26% of 25.5 lakh applicants for minority scholarship bogus

Over 6.7 lakh non-existent applicants were found in the scrutiny of the minority scholarship scheme. The biometric authentication exercise revealed missing institutional nodal officers and heads of institutions. Only 30% of renewal applicants were genuine. The Ministry of Minority Affairs will share the findings with the CBI. The investigation into the scholarship scam continues with allegations of fake beneficiaries and diversion of public funds. The scholarship portal registers 1.8 lakh institutions and provides scholarships ranging from Rs 4000 to Rs 25,000 annually.

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MoD nod for projects worth over 2 lakh crore

The defence ministry on Thursday gave the preliminary approval for capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore, including the procurement of 97 more Tejas fighters and 156 Prachand light combat helicopters as well as an upgrade of 84 existing Sukhoi-30MKI jets, in a hugely significant boost for indigenous defence production. The Rajnath Singh-led defence acquisitions council also accorded the acceptance of necessity (AoN) for 400 new towed artillery gun systems for Rs 9,900 crore to replace old Indian field guns and two types of Pinaka `area denial munitions’ for the Army.

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'US not averse to conducting underground nuclear tests'

The Biden administration has not completely ruled out the possibility of conducting underground nuclear tests if circumstances demand so. This has been made amply clear in the US Department of Energy (DoE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) report to the US Congress this month. The report, which delves into the details about various aspects of the current status of America’s nuclear weapons programme, says: “The US must be ready to perform underground nuclear explosive tests using a test article.”

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'Will enforce CAA': Amit Shah vows to stop infiltration

Home Minister Amit Shah virtually kicks off the BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha campaign in Kolkata, emphasizing the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and asserting the rights of Hindu refugees. Shah expresses confidence in BJP forming the Bengal government in 2026 and urges voters to support Prime Minister Modi in the upcoming election. He criticizes the Mamata Banerjee government, urging voters to choose BJP for change and development in the state.

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India's G20 presidency marks the dawn of a new multilateralism

India reflects on its G20 Presidency, emphasizing inclusivity and a human-centric approach amid global challenges. Key achievements include integrating the African Union into the G20, hosting the 'Voice of the Global South Summit,' and delivering the G20 2023 Action Plan for Sustainable Development Goals. India advances digital public infrastructure, green development, and climate justice, fostering collaboration on policy coherence and trade. Handing over to Brazil, India expresses confidence in a lasting impact on people, planet, peace, and prosperity.

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Imran Khan steps down, Gohar Khan named interim PTI chief

Imran Khan steps down as leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), handing over to close associate Gohar Ali Khan in a temporary arrangement amid legal challenges. Imran's decision follows his conviction in the Toshakhana graft case. The move aims to prevent electoral watchdog interference and maintain the party's integrity. Imran plans to contest intra-party polls after the prompt resolution of legal issues. Gohar expressed gratitude for being picked to head Pakistan's main opposition party. "I am stunned. There are no words to express my gratitude to Imran Khan sahib."

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Amazon Announces New AI Chip for AWS Amid Competition With Microsoft

Amazon.com on Tuesday announced a new artificial intelligence chip for its cloud computing service as competition with Microsoft to dominate the market for artificial intelligence heats up.

At a conference in Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Chief Executive Adam Selipsky announced Trainium2, the second generation of chip designed for training AI systems. Selipsky said the new version is four times as fast as its predecessor while being twice as energy efficient.

The AWS move comes weeks after Microsoft announced its own AI chip called Maia. The Trainium2 chip will also compete against AI chips from Alphabet's Google, which has offered its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) to its cloud computing customers since 2018.

Selipsky said that AWS will start offering the new training chips next year. The proliferation of custom chips comes amid a scramble to find the computing power to develop technologies such as large language models that form the basis of services similar to ChatGPT.

The cloud computing firms are offering their chips as a complement to Nvidia, the market leader in AI chips whose products have been in short supply for the past year. AWS also on Tuesday said that it will offer Nvidia's newest chips on its cloud service.

Selipsky on Tuesday also announced Graviton4, the cloud firm's fourth custom central processor chip, which it said is 30 percent faster than its predecessor. The news comes weeks after Microsoft announced its own custom chip called Cobalt designed to compete with Amazon's Graviton series.

Both AWS and Microsoft are using technology from Arm in their chips, part of an ongoing trend away from chips made by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices in cloud computing. Oracle is using chips from startup Ampere Computing for its cloud service.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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OnePlus Nord 3 brings some serious upgrades over its predecessor, including some flagship-grade specifications. We discuss this and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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