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☆ India’s UPI: How e-payments have taken over, from sari shops to street food stalls
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Amy Gunia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Digital payments are likely to enhance India’s growth by eliminating frictions, increasing efficiency, and reducing costs,” Eswar Prasad, an economics professor at Cornell University, told CNN. Covid-19 further boosted the adoption of digital transactions, as people tried to protect themselves from the virus. In 2023, the number of UPI transactions topped 100 billion. Azeez, a 34-year-old rickshaw driver in Old Delhi, told CNN that he’s too scared of losing money to use e-payments. Sania Farooqui/CNNConvenience aside, India’s digital public infrastructure has helped it achieve an 80% financial inclusion rate.

Persons: Brij Kishore, ”, Agarwal, tuk, India’s, Narendra Modi, Eswar Prasad, Old Delhi Sania Farooqui, Ramesh Kumar's, Sania Farooqui, Ramesh Kumar, he’s, Azeez, Prasad, Kapil Sharma, “ Organizations: Hong Kong / New Delhi CNN, ”, Unified, “, frictions, Cornell University, CNN, “ UPI, India, National Payments Corporation of India, UPI, Sarojini, Finance, Eiffel Locations: Hong Kong / New Delhi, Chandni, India’s Old Delhi, Delhi, India, Old Delhi, Sarojini, Covid

☆ AstroForge: How this startup plans to make asteroid mining a reality.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Amy Gunia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Now the California-based startup is attempting to make asteroid mining a reality. That makes AstroForge the only company with a refinery that can turn M-type asteroids into PGMs in space, he adds. Some in the scientific community are skeptical that the private sector will be able to afford asteroid mining. Its all-or-nothing, lower-cost approach may help push asteroid mining closer to reality. “I hope if nothing else,” Gialich says, “we’re known as a space company that went for it.”

Persons: Matt Gialich, Gialich, Jose Acain, “, ”, we’re, “ We’re, AstroForge, Edward Carreon, “ that’s, –, Dan Britt, REx, James Cameron, Larry Page, Britt, “ I’m, ” Gialich, NASA's, Aubrey Gemignani, ” Britt, AstroForge’s Organizations: CNN, Virgin, SpaceX, NASA, Companies, Apple, Center, University of Central, JAXA, United, United Arab Emirates ’ Space Agency, UAE Space Agency, AP NASA, Planetary Resources, Titanic, Google, NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Getty Locations: California, University of Central Florida, China, United Arab, United Arab Emirates, Utah, Los Angeles, Florida

☆ ‘Cabs to get into space’: How this Indian startup wants to revolutionize satellite space travel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Amy Gunia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But its private sector has played a limited role in space exploration, acting mostly as suppliers and vendors for its national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). “Very few companies globally are able to make it to orbit yet.”Pawan Chandana, the co-founder of Skyroot Aerospace Skyroot Aerospace Pvt. As Indian space startups mature over the coming years, he expects the government to become a customer, enabling further growth. Many private space companies source income from governments, including Space X, which has raked in billions of dollars from US government contracts. In November 2022, Skyroot Aerospace launched India's first privately built rocket, Vikram-S. Skyroot Aerospace Pvt.

Persons: Vikram, ” Pawan Chandana, “, Pawan Chandana, Narendra Modi, ”, Susmita Mohanty, Skyroot, Chandana, ridesharing, Kari Bingen, Modi, Mohanty Organizations: CNN, Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, Elon, SpaceX, Skyroot Aerospace, Skyroot Aerospace Skyroot Aerospace, . Ltd, McKinsey & Company, Economic, ’, LEO —, Vikram Sarabhai, Aerospace Security, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Deloitte, India’s, NASA Locations: India, United States, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Singapore

☆ These supersized clownfish robots could be coming to waterways in the Middle East
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Amy Gunia | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Without better data to understand the health of increasingly stressed waterways, the fight to save these most precious of resources will be ineffective, says Simeon Pieterkosky, co-founder of the technology company Aquaai. The technology could also find a use in the Middle East, a region that is battling water scarcity. Aquaai co-founder and CEO Liane Thompson. Aquaai is currently upgrading its underwater drones and is in discussions with various government agencies about trials to put the newest version to work. There are a smattering of other agencies and companies developing underwater drones for a variety of purposes.

Persons: Simeon Pieterkosky, ”, Aquaai, Pieterkosky, Liane Thompson, Aquaai Thompson, Thompson, Robert C, Brears, “ Organizations: CNN, United Arab, Abu Locations: California, Norway, East, North Africa, Thompson, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi’s, Beijing

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