as an investment destination. With a strong focus on innovation, global partnerships, and long-term growth, the industry is poised for sustained expansion. As the sector continues to embrace technological advancements and alternative fuel solutions, its role in the global automotive landscape is set to grow even further.

The resurgence of the Indian auto industry, despite pandemic challenges, highlights its potential for value creation and its pivotal position in the broader economic recovery.

Tirupati Laddu Controversy: Supreme Court Orders Independent SIT Probe Under CBI Supervision

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In a significant development that has caught the attention of millions of devotees worldwide, the Supreme Court of India has ordered an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the controversy surrounding the alleged use of animal fat in the preparation of Tirupati laddus. These laddus are a sacred prasadam at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati. The probe will be supervised by the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), ensuring a high level of scrutiny and impartiality.

The SIT, as directed by the apex court, will comprise two officers from the CBI, two from the Andhra Pradesh State Police, and a senior official from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). This diverse composition of the team is expected to bring a balanced and comprehensive approach to the investigation. The controversy erupted following allegations that substandard ghee containing animal fat was used to prepare the laddus during the previous regime of Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The Allegations and Public Outcry

The allegations were raised by the current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, leading to a significant public outcry and a subsequent Supreme Court order for an independent SIT probe. The Supreme Court, in its order, clarified that it had not delved into the allegations or counter-allegations and that its decision should not be construed as a reflection on the independence and fairness of the members of the SIT formed by the Andhra Pradesh Police. The Court emphasized that it would not allow the apex court to become a political battlefield.

The Court’s decision to order an independent SIT probe was influenced by the actions of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister. The Court criticized Naidu for making public statements about the alleged use of animal fat in the Tirupati laddus before a thorough investigation was conducted. The Court observed that such statements by a high constitutional functionary could affect public sentiment and the investigation’s fairness.

The Court’s Observations and Decision

The Court noted that the Chief Minister made his statement on September 18, even before the FIR was lodged on September 25 and the SIT was constituted the following day. The Court stated, “We are, prima facie, of the view that it was not appropriate on the part of a high constitutional functionary to go public to make a statement which can affect the sentiment of crores of people and when investigation to find out adulterated ghee was used to make laddus was underway.”

Soon, AP Chief Minister responded in a post on X stating, “I welcome the Honourable Supreme Court’s order of setting up SIT, comprising officers from CBI, AP Police and FSSAI to investigate the issue of adulteration of Tirupati laddu.”

The Court’s decision to order an independent SIT probe was also influenced by the need to maintain the investigation’s neutrality and respect for the religious sentiments of devotees. The Court stated, “We do not want this to turn into a political drama because the sentiments of crores of people across the world are involved. Therefore, if there is an independent body, everybody will have confidence.”

No wonder, the Supreme Court’s decision to order an independent SIT probe into the Tirupati laddu controversy is a significant development that underscores the importance of maintaining the sanctity of religious practices and the need for impartiality in investigations involving sensitive issues. The probe’s outcome will be keenly awaited by millions of devotees worldwide, as it will not only shed light on the allegations but also set a precedent for handling similar controversies in the future.

Agni-5: Simple tweet by Indian embassy in China on Mission Divyastra goes viral

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The Indian embassy’s social media post celebrating the successful test flight of the indigenously developed Agni-5 ballistic missile has gone viral, accumulating more than 10,000 likes and 3,000 reposts.

The post, shared on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) by the Indian embassy in China, praised the achievement and shared Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message to the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists.

Prime Minister Modi on Monday hailed Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of homegrown Agni-5 ICBM with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle technology (MIRV), terming it a landmark achievement by DRDO scientists.

“Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable re-entry vehicle technology,” he posted on X.

While the Agni-5 missile is a potent ingredient in defence preparedness as it puts India in the select league of nations with ICBM capability, the development of MIRV technology – where the payload contains several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target, makes India only the sixth country with this technology.

This system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages, which ensure that the re-entry vehicles (warheads) reach the target points within the desired accuracy. The capability is an enunciator of India’s growing technological prowess, sources said.

India’s successful test of the Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) technology, dubbed Mission Divyastra, marks a significant milestone in enhancing the nation’s nuclear deterrence capabilities, particularly against adversaries like China. India becomes the sixth nation globally to possess this advanced technology, joining the ranks of the P5 countries (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States).

With a range of 5,000-7,000 km, the Agni-5 missile is specifically aimed at bolstering India’s defense posture against China. Previous successful tests in November 2021 and December 2022 laid the groundwork for this latest achievement. The new MIRV capability allows a single missile to deploy multiple warheads, significantly enhancing India’s strategic capabilities.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seizes gold valued at Rs 11.65 crore being smuggled through North-East Borders, 4 held

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11 cases of gold seizures of 121 kg in September 2022by DRI in the North East Corridor.

The recent gold seizures in the North East by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) indicate a spurt in smuggling of gold through NE borders of Bangladesh and Myanmar. While the porous borders have been used for smuggling in the past, 11 cases of gold seizures of 121 kg in September 2022alone show that the NE corridor is still extensively being used by smugglers deploying ingenious ways of concealment.

Acting on specific intelligence and in three coordinated interceptions at Patna, Delhi and Mumbai, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized65.46 kg of foreign origin gold worth Rs 33.40 crore. The gold was consigned from Aizwal to Mumbai in domestic courier consignment. The gold was concealed in gunny bags declared as clothes.

                                                 Pictures exhibiting concealment of foreign origin gold in vehicles

In yet another case of smuggling through the same route, the DRI seized another big haul of smuggled foreign origin gold weighing approximately 23.23 kg and valued at Rs.11.65 crore (approx.) which was being smuggled from Myanmar.Specific intelligence indicated that substantial quantity of foreign origin gold will be attempted to be smuggled from Champhai-Aizawl, Mizoram to Kolkata, West Bengal by carrying/concealing them in vehicle. To interdict the contraband, coordinated action was undertaken on 28th – 29th September 2022.The DRI officers mounted surveillance on the highway connecting Siliguri – Guwahati. Four passengers travelling in 2 suspect vehicles were identified and intercepted. After thorough rummaging of the two vehicles over a period of 2 days, 23.23 Kg gold concealed in the vehicle body in the form of 21 cylindrical pieces, was recovered. The gold in this case was cast in order to fit in the specifically made cavity inside the cross-member metal pipe connecting the right and left rails of chassis behind the rear wheels and suspension in both the vehicles. The recovered gold had been smuggled into India from Myanmar through Zokhawthar border in Mizoram. Four persons have been arrested in the instant case so far.

In another 9 cases in the month, DRI recovered and seized 27 kg smuggled gold form various carriers coming from North-Eastern part of the country to the rest of the country. These series of detections have helped unearth novel modus operandi of smuggling foreign origin gold into India from the North-Eastern part of the country.

Further investigation is in progress.

 

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence foils attempts of gold smuggling, seizes 65.46 kg of gold at Mumbai, Patna, Delhi

Schedule for Assembly Bye-election in Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh,Odisha

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The Commission has decided to hold the bye-election to fill vacancies in the following Assembly Constituencies of Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha: –

Sl. No. Name of State Assembly Constituency No. & Name
Maharashtra 166-Andheri East
Bihar 178-Mokama
Bihar 101-Gopalganj
Haryana 47-Adampur
Telangana 93-Munugode
Uttar Pradesh 139-Gola Gokrannath
Odisha 46-Dhamnagar(SC)

Schedule for the bye election is as follows:

Schedule for Bye-election for Assembly Constituencies
Poll Events  Schedule

 
Date of Issue of Gazette Notification 7th October, 2022

(Friday)
Last Date of Nominations 14th October, 2022

(Friday)
Date for Scrutiny of Nominations 15th October, 2022

(Saturday)
Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures 17th October, 2022

(Monday)
Date of Poll 3rd November, 2022

(Thursday)
Date of Counting 6th November, 2022

(Sunday)
Date before which election shall be completed 8th November, 2022

(Tuesday)

 

  1. ELECTORAL ROLLS

The Electoral Rolls for the aforesaid Assembly Constituencies w.r.t 01.01.2022 will be used for these elections.

  1.  ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES(EVMs) & VVPATs

The Comission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.

  1. IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS

Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, any of the below mentioned identification documents can also be shown at the polling station:

  1. Aadhar Card,
  2. MNREGA Job Card,
  3. Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office,
  4. Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour,
  5. Driving License,
  6. PAN Card,
  7. Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR,
  8. Indian Passport,
  9. Pension document with photograph,
  10. Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State Govt./PSUs/Public Limited Companies, and
  11. Official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs.
  12. Unique Disability ID (UDID) Card, M/o Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India

 

  1. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT

The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Parliamentary / Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification as issued vide Commission’s instruction No. 437/6/1NST/2016-CCS, dated 29thJune, 2017 (available on the commission’s website).

  1. INFORMATION REGARDING CRIMINAL ANTECEDENTS

Candidates with criminal antecedents are required to publish information in this regard in newspapers and through Television channels on three occasions during the campaign period. A political party that sets up candidates with criminal antecedents is also required to publish information about criminal background of its candidates, both on its website and also in newspapers and Television channels on three occasions.

Commission vide its letter No. 3/4/2019/SDR/Vol. IV dated 16th September, 2020 has directed that the period specified will be decided with three blocks in the following manner, so that electors have sufficient time to know about the background of such candidates:

  1. Within first 4 days of withdrawal.
  2.   Between next 5th– 8thdays.
  3.   From 9th day till the last day of campaign (the second day prior to date of poll)

 (Illustration: If the last date for withdrawal is 10th of the month and poll is on 24th of the Month, the first block for publishing of declaration shall be done between 11th and 14th of the Month, second and third blocks shall be between 15th and 18th and 19th and 22nd of that Month, respectively.)

This requirement is in pursuance of the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Writ Petition(C) No. 784 of 2015 (Lok Prahari Vs. Union of India & Others) and Writ Petition(Civil) No. 536 of 2011 (Public Interest Foundation & Ors. Vs. Union of India & Anr.).

This information will also be available on an App titled, ‘know your candidates’.

  1. COVID RELATED ARRANGEMENT DURING BYE-ELECTION-

In view of overall improvement in the situation of COVID country wide and in view of withdrawal of restrictive measure under D M Act by NDMA/SDMA, it has been decided to follow the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India from time to time.  During the process of bye election, there should be continued focus on the five-fold strategy, i.e. Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour.  The District machinery should effectively monitor COVID situation and enforce the norms of COVID Appropriate Behaviour by prescribing requisite legal/administrative norms.

 

Bathukamma festival: Colourful flower show illuminates India Gate in Delhi [Photos]

Vice President flags off Jaipur Foot team to Syria to provide artificial limbs to amputees

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‘Nothing is more religious than serving the people in need’ says Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Dhankhar lauds the efforts of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) for their untiring efforts, Says, ‘BMVSS’ service for humanity reflects India’s civilisational ethos of sharing and caring’.

The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today said that “there is nothing more religious than serving the people in need” and urged people to give back to society in their capacity.

The Vice President flagged off a team of eight persons from Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) going to Syria to set up an on-the-spot artificial limb (Jaipur Foot) fitment camp. The team will be setting up a camp in Damascus, Syria to provide 600 artificial limbs to amputees in 42 ensuing days.

 

  The Vice President flagging off the team from Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) to Syria to set up an on-the-spot artificial limb (Jaipur Foot) fitment camp from Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas today.

 

Lauding the efforts of BMVSS, Shri Dhankhar said the organisation, by popularising the Jaipur Foot around the world and providing their services free of cost, has demonstrated India’s civilisational ethos of sharing and caring. He said that, as with their other initiatives, the latest effort will also generate enormous good-will for India.

 

Shri Dhankhar complimented the team for their courage to take up the mission in Syria and wished them all success in their endeavours. He also interacted with the team from BMVSS, led by its founder, Shri D.R. Mehta and some of its beneficiaries using the Jaipur foot.

The Vice President interacting with the beneficiaries of Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) using the Jaipur Foot at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas today.

It is notable that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi visited one such centre of BMVSS in Philippines in 2017, and the former Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a fitment camp of BMVSS in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2019.

$250 Million Siphoned Off in COVID Time Scam: ‘Feeding Our Future’, 47 Suspects Charged by FBI

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Forty-seven suspects have been indicted so far on charges of defrauding a federally funded child nutrition program of more than $250 million, meant for reimbursements for the costs of serving meals to children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The investigators believe few meals were ever provided and accused the defendants of misusing the money to purchase cars, vacations, coastal resort properties, electronics, and other luxury items for themselves. The large-scale scam represents the largest theft of federal funds allocated to pandemic aid to date, said FBI.

At the center of the investigation is a now-closed Minneapolis nonprofit called “Feeding Our Future” and its former founder and executive director, Aimee Bock, who oversaw the scheme and has been indicted on multiple fraud and bribery charges.

FBI agents, along with investigators from the IRS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, prepare to execute one of 25 search warrants carried out in the early morning hours of January 20, 2022, as part of the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation / FBI

FBI agents, along with investigators from the IRS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, carried out 25 search warrants in the early morning hours of January 20, 2022, as part of the fraud investigation.

Feeding Our Future had served as a sponsor for numerous organizations that signed up to participate in the Federal Child Nutrition Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with states distributing funds locally. Under the program, Feeding Our Future allegedly used its position as a sponsor to engineer a massive fraud scheme.

The charges allege that beginning in early 2020, the organization began recruiting individuals and entities to open fake Federal Child Nutrition Program sites throughout Minnesota., which fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed despite having few—if any—staff and little to no experience serving this volume of meals. In exchange, Feeding Our Future received more than $18 million in administrative fees it was not entitled to.

Feeding Our Future employees also allegedly solicited and received bribes and kickbacks from the individuals and companies it sponsored. Many of these kickbacks were paid in cash or disguised as “consulting fees” to shell companies. In total, Feeding Our Future opened more than 250 sites throughout Minnesota between March 2020 and January 2022 and falsely claimed to have served 125 million meals.

How the defendants perpetrated the fraud:

  • Conspirators submitted a fake attendance roster of 2,040 children who attended one of the sponsor’s afterschool programs during the pandemic but only 20 names matched.
  • One site claimed to serve 2,000 to 3,000 meals per day, seven days a week, from a restaurant that previously had only a few dozen customers a day and $500-$600 in daily sales the previous year.
  • One roster was created using names from a website called listofrandomnames.com. Because the program only reimbursed for meals served to children, other defendants used an Excel formula to insert a random age between 7 and 17 into the age column. In some reports, the names of the children would stay the same, but their ages would change.

More than 250 law enforcement personnel took part in executing the search warrants and then the evidence was brought to the FBI Minneapolis Field Office, where the FBI’s forensic accountants untangled the scheme.

During a news conference announcing the charges, FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Paul said, “During this investigation, the FBI followed many trails—including both money trails and paper trails—filled with falsified invoices and receipts, fictitious names, and an inconceivable number of meals allegedly served, all representing an astonishing display of deceit and evidence of outright fraud.”

To date, the FBI and its law enforcement partners have conducted more than 100 search warrants, completed an additional 100 seizure warrants, and reviewed more than 1,000 bank accounts.  The 18-month long investigation was extremely complex, but the crime was quite simple. “It was just a massive fraud scheme,” said Paul.

The government so far has been able to recover $50 million from 60 bank accounts, 45 pieces of property, and numerous vehicles and additional items, such as electronics and high-end clothing.

 

Frozen embryo transfers linked with high blood pressure risks in pregnancy; What is sibling comparison?

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In vitro fertilization (IVF) using frozen embryos may be associated with a 74% higher risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

In comparison, the study found that pregnancies from fresh embryo transfers – transferring the fertilized egg immediately after in vitro fertilization (IVF) instead of a frozen, fertilized egg – and pregnancy from natural conception shared a similar risk of developing a hypertensive disorder.

High blood pressure during pregnancy often signals preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication including persistent high blood pressure that can endanger the health and life of the mother and fetus. Approximately 1 out of every 25 pregnancies in the United States results in preeclampsia, according to the American Heart Association.

One IVF treatment process available utilizes frozen embryos: after an egg is fertilized by sperm in the lab, it is frozen using a cryopreservation process before being thawed and transferred to the uterus at a later date. The procedure is becoming more common because of the significantly improved freezing technology or cryopreservation methods that started in the late 2000s and because more patients are choosing to freeze embryos, according to the study authors. Yet, frozen embryo transfer is known to be associated with a higher risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy than both natural conception and fresh embryo transfer. However, prior to this study, it was unknown whether this was due to the freezing process or a risk factor from the parents.

“Frozen embryo transfers are now increasingly common all over the world, and in the last few years, some doctors have begun skipping fresh embryo transfer to routinely freeze all embryos in their clinical practice, the so-called ‘freeze-all’ approach,” said Sindre H. Petersen, M.D., the study’s lead author and a Ph.D. fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.

Researchers examined national data from medical birth registries from Denmark, Norway and Sweden of nearly 2.4 million women who were ages 20 to 44 years old who had single deliveries and gave birth during the study period – from 1988 through 2015. These data were the basis of a population-based study that also included a comparison of women who had both an IVF pregnancy and a naturally conceived pregnancy, called sibling comparison. This approach was used to isolate if the potential reason for the hypertensive disorders was attributable to parental factors or to the IVF treatment.

pregnant lady/Commons.wikimedia.org

The study included more than 4.5 million pregnancies, of which 4.4 million were naturally conceived; more than 78,000 pregnancies were fresh embryo transfers; and more than 18,000 pregnancies were frozen embryo transfers. Among all of the pregnancies, more than 33,000 were grouped for sibling comparison – mothers who conceived via more than one of these methods. The study is the largest to-date using sibling comparison. The odds of developing hypertensive disorders in pregnancy after fresh vs. frozen embryo transfers compared to natural conception were adjusted for variables such as birth year and the mother’s age.

“In summary, although most IVF pregnancies are healthy and uncomplicated,” Petersen said. “This analysis found that the risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy was substantially higher after frozen embryo transfer compared to pregnancies from fresh embryo transfer or natural conception.”

Specifically, the study found:

  • In the population analysis, women whose pregnancy was the result of a frozen embryo transfer were 74% more likely to develop hypertensive disorders in pregnancy compared to those who conceived naturally.
  • Among women who had both a natural conception and an frozen embryo transfer IVF conception (the sibling comparison), the risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy after frozen embryo transfer was twice as high compared to pregnancies from natural conception.
  • Pregnancies from fresh embryo transfer did not have a higher risk of developing hypertensive disorders compared to natural conception, neither in population level analysis nor in sibling comparisons.

“Our sibling comparisons indicate that the higher risk is not caused by factors related to the parents, rather, however, that some IVF treatment factors may be involved,” Petersen said. “Future research should investigate which parts of the frozen embryo transfer process may impact risk of hypertension during pregnancy.”

Among other findings, women in the study who gave birth after IVF pregnancies were average age 34 years for frozen embryo transfer, 33 years for fresh embryo transfer and 29 years for those who conceived naturally. About 7% of babies conceived from frozen embryo transfer were born preterm (before 40 weeks gestation) and 8% of babies after fresh embryo transfer were born preterm, compared to 5% of babies after natural conception.

In addition to preeclampsia, the researchers defined hypertensive disorders in pregnancy as a combined outcome, including gestational hypertension, eclampsia (the onset of seizures in those with preeclampsia) and chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia.

One limitation of the study was the lack of data on the kind of frozen embryo cycle, so they were not able to pinpoint what part of the frozen cycle or frozen transfer may contribute to the higher risk of hypertensive disorders. Another limitation is that data from Scandinavian countries may limit generalizing the findings to people in other countries.

“Our results highlight that careful consideration of all benefits and potential risks is needed before freezing all embryos as a routine in clinical practice.  A comprehensive, individualized conversation between physicians and patients about the benefits and risks of a fresh vs. frozen embryo transfer is key,” said Petersen.