Category:

Technology

SoftBank-backed India’s Ola to invest $326 million in electric-scooter plant

The Indian government has been pushing automakers to move to cleaner fuel technology, especially electric, in an effort to reduce its oil import bill and curb pollution in major cities.

While carmakers have been slow to launch electric vehicles (EVs), mainly due to the high cost of batteries and weak demand from buyers, sales of electric scooters and rickshaws have picked up pace and are leading India’s electrification drive.

The country needs an investment of over $180 billion in vehicle production and charging infrastructure until 2030 to meet its EV ambition, according to the CEEW Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF), an Asian think tank.

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Covid-19 vaccines raise hope for cancer, throw open new field of medicine

Now, with one vaccine vaccine having gained U.S. clearance and the other close behind, the pandemic validation could wrench open a whole new field of medicine.

“We are now entering the age of mRNA therapeutics,” said Derrick Rossi, a former Harvard University stem-cell biologist who helped found Moderna in 2010. “The whole world has seen this. There is going to be increased investment and increased resources.”

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From romance scams to phantom PPE, banks battle coronavirus crimewave

In pandemic-related scams banks are hiring more staff to prevent and detect fraudulent transactions, forging closer ties with local and global law enforcement and launching public awareness campaigns, bankers and their advisors told Reuters
BAE Systems Applied Intelligence research suggests U.S. insurance fraud, where scammers seek to dupe insurers on costs incurred as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, has doubled in 2020, so far costing the industry $100 billion.
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Apple CEO calls for stricter corporate, government climate goals at U.N. summit

Cook did not call for specific goals during his remarks but disclosed that Apple is assisting 95 of its suppliers to transition to renewable energy, up from a figure of 70 disclosed in July. The iPhone maker earlier this year said it has become carbon-neutral for its corporate operations and set out plans to make its full supply chain and product lineup carbon-neutral by 2030.

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Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine docs hacked from European Medicines Agency

Pfizer and BioNTech said documents relating to their vaccine candidate had been accessed, but that “no systems have been breached in connection with this incident.”

Cybercriminals have tried to attack several pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines including Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, AstraZeneca and South Korean laboratories, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Cyber risk is new threat to financial stability: IMF

“Given strong financial and technological inter-connections, a successful attack on a major financial institution — or on a core system or service used by many — could quickly spread through the entire financial system, causing widespread disruption and loss of confidence.” said Jennifer Elliott and Nigel Jenkinson of IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department

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