UGC likely to make 4-year UG courses compulsory for Honours degree: A look at proposed changes

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Students looking to pursue an honours degree will be expected to study for four years instead of three under the new regulation by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The change to four-year undergraduate programmes (FYUP) for an Honours degree is likely to be announced on Monday, reported the Indian express. The draft rules were revealed in March by the UGC and the new system will see multiple exits and re-entry points for students during the FYUP.

“Students will be able to get a UG degree in three years on completion of 120 credits (measured through the number of academic hours) and a UG Honours degree in four years on completion of 160 credits,” the draft of the proposed changes said.

Here is a look at the proposed changes that are expected. Under the new policy, students can exit a degree at the end of every academic year. If the students’ exit after one year (2 semesters), they will receive a certificate. If the students’ exit after two years (4 semesters), they will receive a diploma. Those who complete three years (6 semesters), will be awarded a bachelor’s degree. Completing 4 years (8 semesters) of study would award students a bachelor’s degree with Honours or a bachelor’s degree with research.

ALSO READ: Here’s a look at Indians studying abroad & their preferred destinations

According to the UGC, the FYUP would allow students to choose their own majors and minors under the new credit-based curriculum system and receive multidisciplinary education.

Students of FYUP would be able to enrol on a master’s degree programme that only lasts one year compared to a two-year master’s degree programme for students who completed three years of bachelor’s studies. FYUP students would also be able to apply for postdoctoral research programmes without immediately applying for a master’s programme as well.

However, the move has already been criticised by Delhi University which offers a bachelor’s with Honours at the end of three years. “The Delhi University regulations have been approved by our statutory bodies and we will continue with that. We will give an honours degree after three years as we have been doing since 1980. We have no plan of doing away with an honours degree after three years,” said DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh to Hindustan Times.

ALSO READ: India is looking into ways to minimise the impact on its students’ education: Amb Kamboj

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Storyboard18: Kotak Mahindra Bank’s exiting president and CMO Karthi Marshan on long tenureship in marketing

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Karthi Marshan has worked at a bank brand for 16 years. Marshan, president and CMO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, recently announced that he is moving on to push himself out of his comfort zone. At Kotak Mahindra Bank, his responsibility was to look after the marketing efforts across all verticals including insurance, banking, brokerage, and asset management.

In an exclusive interview with Storyboard18, Marshan shares a lot of his untold stories. He tells us before joining Kotak Mahindra Bank he was “the proverbial rolling stone.” He didn’t stay long in any role. He considered himself as the “headhunter’s nightmare.” So why did he stick around at Kotak Mahindra Bank for 16 years? What’s his secret sauce for long tenureship? He answers these questions and more about his life during the good old days in Indian advertising.

Read on.

You are moving on from Kotak Mahindra Bank after 16 years to take an advisory role in the company. What made you take this step?

You know, before Kotak, I was the proverbial rolling stone. I couldn’t stay longer than 3 years in any role, some I left within 9 months as well. I was the headhunter’s nightmare and I never got a job through one, for that reason, perhaps. But at Kotak, in the blink of an eye, I had crossed the 16-year mark. Largely, I think, because it was like seven roles in one. The cherry on the cake is that every single colleague has a voice, no matter our role or place in the pecking order. Having said that, I felt that it was time for me to challenge myself now, push myself out of my comfort zone and try my hand at a few new things. I’m keen to see if my experience is of use to start-ups, SMEs, NGOs, students, etc.

16 years is a lot of time. What according to you are the key success areas for brand Kotak Mahindra Bank under your leadership?

I would put fearlessness, openness, and empathy as the ingredients that helped us get where we are. We have always been a bold brand, because challengers must be bold. We have broken new ground always, even if it was not clear that things would work, be it with hashtag banking, DriveLikeaLady, 811, video KYC, et al. At the same time, there is a powerful culture of openness at Kotak, where everyone is willing and eager to receive critical input or fresh ideas from even the junior most resources, as well as customers. Ideas for our marketing interventions have also thus come from all quarters. We also operate at a high level of empathy, with both customers and employees, and that is a great recipe for designing superior processes, services, products and experiences.

Talking about long tenureship, there are constant debates and discussions around why marketers don’t stay too long in a company these days. Why do you think that’s happening?

The global mean tenure of CMOs when I last checked was an abysmal 20 months, to my almost 20 years. For the short-tenure CMOs, there’s a lot of wisdom that people don’t quit companies or brands, they quit their bosses. Marketing professionals are no different. What perhaps exacerbates it is that CEOs need to have either deep knowledge or great conviction about marketing to believe in, and invest in the discipline, since the pay-off is usually apparent only in the long term. When employers show a lack of patience, employees are bound to walk to the next best option. On the other hand, there is also an unfortunate malaise of employees job-hopping to pad resumes with the shiny new objects, of course. To both, my submission is as follows; you seek loyalty from your customers. First show some to the cause of the brand yourself.

Also read: AstraZeneca’s global chairman reflects on 3 billion COVID shots and what’s next

Having spent so much time managing the marketing aspects of a bank. What according to you are the big marketing trends that are shaping up the banking sector?

The number one trend is that every employee is a brand custodian, and a brand spokesperson today. In a world where the CEO can read the customer’s complaint on twitter as fast as the customer care unit can, everyone is now in the service business, as well as in the brand business. This alters the dynamic of marketing communications dramatically, in my view.

The second thing that is happening at warp speed is that product and experience design, which used to be the turf of the business and IT functions respectively, now sit equally in the marketing function’s lap. Because the realisation that the buying experience is as critical as the product itself, has finally dawned on BFSI companies. So app and website design, form design, branch design, ATM screen design, are all now as much a marketer’s job as they are the coder’s and the bean counter’s.

The confluence of these two trends should lead to an inevitable consequence, one I am proud of having played a role in at Kotak, viz to turn marketing into a mindset, not a department.

Also, what are the challenges that marketers in the category are trying to solve?

Challenge number one for BFSI marketers is that our products are commodities, and thus differentiation is practically impossible. While we might differentiate on network presence to some extent, all other Ps of marketing tend to be regulated, and hence commoditised. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done. At Kotak, we did, quite successfully, with the PVR credit card, nearly a decade ago, and more recently with a PVR debit card as well, focusing on the great Indian love for cinema.

Similarly, building on the other great Indian passion, cricket, we did disruptive work by offering customers debit cards with their favourite IPL teams’ insignia on them. Thinking beyond your category cues, but finding things that connect customers to your category in refreshing ways is key. Even within the constraints of the category, we broke new ground with campaigns like Grt 2b 25 and Kona Kona Kotak, telling stories that leverage key attributes like age and network presence, but in refreshing ways that made a bigger point than the banal one. BFSI marketers must learn to differentiate, despite the constraints, if they are to get customers to prefer their brands for reasons beyond price and reach alone.

Also read: Panel reviewing pharma companies’ marketing practices may propose new rules with penal provisions

The second one marketers in my space are plagued with is the Windsock Budgeting Method. Crude oil, Interest rates, GDP, inflation, recession any of these can just sneeze and our budgets could get chopped. To operate in an environment with the goalposts moving so erratically, and to be able to make each rupee stretch to feel like a hundred, is our typical challenge. But I see this as an opportunity to be agile, nimble, and super creative.

For example, we did sixteen 10-second ads for just one week in 2010 to announce our 25th year as a brand, and the half-life of that isn’t over even now. Similarly, we launched a children’s product called Junior with a film that ran for just one month, but we still have kids walking into our branches every weekend, mimicking the protagonist’s actions from the film. And more recently, in 2015, we announced our merger with ING Vysya Bank with a campaign whose tagline…Kona Kona Kotak is replayed to me in every gathering I attend, social, professional or otherwise and that film also ran only for one outing. The learning is that we need to be more agile than FMCG marketers, more frugal than well-funded start-ups, and more creative than Netflix and Bollywood combined.

You started your career as a copywriter. You also spent a good number of years in advertising before switching to the client’s side. What were the learnings from ad shops that helped you as a marketer?

I learnt to value the power of the right words from Roger Pereira, my first teacher in advertising. I learnt to eavesdrop on users of products in my time serving Procter & Gamble. There is no more fertile ground for insights leading to better products or better communications. I learnt the value of great design by watching masters like Alok Nanda agonise over the layout long after their copy had been approved. I also learnt agility from being in ad shops, where client briefs arrived on Friday evenings, and output was expected on Monday mornings. But most of all, I learnt that an advertising creator’s job is quite akin to a great leader’s. We have both the opportunity and the responsibility to move people, emotionally and forward, with our words and pictures. The right few words can stir a nation into action.

Also read: Why Indian brands are advertising in NYC’s Times Square

You are an IIM graduate. What fascinated you about advertising?

Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on, as they say. I used to be in advertising before I went to business school, and I thought it but natural to return to it after. I think advertising has the power to mould minds, just like a great orator does. It’s the opportunity to make a positive impact in society, without running for public office, using other people’s money, with just the right words and pictures at the right place, right time, that drew me to it, and kept me engaged with it all these years.

Do you think the advertising world needs IIT and IIM graduates just like how it used to be in the good old days?

Yes, certainly. But I think today it also needs social scientists. People who have a deep understanding of culture and psychology are equally important. The future of advertising and marketing is in grave danger if we surrender it to data scientists alone. Even analytics is a half-baked discipline if rich and novel human insights can’t be teased out of the patterns thrown up by data. When everything is done by the numbers, everyone’s picture will look the same. What would be the point of that? The whole point of great communication is to move society forward. And you can only do that with breakthrough ideas. Which can only come when you have the ability to look into people’s souls. And that will only happen if we are voracious consumers of contemporary literature, arts, music, and are also students of history. So the IIM and IIT graduates are welcome, but I think we need as many people from the humanities, and the social sciences to join advertising and marketing.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Five human rights that are routinely violated

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The International Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on December 10. The day was established in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly in order to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

While neither legal nor binding, the document enshrined human rights in 30 articles including the Right to freedom from discrimination, right to equality between men and women, right to life, freedom from torture, freedom from slavery, right to liberty, right to be treated with humanity in detention and freedom of movement.

Despite 2023 being the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR, no country has managed to ensure access and freedom to all the human rights contained in the document.

Here are some of the human rights that are commonly violated, not protected or not given the importance they deserve across the world.

Right to food 

Despite the world having more than enough food production to feed everyone on the planet, 828 million people go hungry. This is why the right to food is one of the most basic yet violated human rights in the world.

Right to freedom from discrimination

Discrimination on the basis on sex, gender, race, political affiliation, religion, nationality, social status and sexual preference is still rampant across the world with studies highlighting that this discrimination has real-world effects on an individual’s future.

Also Read | International Human Rights Day 2022: 10 basic rights we are all entitled to

Right to freedom of peaceful assembly 

Despite peaceful assembly being a key social and civil right, in reality governments all over the world frequently violate this right with impunity.

Right to marriage 

People of all genders have the right to marry a person of their choice with mutual consent but in the real world, individuals belonging to certain groups like LGBTQ communities find themselves unable to get legally married due to local laws against same-sex marriage.

Right to privacy 

Every human is guaranteed the right to privacy within their homes and their personal lives but government surveillance, tracking from corporations and general use of personal data have meant that this right is very weakly enforced.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

International Human Rights Day 2022: 10 basic rights we are all entitled to

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The International Human Rights Day is observed globally on December 10 every year. The day commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN General Assembly (1948). The declaration has inspired more than 60 human rights instruments that constitute the international standard of human rights.

The UDHR set the fundamental rights to which all human beings are entitled.

Here’s a look at the 10 basic human rights:

The right to freedom and equality

All human beings are born free, are equal in dignity and have the same rights.

The right to freedom of thought, opinion and expression

All human beings have the equal right to hold opinions without interference and have the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media.

The right to work

Everyone has the right to work as per their choice of employment and has an equal right to just and favourable conditions of work. It also encompasses the right to protection against unemployment.

The right to education

The right to education gives one the right to get educated ideally till elementary school — and free of cost.

Right to be treated equal before the law

Everyone must be treated equal before the law and entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. The right protects against discrimination and against any incitement to discrimination.

Right of social service

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services.

Right to trial

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal or component of law.

Right to privacy

This right protects all from being subjected to arbitrary interference with regard to their family, home or correspondence’s privacy and attacks on honour and reputation. The right allows everyone to seek protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Right to asylum

Everyone has the right to seek asylum in other countries for protection from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from the acts that defy the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Right to democracy

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives along with the right of equal access to public service.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rocket launcher-type weapon fired at police station in Punjab’s Tarn Taran

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

A rocket launcher-type weapon was fired at a police station in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, official sources said on Saturday.

Some unidentified people fired the projectile at the Sarhali police station located on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway at around 1 am in the border district, they said.

The door glass of the police station was found to be broken. Senior police officials have reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

Earlier in May, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the Punjab Police’s Intelligence headquarters located in Mohali.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Views | World Human Rights Day: Do media play its role well in addressing violence against women?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

As we observe World Human Rights Day today (10th December), I wonder what role news media plays in addressing violence against women. Does the news cover the problem adequately? Are journalists able to report on these issues without themselves falling prey to them? The answers to these questions are contained in my newly released report, which focuses on six countries that are home to a quarter of the world’s population – India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK and the US.

Following one of our recently concluded campaigns against Gender-Based Violence, now I feel compelled to turn my attention to India. 

What I have learned through researching India for my report in the last few years is that India is a country of huge contrasts. It was Air India that flew the world’s first all-women crew around the world in 2021, while a documentary on Khabar Lahariya, the successful all-women Indian news operation, was Oscar-nominated the same year. It was India that introduced a landmark agreement to protect garment workers from violence, following the 2021 murder of Dalit woman Gyasri Kathiravel. At the same time, India is a country where a woman was tied to a tree and thrashed by her husband for seven hours; and another was assaulted and abused by men and women in Delhi, accused of causing a man’s suicide by rejecting his advances. Only last month a federal minister caused controversy by blaming a victim of femicide for her own death for having had a live-in relationship with the man who killed her.

Women in India face enormous structural and cultural barriers which place them at a disadvantage. First and foremost, there is a substantive gap between women’s and men’s safety. Ranked 148th of 170 on the 2021 Women, Peace and Security Index, India is among the world’s most dangerous countries for women. According to WHO research, in 2022, 18% of women in India reported having endured intimate partner violence. 

Indian women are almost completely locked out of the highest levels of political and news editorial power, with the result that women’s struggles and perspectives are excluded from public discourse. In 2019 women occupied 23 percent of ministerial positions, but in 2021 their proportion had collapsed to 9% of all ministerial roles. From Outrage to Opportunity uncovered that 1 in 10 editors-in-chief in India are women (11% in national outlets and 8 percent in regional), a proportion notably lower than the average of 26% across the other studied countries. Only 1 in 5 top editors in politics are women (34% in national news media vs. 0% in regional). In addition, Indian women face a huge pay gap with women’s median gross hourly salary 19% less than men’s in 2018. At the current rate, it will take 318 years for Indian women’s share of labor income to equal that of men.

These structural disparities are underpinned by powerful pro-male social norms, which are hardly reported in the news media. For example, according to UN Women data, the pay gap is barely challenged with 83% of men and 77% of women agreeing that “it is natural for men to earn more than women as they should be the main providers”. The vast majority of Indian men and women (between 85% and -88%) believe that the media portrays men and women in stereotypical roles with women seen as side-kicks and caregivers to men’s bread-winners and power agents. News media acts as a mirror for society – and it is reinforcing, rather than challenging, pro-male social norms. 

One of the roles of news media, which journalists across cultures embrace, is to give voice to all members of the public whose stories need to be told. But are global and Indian news media doing so? Our research found that women’s voices are increasingly marginalized in news coverage in India, more so than in the other researched countries. For every woman featuring in the news there are six men muting her voice (vs. a global average ratio of 1 to 3). 

AKAS analysis of GDELT’s database of 900 million online news stories revealed that a pitiful 0.02% of global news coverage addresses seven structural gender gaps: in pay, power, safety, health, confidence, authority and ageism. Analysis of news related to violence against women (including gender-based or domestic violence, honour killings, intimate partner violence, rape or sexual assault) shows a meagre 0.9% of Indian news covers these issues, a lower proportion than in any of the other researched countries. Moreover, while gender-based violence increased during the pandemic, coverage of these issues dropped significantly in India from its 1.7% pre-pandemic level. 

Research has found that most women journalists experience some form of online or offline violence which constrains their ability to do their jobs. One needn’t look further than the sustained attacks against Rana Ayyub to understand the depth of the problem. As a senior female editor interviewed for the report reflected: “…A man would have never been subjected to the level of misogyny and trolling that she is.” Women journalists have felt even more vulnerable after ‘auction’ apps intensified organized abuse against them in India.

While news media globally or in India cannot solve the issues of women’s marginalization or social disadvantage alone, it has a duty to continuously bring the facts to the fore. It is the news media’s role to salvage women’s buried perspectives from the ruins and expose them to the light of truth. From Outrage to Opportunity offers a multitude of solutions for how the news industry can do that, including increasing coverage of the gender safety gap and tracking how women are portrayed in news. The opportunity for news media to continuously expose women’s truths was best articulated by a senior editor interviewed anonymously for the report: “The fact that it is harder for women to do the same jobs that men get to do – whether it’s journalism or outside of that –is a reality that needs to be confronted, and… addressed by governments, by all stakeholders, by organizations, because very often, it’s a blind eye that’s turned… It’ll be the headline for one day and then it’s forgotten”.

— Luba Kassova is a co-founder and director of the international audience strategy consultancy- AKAS, and is passionate about gender and racial equality, free media, and social cohesion. The views expressed are personal. 

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Chainlink, ApeCoin and Nexo jump on to the staking bandwagon — Here’s how they are doing so far

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The concept of ‘staking’ in crypto is quite popular. This feature enables users to ‘lock up’ a portion of their coins and earn a percentage-based reward in return. By locking up (staking) their coins, these users are allowed to verify transactions and add new blocks on the blockchain.

In exchange for their contributions, these users are rewarded with newly minted coins. The rewards they receive are in proportion to the amount they have staked. It is a fantastic way of generating passive income without selling any of your coins. However, this feature is only available on proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains.

Recently, three popular cryptocurrencies — Chainlink, ApeCoin and Nexo — have opened up staking to their users. Tag along as we tell you more about these blockchains and how they have fared after the launch of their staking protocols.

Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink, the popular blockchain oracle network, launched its much-awaited Staking v0.1 on December 6, 2022. This upgrade is a vital component of ‘Chainlink Economics 2.0’, which is dedicated to the security and sustainability of the platform.

With the launch of this feature, users will be able to stake Chainlink’s native token, LINK, and earn staking rewards while enhancing the platform’s overall security. However, if users fail to abide by the on-chain service-level agreement (SLA), then a portion of their staked LINK will be confiscated and redistributed amongst other stakers.

Also Read: Why has Axie Infinity (AXS) spiked 20% in the last 7 days and where is it headed next?

The feature will allow Chainlink to develop a more secure ecosystem by enabling the nodes to receive incentives for enhancing the data efficiency and integrity of the oracle network. In exchange, they receive 4.75 percent of annual rewards for supporting the network’s performance.

LINK witnessing some serious gains after the Staking launch

Chainlink opened its Staking Pool on December 8, letting holders stake up to 7,000 LINK per address, worth around $53,000. Since then, LINK has witnessed a massive staking spree of around 24.27 million LINK tokens, worth $170 million.

The total cap on LINK staking was set to 25 million, out of which the community pool limit of 22.5 million is already reached. Therefore, the staking limit for general audiences has already been completed. Now, the remaining 700,000 tokens need to be filled by the node operators.

Overall, LINK has suffered major losses this year. LINK has plummeted from $28 at the start of the year to $6.99 at the time of writing. However, the launch of the staking feature has given it a slight hope, with the enthusiasts responding well to the project. At the time of writing, LINK was up 1.76 percent over the last 24 hours, with a 1.2 percent gain for the month.

ApeCoin (APE)

ApeCoin (APE) is the governance token of the Ape Ecosystem. Holders of this ERC-20 token can vote on improvement proposals and receive exclusive access to upcoming NFT launches, games and other events within the Ape ecosystem.

On December 6, the Ape Foundation took to Twitter to announce the launch of its much-awaited staking feature for ApeCoin. Under this new feature, users can stake their ApeCoins or BAYC/MAYC NFTs on ApeStake.io.

The platform has also set aside 175 million ApeCoins, which equates to 17.5 percent of the token’s total supply, as staking rewards. These coins will be distributed to stakers across the next three years. However, users will only begin receiving staking rewards after December 12.

After the staking feature was launched, the project witnessed deposits of nearly $32 million worth of tokens in just one day. The launch of its staking protocol also caused the price valuation of APE to spike 6 percent, going from $3.8 on December 4 to $4.2 on December 6. However, APE returned most of these gains over the next few days and is currently trading at $3.96.

ApeCoin has rallied almost 50 percent from its yearly lows since mid-November. Although this is a great sign of recovery amidst the reeling market conditions, what is surprising is that the staking feature has not shown any distinct, long-lasting effect on the APE price or its partner NFTs, i.e., the BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club) or MAYC (Mutant Ape Yacht Club) NFTs.

Nexo (NEXO)

Another project to launch its own staking protocol this month is Nexo (NEXO). The NEXO coin, which ranks 80 on the list of top 100 cryptocurrencies, launched its Ethereum Smart Staking feature on December 7, 2022.

According to the project’s developers, this feature will enable holders to swap their ETH in exchange for NETH, or Nexo Staked ETH. Users can then stake their NETH and receive 4 to 12 percent APY as staking rewards.

The launch of its staking feature resulted in a 5 percent spike in the token’s valuations. However, Nexo’s staking update comes just days after the platform was forced to withdraw operations in eight American states after facing trouble with regulators in the US. This has sent NEXO tumbling from $1 at the start of November to $0.662 at the time of writing.

Conclusion

The collapse of FTX has left a crater in the crypto space. It has caused crypto prices to plummet and also resulted in massive investor FUD. As a result, even the most exciting projects are having a hard time finding a strong footing in such a depressing market.

However, the support that LINK and ApeCoin have witnessed has shown that there are still individuals who believe in the power of crypto and are showing support for these projects. Once the market recovers, we may witness another strong bull run, which may result in better gains for these promising projects.

Also Read: A guide to NFT mystery boxes

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Tech This Week: WhatsApp introduces Avatars, Google Pixel’s feature drop and more

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The world of tech witnessed the rollout of some of the most-awaited updates this week. On Monday, Google released the software update for its Pixel devices with a special feature drop that is touted to be the biggest update of all time.

On Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Facebook-like personalized Avatars on WhatsApp. Later in the week, a top Microsoft executive shared an exciting update about the famous Call of Duty Game coming to Nintendo Switch.

Here’s a look at some of the top tech stories of this week.

WhatsApp announces Avatars for Android and iOS

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of avatars on WhatsApp. The update will let WhatsApp users create a personalized avatar and use it as their profile photo. Described as a digital version of you, these avatars can be created from billions of combinations of different hairstyles, facial features, and outfits.

Users can go to the stickers option in the chat and create their avatars. read more.

‘Call of Duty’ may come to Nintendo Switch

Microsoft executive Phil Spencer shared an exciting update for the gaming community that the hugely popular Call of Duty game franchise could become available on Nintendo’s Switch console. Spencer said that this will happen only if Microsoft’s acquisition of developer Activision Blizzard goes through. The tech giant is in the process of buying Activision Blizzard, and the $69-billion purchase is yet to be finalized as it is being examined by antitrust authorities, as per an AFP report. read more.

Google’s December Pixel feature drop

Earlier in the week, Google dropped its scheduled software update but this time it wasn’t just for the Pixel smartphones (starting from the Pixel 4a) but for the Pixel Watch too.

In one of the biggest feature drops, Google introduced key new features on the Pixel devices such as the ability to review security and privacy settings, risk levels, and other information all in one place.

After the update, the Pixel Recorder will now include speaker labels, transcribe a conversation in English (only in Pixel 6 or newer devices), identify and label each speaker, and insert line breaks when the speaker changes.

Other features include Clear calling on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, Grammar Check in French, Live Translate, powerful on-device search on the Pixel 4a and later, and Voice Message Transcription on the Pixel 4a and newer phones.

The Pixel Watch is getting the Fitbit Sleep Profile feature, and the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are getting cough and snore detection among other features.

Palo Alto Networks introduces cybersecurity solution

Multinational cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks on Tuesday announced a medical IoT (internet of things) security suite based on the ‘zero trust’ philosophy. This is a cybersecurity approach that entails continuous verification of every user and device.

The update comes in the wake of one of the biggest cyberattacks on India’s premier hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. The hospital network is recovering from a cyberattack in which the hospital’s servers were breached and patient data was uploaded for sale on the dark web. read more.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: Phygital NFTs and how they work

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The term ‘Phygital’ was coined by an Australian agency called Momentum back in 2013. It combines the words ‘physical’ and ‘digital’ to describe an amalgamation of the two realms that have come to shape our world.

With the emergence of the metaverse, it is now even more clear that our physical and virtual worlds have become closely interconnected. This is thanks to rapidly advancing technologies, especially blockchain, which made way for digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

Phygital NFTs: what are they?

The term ‘phygital’ has been gaining ground rapidly in the decentralised economy and is strongly associated with NFTs. Phygital NFTs enable blockchain developers to combine the digital and physical by expanding the functionality of NFTs and linking them with real-world objects and experiences.

Examples of phygital NFTs

NFT ticketing is an excellent example of phygital NFTs. For instance, at this year’s Coachella Music Festival, in addition to regular physical tickets, the organising committee also offered a handful of NFT tickets. They were known as the ‘Coachella Keys Collection’ and consisted of 10 NFTs that gave holders lifetime access to the festival.

Several premium whisky brands also turned to phygital NFTs this year. For example, in October this year, renowned distillers William Grant and Son offered 15 NFTs that represented bottles of 46-year-old Glenfiddich whisky. Each NFT comes with an artistic impression of the bottle that also serves as a counterfeit-proof certificate of ownership. BlockBar, William Grant and Son’s NFT partner for the project, was responsible for storing the physical bottle and delivering it to the buyer upon request.

Also Read: Explained: Literary NFTs and how they work

Phygital NFTs have also been used in the fashion industry. For example, in March this year, the famous Italian fashion brand Diesel forayed into the NFT space with its “phygital” NFT wearable collection called D: Verse. Besides being a digital representation of the brand’s runway pieces from the latest Fall/Winter show, the NFTs also gave holders exclusive perks. This included access to airdrops and discounted pre-sales. It also gave holders invites/VIP access to the next fashion show and several other exclusive privileges.

But perhaps the most exciting use of phygital NFTs was Damien Hirst’s ‘The Currency’. The renowned British artist created a collection of 10,000 spot paintings, each represented by its own NFT version. Buyers had to choose which version of the painting they preferred, the digital or the physical. If the buyer chose the physical one, the NFT version was burned and vice versa. Surprisingly, 48.51 percent of the NFT holders decided to keep their digital version.

How to redeem Phygital NFTs?

Burning is the most common way to redeem phygital NFTs. A fitting example is the Nouns Vision project, where users were provided with a commemorative NFT in their wallet. Only when the user burns that NFT is the delivery of the physical NFT initiated. However, not all phygital NFTs work in the same way. Some provide a replacement NFT after the original is redeemed for the real-world object/experience. This way, the buyer still has access to the utility of the NFT, including access to exclusive communities, airdrops, and other occasions.

Conclusion

Phygital NFTs have blurred the line between the real and the virtual worlds. And with every passing day, these digital assets come closer and closer to seamlessly uniting two worlds in one smooth user experience. The future possibilities are endless with Phygital NFTs, and hence they are becoming so popular nowadays. Moreover, it transcends the blockchain experience in the physical world, which is revolutionary, to say the least.

Also Read: Porsche enters NFT space: A look at 3 other automotive giants that stepped into web3 this year

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Auto This Week: Volkswagen launches Tiguan Special Edition, KTM reveals 790 Adventure and more

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

This week Austrian bike maker introduced the KTM 790 Adventure globally. Volkswagen launched the Tiguan Special Edition in India at Rs 33.49 lakh (ex-showroom). Stella Moto launched its affordable electric scooter, the Buzz E-scooter at Rs 95,000 in India.

Here’s a look at the top automotive stories of this week.

2023 KTM 790 Adventure unveiled globally

Austrian bikes manufacturer KTM unveiled its 2023 790 Adventure motorcycle globally on Tuesday, December 6. The off-road bike comes with several updates, including a new engine, features, and colour schemes. However, the KTM Adventure is unlikely to make it to India as the Austrian company has been absent from the middle-weight segment category for a long time.

Stella Moto launched Buzz electric scooter

Stella Moto, which is backed by Jaidka Group, has launched its first electric scooter, Buzz, at a starting price of Rs 95,000 (ex-showroom). The electric scooter gets a 2kW BLDC motor paired with a 2.16kWh lithium-ion battery, which provides a claimed range of more than 90km on a single charge and a claimed top speed of 55kmph.

Also read: TVS Motor’s Singapore arm to acquire German EV tech, assets

Suzuki launched Burgman Street EX in India

Suzuki Motorcycle India launched the all-new Suzuki Burgman Street EX in India. The scooter comes in several different variants priced between Rs 89,000 and Rs 1.12 lakh. It comes with the new Suzuki Eco Performance Alpha (SEP-α) engine with auto stop-start and silent starter system among other features.

Volkswagen Tiguan Exclusive Edition launched

Volkswagen India launched the new Exclusive Edition for the Tiguan SUV at a price of Rs 33.49 lakh (ex-showroom). The special edition car comes with comfort and convenience features and is available with the Oryx White and Pure White exterior colour options.

Also read: Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Renault, Kia India, MG Motor to hike car prices come January

It also gets 18-inch Sebring alloy wheels, self-levelling VW-logo caps, aluminium pedals and cushion pillows. Other features include LED matrix headlamps, an 8-inch infotainment display, Vienna leather seat upholstery, 30-colour ambient lights, TPMS, six-airbags, steering-mounted controls, and a panoramic sunroof.

Ducati DesertX ADV teased

Ducati India has released a teaser of its upcoming DesertX adventurer, which is set to be launched on December 12. This teaser reveals just a design feature, the LED daytime running lamps. There are no further details revealed by Ducati. The DessertX will be Ducati’s first off-road adventurer bike.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow