India's largest firm Reliance Industries has initiated work-from-home for its staff while keeping open consumer-facing businesses of hospital, retail stores and telecom with a minimum workforce amid increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country. Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani will hold a meeting almost every third day to take stock of the impact of novel coronavirus (covid-19) outbreak on his employees and business, officials said.
The new IT rules require large digital platforms -- with over five million users -- to publish compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday pitched for using the USO Fund to subsidise smartphones for select groups to help penetrate the digital revolution and said India should make the rollout of 5G or the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks a national priority. As much as 5 per cent of the licence fee paid by telecom operators goes to the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund, which was set up in April 2002 for achieving universal service objectives by providing access to telephone services in rural and remote areas and creation of infrastructure for mobile services and broadband in these areas. However, according to the CAG, less than half of the funds so collected are transferred for the said purpose.
A culture of science and innovation must be embedded in society wherein people not only use new technology but understand it as well. Without this, obscurantism and blind faith can sit side by side with digital technology and, in fact, use the same technology to reinforce their hold on people, says Shram Saran.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met prominent US personalities from different walks of life, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk who asserted that India has more promise than any other large country and that he is incredibly excited about its future.
In the backdrop of an over four-decade high inflation, the US Federal Open Market Committee has raised its key policy interest rate by 75 basis points to 2.25-2.50 per cent, anticipating that the increase in the interest rates will be "appropriate". Hiking interest rates typically cool demand in the economy, thereby putting a brake on the inflation rate. The US Federal Reserve in its June meeting too raised the interest rate by 75 basis points, which was the steepest hike since 1994.
PM has been regularly seeking people's inputs through mygov.in and his app, to assess the mood of the nation.
Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced new postpaid plans and discontinued some previous ones. "In the post-pandemic world, an abundance of high-speed data is increasingly becoming a key need for customers as work from home and online education is the new normal. "In this context, Airtel has further simplified its postpaid plans to offer industry-leading data benefits backed by a 5G-ready network and superior digital-first customer care. "The plans also come with a range of exclusive benefits such as bundled content and business productivity tools," Airtel said in a press release.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal -- contribute 85.5 per cent of active caseload and 87 per cent of total deaths in India.
Chinese state-sponsored hackers had targeted India's power grids in Ladakh possibly for information on India's critical infrastructure or to prepare for sabotage in the future, according to the American cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
How many of the apps downloaded in India deliver the GPT technology they say they are?
IT services major Infosys on Wednesday announced a new programme, wherein it will offer 500 job seekers the opportunity to complete a fully digital, online diploma course certified by Salesforce. The programme aims to prepare Americans for 21st century careers in the technology sector. Leveraging Trailhead, Salesforce's free online learning platform, the program will train these 500 American workers, free of cost, for roles at Infosys as Salesforce Certified Administrators and Salesforce Industries Developers, a statement said. The programme, targeting recent graduates from major universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges, will help Infosys to create a workforce prepared for the future, it added.
'We are the only country in the world where everybody gets a digital vaccination certificate immediately... Then as we open up, as they did yesterday, which I think is a welcome move, you will have lots and lots of points where people will come in'
As India gets ready to roll out one of the largest vaccine programmes, billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday said his group is working with authorities to provide technology tools and backbone for mass inoculation against COVID-19. Ambani's telecom venture Jio was rolled out four years back, offering free voice calling and dirt-cheap data. Today, Jio is India's largest telecom operator with over 400 million users, each connected to the internet. At a Facebook event, Ambani said the government's digital push kept the country running even during the pandemic and is now helping in the rollout of one of the largest vaccination programmes.
The work may not have changed but the manner in which it will be done, surely has. And it requires you to build new ways of working and corresponding skills to adapt to it.
As the United States focuses on the Indo-Pacific, in particular the Quad, the Biden administration needs to address India's ties with Russia and its 'downward trend of democratic values and institutions', said a report by the Democratic Party of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
India's state-owned institutes have literally been forced to embrace technologies to go digital - however reluctantly. Till the museum reopen, the magic mantra has been "online", "cyber", "virtual" - a transition that has been less smooth for most art institutions than one might have hoped. The first of a four-part series, Kishore Singh turns the gaze to some of India's leading art institutions to see how they are keeping the show going.
The writing has been on the wall for some time and it showed up prominently during the festival-season sales last year, when Meesho toppled Amazon to become the second-largest player in order share. During the sales season, 60 per cent of the orders Meesho received were from tier-4 cities and beyond. According to a report by consulting firm Redseer, festival-season sales last year were driven primarily by tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with 64 per cent of the shoppers coming from those.
'As the world goes digital, we cannot afford to be left behind.'
Stressing the need to make evidence-based policy formulation an integral part of governance, the prime minister said auditors must resort to technical tools to iron out any chances of fraud in organisations and give a new identity to new India.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 13th BRICS summit to be held on Thursday at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China's foreign ministry announced in Beijing on Wednesday.
Several companies and technology heavyweights including Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce are working to create a digital vaccination passport or health passport app in the hope that governments and airlines will require travellers to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and immunisation. The vaccine passport will effectively create digital credentials that could be the key to attending crowded events or even visiting countries.
The demand for full-stack developers in India have seen a 20% increase in the last one year.
From cloud computing to people analytics, most lucrative future jobs will be dominated by people with digital skills and expertise, explains Sarita Digumarti, chief learning officer, UNext Learning.
'You can choose who you would like as your showstopper.' 'You have the freedom to create your own background -- sun, moon and the stars, which may sometimes not be possible in a physical show.'
"Actioned" content refers to the number of pieces of content (such as posts, photos, videos or comments) where action has been taken for violation of standards. Taking action could include removing a piece of content from Facebook or Instagram or covering photos or videos that may be disturbing to some audiences with a warning.
French IT firm Atos is planning to hire 15,000 people in the next 12-18 months in India, including climate experts, as it moves towards decarbonisation by 2028, chief operating officer (COO) Nourdine Bihmane said. "India is a strategic market for Atos. "We have been present here for the last 30 years, and we have grown organically since. "People and innovation are our two key drivers to build momentum. "India represents one-third of our total workforce," Bihmane said. Atos has around 40,000 employees in India.
'We spent considerable time re-skilling all the employees, and then we created a new focus called the 'One Infosys'.'
It is sad that the legislative pre-consultation on such an important bill is being done in a very biased manner, notes Shailesh Gandhi, former Central Information Commissioner, recounting his experience with Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of states and Union territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Among smaller states having population of less than one crore, Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer. The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem for promoting budding entrepreneurs.
Sanjeev Goel, business head, Manipal ProLearn, lists 10 courses that are currently most suitable for working professionals to upskill or reskill to ensure they remain of value in the job market and in future-ready organisations.
Everyday consumerables, such as grocery and order-in food items are the key buyout sector, analysts say, and a major reason for kirana stores' digitisation push.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday said the company continues to engage closely with partner Jio on the initiative of building an affordable smartphone and that work is underway on the project. Last year, Google had picked up a 7.7 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 33,737 crore. It had also entered into a commercial agreement with Jio Platforms to jointly develop an entry-level, affordable smartphone.
The launch of e-RUPI, a person- and purpose-specific digital payment solution, by the government is expected to completely negate any pilferage and will ensure full benefit to intended beneficiaries, India Inc said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched e-RUPI, which is aimed at improving transparency and targeted delivery of benefits. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Sanjay Aggarwal said that the move is a significant step to enhance the digitisation process of the country.
Acknowledging a job well done can go a long way especially for professionals who are the driving force behind an enterprise's business operations, notes Vijay Gupta, director-global human resources at Rahi, a tech solutions provider.
'They (the ransomware attackers) are not after any VVIP data.' 'Had that been the case, they would have quietly installed a different malware.'
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud's first 100 days in office saw the Supreme Court take a giant leap towards reforms, especially making courts more technology-friendly, and ensuring relatively fast judicial appointments including those of eight judges to the apex court.
The government has created a comprehensive budget with sharp focus on sustaining economic activity and investment but more clarity is needed on areas like taxation framework for adopting remote working on a long-term basis, IT body Nasscom said on Monday. The industry association noted that the IT/ITeS (Information Technology-enabled Services) industry has been a key driver of growth and jobs in 2020 and there is an opportunity to significantly accelerate it further. "For the IT sector, one of the biggest needs ahead of us is the development of future business models, with hybrid working becoming a reality. "We look forward for the government to provide clarity on providing a framework in direct taxes and indirect taxes for the industry to adopt WFH/remote working on a long-term basis," Nasscom said in a statement.
Some regulators are already unleashing their own algorithms to track and understand pricing software of e-commerce companies. While companies collude on pricing, governments are collaborating on curbing online malpractices. The legal liability of an algorithmic decision will be interpreted as legal liability of an entity of an individual. Anti-trust activities of algorithms will not go unchallenged in any economy.
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