Central News Hub

Month: September 2022

  • FATF team concludes visit to Pakistan

    FATF team concludes visit to Pakistan

    The findings of the 15-member FATF team would be discussed and reviewed in the next meeting of FATF, scheduled in Paris in October…reports Asian Lite News

    A 15-member team of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) quietly concluded a five-day visit to Pakistan, a move that may pave the way for Islamabad to finally exit the grey list, local media reported.

    The findings of the 15-member FATF team would be discussed and reviewed in the next meeting of FATF, scheduled in Paris in October, The Express Tribune reported.

    The positive outcome of the onsite team’s findings would allow Pakistan to finally come clean over deficiencies in the system to curb money laundering and terror financing.

    Official sources confirmed that the FATF team, which was given a state guest level protocol, stayed in the country from August 29 to September 2, The Express Tribune reported.

    The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved a special grant of Rs7 million for FATF Secretariat to provide the 15-member FATF team accommodation, food and travel.

    The visit was kept under wraps but sources said the FATF delegation held meetings with the relevant authorities and verified the steps Pakistan had taken to fulfil the condition of international financial watchdog on money laundering and terror financing.

    The FATF in June had hinted at Pakistan’s removal from the grey list after it concluded that Pakistan complied with the 34-point plan of action and agreed to send its team for the verification of those steps.

    Pakistan was placed on the grey list by FATF in June 2018 for deficiencies in its system to curb money laundering and terror financing.

    It was first given a 27-point action plan and later another seven-point plan to comply with the FATF’s standards, The Express Tribune reported.

    ALSO READ: China accounts for 30% of Pakistan’s foreign debt

  • Bombay HC issues notices to Centre, Bill Gates, SII

    Bombay HC issues notices to Centre, Bill Gates, SII

    The petitioner is Dilip Lunawat, who has contended that his daughter Snehal Lunawat, 33, who was also a Senior Lecturer at the SMBT Dental College & Hospital in Nashik, was compelled to take the vaccine…repirts Asian Lite News

    The Bombay High Court has issued notices to the Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the Centre in a case filed by an Aurangabad man alleging that his medico daughter died due to the side-effects of the Covishield vaccine and sought Rs 1,000-crore as compensation.

    The petitioner is Dilip Lunawat, who has contended that his daughter Snehal Lunawat, 33, who was also a Senior Lecturer at the SMBT Dental College & Hospital in Nashik, was compelled to take the vaccine along with all other healthworkers there.

    Dilip Lunawat said that his daughter was assured that the vaccines were completely safe and posed no risks/threats to her body, and attached his daughter vaccine certificate (January 28, 2021), and how she died on March 1, 2021, due to the alleged side-effects of the Covishield vaccine.

    A few days later, she suffered severe headaches and vomiting and was rushed to a hospital where doctors detected bleeding in her brain and she later succumbed owing to the purported aside-effects of the vaccine’, as per Lunawat’s plea.

    He also cited the views and interviews of experts like the Drug Controller-General of India, Dr. V.G. Somani, and AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria, making them respondents along with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and how the incident figured in the Centre’s own Adverse Events Following Immunisation Report of October 2, 2021.

    In his petition filed in February 2022, Dilip Lunawat said that in 2020, the SII, Pune entered into a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to speed up the process of manufacture and delivery of upto 100 million doses of Covishield vaccines in India and for other third world countries.

    “The petitioner lost his elder daughter. His loss can neither be explained in words nor can be compensated in terms of money.

    Only some sort of succour can be done by awarding compensation,” said the plea, seeking Rs 1,000crore as interim compensation to the family.

    Dilip Lunawat also sought a declaration that the state authorities are responsible for causing his daughter’s death “by false narratives”, the authorities should initiate steps to stop further deaths of citizens and publish the side-effects of the vaccines.

    The plea urged that the state authorities should be given the liberty to recover the compensation amount from SII, which manufactured the Covishield vaccine.

    ALSO READ: India likely to become third largest economy by 2029

  • BJP likely to withdraw support from Meghalaya’s MDA govt

    BJP likely to withdraw support from Meghalaya’s MDA govt

    Ao said that discussions are on at various levels of the party, which would finalise the whether to support the MDA government or not, within a month…reports Asian Lite News

    BJP’s National Vice-President and party’s Meghalaya in-charge M. Chuba Ao on Saturday said that the party may withdraw support from the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government within a month.

    The BJP with two MLAs is a junior ally of the National People’s Party (NPP) dominated six-party coalition government.

    Ao said that discussions are on at various levels of the party, which would finalise the whether to support the MDA government or not, within a month.

    The BJP leader said that the party has been studying the reports on the various corruption allegations against the state government and the CBI would handle the charges once they acquire all the papers.

    Even though the NPP, headed by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, is an important constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), its relation with the saffron party is gradually souring over various issues, specially after the arrest of BJP Meghalaya unit vice-president Bernard N. Marak.

    Marak was arrested from Uttar Pradesh on July 25 for allegedly running a brothel in the West Garo Hills district.

    BJP workers and leaders had earlier organised protests in Tura demanding a fair probe in Marak’s case, while the party workers in West Garo Hills organised a signature campaign demanding the removal of the Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner of the district.

    In defence of Marak, BJP leaders claimed that the farmhouse in the brothel case has been operational since 2019 but the raid was carried out just six months prior to the Assembly elections in Meghalaya to malign Marak and to damage his political career.

    ALSO READ: India likely to become third largest economy by 2029

  • Robotic trash boat to clean Gomti river

    Robotic trash boat to clean Gomti river

    “The small mesh in the robotic trash boat can take out even the smallest of river waste. The boat can clean any kind of garbage from polythene to hyacinth.”…reports Asian Lite News

    The cleaning of the Gomti river and clearing of water hyacinth will now be done by an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled robotic trash boat.

    With the introduction of this boat, another new chapter is going to be added to the initiative to make rivers clean.

    To take out the micro waste along with the common waste, a boat has been made which will dump two quintals of waste out of the river every hour without pollution.

    The boat, developed by the experts of the Centre For Innovation Policy and Social Change (CIPSC), is now undergoing a trial run at the Laxman Mela Ghat on the Gomti.

    Director, CIPSC, Karishma Sabharwal, said: “The trials are being conducted after several months of research. It will be given to the municipal corporation as soon as the 30-day trial is completed.

    “The small mesh in the robotic trash boat can take out even the smallest of river waste. The boat can clean any kind of garbage from polythene to hyacinth.”

    The boat can be controlled by a person sitting on the bank of the river through a remote. The sensor installed in it automatically brings the boat to the shore after two quintals of waste, where anyone can take out the waste.

    She said if three to four boats are deployed from Pucca Pul in the old city to Nishatganj bridge, the Gomti in the city will look clean.

    The self-propelled robotic boat made with advanced technology is a zero-carbon immersion boat fully powered by solar panels.

    The boat has a front facing camera which automatically detects the plastic, hyacinth and other waste lying in the water and collects it.

    The waste is collected in the rear storage through the conveyor belt in the boat.

    At present, the storage capacity is 200 kg.

    Divisional Vommissioner Roshan Jacob has directed to improve the load bearing capacity of boat up to 1,000 kg.

    ALSO READ-Dubai to open UAE’s first robotic biobank

  • Global PC, tablet shipments forecast to decline 12.8 per cent

    Global PC, tablet shipments forecast to decline 12.8 per cent

    The combined market for PCs and tablets is forecast to decline 2.6 per cent in 2023 before returning to growth in 2024, said the report…reports Asian Lite News

    Global shipments of traditional PCs are forecast to decline 12.8 per cent in 2022 to 305.3 million units while tablet shipments will fall 6.8 per cent to 156.8 million, according to a new report.

    Inflation, a weakening global economy, and the surge in buying over the past two years are the leading causes for the reduced outlook, according to the report by the IDC.

    “Long-term demand will be driven by a slow economic recovery combined with an enterprise hardware refresh as support for Windows 10 nears its end. Educational deployments and hybrid work are also expected to become a mainstay driving additional volumes,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers.

    Further contraction is also expected in 2023 as consumer demand has slowed, the education demand has been largely fulfilled, and enterprise demand gets pushed out due to worsening macroeconomic conditions.

    The combined market for PCs and tablets is forecast to decline 2.6 per cent in 2023 before returning to growth in 2024, said the report.

    “With economic headwinds gaining speed, we expect worsening consumer sentiment to result in further consumer market contractions over the next six quarters,” added Linn Huang, research vice president, Devices and Displays.

    “Economic recovery in time for the next major refresh cycle could propel some growth in the outer years of our forecast. Though volumes won’t hit pandemic peaks, we expect the consumer market to drive towards more premium ends of the market,” Huang added.

    ALSO READ: Airtel unveils next-gen Cloud solutions

  • Innovaccer lays off 120 workers 

    Innovaccer lays off 120 workers 

    In December last year, Innovaccer raised $150 million, driven by rapid customer adoption of the Innovaccer Health Cloud….reports Asian Lite News

    Healthtech unicorn Innovaccer has sacked nearly 120 employees, or less than 8 per cent of its workforce, owing to “tough economic conditions”, and most of the layoffs occurred within its tech teams.

    The company, which last raised a $150 million Series E round at a $3.2 billion valuation, is offering a three-month salary as severance package to those affected.

    In a statement, Innovaccer said that its business fundamentals are still strong.

    However, “given the current economic conditions, we implemented a small workforce reduction to optimise our cost structure”, said the company.

    “These cuts, which totalled less than 8 per cent of our workforce, will help us improve business efficiency and take the right steps toward profitability as we continue our rapid growth,” the company added.

    Inc42 was first to report about the development.

    In December last year, Innovaccer raised $150 million, driven by rapid customer adoption of the Innovaccer Health Cloud.

    The round was led by Mubadala Capital, with participation from existing investors B Capital Group, Microsoft’s M12 fund, OMERS Growth Equity, Dragoneer, Steadview Capital, Tiger Global Management, and other new investors.

    The round brought the total capital raised by the company to over $375 million.

    “We’ve reached a turning point in healthcare, where the world of fragmented, fee-for-service ‘sick care’ is giving way to a new world of integrated, value-based, preventive care,” Abhinav Shashank, cofounder and CEO of Innovaccer, had said.

    Innovaccer said it plans to use its new funding to invest in R&D and recruit new hires as it rapidly scales its customer experience, product, and engineering talent.

    Innovaccer is a leading San Francisco-based healthcare technology company, leveraging artificial intelligence and analytics to automate routine workflows and reduce manual overhead to facilitate more person-centered care.

    Founded in 2014, it has built the Innovaccer Health Cloud, a complete software platform used by leading healthcare organisations.

    ALSO READ: Hyundai, Kia global sales up in August

  • Hyderabad-based startup raises US$51 mn to boost small satellite launches

    Hyderabad-based startup raises US$51 mn to boost small satellite launches

    Vikram Series rockets are uniquely built with an all-carbon-fiber structure, can launch up to 800 kg of payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO)…reports Asian Lite News

    In what is being seen as the largest funding round ever in the Indian space-tech sector, Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based startup has successfully raised US$51 million (Rs 403 crore).

    The company plans to cater to the growing demand from the international small satellite market. Skyroot is pioneering India’s first privately developed space launch vehicles.

    The flagship Vikram series of launch vehicles, named after the founder of India’s space programme — Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.

    Vikram Series rockets are uniquely built with an all-carbon-fiber structure, can launch up to 800 kg of payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

    The fresh round of funding follows the Indian government’s major thrust to the space sector by opening it up to private sector players including startups and encouraging private investments into the sector.

    GIC, among the established investors in India, led the funding round. Mayank Rawat, Managing Director of GIC India Direct Investment Group will be joining Skyroot’s Board, the company stated on Friday.

    “This round puts us on a trajectory of hyper-growth by funding all of our initial developmental launches, and enables building infrastructure to meet high launch cadence required by our satellite customers,” said Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyroot.

    The 4-year-old Skyroot has successfully built and tested India’s first privately developed cryogenic, hypergolic-liquid, and solid fuel-based rocket engines.

    The added fund will help expand the world space engineering team which currently has close to 200 employees experienced in the rocket industry.

    “We have validated all three propulsion technologies in our Vikram space launch vehicles, and completed a full duration test of one of our rocket stages in May’22. We are also planning a demonstrator launch to space this year. This round will help us get to full-fledged commercial satellite launch scale within a year from now. We have started booking payload slots for our upcoming launches,” said Naga Bharath Daka, Co-Founder and COO of Skyroot.

    Skyroot has an MoU with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for sharing facilities and expertise.

    ALSO READ: Hero once again leads EV market

  • US-based startup develops EV battery tech with over 10K cycles

    US-based startup develops EV battery tech with over 10K cycles

    The battery also offers high energy density and a level of material stability that overcomes the safety challenges posed by some other lithium batteries, according to results published in Nature and other journals….reports Asian Lite News

    US-based startup Adden Energy has achieved solid-state battery charge rates as fast as three minutes with over 10,000 cycles in a lifetime in lab settings.

    The startup has now been granted technology license from Harvard University to scale innovative lithium-metal battery technology for commercial deployment.

    “We have achieved in the lab 5,000 to 10,000 charge cycles in a battery’s lifetime, compared with 2,000 to 3,000 charging cycles for even the best in class now, and we don’t see any fundamental limit to scaling up our battery technology. That could be a game changer,” said Xin Li, associate professor of materials science at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

    The battery also offers high energy density and a level of material stability that overcomes the safety challenges posed by some other lithium batteries, according to results published in Nature and other journals.

    Harvard’s Office of Technology Development has now granted an exclusive technology license to Adden Energy.

    Adden Energy has closed a seed round with $5.15 million in funding led by Primavera Capital Group, with participation by Rhapsody Venture Partners and MassVentures.

    The license and the venture funding will enable the startup to scale Harvard’s laboratory prototype toward commercial deployment of a solid-state lithium-metal battery that may provide reliable and fast charging for future EVs to help bring them into the mass market.

    The startup aims to scale the battery up to a palm-sized pouch cell, and then upward toward a full-scale vehicle battery in the next three to five years.

    “If you want to electrify vehicles, a solid-state battery is the way to go,” said Li.

    “We set out to commercialise this technology because we do see our technology as unique compared to other solid-state batteries,” he added.

    The technology developed at Harvard, which includes core innovations in solid-state battery design and electrolyte production methods, may offer other crucial advantages.

    “Typically, lithium-metal anodes in other solid-state designs develop dendrites, twig-like growths that can gradually penetrate through the electrolyte to the cathode. We defeat the growth of dendrites before they can cause damage, by novel structural and material designs,” said Luhan Ye, CTO of Adden Energy.

    As a result, the device can sustain its high performance over a long lifetime, he added.

    ALSO READ: Hero once again leads EV market

  • Taiwan calls for Dalai Lama’s visit to Taipei

    Taiwan calls for Dalai Lama’s visit to Taipei

    The participating groups reminded people from all walks of life to pay attention to the human rights situation of Tibetans and hope for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan….reports Asian Lite News

    Taiwan Parliament Group along with other rights groups has called for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taipei over the human rights situation in Tibet.

    Celebrating the 62nd anniversary of Tibetan Democracy Day on Friday, the Taiwan Parliament Group for Tibet held a commemorative event along with other groups concerned with the development of human rights.

    “We should make more Tibetan friends and contacts with other Tibetan associations and organisations,” Lin Changzuo, Chairman of the Taiwan Parliament Group for Tibet said addressing the gathering.

    “I believe that Taiwan and Tibet are two friendly societies with common values and hope that the international community will continue to pay attention to the human rights situation in Tibet and the democracy of the Tibetans in exile,” he added.

    The participating groups reminded people from all walks of life to pay attention to the human rights situation of Tibetans and hope for the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan.

    The right groups also mentioned about the United Nations report pointing out China’s serious human rights violations in Xinjiang.

    The United Nations report published on August 31 says the Chinese government has committed abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in the Xinjiang region.

    The report by the outgoing UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet contains victim accounts that substantiate mass arbitrary detention, torture, and other serious human rights violations and recommends world to take action to end the abuses.

    The report recommends for the Chinese government to take steps to release those arbitrarily detained; clarify the whereabouts of detained family members; cease intimidation and reprisals against Uyghurs in connection with their advocacy; to cooperate with the ILO Committee of Experts recommendations; and provide “adequate remedy and reparation to victims” of human rights abuses.

    It recommends that governments should “refrain from returning [Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples] to China” and “provide humanitarian assistance, including medical and psycho-social support, to victims in the States in which they are located.”

    It is to be noted that the film “Kundun”, which is based on the life of Dalai Lama was also screened in a nearby theatre on the occasion of Tibetan Democracy Day. (ANI)

    ALSO READ: Taiwan vows ‘counter-attack’ to defend itself against China

  • US Senator inspired by courage of Tibetans-in-exile

    US Senator inspired by courage of Tibetans-in-exile

    The delegation was received by a team led by Deputy Speaker of the Parliament-in-exile, Dolma Tsering Teykhang…reports Asian Lite News

    Expressing satisfaction after witnessing the courage of Tibetan people in their effort to sustain a government in exile, a US delegation led by Senator Jon Ossoff said on Saturday the purpose of the visit was to understand how Tibetans are keeping alive the flame of their struggle in exile, which is both inspiring and encouraging.

    The delegation was received by a team led by Deputy Speaker of the Parliament-in-exile, Dolma Tsering Teykhang.

    While Ossoff expressed joy over the courage of Tibetans in exile, he informed the Tibetan Parliamentarians of his audience with the Dalai Lama at the latter’s residence in Mcleodganj, besides explaining the objective of the delegation’s visit.



    Many other issues concerning Tibet and Tibetans were discussed during the delegation’s interaction with the members of the standing committee of the Tibetan Parliament.

    Earlier, members of the US delegation were introduced to the functioning of the Parliament-in-exile and the issues concerning Tibet and Tibetans.

    Urging the Senator to voice his support for Tibet’s issue, Teykhang spoke about China’s attempt to control the reincarnation process of Tibetan lamas, including the Dalai Lama, to legitimise its illegal occupation of Tibet. By imposing restrictions on the reincarnation process, China plans to rule over the emotional sphere of Tibetans after ruling their territorial sphere, Teykhang said.

    She also said the world must stop China’s illegality and unacceptable imperiousness.

    Speaking on the Tibet outreach programmes undertaken by the Tibetan Parliament, Teykhang explained that their ultimate objective of resolving the issue of Tibet remains the same despite having some internal disagreement, which is in fact one of the essentials in a functioning democracy, adding that “we agree to disagree”.

    ALSO READ: Beijing continues Sinicization of Tibet