Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's scathing remarks on Indian startup ecosystem and its innovation priorities have drawn sharp reaction from the industry, with Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha putting up a strong defence citing the company's contribution to jobs, FDI and terming it a "miracle in Indian innovation".
Founded in 2015, Meesho is one of the country's fastest growing social commerce platforms, and provides small and independent entrepreneurs with products and tools to start, maintain, and grow their businesses. Facebook's interest in the digital commerce follows Reliance Industries' entry into the hybrid e-commerce ecosystem.
Homegrown microblogging platform Koo said the new guidelines will help clarify the responsibilities of intermediaries.
A young Indian man was arrested in Pakistan after illegally crossing the border to meet a Facebook friend he wanted to marry. However, the woman told police she was not interested in marrying him. The man, Badal Babu, was arrested in the Mandi Bahauddin district of Pakistan's Punjab province on December 28. He had crossed the border to meet his Facebook friend, Sana Rani. Rani, in her statement to police, said she had been friends with Babu for the past two-and-a-half years but was not interested in marrying him. Babu's family has appealed to the Indian government to intervene for his release.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier called out the remarks made by Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan podcast. "Mr. Zuckerberg's claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect," Vaishnaw had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on January 13.
Mushfiqur Rahim, who made his ODI debut almost 20 years ago, is Bangladesh's second highest run-getter in ODIs with 7795 runs in 274 matches at an average of 36.42, with nine centuries.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since November last year when Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge as Maldivian president.
Kannada actress Ranya Rao's stepfather, Director General of Police Ramchandra Rao, has been sent on compulsory leave.
Trudeau is facing mounting pressure from within his own party, with dissident Liberal MPs giving him an ultimatum to decide his future by October 28.
On Thursday, the opening day of the movie itself, the Sangh Parivar came out with vehement criticism against the film on social media, while the Congress and a section of the Left platforms celebrated the film for portraying the right-wing politics as "villainous".
Has there existed another cricketer who has been hailed as a spinner, fielder, captain, umpire, selector, and above all, a consummate team man, asks K R Nayar.
The Indian government has lodged a strong protest with Canada after consular officials at the Indian consulate in Vancouver were informed they were under audio and video surveillance and that their private communications had been intercepted. The Indian government maintains that Canada has provided space for pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity and has urged Canada to take action against anti-India elements.
'We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form'
IIT Guwahati Professor D Udaya Kumar, who designed the Indian rupee symbol, has refused to comment on the controversy surrounding the Tamil Nadu government's new rupee logo for the state budget. Kumar's father was a DMK MLA, but the professor insists it's a coincidence and he has no opinion on the state government's decision to use a Tamil letter for the rupee symbol in its budget logo.
Across the board, brands use influencers like a Bhuvan Bam or Kusha Kapila as the second or third rung of their strategy. The first rung is always a celebrity that has been created outside the Internet, through mainstream media.
Meta-owned Facebook 'actioned' about 21.6 million content pieces across 13 violation categories in India during March, according to a monthly report by the social media giant.
The US spy chief, now in India, earlier on Monday said the "longtime unfortunate persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities like Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others has been a major area of concern for the US government and President Trump and his administration."
'Reels may be short, but their impact on eye health can last a lifetime.'
'Can we give young India the tools to solve the problems the country or society faces and uplift the community?'
A bench of justices S K Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy reserved its verdict after lawyers representing Facebook official, Delhi assembly and the Centre wrapped up submissions on the plea of Mohan challenging summons issued by the Peace and Harmony committee for failing to appear before it as witness in connection with the north-east Delhi riots matter.
The company is to act as an ISP across rural areas for local entrepreneurs.
It was an aha! moment to spot India's leading industrialist at the service at St John's church ahead of Trump's inauguration, and then to see him heading to US Capitol Hill Rotunda for the inauguration in the company of the Big 4 - Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Google and Mark Zuckerburg of Meta/Facebook.
Air India on Friday announced suspending flights to Tel Aviv till August 8, amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
US authorities have identified a 24-year-old man as a person of interest in the case of a 20-year-old Indian student who has gone missing during a spring break visit to the Dominican Republic. Sudiksha Konanki, a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States, was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, Konanki's hometown in Virginia, said Joshua Riibe was seen with Sudiksha at a resort before she went missing. While Konanki's father has asked local authorities to broaden the investigation, authorities maintain that the case is not a criminal investigation and Riibe is not considered a suspect. However, he is considered a person of interest as he was the last one to be seen with Konanki. The Dominican Republic National Police has established a "high-level commission" to oversee the investigation and will be reinterviewing "targeted individuals" who were seen near or with Konanki at the time of her disappearance.
There's clearly no limit to how dramatic a wedding can be.
'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'
The high court of Karnataka has orally warned Facebook (Meta) that it may order its operations in India to be shut down if it does not cooperate with police investigation over a fake profile.
Facebook is giving new users Aadhaar prompts!
Social media giant Facebook has crossed 100 million active users in India, its largest base outside the US.
Army troops in Bangladesh intensified their patrols on the streets of Dhaka as the country witnessed rising tensions with the newly formed student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) accusing the military of political interference. The NCP staged protest rallies at the premier Dhaka University campus vowing to thwart at any cost a military-backed plot to rehabilitate deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League which was toppled seven months ago in a student-led violent street protest in July-August last year. A key leader of NCP, which was floated last month with widely assumed blessings of Professor Muhammad Yunus, accused the military of political interference over a proposal for inclusiveness that would allow Awami League to participate in the next elections. The military, which is now entrusted with maintaining nationwide law and order with magistracy power, however, did not enter the campus but continued their intensified patrol, particularly in the capital. The NCP convenor Nahid Islam said at the Muslim fast-breaking iftar party that the army or any other state institution had no "authority to propose or make decisions" about politics. He added that in no way "we will allow installation of another 1/11 government" in the country.
The Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has confirmed that Kannada actor Ranya Rao, recently arrested for gold smuggling, was allotted 12 acres of industrial land in 2023 by the previous BJP government for setting up a steel plant. The allocation was approved during a state-level meeting in January 2023, when the BJP was in power. The Congress government, which came to power after the May 2023 elections, has released documents confirming the land allotment. Ranya Rao was arrested after gold bars worth Rs 12.56 crore were seized from her at Bengaluru airport.
According to the officials, generally, a passenger is not served more than 100 ml of liquor during a flight.
Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta claimed that it was "not deportation" but was just sent back in consultation with Bangladesh authorities.
Fabian cautioned that things may get worse if the current trajectory continues.
The family of missing 20-year-old Indian student Sudiksha Konanki has asked police in the Dominican Republic to declare her dead, according to US media reports. Konanki was last seen on March 6 at the Riu Republic Resort in Punta Cana town. She has gone missing while on vacation in the Dominican Republic and US federal law enforcement agencies are working with authorities in the Caribbean country in the probe into her disappearance. Despite an extensive search, her body has not been found.
The outage raised broader concerns about the dependency on a few large tech companies controlling critical platforms.
'We are aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We are working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience,' a Facebook spokesperson said.
Seeking an apology from social media giant Meta for 'tarnishing' India's image, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Parliament's Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said on Tuesday that the panel will summon the firm following its chairman's comments that India's ruling dispensation lost the Lok Sabha election last year.
The Madhya Pradesh high court on Monday issued notices to actor Kangana Ranaut, the Centre, censor board and others on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the screening of her upcoming Hindi film Emergency on the ground it contains scenes that violate fundamental rights of Sikhs.
Google India also told the court that it has removed certain web pages from the Internet on which objections were raised by the petitioners.
