India tests Agni-5 missile; Merck’s Covid-19 pill; Snap hits 100 million users mark in India; and a chat with Mohit Yadav on REVOS’s P2P charging network

India successfully tested its surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5 on Wednesday. According to a statement by the Ministry of Defence, it can strike targets at ranges up to 5,000km with a very high degree of accuracy. The successful test of Agni-5, which can carry nuclear bombs, is in line with India's stated policy to have credible minimum deterrence that underpins the commitment to ‘no first use,’ the defence ministry said in the statement. Merck, an American drug company, will give out the formula for its Covid-19 pill—which could potentially save lives among those at higher risk of hospitalisation from the coronavirus infection—to other pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The drug, known as Molnupiravir, has shown promise in treating the disease. Merck signed the first agreement to license its production with the Medicines Patent Pool—a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to and facilitate the development of life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries. China has built a quantum computer 10 million times faster than Google’s Sycamore, reports Indiatimes. Created by researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China and led by Pan Jianwei, the quantum computing system is called, Zuchongzhi 2.1—after a mathematician from the 5th century. The world’s biggest tech companies including Google, IBM and Honeywell, as well as several startups are in a race to build commercial quantum computers that use qubits, which can exhibit multiple quantum states rather than the binary states of 1 and 0 in current computers. Snap has hit 100 million monthly active users in India of the Snapchat app, co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel said in a virtual event on Wednesday. According to a report by TechCrunch, the company is striking deals with Android smartphone makers, TV channels Sony and Zee TV and e-commerce company Flipkart to expand its reach in the subcontinent. Snap has over 500 million monthly active users worldwide. Acko has raised $255 million in a new funding round led by General Atlantic and Multiples Private Equity, valuing the four-year-old insurance company at $1.1 billion, Economic Times reports. Canada’s largest pension fund, CPPIB, and Lightspeed Growth as well as existing investors Intact Ventures and Munich Re Ventures also participated in the funding round. Acko will use the money to expand into health insurance, according to ET. (3:22) Interview: Mohit Yadav, co-founder of REVOS on a peer-to-peer charging network India is on the cusp of an EV revolution and several emerging startups are building various parts of the ecosystem. In today’s interview, Mohit Yadav, co-founder of REVOS tells Forbes India about his company’s efforts to build a peer-to-peer charging network with a smart-socket based charging point that can be used across different makes of vehicles. The P2P network also allows users to make some money by sharing their electricity.