Hello, In less than 48 hours, Suruchi Inder Singh and Kamaljeet staged an incredible redemption story at the Asian Games in Nagoya. Shaking off the heartbreak of two consecutive disappointing outings, the duo bounced back on Friday to secure India’s first shooting gold medal of the Games. Suruchi had a disastrous women’s 10m air pistol qualification round on Wednesday, missing out on both the individual and team medals while Kamaljeet’s heartbreak came a day later when he shot 580 in the men’s qualification, finished ninth and missed the final by a solitary point. On Friday, they clinched gold. Moving on to a big win in the tech world, Akamai Technologies has secured an $11.6 billion, seven-year cloud computing deal with AI developer Anthropic. The contract could scale to $20 billion with an additional $9 billion expansion option. The massive agreement underscores the accelerating global demand for heavy-duty computing infrastructure to power enterprise artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the debate over merchant discount rate (MDR) continues. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the proposed MDR on select high-value UPI transactions is neither a tax, cess nor a surcharge, and the collections will not accrue to the government. The Finance Minister said the MDR is a charge within the digital payments ecosystem and is being levied by entities facilitating UPI transactions, including payment service providers, the merchant’s bank, and other ecosystem participants, PTI reports. The proposed 0.4% merchant fee on UPI transactions above Rs 2,000 will not be passed on to consumers, government sources had said on Thursday. In today’s newsletter, we will talk about Protecting data against quantum computing threats Meet the solar didis of Bihar Here’s your trivia for today: What robotic lander became the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and transmit surface images in 1976? (Scroll down for answer) In focus Silence Laboratories, a Palo Alto-based cybersecurity startup founded by Jay Prakash, Andrei Bytes, and Tony Quek, is building mathematical, privacy-first infrastructure that allows organisations to process and share sensitive data without ever exposing raw information. By using advanced cryptographic frameworks such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), their platform allows secure computations across distributed data sources with no need for third-party trust. Serving around 35 global clients across banking, fintech, and digital assets, the company is also pioneering post-quantum cryptographic security to protect digital assets against emerging quantum computing threats. Key takeaways: Silence Laboratories replaces traditional legal contracts and third-party intermediaries with cryptographic guarantees, enabling joint computations on encrypted data without revealing underlying raw inputs. Products are driven by a Cryptographic Computing Virtual Machine (CCVM) combining Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), operating without specialized hardware requirements. Having raised $6 million in total funding, the company plans to raise additional capital to expand engineering, cryptographic research, and go-to-market teams. Social impact Rural Bihar is seeing a solar revolution and women are spearheading the movement. Known as "Solar Didis", these women are harnessing decentralised solar technology to build sustainable livelihoods and foster community-level clean energy adoption. Operating across off-grid and under-electrified villages, these local micro-entrepreneurs manage solar charging stations, sell clean-lighting equipment, and service solar-powered appliances. Key takeaways: By integrating clean energy with micro-enterprise models, the initiative addresses energy poverty while positioning women as key technical and financial leaders within their local economies. With support to set up a borewell, a pipeline, and a pump house, the women run small irrigation businesses, supplying water to other farmers in their communities. Across 12 panchayats, 189 women are now running solar-powered irrigation enterprises, bringing water to 1,410 acres and benefiting more than 3,200 farmers. Together, they have earned over Rs 1.28 crore. News & updates AI tools: On Friday, Microsoft unveiled several new capabilities in its Copilot app, including a coding tool and an always-on AI agent. The rollout comes as the software giant seeks to make its AI assistant a one-stop shop for office workers. Luxury EVs: British luxury carmaker Bentley Motors has launched its first fully electric vehicle. The development comes months after Ferrari’s divisive launch of its first fully electric car. What robotic lander became the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and transmit surface images in 1976? Answer: Viking-1 We would love to hear from you! To let us know what you liked and disliked about our newsletter, please mail nslfeedback@yourstory.com. If you don’t already get this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here. For past editions of the YourStory Buzz, you can check our Daily Capsule page here.