Science & Technology Archives - Page 5 of 5

ETSA 2021: India will lead the charge on new tech like Web 3.0 & metaverse, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Electronics and IT.

India will definitely lead the charge on capitalising on the business opportunity emerging from next-generation technologies Web 3.0 and the Metaverse , said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Electronics and IT.

Newer opportunities also extend into electronics, deep tech to quantum computing among others, the minister said speaking at the seventh edition of the ET Startup Awards 2021 event held in Bengaluru today.

“If you’re a dispassionate observer of nations, India is today one of pre-eminent countries in using technology and being at the forefront of innovation. We will be leading the charge into Web 3 and all of the innovations around the Internet…,” he said at an interactive session with ET’s Surabhi Agarwal.

Referring to prime minister Narendra Modi’s speech about the “Techade” Chandrasekhar said the wholesome push into innovation in India will be delivered by improvements in the fields of electronics and system design, semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence, deep technology, and quantum computing.

India had announced a semiconductor policy late last year, offering incentives for investment in the manufacturing of chips. The minister said the push towards a holistic innovation economy also stems from a global search to find alternatives to China’s domination in these areas.

On the several issues around the data protection policy and frameworks being deliberated by the Centre, the minister sought to assure the business community that the policymakers would ensure the rules don’t become roadblocks: “We will not do anything knee jerk or even remotely as a speed bump to retard the momentum in the startup ecosystem today. This is in itself a clarity…”

Speaking of the startup ecosystem, Chandrasekhar said the Indian community has come a long way from the position before 2014, with the government creating an enabling environment for startups to thrive. The Minister quoted a Credit Suisse report to drive home the point that access to capital in the Indian business system has grown enormously. “The Government will keep expanding these opportunities.”

Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/etsa-2021-india-will-lead-the-charge-on-new-tech-like-web-3-0-metaverse-says-rajeev-chandrasekhar/articleshow/90172994.cms?from=mdr

rolls-royce ‘spirit of innovation’ is officially the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft

an electric airplane pioneered by rolls-royce has set two new world speed records, making it officially the world’s fastest all-electric aircraft. named ‘spirit of innovation’, the plane reached a top speed of 555.9 km/h (345.4 mph) over 3 kilometers, and 532.1km/h (330 mph) over 15 kilometers when flown at a test site in the UK. the records have since been certified and officially confirmed by the world air sports federation (FAI).

the achievement marks both an incredible feat of technology and a promising milestone in the transition to electric transportation. it also cements the british company’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

‘staking the claim for the all-electric world-speed record is a fantastic achievement for the accel team and rolls-royce,’ said rolls-royce CEO warren east. ‘I would like to thank our partners and especially electroflight for their collaboration in achieving this pioneering breakthrough. the advanced battery and propulsion technology developed for this program has exciting applications for the advanced air mobility market. following the world’s focus on the need for action at COP26, this is another milestone that will help make ‘jet zero’ a reality and supports our ambitions to deliver the technology breakthroughs society needs to decarbonize transport across air, land and sea.’

Source: https://www.designboom.com/technology/rolls-royce-spirit-of-innovation-worlds-fastest-all-electric-aircraft-03-10-2022/

Facebook temporarily allows posts on Ukraine war calling for violence against invading Russians or Putin’s death

Meta Platforms (FB.O) will allow Facebook and Instagram users in some countries to call for violence against Russians and Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine invasion, according to internal emails seen by Reuters on Thursday, in a temporary change to its hate speech policy.

The social media company is also temporarily allowing some posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin or Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in countries including Russia, Ukraine and Poland, according to internal emails to its content moderators.

“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

The calls for the leaders’ deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, one email said, in a recent change to the company’s rules on violence and incitement.

The temporary policy changes on calls for violence to Russian soldiers apply to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, according to one email.

In the email recently sent to moderators, Meta highlighted a change in its hate speech policy pertaining both to Russian soldiers and to Russians in the context of the invasion.

“We are issuing a spirit-of-the-policy allowance to allow T1 violent speech that would otherwise be removed under the Hate Speech policy when: (a) targeting Russian soldiers, EXCEPT prisoners of war, or (b) targeting Russians where it’s clear that the context is the Russian invasion of Ukraine (e.g., content mentions the invasion, self-defense, etc.),” it said in the email.

“We are doing this because we have observed that in this specific context, ‘Russian soldiers’ is being used as a proxy for the Russian military. The Hate Speech policy continues to prohibit attacks on Russians,” the email stated.

Last week, Russia said it was banning Facebook in the country in response to what it said were restrictions of access to Russian media on the platform. Moscow has cracked down on tech companies, including Twitter (TWTR.N), which said it is restricted in the country, during its invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a “special operation.”

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-facebook-instagram-temporarily-allow-calls-violence-against-russians-2022-03-10/