There is a perception getting built inside the government that big technology companies -- a common term used for firms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon and the like - are becoming very powerful and present multiple threats to entire nations and their citizens today. The digital ecosystem is replete with CSAM (child sexual abuse material), fake news, drug trade, radicalisation, trolling among other social vices. Given the network effect that these platforms have, it is important to ensure that these platforms are not misused.
Indian industry snubbed Google Play's decision to cut by half its commission for developers when they make $1 million in annual revenue for in-app purchases, saying the US tech giant may continue its "abrasive & monopolistic abuse" as it owns the Android system. Google Play said Tuesday that beginning July 1 it would slash its 30 per cent billing fee to 15 per cent for developers globally when they make the first $1 million of their annual revenue.
A recent research found that the more time people spent on WhatsApp per day, the less lonely they were
The government is considering setting up air freight stations to enable direct movement of vaccines from pharmaceutical factories to the aircraft.
The government plans to immunise 30 million people in the first phase, starting February, and by July, the target is to vaccinate 250 million people, reports Sohini Das.
While there has been no commitment from the government on the procurement of vaccines, initial volumes, or distribution plans, there is a likelihood that the low interest loans may be made available to these players only when the time to scale up manufacturing arises.
Nermin Halilagic, 38, from Bosnia and Herzegovina has discovered that he has the unusual ability to attach items to his body using what he says is a special energy radiated from his body.
In platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Helo, and ShareChat, mediators have been asked to put in more hours to ensure that no communal or fake news spread.
A model being considered is to have a combined cold chain approach - where the agricultural cold chain would be combined with vaccine cold chains.
Tokyo Olympics organisers are preparing to host the Games next year even if the global coronavirus pandemic hasn't eased substantially, organising committee chief executive Toshiro Muto said on Tuesday. Muto said he hopes Tokyo 2020 could be the benchmark in a post-pandemic world.
Users well-versed in privacy laws or those concerned with their data would be worried; it could well be that many of us have already accepted the end user agreement without ado, points out Ashish Narsale.
Twitter on Wednesday said it has suspended over 500 accounts, and blocked access to several others within India as it partly acceded to a government order to curb spread of misinformation and inflammatory content around farmers' protests.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has pledged to win public support for the Games, although a media survey showed a majority think they should be cancelled or postponed again.
Indian banks have started exploring opportunities in the space, including lending to crypto exchanges, and accepting bitcoins as collateral, among others.
Investors, including large corporations, view them as a potential hedge against uncertainty, and mainstream investment banks too are jumping into the game.
Even devices such as connected lights, doorbells -- even garden sprinklers -- are all at risk from attackers who can remotely, or even physically, access them to dump firmware, warns Nir Chako, security research team leader, CyberArk, a security software company.
AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford are facing questions about their Covid-19 vaccine and whether regulators would quickly authorise its emergency use after the pharma company acknowledged an error in the vaccine dosage received by some participants and other irregularities and omissions, according to the New York Times.
As part of the initiative, all the 1,469 police stations in the state will have a WhatsApp group consisting of 250 members including ex-servicemen, teachers, doctors, advocates and journalists among others, UP Director General of Police O P Singh said.
Real consumer spending grew four per cent at an annual rate in the third quarter, substantially up from the 2.6 per cent pace during the preceding four quarters
Brian McCloskey, an expert on global health security and outbreak prevention said: 'Clearly, having a vaccine would be extremely helpful, not just for the Olympics, but for all of us. But even without a vaccine I think there are other mitigation measures we will look at to make sure we can run the Games safely.'
The cumulative spends on Google are in excess of Rs 27.4 crore. There have been 14,837 advertisements on Google platforms.
Equity inflows worth $3.7 billion came from the sunny Caribbean jurisdiction in 2019-20, a 267 per cent increase from the $1 billion registered in 2018-19 making it India's 10th largest source of FDI.
Here's all you need to know about it.
Mohan will be responsible for aligning of teams, overall strategy in this country and driving Facebook's investments in India
Keep your tweets informative and entertaining such that it stands out from the rest, says Dr Ranjit Nair.
The 39-year-old appeared at Italy's Sanremo festival in March, where he sang a duet with Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic and said he would like to try acting.
The western world had largely considered India to be a production hub, and also, a good potential geography for clinical trials, and a big market. But in Covid-19 research, Indian companies and government researchers are also researching new drug candidates and potential vaccines, says Prosenjit Datta.
Technology giant Microsoft is in talks with TikTok's parent company ByteDance to buy its US operation.
Governments often request basic subscriber information, IP addresses or account content, including people's posts online
The searches follow a probe into circulation of unpublished price sensitive information about various listed companies, including some blue chips, through WhatsApp messages and social media chatrooms.
'Unknown' location advertisement spends were nearly 74% higher than the next biggest spender, Uttar Pradesh.
Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has secured regulatory approval for launching its digital payment platform -- WhatApp Pay -- in a phased manner, close to two years after the US-based company's pilot run.
On October 29, WhatsApp announced it was suing NSO Group for selling its software, Pegasus, which has the ability to compromise a device and get access to all of a target's data. Spooked by revelations that activists and journalists were spied upon by using NSO Group's spyware, many have moved to alternative messaging platforms such as Signal and Telegram.
A new breed of hackers has emerged, whose main aim is not necessarily financial gain but causing disruption
Sectors which attracted big-ticket investments were real estate, energy, banking and start-ups
The decision would help provide ease of doing business and also lead to larger FDI inflows contributing to growth of investment, income and employment.
Data processing compliance is the main reason behind the delay. The government, on several occasions, has made it clear that Indian financial data needs to be stored exclusively onshore and if it is processed outside, it needs to be brought back in 24 hours.
Ministry of home affairs and the IT ministry are planning to have a series of discussions with representatives from Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Google on issues around national security and the problem of fake news. Asking for decryption keys from WhatsApp to track conversations on the chat app is also part of the agenda.
Home ministry sources say there are fears that international lobbies might have been involved in spying, to create a narrative around Indian governance as well as the economy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances