Autor: Jane Austen

InsuranceAsia News wraps up the people moves from the insurance industry in Asia this week. 1. India appoints former finance secretary as IRDAI chairman The government of India has appointed former economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth as the new chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). Seth, a former bureaucrat, has been appointed for a three-year term. The all-important regulatory post has been lying vacant for over four months, after the tenure of the previous chairman, Debasish Panda, ended on March 13. With over 33 years of public service experience, Seth has held key roles in…

GitHub Spark, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool available within the GitHub Copilot, was released on Thursday. Available in public preview, it is a vibe coding tool that allows users to generate apps via natural language descriptions. The Microsoft-owned platform also allows users to collaborate with the AI to better control the outcome in multiple ways. Powered by Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4, the tool can generate both the backend and frontend capabilities of the app, and it can be directly published once the developer is satisfied with the end result.GitHub Spark Is Now Available to Copilot Pro+ UsersIn a post on…

Listen to Odd Lots on Apple PodcastsListen to Odd Lots on SpotifySubscribe to the newsletterToday, the cost of energy — things like electricity, or gas, or heating oil — is considered an essential piece of economic data. But it turns out that for much of America’s history, we’ve been overlooking a crucial economic figure: the cost of firewood. For decades, firewood was the dominant energy source powering the US economy. And yet there aren’t really any official statistics about firewood prices. After all, how would you even go about putting a price tag on something that’s growing in a lot…

Meta’s Reality Labs has published a peer-reviewed article that describes the company’s efforts to build an input tool that is non-invasive and relies on surface electromyography (sEMG). The company has been working on wristband technology that is designed to enable human-computer interaction (HCI) using muscle signals. Meta says that the technology allows the wristband to capture a user’s «intent» to pinch, tap, or swipe, using their fingers, or type and navigate on a computer without using a keyboard or a mouse.How Meta’s Non-Invasive Wristband Technology WorksA peer-reviewed article in the journal Nature describes the experimental technology being used by the company,…

Pricing, prudent underwriting to sustain Bao Viet Insurance’s strong performance: AM Best July 25 2025 by Andrew Mullen Vietnamese insurer Bao Viet Insurance Corporation (BVGI) will look to sustain its strong operating performance driven by prudent underwriting and pricing discipline, AM Best said. BVGI, the non-life … To continue reading the full article and get full access to the InsuranceAsia News platform, please enquire about a subscription. Your company may already have a corporate license in place. Already a Subscriber? Please Login Join the mailing list Designed to help you stay ahead, our daily newsletter provides a round-up of the latest…

Realme 15 Pro 5G was launched in India on Thursday alongside the base Realme 15 5G. The phones pack 7,000mAh batteries each and support 80W fast charging. The base model comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 7300+ chipset, while the Pro variant is equipped with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 SoC. They are equipped with 50-megapixel selfie shooters, 50-megapixel main rear cameras, and AI-backed imaging tools. The front and rear cameras on the Realme 15 Pro handset are said to support 4K video recording at 60fps. Realme 15 Pro 5G, Realme 15 5G Price in IndiaRealme 15 Pro 5G price in India starts…

Realme Buds T200 true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds were launched in India on Thursday. The new audio offering from the Chinese tech brand was unveiled alongside the Realme 15 Pro 5G and Realme 15 5G. The TWS earbuds come in four different colours and feature an in-ear design. The Realme Buds T200 use 12.4mm dynamic drivers and support active noise cancellation (ANC) up to 32dB. The earphones have an IP55-rated build for sweat and water resistance. Realme claims that the earbuds can offer up to 50 hours of playback time along with the charging case.Realme Buds T200 Price in IndiaThe Realme…

The Mars surface is a hostile and dry environment, having little atmosphere with no stagnant water. The new research tells that this has not always been the case. Mars has faced many rains that actually shaped the landscape. If in the past era any alien life had existed, it would likely need some sort of protection, maybe even umbrellas, to tolerate the downpour. This study was published in Nature Geoscience, and it reviewed the crater erosion patterns on the planet.Heavy Rains and a Thicker Atmosphere: Rethinking Mars’ Climate HistoryAs per the Royal Astronomical Society, it was concluded that the Martian…

With the increase in global rocket launches, scientists are reporting concerns about their impact on the ozone layer, our planet’s natural shield against harmful UV radiation. The research team, which includes Sandro Vattioni and other scientists, put emphasis on the environmental risks that can increase with the rocket emissions are still now underestimated. However, it can be addressed with proactive and coordinated efforts. With a boom in the commercial space industry, there comes opportunity; however, with this comes a lot of threat to the environment by causing ozone layer depletion during the launch and re-entry of the spacecrafts.Rocket Emissions Pose…

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, had a huge problem when its JunoCam imager started to fail after sitting through the planet’s harsh radiation belts for so many orbits. Designed to only last through the initial few orbits, JunoCam astonishingly endured 34 orbits. Yet by the 47th orbit, the effects of radiation damage became visible, and by the 56th orbit, images were almost illegible. With few alternatives and time slipping away before a close flyby of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, engineers made a daring but creative gamble. Employing an annealing process, they sought to resuscitate the imager by warming…