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Hello Reader,

Fake reviews no more?

On Monday, the Bureau of Indian Standards formulated a new standard for online consumer reviews, aimed at curbing fake reviews, which will be effective from November 25. Also, purchased reviews have to be clearly marked to maintain transparency. 

ICYMI: This nicely illustrated guide mapping Mukesh Ambani’s impact on our daily lives.

We are truly living in one big ‘Ambaniverse’. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Are Indian crypto exchanges safer?
• AWS Clean Energy Accelerator 3.0
• Upcycling waste for fashion

Here’s your trivia for today: What’s the name of Pixar’s lamp mascot?

Cryptocurrency

Are Indian crypto exchanges safer?

FTX’s collapse has sent shockwaves across the Web3 world, including India where many traders chose the Bahamas-registered crypto exchange’s services over local counterparts due to the home country’s ambiguous laws.

Impact of fallout:

• In the last seven days, the overall crypto market cap has plunged as low as $763 billion from a peak of $2.5 trillion in May 2021.
• CoinSwitch announced an independent third-party report to confirm its overall holdings.
• CoinDCX is working on publishing the Reserves to Liabilities Ratio periodically, along with audit certificates.

Cleantech

AWS Clean Energy Accelerator 3.0

Amazon Web Services launched Clean Energy Accelerator 3.0 as a non-equity dilutive accelerator for experienced startups building clean energy technology. It will have two cohorts, along with international exchange runs to help build innovation centres including one in the UAE along Masdar City.

Powering clean energy:

• The programme comprises 12 weeks of in-person and virtual training.
• Startups will receive $100,000 AWS credit, along with business, go-to-marketing and tech mentoring.
• It will also host Innovation Showcase during the COP 28 conference in Dubai with the startups selected for the programme.

Sustainability

Upcycling waste for fashion

Microplastics from over 50 years of single-use plastics being in existence are now found to be in all parts of the food chain. To make use of plastic waste, designer Sara Lakhani has come up with a garment collection titled Trash or Treasure that is based on recycling and upcycling waste in both textiles and plastic.

Waste to wardrobe:

• The collection features negative Kantha embroidery that uses waste polythene bags, with the fabrics using recycled and handwoven textile waste.
• It uses fabric and clothing waste that goes to dump yards to be re-converted into different, new fabrics.
• Sara displayed her collection at the Lakme Fashion Week this year.

News & updates

• Legal troubles: Meta Platforms Inc. is facing demands that it stop harvesting personal data for targeted advertisements in a fresh UK lawsuit that goes to the heart of Facebook’s business model. Meta has yet to file its defence papers in the case.
• New but old: Bob Iger must show Wall Street a new side to his character as he returns to lead Walt Disney by cutting costs and restoring profits in just two years after splurging cash on acquisitions and a streaming business last time round.
• Cryptosis: Bitcoin hovered around a one-week low on Monday and other major cryptocurrencies fell sharply, as the impact of the dramatic collapse of FTX continues to ripple through the market. Bitcoin was down 3.6% to trade around $15,990.89 at 3:40 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data. 

What’s the name of Pixar’s lamp mascot?

Answer: Luxo Jr.

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