To contact MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot, citizens can save the WhatsApp number +91 9013151515 on their phones; start a chat by typing 'Book Slot' and send it to the number.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided the premises of businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of actor Shilpa Shetty, and some others as part of a money laundering case linked to alleged distribution of pornographic content. Around 15 locations in Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh are being searched. The probe pertains to the role of suspects in alleged distribution of pornographic content through mobile applications and other modes.
'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.
The new IT rules -- which came into effect last year -- require large digital platforms (with over 50 lakh users) to publish compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken.
Uber and WhatsApp on Thursday announced a partnership that will allow people in the country to book a ride via WhatsApp - a global-first initiative by the ride-hailing platform. With this integration, riders will no longer need to download or use the Uber app. Everything - from user registration, booking a ride and getting a trip receipt - will be managed within the WhatsApp chat interface, a statement said. The integration is a global-first for Uber, and it will make booking a ride as easy as sending a WhatsApp message, it added.
The Indian government on Tuesday posed 14 questions to WhatsApp on its "invasive" changes in Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Brought up in penury, the sensational Yashasvi Jaiswal says he now uses the experience gained from those difficult days as ammunition to conquer the battles on and off the field.
'The abuse got so ugly and toxic that I became depressed and had to seek therapy.'
A study published in the journal Environment and Planning F has revealed that cameras and drones originally intended for conservation activities in Corbett National Park are being misused by local government officials and men to surveil women without consent. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge, found that forest rangers intentionally flew drones over local women to scare them and prevent them from collecting natural resources, despite their legal right to do so. The researchers argue that these technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring, are being used to intimidate and exert power over women, invading their privacy and altering their behavior in the forest. This has had a negative impact on women's mental health, with one woman interviewed for the study being killed in a tiger attack.
"WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse, among end-to-end encrypted messaging services. Over the years, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state of the art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform," a WhatsApp spokesperson said.
A day after getting permission to raise its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) user base to 100 million, WhatsApp on Thursday said it has plans to make significant investments in 'payments on WhatsApp' across India, including India-first features and driving adoption. The company, however, did not share details of its plans. The Meta-owned messaging app got its first greenlight for its payments service from the National Payments Council of India (NPCI) in November 2020 with a cap of 20 million users. A year later, in November 2021, the limit was raised to 40 million users.
Messaging platform WhatsApp on Wednesday said it has rolled out a pilot program across 500 villages across Karnataka and Maharashtra, aimed at empowering villagers with access to digital payments through 'payments on WhatsApp'. The announcement was made at Fuel For India 2021 - Meta's annual event in India. WhatsApp India Head Abhijit Bose said the pilot aims to effect a behavioral transformation to digital payments at the grassroots.
The MHA said that the law and order situation of all states should be monitored in view of the protests.
The majority of these calls originate from foreign-based gangsters or their associates, using Voice Over Internet Protocol or international phone numbers, they said.
The operations revealed evidence of price and volume manipulation of stocks through the use of platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp.
The advisory depicted the logos of social media platforms like WhatsApp and Skype to showcase that calls for such scams are made using such platforms.
Andhra Pradesh Police are searching for film director Ram Gopal Varma after he failed to appear for an investigation regarding his alleged offensive social media posts against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and others. Varma's lawyer claimed that the director would cooperate with the investigation via "digital mode" as "digital policing is prevalent all over India now." However, police have stated that Varma was given ample time and has failed to show up for the investigation twice. The police are combing every place where Varma is suspected to be present.
The Kerala high court has observed that no religious belief stands above the Constitution.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Whitefield, Shivakumar on Tuesday confirmed that Bengaluru-based techie Atul Subhash died by suicide in the early hours of December 9 following harassment from his wife and her family.
Travelling from South India to Kashmir in December was magical for Ganesh Nadar as he feasted his eyes on the beauty of the snow-capped Himalayas.
The ministry has taken a strong position on the matter, and made it clear that it is not just problematic but also "irresponsible" for the messaging platform to leverage its position to impose "unfair" terms and conditions on Indian users, when many depend on WhatsApp to communicate in everyday life, according to the sources.
The ministry of electronics and information technology has directed WhatsApp to withdraw its new privacy policy, according to sources. The IT ministry believes that the changes to WhatsApp privacy policy and the manner of introducing the said changes undermines the sacrosanct values of informational privacy, data security and user choice and harms the rights and interests of Indian citizens, government sources said. The government has given seven days to WhatsApp to respond to the notice and if no satisfactory response is received, necessary steps in consonance with law will be taken, sources informed. In a communication to WhatsApp on May 18, the ministry has once again told the messaging platform to withdraw its privacy policy 2021, they said.
WhatsApp on Tuesday said its latest policy update does not affect the privacy of messages as the Facebook-owned company sought to address concerns around security of user data on the platform.
The most prominent changes deal with how WhatsApp shares information with Facebook and its subsidiaries.
The threat message was received on the Mumbai traffic police helpline and an officer read it around midnight, the official said.
He was colourful. He was dramatic. He was The Master of His Craft. There never will be an editor as versatile as Pritish Nandy, notes Nikhil Lakshman.
A university in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh has set up a probe panel following complaints of some students that a professor was propagating Islam and harassing Hindu students, a senior varsity official said on Monday.
The family of the 34-year-old techie who allegedly died by suicide in Bengaluru, has demanded justice for him and strict action against his harassers, so that his 'soul can rest in peace'.
Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday ordered a detailed probe into popular messaging platform WhatsApp's updated privacy policy and terms of service after finding that the 'exploitative and exclusionary conduct' in the garb of the policy update prima facie violated competition norms.
Waack Girls, that captures the moods of Kolkata, follows an oft-used template. So there's not much novelty to look for in the plot, but the actors are excellent, applauds Deepa Gahlot.
The plea was filed by advocate Chaitanya Rohilla who stated that WhatsApp changed its privacy policy in "most arbitrary manner" and had made it compulsory for its users to accept its terms and conditions, failing which the accounts and services would be terminated after February 8, 2021 for the respective user.
WhatsApp has made the statement before Justice Yashwant Varma who was hearing a lawsuit by one of the aggrieved parties whose identity was earlier allowed to remain concealed by the court.
A 26-year-old man was arrested in Patna on Friday for allegedly propagating "anti-India" views through a WhatsApp group that he operated, the police said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said it has detected alleged irregularities after it conducted raids in a money laundering case to probe 'black marketing' of tickets for two 'highly anticipated' music concerts by British rock band Coldplay and actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh.
The government said that the unilateral changes are not fair and acceptable.
The move came amid violent protests against the scheme in different parts of the country since it was announced a few days ago.
WhatsApp will not delete any account for not accepting its new privacy update, but users not agreeing to the controversial terms after "several weeks" will not be able to access their chat list, and eventually, will not be able to answer incoming phone or video calls over the app.
Police made an appeal to people to not believe in the audio messages that have surfaced on WhatsApp groups making false claims about the bomb threat that schools in Delhi-NCR received on Wednesday morning.
Whatsapp clarified before the bench that it would not limit the functionality for users who are not opting for new privacy policy in the meantime.
WhatsApp on Wednesday said it expects to facilitate the purchase of "affordable sachet-sized" health insurance through its platform by the end of the year as part of its efforts to provide users in India with greater access to financial solutions. The Facebook-owned company noted that its 'Payments' feature is now available to users across the country (currently up to 20 million users) with support from banking partners - State Bank of India, HDFC, ICICI and Axis Bank.