1. The lightning network (beta) is released.
2. Abra launched derivative trading based on the Litecoin blockchain.
3. Litecoin 0.16 is released.
I believe these will have a huge impact on Litecoin.
No. This is not true and Lite Coin dev team didnt comfirm about this. Make sure you check everything before publish any important information to Blockchain community. Good luck in your journey

Update: Checked and this is legit. Thanks for your information