Author: bibhuti

ZestMoney, a buy now pay later startup whose ability to underwrite small ticket loans to first-time internet customers attracted many high-profile investors including Goldman Sachs, is shutting down following unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer. The Bengaluru-headquartered startup — which also identified PayU, Quona, Zip, Omidyar Network and Ribbit Capital among its backers — employed about 150 people and had raised over $130 million in its eight years journey. The startup’s new leadership, which informed the employees about the decision to shut down Tuesday, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The startup will fully wind down by end of the…

In the intricate landscape of finance, where uncertainties are inherent, underwriting assumes a critical role in ensuring the stability and prosperity of businesses. The conventional underwriting process involves a detailed examination of various factors to evaluate the risk associated with a specific transaction or investment. However, as the financial landscape evolves, there is a growing demand for more efficient and sophisticated tools to streamline underwriting processes. Underwriting workbenches have emerged as a technological innovation gaining traction in recent years, promising to revolutionise the way financial institutions assess and manage risks.   How Has Underwriting in Insurance Evolved?   Before delving…

A sizeable diversion route is currently in place while weeknight closures are in effect Source link

“It’s hard,” Harry Turtledove declared in 2001, in his Introduction to The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century, “to write about the effects of technology before there’s much in the way of technology to write about.” Two decades on, futurism remains as hard an endeavor as ever, and it’s precisely this problem of envisioning what comes next that animates the body of stories in 21 Futures: Tales from the Timechain, a new anthology of science fiction out this month.These aren’t, mind you, your grandfather’s tales of tomorrow. Konsensus Network, the publishers behind the project, have been pitching it…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain On Friday, students will once again down textbooks and laptops and go on strike for climate action. Many will give their schools a Climate Doctor’s Certificate signed by three leading climate academics. These strikes—part of a National Climate Strike—mark five years since school students started walking out of schools to demand greater action on climate change. In 2018, the first students to strike defied calls by then prime minister Scott Morrison for “less activism” and to stay in school. Last year, Australia voted out the Morrison government, in what was widely seen as a climate election.…

The Santa Grotto Experiences in The Beacon Centre launched on Saturday (December 2) with families invited to come and visit the Big Man himself. “The experience starts as soon as you arrive at the check-in desk, our cheeky elf will be on hand to greet guests and hand out special passports,” said a spokes-elf. “Before sending everyone to the Christmas grotto the children must fill in their passports with a unique elf name. READ MORE: Brighton based Quotacom launches Christmas toy appeal “Once this has been done our elf will send all the good boys and girls through to see the…

Location : The A27 eastbound between the junctions with the A22 Polegate West and the A22 Polegate East. Reason : Congestion. Status : Currently Active. Return To Normal : Normal traffic conditions are expected between 15:30 and 15:45 on 5 December 2023. Delay : There are currently delays of 15 minutes against expected traffic. Source link

Image Credit: John Salangsang/Shutterstock Jamie Foxx was filled with gratitude at a Critics Choice event on December 4 which marked his first public appearance since suffering a medical complication earlier this year. The Oscar winner, 55, received the Vanguard Award for his performance in his new film, The Burial, and earned loud cheers from the audience when he got on stage to deliver his speech. “I’ve been through something. I’ve been through some things,” Jamie said. “You know, it’s crazy, I couldn’t do that six months ago — I couldn’t actually walk,” the actor added, before pausing as he got emotional…

But there’s one thing people aren’t talking enough about, and that’s the carbon footprint of AI. One part of the reason is that big tech companies don’t share the carbon footprint of training and using their massive models, and we don’t have standardized ways of measuring the emissions AI is responsible for. And while we know training AI models is highly polluting, the emissions attributable to using AI have been a missing piece so far. That is, until now.  I just published a story on new research that calculated the real carbon footprint of using generative AI models. Generating one image takes as much energy as fully…

Yesterday afternoon, the Home Secretary, James Cleverly informed the Commons that the minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker from overseas will be hiked to £38,700 in order to curb growing immigration numbers.The announcement has puzzled employers, many of whom had been relying on overseas hires to plug a widening talent shortage.Today’s global workforce has seen foreign talent play a critical role in the growth of UK startups. By adding further costs to the recruitment process, Cleverly is effectively kneecapping company owners who will struggle to compete with international rivals.To illustrate just how out-of-whack the new policy is with the…