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Tag: Smruti Bhalerao editorial technology features

  • Advanced chip packaging moves into India’s defence manufacturing landscape with a new initiative from Paras Defence

    Paras Defence Managing Director Munjal Sharad Shah explains the launch of Paras Semiconductor and its strategic focus

    Advanced chip packaging is beginning to take shape within India’s defence manufacturing landscape with the launch of Paras Semiconductor Pvt. Ltd., a new subsidiary of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd.. The move marks the company’s entry into advanced semiconductor packaging and assembly, an area increasingly viewed as critical for defence, strategic electronics, and secure computing applications.
    Paras Semiconductor has been established to focus on advanced heterogeneous and 3D semiconductor packaging, positioning itself as a domestic OSAT facility for high-reliability defence and strategic use cases. The planned facility will support packaging for semiconductor devices used in optical and optronic systems, high-performance computing, networking, and data centre applications linked to defence and security requirements.

    Advanced packaging has emerged as a key link between chip fabrication and end-use systems, particularly as the semiconductor industry moves away from large monolithic chips toward chiplets and system-in-package architectures. These approaches allow multiple chips to be integrated into a single system, delivering improved performance, lower power consumption, and higher reliability. While India has developed strength in semiconductor design and policy support for fabrication, domestic capability in advanced packaging remains limited, especially for defence-grade applications.
    The new subsidiary is intended to address this gap by building local capability in packaging, testing, and qualification for strategic electronics. Paras Semiconductor is envisioned as a long-term platform aligned with national priorities around defence self-reliance, secure supply chains, and trusted electronics manufacturing.

    Commenting on the launch, Munjal Sharad Shah, Managing Director of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Ltd., said that semiconductors have become strategically important in the current global environment, particularly for defence and national security. He noted that advanced packaging plays a central role in ensuring performance, reliability, and supply chain control for sensitive applications, and that the new venture complements Paras Defence’s existing strengths in defence electronics.
    Beyond manufacturing capability, the initiative is also expected to contribute to skill development and ecosystem creation across semiconductor packaging, testing, and allied engineering domains. As global supply chains face increasing pressure from trade restrictions and geopolitical uncertainty, domestic advanced packaging is being viewed as a strategic capability rather than a purely manufacturing function.

    Globally, advanced semiconductor packaging is becoming central to applications such as high-performance computing, secure communications, radar systems, and electronic warfare. By entering this segment, Paras Defence aims to participate more deeply in India’s evolving defence electronics ecosystem while supporting long-term objectives around technology control, reliability, and assured availability.

    At Prittle PrattleNews, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.

  • Indian speech patterns shape a new approach to voice AI with the launch of Zero Codeswitch by Shunya Labs

    Shunya Labs Co Founders Ritu Mehrotra and Sourav Bandyopadhyay explain how the model is built to understand natural code mixed speech at scale

    Indian speech patterns, where languages blend fluidly within a single sentence, are shaping a new direction for voice AI with the launch of Zero Codeswitch by Shunya Labs. The foundation model has been developed to recognise how people across the country actually speak, without forcing conversations into single language structures or translation pipelines.
    Unlike most global speech recognition systems that are optimised for one language at a time, Zero Codeswitch is designed for naturally code mixed speech. In everyday Indian conversations, Hindi, English, and regional languages are often combined using informal grammar, transliteration, and local expressions. These patterns have historically resulted in higher error rates for voice systems, particularly outside major urban centres.

    Zero Codeswitch processes mixed language speech natively, removing the need for intermediate translation layers that convert Indian languages into English. Instead, the model uses a unified architecture capable of generating mixed Hindi and English tokens within the same utterance. This approach allows it to accurately transcribe phrases commonly used in daily speech, reflecting how language is used in practice rather than how it is standardised.
    The model builds on Shunya Labs’ earlier research milestones, including its performance on the OpenASR leaderboard, where it recorded a word error rate of 3.10 percent. Zero Codeswitch is engineered to run efficiently on standard CPU infrastructure, reducing deployment costs while maintaining sub 100 millisecond latency for real time applications. This design makes it viable for large scale use in environments where access to specialised hardware is limited.

    Speaking about the model’s development, Ritu Mehrotra, Co Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shunya Labs, said the company’s focus has been on foundational research rather than adapting existing global models. She noted that Zero Codeswitch was built to prioritise accuracy, latency, and usability in real world Indian contexts, where voice often serves as the primary digital interface.
    Sourav Bandyopadhyay, Co Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Shunya Labs, said the model reflects the company’s first principles approach to building AI systems for Indian languages. He explained that Zero Codeswitch has been trained on millions of hours of Indian audio, capturing variations in accent, dialect, pronunciation, and slang that are often absent from international datasets.

    Zero Codeswitch is expected to support voice based applications across sectors such as fintech, healthcare, and public services, particularly in regions with limited English proficiency. The model is designed for enterprise and public sector deployment, with options for on premises and air gapped environments to address data privacy and regulatory requirements.
    Headquartered in Gurugram, Shunya Labs is part of a growing ecosystem of companies developing domestic intellectual property in core AI technologies. With Zero Codeswitch now available for enterprise pilots and production use, the company aims to strengthen the infrastructure layer required for voice driven digital access across India’s multilingual population.
    At Prittle PrattleNews, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.