thenewsbit.com

Author: Newsbit

  • 20 lakh connections are all that Starlink offers in India

    20 lakh connections are all that Starlink offers in India

    Government said that Elon Musk-owned Starlink would provide only 20 lakh satcom (satellite communications) connections in India, clearing the air on threats to domestic players like Bharti-led OneWeb and Reliance Jio led SES.

    “Starlink can have only 20-lakh customers in India and offer up to 200 mbps speed. That won’t affect telecom services,” Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Telecommunications told reporters here on the sidelines of Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) review meeting.

    Pemmasani said there won’t be any threat to the terrestrial telecom services including that of State-owned BSNL.

    He also said that the upfront cost for satcom services will be too high and monthly cost may be around ₹3,000.

    Satcom services are expected to target rural and remote area where BSNL is known to have significant presence.

    Meanwhile, Pemmasani said that BSNL’s 4G roll out is complete and it does not plan to increase tariff as of now.

    “We want market first. There are no tariff hikes planned,” he added.

    According to sources, the satcom services can be kicked off in India once the spectrum is provided administratively, to the three companies, which could take only a few months now.

    “The allocation (of spectrum) is expected in the next three months. After that it is up to the companies when they want to start rolling out the services,”.

    As part of the review, several new initiatives recently launched by BSNL were highlighted, aimed at enhancing service offerings and customer value, BSNL said in a statement. The initiatives include 4G expansion and rollout in multiple telecom circles; introduction of IFTV for FTTH and BiTV for mobile customers platforms for next-generation infotainment; BSNL National Wi-Fi Roaming (nationwide Wi-Fi roaming service for customers); tailored BSNL VPN services and bundled packages for enterprise and government clients; and a Spam-Free Network — a first-of-its-kind solution to eliminate scam and spam communications in real time, the company added. The Hindu BusinessLine

  • As per CEO, Orange is open to M&A debates with SFR

    As per CEO, Orange is open to M&A debates with SFR

    Orange is open to consolidation talks with French rival SFR, pending the completion of its debt restructuring, the chief executive of France’s biggest telecom provider said.

    “I can confirm that, France being our first market, we are ready to engage and indeed, there are preliminary discussions between operators,” CEO Christel Heydemann said in a post-earnings call with analysts.

    She did not specify if SFR, also one of France’s top operators, was one of the companies Orange was talking to.

    “We do think there is a need for consolidation – it is true in France and it is true in Europe,” Heydemann said.

    Orange reported a 3.8% rise in its half-year core earnings after leases (EBITDAaL), buoyed by a strong performance in the French market and continued double-digit percentage growth in Africa and the Middle East.

    It also said it planned to finalise the signing of its Spanish fibre network joint venture within the previously announced time frame.

    “This will be completed in terms of signing by the end of the summer, and then the closing will be before the end of the year,” finance chief Laurent Martinez told journalists.

    MasOrange, owned by Orange and MasMovil, is set to hold 50% of the venture, while Vodafone Spain, owned by Zegona Communications, will hold 10%. The remaining 40% is yet to be assigned to an investor, with Martinez declining to comment on whether a partner had been identified.

    Orange had 15.5 million fibre-to-the-home customers globally at the end of the reporting period, up from 15 million in the last quarter. Its number of mobile customers worldwide grew to 98.1 million from 95.7 million three months ago.

    Its half-year EBITDAaL – a common earnings metric used by telecom firms – was 5.66 billion euros ($6.55 billion) and met analysts’ consensus in the first half of 2025.

    The company also nudged up its full-year EBITDAaL target to more than 3% growth, from around 3% previously. Reuters

  • Shanghai hosts China’s premier AI event, which aims to surpass the US

    Shanghai hosts China’s premier AI event, which aims to surpass the US

    Star founders, Beijing officials and deep-pocketed financiers converge on Shanghai by the thousands this weekend to attend China’s most important AI summit. At the top of the agenda: how to propel Beijing’s ambitions to leapfrog the US in artificial intelligence — and profit off that drive.

    The World Artificial Intelligence Conference, which has featured Elon Musk and Jack Ma in years past, was devised to showcase the cutting-edge of Chinese technology. This year’s attendance may hit a record as it’s taking place at a critical juncture in the US-Chinese tech rivalry.

    This week, US President Donald Trump unveiled his so-called AI Action Plan — a sort of call to arms to ensure the country keeps its lead in the post-ChatGPT epoch. At the same time, the emergence of DeepSeek in January galvanized a generation of Chinese developers to ride a nationwide investment and innovation wave. From Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to fledgling firms such as Minimax, the country’s aspirants in the field have since moved aggressively to try and close the gap with the likes of OpenAI and Google.

    “While many recognize DeepSeek’s achievements, this represents just the beginning of China’s AI innovation wave,” said Louis Liang, an AI sector investor with Ameba Capital. “We are witnessing the advent of AI mass adoption, this goes beyond national competition.”

    The Shanghai conference rundown for now remains largely unknown — as it has in years past just days before kickoff. Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend, and tech leaders from Tencent Holdings Ltd. to ByteDance Ltd. and startups like Zhipu AI and Moonshot are likely to turn out in force. On Friday, shares in AI-linked Chinese companies including CloudWalk Technology Co. climbed sharply.

    Here’s what we can expect from the summit starting Saturday.

    DeepSeek’s Aura
    Neither the startup nor its reclusive founder Liang Wenfeng feature in the advance literature for the event. And yet, the two-year-old firm is likely to be one of the topics du jour. Bloomberg

  • Launch of the NISAR Earth Observation Satellite is set on July 30

    Launch of the NISAR Earth Observation Satellite is set on July 30

    The unique Earth observation satellite NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) will be launched through the GSLV-S16 on July 30, said ISRO chairman V Narayanan.

    Weighing 2,392 kg, NISAR is a unique Earth observation satellite and the first to observe the Earth with a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (NASA’s L-band and ISRO’s S-band) both using NASA’s 12m unfurlable mesh reflector antenna, integrated to ISRO’s modified 13k satellite bus.

    It will observe earth with a swath of 242 km and high spatial resolution, using SweepSAR technology for the first time, according to the space agency.

    It will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

    “The Earth observation satellite jointly developed by ISRO and NASA will be sent into space on July 30 by the GSLV-F16 rocket made in India,” Indian Space Research Organisation chairman V Narayanan said.

    It will be launched at a distance of 740 km. It can take pictures of the earth 24 hours a day in all weather conditions and the satellite can detect landslides, aid in disaster management and monitor climate change, he said while speaking to reporters at the airport in Chennai on Sunday (July 27, 2025) night.

    “The satellite will benefit India, the US and the entire world… it is also crucial for monitoring earth’s natural resources,” he added.

    On Gaganyaan, India’s human spaceflight Mission, Narayanan said a humanoid, called Vyommitra, will be sent into space in December this year. Once it proved to be successful, two other uncrewed missions would be launched next year.

    Following the success, the Gaganyaan Mission will be launched in March 2027 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

    ‘NISAR’ launch will upscale ISRO’s international collaborations, says Jitendra Singh
    Union Minister for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that the much-anticipated launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite mission is scheduled for July 30, 2025, at 17:40 hrs from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

    As the first joint Earth observation mission between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the event marks a defining moment in the journey of Indo-US space cooperation and also in ISRO’s overall international collaborations, he said. The mission will be launched aboard India’s GSLV-F16 rocket.

    Singh, who has been monitoring the mission closely, said the launch reflects the maturing of strategic scientific partnerships and India’s emergence as a credible global player in advanced Earth observation systems. While expressing his wish to be physically present in Sriharikota to witness the historic event, the Minister acknowledged that the ongoing Parliament session may hold him back in Delhi.

    “This mission is not just about a satellite launch–it is a moment that symbolises what two democracies committed to science and global welfare can achieve together. NISAR will not only serve India and the United States but will also provide critical data for countries around the world, especially in areas like disaster management, agriculture, and climate monitoring,” said Dr Singh.

    Singh further noted that this mission lives up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India becoming a ‘Vishwa Bandhu’–a global partner that contributes to the collective good of humanity.

    A key feature of the mission is that all data generated by NISAR will be made freely accessible within one to two days of observation and in near real-time in case of emergencies. This democratisation of data is expected to support global scientific research and decision-making, especially for developing countries that may not have access to similar capabilities.

    Notably, the NISAR mission is the first time a GSLV rocket is being used to place a satellite in sun-synchronous polar orbit, signalling ISRO’s growing technical sophistication in supporting diverse space missions. The dual radar payload aboard NISAR will employ SweepSAR technology for high-resolution, all-weather, day-and-night imaging of the Earth’s surface with a wide swath of 242 kilometres.

    The Union Minister also underlined the importance of Earth observation missions in the context of climate resilience and sustainable development. “Missions like NISAR are no longer confined to scientific curiosity — they are instrumental in planning, risk assessment, and policy intervention. As climate change impacts intensify, timely and accurate data from satellites like NISAR will be indispensable for governments to act proactively,” he said.

    While the mission has seen a long gestation period of over a decade and a joint investment exceeding $1.5 billion, the payoff in terms of global utility and technological advancement is expected to be transformative. The launch of NISAR is being closely watched by space agencies, environmental researchers, and policymakers worldwide.

    As the countdown to July 30 begins, Dr Jitendra Singh reiterated that India’s space program under the guidance of Prime Minister Modi is steadily transitioning from traditional utility-based missions to those that position the country as a knowledge contributor to the global commons. “NISAR is not just a satellite; it is India’s scientific handshake with the world,” he said. PTI

  • Covid vaccines averted more than 25 lakh deaths worldwide

    Covid vaccines averted more than 25 lakh deaths worldwide

    Covid-19 vaccines helped prevent more than 25 lakh deaths across the world between 2020 and 2024 — for every 5,400 doses administered, one death was averted, estimates a study.

    Findings published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Health Forum “clearly demonstrate a major overall benefit from Covid-19 vaccination during the years 2020-2024”, with 90 per cent of the life-saving benefits secured for the world’s older adults.

    Researchers from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy, and US’ Stanford University analysed publicly available data on worldwide population to estimate number of people who died due to Covid-19 and whether they died before or after getting vaccinated.

    “We compared this data with the estimated data modelled in the absence of Covid-19 vaccination and were then able to calculate the numbers of people who were saved by Covid-19 vaccines and the years of life gained as a result of them,” author Angelo Maria Pezzullo, researcher in general and applied hygiene, Catholic University of Milan, said.

    The team also found that the 82 per cent of the lives saved by vaccines involved people getting the shots before encountering the virus, 57 per cent during the Omicron period, and 90 per cent of the lives saved involved people aged 60 years and older.

    Covid-19 vaccinations also helped save 14.8 million years of life — a year of life saved for every 900 vaccine shots administered, the researchers said.

    Further, about three-quarters of the years of life saved were related to people aged 60 and above.

    “Before ours, several studies tried to estimate lives saved by vaccines with different models and in different periods or parts of the world,” author Stefania Boccia, professor of general and applied hygiene at the Catholic University of Milan, said.

    However, “this one is the most comprehensive because it is based on worldwide data, it also covers the Omicron period, it also calculates the number of years of life that was saved, and it is based on fewer assumptions about the pandemic trend,” Boccia said.

    The authors wrote, “In the main analysis, more than 2.5 million deaths were averted (one death averted per 5,400 vaccine doses administered). Eighty-two percent were among people vaccinated before any infection, 57 per cent were during the Omicron period, and 90 per cent pertained to people 60 years or older.”

    In an invited commentary article, published in JAMA Health Forum, Monica Gandhi from the University of California San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Research writes, “Vaccines save lives and the only way to get through this pandemic was always immunity; it is much safer to provide immunity to an older person through a vaccine than through natural infection.”

    Gandhi added that in the prospect of a future pandemic, models such as the one used and presented in the study could help mitigate the damage caused by widely restrictive policies, yet allow protection for those needing it the most. PTI

  • US officials alert healthcare experts to the Interlock ransomware epidemic

    US officials alert healthcare experts to the Interlock ransomware epidemic

    Four major US agencies have issued a joint cybersecurity alert warning about the escalating threat posed by the Interlock ransomware operation, which has increasingly targeted businesses, healthcare providers, and critical infrastructure entities across North America and Europe. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released the alert Tuesday as part of the #StopRansomware initiative. The agencies emphasized Interlock’s rapid evolution and its focus on high-impact sectors, particularly healthcare.

    According to the advisory, Interlock emerged in September 2024 and has since launched financially motivated ransomware campaigns. The group employs a double-extortion model that involves both encrypting the victim’s system and stealing data, threatening to publish the stolen files if a ransom is not paid.

    The gang does not include ransom demands in its initial notes. Instead, victims are given a unique code and directed to a .onion URL on the Tor network, where ransom negotiations take place.

    Federal investigators say Interlock actors are opportunistic rather than targeting specific industries. Still, healthcare organizations have been frequent victims. Among the most high-profile victims are Kettering Health, a major Ohio-based healthcare system, and Fortune 500 kidney care company DaVita. TechRepublic

  • 10-minute ambulance firm run by Blinkit begins offering paramedic training

    10-minute ambulance firm run by Blinkit begins offering paramedic training

    Zomato is building an in-house paramedic training programme to strengthen its ambitious 10-minute ambulance service, which is currently operational in Gurugram through its quick-commerce arm, Blinkit.

    “This is one of the hardest and the most resource intensive challenges we have ever taken up. But we are not backing down,” Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, July 24.

    “We started with 5 ambulances at the beginning of the year in Gurugram and currently, we have 12. From serving a small area around Golf Course Road, we have now extended the service to cover almost half of Gurugram. Until today, we have responded to 594 calls, 50% of these critical emergencies. Today, our 12 ambulances across 6 depots reach patients within 10 minutes, 83% of the time,” Goyal said.

    In a key line that signals future plans, he noted: “Our team is now building an in-house paramedic training programme to raise the bar of emergency care in India.” He further said: “We’re learning. We’re committed. And we won’t stop until every single person trusts that life-saving help is only 10 minutes away.”

    The service was launched by Blinkit on January 2, 2025, with a flat fee of ₹2,000 per call and ambulances equipped with essential life-saving tools, including oxygen cylinders, AEDs, stretchers, monitors, suction machines and emergency medicines.

    The ambulances come staffed with a paramedic, an assistant, and a trained driver.

    At the time of the launch, Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa had said: “Profit is not a goal here. We will operate this service at an affordable cost for customers and invest in really solving this critical problem for the long term.”

    “We aim to carefully scale this service and make it available in all major cities over the next two years,” Dhindsa had written on X.

    A day after the service was launched, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had cautioned that Blinkit must “meet the law of the land” and ensure all regulatory obligations are fulfilled while offering emergency and medical services.

    In an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan on January 20, Dhindsa had shared more on the company’s broader healthcare ambitions: “We are very keen to solve the problems around pharma and access to timely access to medicine,” he said, while acknowledging that Blinkit hadn’t yet entered the online pharmacy space due to legal complexities.

    “But we feel that it is a worthy cause — to try to figure out if we can do it while making sure the access to medication is available in a proper way,” he added. CNBCTV18

  • Northern Superchargers will be entirely held by Sun TV Network for £100.5M

    Northern Superchargers will be entirely held by Sun TV Network for £100.5M

    Sun TV Network is expanding its footprint in global sports with plans to acquire a 100% stake in Northern Superchargers for £100.5 million (over ₹1,000 crore).

    Northern Superchargers is part of “The Hundred”, a cricket league for limited overs cricket promoted by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

    The acquisition was approved by the company’s Board of Directors at its meeting held on July 18, 2025. Upon completion, Northern Superchargers will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun TV Network.

    The deal is expected to be completed by December this year. The company noted that Northern Superchargers Limited is already profitable, and expressed confidence in the commercial potential of The Hundred, citing increasing global viewership and sponsorship interest.

    This follows Sun TV Network’s earlier disclosure on February 6, 2025, announcing that it had won the bid to acquire the Leeds-based franchise—one of the eight teams in The Hundred.

    Sun TV Network already owns Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa’s SA20 League. The acquisition of Northern Superchargers further extends its international reach into the UK market and aligns with its broader strategy to build a robust presence in the global cricket economy. MarcaMoney

  • Netflix ads its original content more than its licensed content

    Netflix ads its original content more than its licensed content

    As far as original streaming titles go, Netflix has some of the most popular in the entire industry. Shows like “Bridgerton,” “Squid Game,” and “Stranger Things” attract huge audiences, and the release of new seasons is treated by some as an out-and-out holiday. According to new data from Ampere Analysis, Netflix knows just how special its originals are; in fact, the streamer puts more ads on its original titles than it does on licensed shows and movies.

    According to Ampere’s data, Netflix comes with 12% more ads on original shows and movies than on licensed ones. This comes out to around 3.78 ads per hour of content on original titles, versus 3.33 on licensed titles. That’s admittedly a pretty small difference, so small that I didn’t even notice it when measuring how many ads per hour Netflix shows with its content. It’s likely that most customers don’t notice the difference either, but it is there, according to Ampere.

    The data shows that Netflix is one of just two streamers that puts more ads on original content. Prime Video is the other; that streamer places 10.4 ads per hour of content on originals, versus 9.8 per hour on licensed. Every other service tends to put more ads on licensed shows and movies, according to Ampere’s data.

    On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ampere’s data shows that HBO Max puts almost 20% more ads on licensed titles than it does on original shows and movies. That was actually the opposite of the observation I made when testing the streamer, which could indicate that HBO Max has changed its ad practices for licensed versus original content in the past few months. We do know that HBO Max has upped the number of ads per hour that it offers in general, so perhaps it took the opportunity to make some other shifts as well.

    Why would a streamer put more ads on original content than on licensed shows and movies? For one, streaming services use their original titles to lure viewers into their services. They know a premium original has a better chance of attracting big viewership numbers, and putting more ads on these titles is a good way to ask for more money from advertisers.

    It’s not just the quantity of viewership either; it’s the quality. Audiences are more likely to lean forward and pay attention to original shows and the ads that go along with them. Licensed titles are accompanied by more lean-back viewing, where viewers pay less attention because it’s a title they’re familiar with and don’t feel as much need to lean forward to and watch closely.

    All in all, it’s a shrewd strategy to put more ads with streaming originals, even if audiences may look askance at the practice. Netflix is usually a trend-setter in the industry, and if it puts more ads with its originals than it does with licensed titles, more streamers may adopt the same practice going forward as well. The Streamable

  • Netflix adopts runway AI for content creation

    Netflix adopts runway AI for content creation

    Netflix is exploring the use of AI in content production with video generation software from startup Runway AI, according to a source.

    The company has not publicly commented on this development.

    Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently acknowledged that the company is incorporating AI in content production, including special effects creation.

    He noted that AI was used to depict a building collapse in the Argentine show “El Eternaut.”

    This did not involve Runway’s software, according to a source.

    Runway AI, based in New York, has gained traction in the entertainment industry with tools for video generation and animation.

    The startup has raised US$545 million in funding, with its latest valuation exceeding US$3 billion. Tech in Asia