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By Dr. Gyan Pathak When the textile landscape of the country and the world is changing fast, it would not be enough for India to only celebrate National Handloom Day every year on August 7. The country will have to do much more than celebrating the day by releasing commemorative document and press releases giving […]

The article Celebrating National Handloom Day On August 7 Sans Proper Action appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

One Meal, One Ripple, One Community

Pay It Forward allows any participant to buy a prepaid meal at a participating local restaurant, café, or food outlet for someone else in their community. More than a one-way gesture, how Pay It Forward works is designed to create a ripple effect where kindness spreads, anyone can be both a Giver and a Receiver, and one small act sets off a wider movement of community connection.

How a Ripple Starts:

1. Share a Meal. Through the Pay It Forward app, a Giver purchases a prepaid meal from a participating Merchant and can include a Ripple Card with a positive message to pass on.
2. Experience the Gesture. A community member redeems the meal in-store and can share the moment back by sending a Ripple Card of appreciation to the Giver.
3. Pay It Forward. Receivers may later choose to share a meal through the platform for someone else, setting a ripple in motion.
4. Grow the Community. Over time, Givers, Receivers, and Merchants form a wider community supporting one another, one shared meal at a time.

“We built Pay It Forward because we believe technology should help people reconnect, not just transact,” said Amelia Tang, Co-Founder and CEO. “A shared meal is one of the simplest ways to show someone in your community that you thought of them.”

From Pilot to Public Growth

Malaysia was chosen as the first launch market for Pay It Forward’s revolution due to the country’s rich food culture and strong sense of community. The nationwide rollout follows an extended period of product development, merchant onboarding, and community testing. A soft launch in November 2025 brought more than 100 participating Merchants and thousands of users onto the platform, providing the feedback needed to fine-tune the experience before scaling.

Beyond merchants and users, a recent memorandum of agreement signed with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) introduced the PIF x UTAR Social Impact Project and Campus Ambassador Programme, giving students real exposure to social entrepreneurship and community work.

Kindness is Much Closer Than You Think

Pay It Forward is that platform, a simple way to take the small kind thought you have and pass it on, one meal at a time. Because kindness only truly begins when someone takes the first step.

To share a meal, redeem a meal, or sign up your business, visit payitforward.io/en-my.

Hashtag: #PayItForward

https://www.payitforward.io/en-my
https://www.linkedin.com/company/pif-fintech-sdn-bhd/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577508893886
https://www.instagram.com/pif_payitforward/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pif_payitforward
Rednote: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/6892efa7000000002900b4aa
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Payitforward-t6n

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward was founded by Amelia Tang, Ng Jiunn Jye, and Yvonne Guo on a simple belief: that technology should not only automate our lives, but also help people reconnect with each other. Drawing inspiration from the traditional Italian “Caffè Sospeso”, where one cup of coffee is paid for and left behind for a stranger, the platform brings that same spirit of sharing into the digital age.

Today, Pay It Forward connects Givers, Receivers, and Merchants in one transparent ecosystem, where anyone can purchase a prepaid meal at a participating local restaurant, café, or food outlet and gift it to someone nearby. As the first platform in Malaysia’s social-dining space to combine meal-sharing with community altruism, Pay It Forward is on a mission to build a kinder, more connected society, one shared meal at a time, because sharing is caring.

Eleven shares changed hands at 1.168 million won each at 8 am Seoul time on August 6, about 30% below the previous Korea Exchange closing price. The stock quickly recovered most of the loss and ended Nextrade’s 50-minute pre-market session down roughly 2%, indicating that the extreme opening price was not driven by a change in the company’s business outlook.

The episode echoed a July 28 disruption when a single SK Hynix share traded at 1.272 million won, nearly 30% below the preceding close. That transaction triggered a volatility interruption on Nextrade and transmitted the distorted price into cryptocurrency derivatives linked to the chipmaker.

A perpetual futures contract tracking SK Hynix fell about 19% during the first event. Almost $60 million of leveraged long positions were liquidated within minutes, leaving more than 900 traders with estimated realised losses of $17.4 million. The platform operating the contract later offered to compensate eligible customers and said it would reassess the way external prices were incorporated into its valuation mechanism.

Thursday’s plunge again occurred at the start of Nextrade’s pre-market window, when order books are typically shallower than during the main session. The exchange allows stocks to move as much as 30% above or below the previous Korea Exchange closing price, meaning a small order can reach the limit when few competing bids are available.

The trade underscored the distinction between a price that is technically valid and one that accurately reflects the market’s consensus. Electronic systems can treat an executed transaction as authoritative even when only a handful of shares are involved. Prices may then spread through data feeds, trading algorithms, structured products and blockchain-based markets before human dealers can assess whether the move is credible.

Nextrade launched in March 2025 as the first serious challenger to the Korea Exchange’s long-standing dominance. It attracted investors with lower fees and trading hours stretching from 8 am to 8 pm, compared with the shorter core session on the main exchange. Retail traders account for most activity on the platform, which has at times handled a substantial share of the country’s equity turnover.

Its expanded trading day has improved access and competition, but the two SK Hynix incidents highlight risks when extended hours are combined with fragmented liquidity. Order books can be especially vulnerable at the opening instant, when market makers have not fully populated bids and offers and overseas price signals may still be feeding into domestic systems.

Regulators and exchange operators now face pressure to consider safeguards based on trade size, available depth and deviation from a volume-weighted reference price. Measures could include auction-style openings, minimum order-value requirements, stronger market-maker obligations or delayed dissemination of extreme prices produced by very small transactions.

The disruption comes during an unusually volatile period for SK Hynix and South Korean technology shares. The chipmaker has been at the centre of investor enthusiasm over high-bandwidth memory used in artificial-intelligence accelerators, but its shares have also recorded repeated double-digit moves as traders reassess valuations and future demand.

SK Hynix reported a sharp year-on-year increase in quarterly profit, supported by high-bandwidth memory sales, yet the results fell short of elevated market expectations. The disappointment contributed to a broad sell-off that erased trillions of dollars from South Korean equities at its peak and pushed measures of expected volatility to exceptional levels.

Leveraged exchange-traded funds linked to SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have amplified those movements. Authorities have halted new sales of some single-stock leveraged products and proposed tighter investment limits, larger minimum deposits and higher transaction costs after retail investors suffered heavy losses.

Research into the market turbulence has also raised concerns that predictable rebalancing by leveraged funds can encourage traders to buy or sell ahead of compulsory end-of-day transactions. Such feedback loops may magnify price changes even when there is little new information about a company’s operations.

Chemically defined medium removes animal serum and human platelet supplements as Malaysia and Singapore strengthen advanced therapy capabilities

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 August 2026 –Singapore is estimated to record approximately 19,290 new cancer cases in 2024, underscoring the growing demand for advanced treatment options and the manufacturing systems needed to produce them consistently. As cell therapies move from research towards clinical use, the reliability of every raw material used in production becomes increasingly important.

AuctuCel Pte Ltd, a Singapore biotechnology company specialising in AI-powered bioprocess technologies, today announced the launch of AuctuPrime, a next-generation chemically defined cell culture medium developed in collaboration with Sperikon. The formulation is designed to remove dependence on both animal serum and donor-derived human platelet supplements during cell therapy manufacturing.

The launch comes as both markets continue to deepen their advanced therapy ecosystems. The Singapore Economic Development Board reported that the country saw a fourfold increase in locally incorporated biotechnology companies since 2015. In Malaysia, the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency issued updated cell and gene therapy product guidance in September 2025, including revised Good Manufacturing Practice requirements. As more research moves towards clinical translation, the reliability and traceability of manufacturing inputs are receiving greater attention.

A less visible bottleneck in cell therapy

Cell therapies are advancing across cancer, autoimmune disease and regenerative medicine, but manufacturing remains one of the major barriers to wider clinical and commercial adoption. Many conventional culture processes still use animal serum or platelet-derived supplements from human donors. These biological materials can vary between batches and may introduce additional sourcing, testing and documentation requirements.

AuctuPrime replaces these supplements with a fully chemically defined formulation. By giving researchers and manufacturers clearer control over what enters the process, it is intended to provide a more reproducible foundation for scale-up from laboratory research to clinical and commercial manufacturing.

The formulation is designed to support:

* Elimination of animal serum and human platelet supplements

* Reduced batch-to-batch variability in the culture process

* Lower dependence on donor-derived biological raw materials

* Greater supply chain resilience through chemically defined inputs

* More consistent scale-up and technology transfer across manufacturing stages

* A xeno-free approach for regenerative medicine and cell therapy workflowsWhy the manufacturing medium matters to patients

“Culture medium is not the therapy itself, but it can influence how reliably cells are produced. By removing animal serum and human platelet supplements, AuctuPrime gives researchers and manufacturers greater control over the process, helping to reduce variability and prepare for larger-scale production.” said Dr Zach Pang, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of AuctuCel.

Supporting Singapore’s advanced therapy ecosystem

Singapore is strengthening its position as a regional hub for advanced therapies, supported by its universities, hospitals, research institutions and biotechnology companies. These organisations are building capabilities that connect early-stage research with regulated manufacturing and future clinical applications. Chemically defined media can support this progress by reducing reliance on variable biological inputs and enabling processes to be reproduced more consistently across local research and manufacturing facilities.

“Singapore’s continued progress in regenerative medicine will depend not only on scientific breakthroughs, but also on the ability to manufacture therapies safely, consistently and at scale. AuctuPrime represents an important step towards building a more reproducible manufacturing platform and can support local research and industry teams as they prepare for future clinical and commercial demand,” said Dr Chee Wai Fhu, Chief Executive Officer of AuctuCel.

For the wider region, stronger manufacturing foundations also matter for healthcare resilience. Cell therapies are complex products with demanding quality requirements, and the ability to manufacture them consistently will shape how quickly promising research can progress towards clinical use.

“The future of regenerative medicine depends not only on scientific breakthroughs, but on our ability to manufacture these therapies safely, consistently and at scale,” said Dr Chee Wai Fhu, Chief Executive Officer of AuctuCel. “AuctuPrime is an important step towards a more reproducible manufacturing platform. By removing dependence on animal serum and human platelet supplements, we hope to help researchers and manufacturers build processes that are better prepared for future clinical and commercial demand.”

Regional collaboration behind the launch

AuctuPrime was developed through a collaboration between AuctuCel and Sperikon, combining AuctuCel’s bioprocess and culture media expertise with Sperikon’s experience in regenerative medicine and cell therapy development.

Behind every cell therapy breakthrough is a production process that must work repeatedly, not only once. Improving that process is one of the practical steps needed to bring the next generation of therapies closer to the patients who may benefit from them.

Notes to editors

A chemically defined medium is a formulation in which the components and their concentrations are known and controlled. In this context, xeno-free means the formulation does not rely on animal-derived materials. AuctuPrime is a manufacturing input used during cell culture and is not itself a cell therapy product.

Hashtag: #AuctuCel

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About AuctuCel

AuctuCel is a Singapore-based biotechnology company spun out of A*STAR’s Bioprocessing Technology Institute. The company develops AI-powered bioprocess technologies and ready-to-use culture media solutions that help biotechnology and cell therapy companies improve manufacturing consistency, productivity and scalability. By combining advanced modelling, scientific expertise and bioprocess innovation, AuctuCel supports the translation of research into commercially viable biomanufacturing. The company has active operations and partnerships across Singapore, Malaysia and the wider Asian region.

About Sperikon

Sperikon is a biotechnology company focused on regenerative medicine, cell culture technologies and translational research. The company works with academic institutions and industry partners to develop scalable solutions that support the clinical and commercial adoption of advanced cell therapies. Through its collaboration with AuctuCel, Sperikon contributes to the development of next-generation chemically defined manufacturing platforms.

Officials are expected to question the Facebook and Instagram parent over the handling of child sexual exploitative and abuse material, including allegations that paid advertisements on Instagram promoted access to illegal content. The discussions on August 5 and 6 will also examine the spread of AI-generated material and safeguards governing prominent verified accounts.

Electronics and Information Technology Secretary S Krishnan confirmed that the issues would be raised during the global team’s visit. The meeting marks a widening of the government’s engagement with Meta beyond an earlier dispute involving the temporary restriction of a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The post was briefly limited by Facebook’s automated systems before being restored. Meta apologised for the action, but officials have sought a fuller explanation of how the decision was made and whether algorithmic processes can incorrectly restrict authentic material posted by verified public figures.

The government is expected to ask for technical details about Meta’s moderation architecture, escalation procedures and human-review mechanisms. A technical representative from Instagram has also been sought, reflecting demands for clarity on how advertisements, recommendations and account-level enforcement decisions are assessed.

Concerns over child abuse material intensified after allegations that advertisements on Instagram directed users towards outside channels offering exploitative content. The government subsequently issued a notice seeking information on Meta’s preventive systems, the removal of offending advertisements and action taken against the accounts behind them.

Meta has said it maintains zero tolerance for child exploitation and uses artificial intelligence, behavioural signals and automated detection systems to identify suspicious activity. The company said it removed more than four million suspicious accounts worldwide last year and 160,000 accounts in the country during a six-month period.

It also reported removing 36 million pieces of content linked to child exploitation through automated systems. Meta has argued that several advertisements and accounts connected to the allegations had already been disabled before the matter was brought to its attention, with further action taken after an internal investigation.

Officials are likely to examine whether those measures were fast and comprehensive enough, particularly when paid advertising systems are involved. The appearance of prohibited promotions raises questions about how advertisers pass automated checks, whether commercial incentives weaken enforcement and how recommendation systems may amplify harmful networks.

The talks are also expected to cover generative AI and synthetic media. Revised intermediary rules that took effect in February strengthened duties concerning AI-generated audio, video and images. The framework requires platforms to take reasonable technical measures against unlawful synthetic material and provide prominent labelling or identifiers for permissible AI-generated content.

Those requirements have gained importance as generative tools make it easier to produce convincing impersonations, deceptive political material and synthetic sexual imagery. Child-protection specialists have warned that AI-generated abuse material can revictimise survivors, imitate identifiable children and overwhelm investigators attempting to distinguish synthetic files from evidence of physical offences.

Government representatives are expected to seek assurances that Meta’s AI systems can recognise prohibited synthetic material without indiscriminately restricting lawful content. The challenge is particularly significant for platforms operating at national scale, where automated moderation must interpret multiple languages, dialects, cultural contexts and political references.

The temporary restriction of Modi’s post has placed algorithmic accountability at the centre of the dispute. Officials want to establish whether Meta’s systems treated authentic political communication as manipulated material and what safeguards exist to prevent similar errors involving constitutional authorities, verified journalists or public institutions.

Meta faces a parallel challenge in explaining how it balances automated enforcement with human oversight. Automated tools can act rapidly across billions of posts, but errors can become politically sensitive when they affect influential accounts. Excessive reliance on human review, however, can slow action against abusive content that spreads quickly.

The company’s representatives may also be questioned about the suspension or restriction of other prominent verified accounts and the availability of effective appeal channels. Authorities are seeking more predictable procedures, particularly where platform decisions may affect public communication, access to information or public order.