Koo -- the made-in-India rival of Twitter -- will not charge users for a verification badge, its co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said as he took on the larger rival for allegedly first creating bots and now charging users for verification. Koo, which allows users to express views in Indian languages, has already crossed 50 million downloads and is now flying into the rival's nest, starting a campaign on Twitter by making itself prominently visible on verified handles and offering them better deals on its platform at no cost. Since taking over Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk has set in motion massive changes, sacking employees and talking of levying a $8 charge for 'verified' handles.
'I hope that younger people who have similar struggles can see me and feel safer in the fact that I'm managing okay. True, there are difficulties, but there's nothing unfortunate at all about being both deaf and transgender.'
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest and funniest stories from around the world.
We should fill our heart with things that we will be proud of when anyone opens our hearts -- fill it with love rather than hate, fill it with confidence rather than fear, with care rather than apathy, with warmth rather than indifference, suggests Cardiac Surgeon Dr Sanjeeth Peter.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
Animated or aggressive? Debate over the emblem atop the new Parliament building rages with several historians dismayed that the essence of the original 'protective' Ashokan lions has been effaced while others say the differences are minuscule and no two pieces of art can be identical.
When the post-pandemic audience wants large-scale entertainers, Anubhav Sinha has the courage to make a film that determinedly veers away from escapism, applauds Deepa Gahlot.
'How do you stay so energised? So young?' 'Dev Anand flashed that familiar crooked grin and told me, "The mind never grows old. It urges you to surge ahead".'
The Cuckoo's Calling, about a war veteran turned private investigator called Cormoran Strike, was released in April under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith to great critical acclaim.
Here's imagining Craig's James Bond as a typical Bollywood hero.
After Maqbool and Haider, Tabu reunites with director Vishal Bhardwaj in a spy thriller called Khufiya. But that's not all.
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
Brazil are going home empty handed after they suffered yet another heartbreaking World Cup exit to a European rival -- and the quarter-final defeat by Croatia will hurt as they let victory slip through their fingers just three minutes from the final whistle.
Acclaimed movies, hit movies, social movies, star-studded movies, scary movies and shows galore, you certainly won't be starved for entertainment on OTT this week.
'Article 370 laid down the edifice of the relationship between J-K and the Union of India.' 'If you look at the Article, what is there now is a provision which states that all provisions of the Constitution of India applies to J-K.' 'The veto that the state could exercise previously on most Union laws has ended.'
Tamil Nadu is the celebrated home of the 'social justice' movement in the country, yet caste differences and violence has only been increasing in numbers and becoming more brutal in recent years, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
For those who believed in her talent since Lootera, Dahaad is a truly rewarding experience, observes Sukanya Verma.
Fourteen years after the Sri Lankan government announced his death, a veteran Tamil nationalist leader claimed in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, on Monday that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, is doing well and said a conducive atmosphere prevails for him to appear now.
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
'We are very different actors and that can be a real gift because we bring out the best in each other.'
The Centre has opposed in the Supreme Court a batch of pleas seeking legal validation of same sex marriage, saying it would cause a complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws and in accepted societal values.
The Kashmiri Pandit Sabha threatened to intensify its agitation, if the government did not stop threatening to withhold the salaries of KP employees and forcing them to come back to the valley, where they are under mortal threat from terrorists.
Everything about Radhe Shyam is such a boring waste of time that you can't decide whether to doze off or scratch your head and hope to make some sense of what the film is trying to tell you, sighs Divya Nair.
Thirumanam Enum Nikkah fails to live up to expectation despite the good performance by both Jai and Nazriya.
Words and actions like those of R N Ravi and a vocal section of the state BJP have only added to Tamil fears and suspicions, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The courts are not forums to solve "theological questions", Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said on Thursday in his verdict on the Karnataka hijab ban controversy.
They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments, explains N Sathya Moorthy.
Brands are turning up the pitch on voter participation, targeting millennial consumers.
The three men were accused of abducting, gangraping and brutally killing the woman in February 2012. Her mutilated body was found three days after she was abducted.
'People say my personality doesn't have sharp edges, but politics doesn't have to be about pulling down your opponents or bad mouthing them.'
'In every episode, you are tricked into believing that this messy girl whose life is falling apart is so talented and real that you have to love her for who she is.' 'And you will love her eventually because Masaba is effortless and looks stunning in every frame,' notes Divya Nair.
'I grew up in a place that used to be the best city in India: Allahabad.' 'The city has given some of the best writers, politicians and musicians to the country. 'Today, it has gone to the dogs.'
Sukanya Verma feels there's much to look forward on OTT this week.
More often than not, online chemistry has zero relation to real life chemistry, warns relationship and wellness coach Pooja Khera.
The rebel legislators have been maintaining that they were forced to go against Thackeray as he kept ignoring their plea to snap ties with the MVA allies despite being told that these constituents were trying to 'finish off' the Sena.
Our political history tells us this has never worked. A united Opposition does work in some specific, limited situations, especially in the states. But never as some brilliant pan-national collection of diverse interests with no ideological or political core, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated and laid foundation stones of development projects worth more than Rs 38,000 crore in different sectors in Mumbai, giving a big push to infrastructure, urban travel and healthcare ahead of civic polls in the city in which the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction will seek to showcase these ventures to take on their political rivals.
Teams of students and coders demonstrated in 24 hours diverse programmes impacting health and livelihood issues with use of a personal identity number.
