विज्ञान

By Arpan Chaturvedi NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Three cabinet colleagues of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are promoting use of apps by domestic rivals to Google Maps, WhatsApp and Microsoft, in the strongest backing yet for "Made in India" products amid trade tension with the United States. After the United States imposed a 50% tariff on Indian imports in August, Modi has pushed for use of "swadeshi" products, or those made in India. While many industry executives have made public calls to support Indian products, Modi made a direct appeal last month for Indians to scrap daily use of foreign goods. Information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw gave a media presentation on highway projects this week he said was put together employing Zoho, a domestic rival to Microsoft's PowerPoint, and without use of Google Maps. "The map is from MapmyIndia, not Google Maps," the minister said with a smile, referring to an Indian provider. "It's looking nice, right? Swadeshi." Last week, Vaishnaw made a video clip testing Zoho software and asked people to adopt indigenous products in a post on X that drew 6.2 million views. ASPIRATIONAL UPGRADE American brands are everywhere in India, and they are seen as an aspirational upgrade by millions. While government and private offices use Microsoft products, many travellers rely on Google Maps to find their way about, and WhatsApp counts India as its biggest market, with more than 500 million users. The three U.S. companies did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Zoho offers cheaper alternatives to cloud-based software tools made by Microsoft. The Indian firm's billionaire co-founder, Sridhar Vembu, is famed for an unconventional approach of locating business operations in rural villages. The firm's messaging app, Arattai, or "chat" in India's southern Tamil language, has gained sudden popularity, thanks to the efforts of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. "So proud to be on @Arattai, a #MadeInIndia messaging platform that brings India closer," Goyal said in an X post this week. There were more than 400,000 downloads of the app last month, compared to fewer than 10,000 in August, data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower shows. Its daily active users crossed 100,000 on September 26, an increase of 100% on the day. TOUGH TO REPLACE GLOBAL BRANDS Indian companies find it difficult to replace global brands, since they often cannot match their financial clout and reach. In 2021, Indian ministers promoted X-like social media platform Koo amid compliance-related disagreements with the American platform. But the Indian company shut last year for lack of funding. "Only state patronage will not be enough," warned Dilip Cherian, a co-founder of Indian public relations firm Perfect Relations. "What brands like Zoho need to succeed is a unique differentiating factor, deep pockets and strong protection against survelliance." (Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Clarence Fernandez)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Kentaro Okasaka and Joseph Campbell TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese restaurants, bars and stores are running low on beer and other beverages from industry leader Asahi Group as the impact from a cyberattack entered a fifth day on Friday, with no resolution in sight. Known for its Super Dry beer, Nikka Whisky as well as non-alcoholic beverages, Asahi suspended operations in Japan on Monday including order processing, shipping and call center functions after a cyberattack caused a system outage. The company began processing orders for some products on Wednesday by visiting customers in person and handwriting orders, it said. While it continues to take orders for food and soft drinks, it has not taken further orders for alcoholic beverages to prioritise outgoing shipments, which began on Friday for the first batch of manually filled orders, it said.Asahi said it continues to work with investigative authorities on the cyberattack. The breach is the latest in a string of cyber and ransomware attacks targeting global companies. In Britain, luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover was forced to shut down its factories last month, while Marks & Spencer and the Co-op Group have also fallen victim to sophisticated breaches. On Friday in Tokyo, one eatery that normally only serves Asahi-branded beer said it was on its last keg of Asahi Super Dry, and that its supplier brought beer from rival Sapporo a day earlier, citing the shortage. "It's a bit of a problem," said Tomiko Yano, a chef at restaurant Kushiyaki Tosaka. "We specialise in yakitori (skewered chicken) and it pairs really well with Super Dry. A lot of customers say that, so I'm a little worried (about the shortage)." Convenience store operator Lawson said it was expecting a shortage of Asahi products soon and it was making preparations to sell alternative products. FamilyMart and 7-Eleven also said they were affected. Asahi's shares have fallen about 4% to their lowest level since February after the company said it was attacked. (Reporting by Kentaro Okasaka, Joseph CampbellWriting and additional reporting by Chang-Ran KimEditing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Yantoultra Ngui SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Artificial intelligence startups are attracting record sums of venture capital, but some of the world's largest investors warned that early-stage valuations are starting to look frothy, senior investment executives said on Friday. "There's a little bit of a hype bubble going on in the early-stage venture space," said Bryan Yeo, group chief investment officer at Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, as part of a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025 in Singapore. "Any company startup with an AI label will be valued right up there at huge multiples of whatever the small revenue (is)," he said. "That might be fair for some companies and probably not for others." In the first quarter of 2025, AI startups raised $73.1 billion globally, accounting for 57.9% of all venture capital funding, according to PitchBook. The surge was driven by funding rounds like OpenAI's $40 billion capital raising, as investors raced to catch the AI wave. "Market expectations could be way ahead of what the technology could deliver," Yeo said. "We're seeing a major AI capex boom today. It is masking some of the potential weaknesses that might be going on in the economy." Todd Sisitsky, president of alternative asset manager TPG, said the fear of missing out is dangerous for investors, though he added that views were divided on whether the AI sector had formed a bubble. Some AI firms are hitting $100 million in revenue within months, he said, while others in early-stage ventures command valuations at between $400 million and $1.2 billion per employee. He said that was "breathtaking." (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Yantoultra Ngui SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Artificial intelligence startups are attracting record sums of venture capital, but some of the world's largest investors warned that early-stage valuations are starting to look frothy, senior investment executives said on Friday. "There's a little bit of a hype bubble going on in the early-stage venture space," said Bryan Yeo, group chief investment officer at Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, as part of a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025 in Singapore. "Any company startup with an AI label will be valued right up there at huge multiples of whatever the small revenue (is)," he said. "That might be fair for some companies and probably not for others." In the first quarter of 2025, AI startups raised $73.1 billion globally, accounting for 57.9% of all venture capital funding, according to PitchBook. The surge was driven by funding rounds like OpenAI's $40 billion capital raising, as investors raced to catch the AI wave. "Market expectations could be way ahead of what the technology could deliver," Yeo said. "We're seeing a major AI capex boom today. It is masking some of the potential weaknesses that might be going on in the economy." Todd Sisitsky, president of alternative asset manager TPG, said the fear of missing out is dangerous for investors, though he added that views were divided on whether the AI sector had formed a bubble. Some AI firms are hitting $100 million in revenue within months, he said, while others in early-stage ventures command valuations at between $400 million and $1.2 billion per employee. He said that was "breathtaking." (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Joseph Campbell and Kentaro Okasaka TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese restaurants, bars and stores are running low on beer and other beverages from industry leader Asahi Group as the impact from a cyberattack entered a fifth day on Friday, with no resolution in sight. Known for its Super Dry beer, Nikka Whisky as well as non-alcoholic beverages, Asahi suspended operations in Japan on Monday including order processing, shipping and call centre functions after a cyberattack caused a system outage. The company began processing orders for some products on Wednesday by visiting customers in person and handwriting orders, it said. While it continues to take orders for food and soft drinks, it has not taken further orders for alcoholic beverages to prioritise outgoing shipments, which began on Friday for the first batch of manually filled orders, it said.Asahi said it continues to work with investigative authorities on the cyberattack. On Friday in Tokyo, one eatery that normally only serves Asahi-branded beer said it was on its last keg of Asahi Super Dry, and that its supplier brought beer from rival Sapporo a day earlier, citing the shortage. "It's a bit of a problem," said Tomiko Yano, a chef at restaurant Kushiyaki Tosaka. "We specialise in yakitori (skewered chicken) and it pairs really well with Super Dry. A lot of customers say that, so I'm a little worried (about the shortage)." Convenience store operator Lawson said it was expecting a shortage of Asahi products soon and it was making preparations to sell alternative products. FamilyMart and 7-Eleven also said they were affected. (Reporting by Joseph Campbell, Kentaro Okasaka and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia said it has suspended TikTok's registration status as an electronic system provider after it failed to hand over all data relating to the use of its live stream feature, though the social media app was still accessible to users on Friday. Alexander Sabar, an official at Indonesia's communications and digital ministry, said in a statement some accounts with ties to online gambling activities used TikTok's live stream feature during recent national protests and monetised it. Protests rocked the world's third-largest democracy over exorbitant lawmaker allowances and police brutality from late August to September. TikTok temporarily suspended its live feature during the protests, saying this was intended to "keep TikTok a safe and civil space." Sabar said the government subsequently asked the company for its traffic, streaming and monetisation data. The company, owned by China's ByteDance, only provided partial data, citing its internal procedures, Sabar said. "So the communications and digital ministry deemed TikTok to have violated its obligations as a private electronic provider," and suspended its registration, he said. The regulation regarding the list states every company that has signed up to Indonesia's licensing rules must hand over its data to the government for the purpose of supervision or risk being blocked. TikTok, which has more than 100 million accounts based in Indonesia, did not respond to a request for comment. It was unclear if access to TikTok in Indonesia was fully blocked. Reuters was able to access the application as normal on Friday. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia said it has suspended TikTok's registration status as an electronic system provider after it failed to hand over all data relating to the use of its live stream feature, though the social media app was still accessible to users on Friday. Alexander Sabar, an official at Indonesia's communications and digital ministry, said in a statement some accounts with ties to online gambling activities used TikTok's live stream feature during recent national protests and monetised it. Protests rocked the world's third-largest democracy over exorbitant lawmaker allowances and police brutality from late August to September. TikTok temporarily suspended its live feature during the protests, saying this was intended to "keep TikTok a safe and civil space." Sabar said the government subsequently asked the company for its traffic, streaming and monetisation data. The company, owned by China's ByteDance, only provided partial data, citing its internal procedures, Sabar said. "So the communications and digital ministry deemed TikTok to have violated its obligations as a private electronic provider," and suspended its registration, he said. The regulation regarding the list states every company that has signed up to Indonesia's licensing rules must hand over its data to the government for the purpose of supervision or risk being blocked. TikTok, which has more than 100 million accounts based in Indonesia, did not respond to a request for comment. It was unclear if access to TikTok in Indonesia was fully blocked. Reuters was able to access the application as normal on Friday. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

Geneva (dpa) – Teenagers whose parents ban smartphones in the evenings and do not allow phones in bedrooms overnight sleep longer and even perform better in school, according to a Swiss study. On average, teenagers slept 40 minutes more than their peers whose smartphone use was not restricted, the researchers reported in the journal Discover Public Health in September. Study author Kevin Mammeri and colleagues from the University of Geneva surveyed 329 teenagers aged 13 and 15, focusing on sleep habits and household smartphone rules. Their research found that other restrictions, such as daily screen time limits or fixed bedtimes, did not significantly impact sleep duration, found. Mammeri said that other factors, such as household education levels, were not examined in this study. These could also influence sleep duration, but the link between strict evening rules and longer sleep was significant. "Parents therefore have a key role to play," he said. "Their involvement directly influences their children’s health and success." He added that rules should be established before children turn 15, as it becomes harder to correct bad habits after that age. The following information is not intended for publication dpa oe xxde coh

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Telstra, Australia's no.1 telecom firm, has been fined A$18 million ($11.87 million) by the Federal Court for lowering internet speed plans for about 9,000 customers without informing them, the country's competition watchdog said on Friday. Australian telecom firms are facing heightened scrutiny over governance, particularly after Optus' two back-to-back emergency call outages last month affected thousands of customers, with the first outage linked to four deaths. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Friday that Telstra migrated 8,897 customers of its low-cost value brand, Belong, to a lower-speed plan without notifying them that their maximum upload speed had been halved. The migration occurred during October-November 2020, the regulator said. "Telstra's failure to inform customers that their broadband service had been changed denied them the opportunity to decide whether the changed service was suitable for their needs," ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said in a statement. In addition to the penalty, Telstra has either already compensated or will compensate all affected customers with a credit or payment of A$15 for each month they were on the lower upload speed plan, the regulator said on Friday. Telstra has accepted the court's findings and is completing remediation for one group of customers, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed response. Telstra shares were trading 0.7% lower, as of 0408 GMT, while the broader benchmark was up 0.5%. ($1 = 1.5161 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Telstra, Australia's no.1 telecom firm, has been fined A$18 million ($11.87 million) by the Federal Court for lowering internet speed plans for about 9,000 customers without informing them, the country's competition watchdog said on Friday. Australian telecom firms are facing heightened scrutiny over governance, particularly after Optus' two back-to-back emergency call outages last month affected thousands of customers, with the first outage linked to four deaths. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Friday that Telstra migrated 8,897 customers of its low-cost value brand, Belong, to a lower-speed plan without notifying them that their maximum upload speed had been halved. The migration occurred during October-November 2020, the regulator said. "Telstra's failure to inform customers that their broadband service had been changed denied them the opportunity to decide whether the changed service was suitable for their needs," ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said in a statement. In addition to the penalty, Telstra has either already compensated or will compensate all affected customers with a credit or payment of A$15 for each month they were on the lower upload speed plan, the regulator said on Friday. Telstra has accepted the court's findings and is completing remediation for one group of customers, a company spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed response. Telstra shares were trading 0.7% lower, as of 0408 GMT, while the broader benchmark was up 0.5%. ($1 = 1.5161 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)