Unable to afford a smartphone, Maha school girl ends life

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Unable to afford a smartphone, Maha school girl ends life

In a shocking incident, unable to afford a smartphone to attend to her online education classes, a farm widow’s 15-year-old daughter studying in SSC, committed suicide, police said here on Wednesday.

According to investigating officer Balkrishna Jagdale of Karad Police Station, the incident happened last Wednesday in a small village, Ond, around 15 kms away from the (Karad) town.

“The victim, Sakshi Abasaheb Pol was a student of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) with the Pandit G.B. Pant High School nearby and was required to attend online classes since the past few months in view of the corona pandemic,” Jagdale told IANS.

However, her widowed mother Swati — who works as a farm labourer in the village — could not afford a smartphone for her daughter as the family’s income was barely sufficient to survive.

Sakshi, who has a 13-year old brother, had been demanding a smartphone since the past few months, but her mother kept cajoling her to “wait till we have enough money”.

On the morning of September 23, as Swati left to work in the farmlands, an infuriated Sakshi again made the demand but her mother expressed sheer helplessness in the matter.

Shortly after she left, Sakshi hanged herself in her home, and was found dead later by the family and neighbours, said Jagdale.

“We have not made any arrests since there is no complaint and no foul play is suspected in the matter,” the official added.

Sakshi joins the long list of young students hailing from very poor families who cannot manage to buy smartphones or computers with Internet connections to comply with the requirements of online education.

India not giving accurate Covid death count, dirtying environment: Trump

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India not giving accurate Covid death count, dirtying environment: Trump

US President Donald Trump has said that India does not give a “straight count” on the Covid-19 deaths and is dirtying the environment.

During the presidential debate on Tuesday night with Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden, they both sparred over the extent of the deaths caused by the pandemic.

Biden said that the 200,000 people who died of the coronavirus in America were 20 per cent of the global death toll of 1 million while the US population is only 4 per cent of the world.

Trump shot back, “When you talk about numbers you know how many people dies in China? You know how many people dies in Russia? You don’t know how many people died in India. They don’t give you a straight count.”

Trump said that the pandemic was China’s fault, but Biden tried to deflect China’s role wanting to pin the blame for its ravages on Trump.

When climate change and the Paris Climate Agreement, from which Trump withdrew the US came up, he said, “China sends up real dirt into the air. Russia does. India does.”

Biden made a threat to countries that will not follow his environmental agenda warning Brazil that if it continues tearing down forests, “You’re gonna have significant economic consequences.”

The first debate held in Cleveland was about domestic issues and there were no international questions on the agenda set out by Chris Wallace of Fox News, who was the moderator for the debate. The mention of India and the other two were among passing references to foreign countries.

Earlier in his news conferences he had mentioned India’s record of conducting COVID-19 tests as the second-best in the world and only behind the US.

Over 1 lakh people sign up on Facebook as poll workers in US

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Over 1 lakh people sign up on Facebook as poll workers in US

As the US presidential election inches closer, Facebook has said about one lakh people have signed up as poll workers on its platform.

To make it easier for people to sign up with their state election authorities for this critical role, Facebook recently showed a message at the top of News Feed to people in the US over the age of 18.

More than 1.7 million people clicked on the notification at the top of the Facebook app to sign up with their state election authorities.

Earlier this summer, state election officials warned of a massive shortage — almost half a million — because the majority of poll workers in previous elections were over 60 and at higher risk of contracting Covid-19.

“Poll worker shortages can mean long wait times at the polls or fewer polling places, which makes it harder for people to participate in the democratic process, so Facebook is doing its part to fill this gap,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The social network also offered free ad credits to every state election authority so they can recruit poll workers across its platforms.

The Facebook Voting Information Center also includes details about how to sign up as a poll worker.

“With just about a month left until Election Day, we’ll continue helping people use their voices to vote by showing information about registration deadlines, deadlines to request a mail-in or absentee ballot and when to return it, early voting options, and information about how to vote on Election Day,” Facebook explained.

This year, Facebook has set an ambitious goal to help more than 4 million people register to vote.

“So far, we estimate we’ve helped 2.5 million people register across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, based on conversion rates we calculated from a few states we’ve partnered with”.

Now that people are voting, Facebook has launched an ‘Early Voting in Person’ feature in the Voting Information Center.

Google Meet gets noise cancellation on Android, iOS devices

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Google Meet gets noise cancellation on Android, iOS devices

Google has started rolling out the noise cancellation feature in its video conferencing app Meet for both Android as well as iOS to cancel out the background noise and deliver clear calls to the users.

Google Meet can now intelligently filter out background noise on Android and iOS.

“This means Meet will automatically remove distracting sounds from your mobile device’s audio input while still letting your voice through,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

This feature is already available on the Google Meet web app but now is going to be available for G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers on Android and iOS.

However, the feature will not be available for all Google Meet users at first.

For now, G Suite Enterprise and G Suite Enterprise for Education customers will be able to use this feature, the company said.

Apart from this, there are also regional restrictions, with South Africa, the UAE and surrounding locales not having access to this feature.

Noise cancellation is not turned on by default after updating.

To turn it on, one needs to Tap on More, Settings and toggle the noise cancellation feature.

Google has also introduced a new feature in its Meet app where the users can now see up to 49 people at the same time in the auto and tiled layout options. In addition, the company has added the ability to see the host of the meeting as a tile on the call.

Samsung tops global smartphone market in August: Report

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Samsung tops global smartphone market in August: Report

Samsung Electronics was the world’s top smartphone vendor in August, a report has said, as the company widens the gap with China’s Huawei Technologies amid the pandemic.

The South Korean tech giant accounted for a 22 per cent share of the global smartphone market last month, beating Huawei with a 16 per cent share, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research.

The gap of 6 per cent points between the two sides is the largest since February, when China’s smartphone market was severely hit by COVID-19 lockdowns, the market researcher said, reports Yonhap news agency.

Samsung lost its top smartphone vendor status to Huawei in April, but it recaptured the position later, following a recovery in the Indian smartphone market.

The South Korean giant has been expanding its presence in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, helped by growing anti-China sentiment in the South Asian nation following a border clash between Beijing and New Delhi.

Apple took the third spot with a 12 per cent share, followed by China’s Xiaomi with an 11 per cent share, according to Counterpoint Research.

The US sanctions against Huawei — which ban the supply of semiconductors made with US equipment, software and design to the Chinese firm without prior approval from Washington — could shake up the global smartphone market and give a good opportunity to other brands.

“For Samsung, it will be a good opportunity to raise its smartphone market share, especially in Europe, where the company has been competing fiercely with Huawei in various price bands,” said Kang Min-soo, an analyst at Counterpoint.

Sumeet Vyas stars in a ‘simple story that needs special skills to be told’

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Sumeet Vyas stars in a ‘simple story that needs special skills to be told’

Sumeet Vyas stars in the short film, Blouse, and he describes the effort as a simple story that needed special skills to be told.

The film revolves around Shyam, a school teacher who wants to give his wife a special present for their first Karwa Chauth. He loves his wife Roopa, who wants a blouse as a present. Shyam loses measurements of the blouse, and what ensues is chaos and drama.

“Shyam is so simple and pure. He loves his wife and is motivated to do something special for her. It’s a simple story that needs special skills to be told. It was great fun working alongside extraordinary actors and team. Hope the audience loves Shyam as much as I loved playing him,” Sumeet said.

Directed by Vijayeta Kumar, the short film, which stars Sumeet and Preeti Hansraj Sharma, was actually made in 2014. It has travelled to various film festivals, including the New York Indian Film Festival where it won the Best Short Film award.

“Working with these wonderful actors on the set of ‘Blouse’ was extremely fulfilling. Seeing this film being recognised was rewarding for the entire team. Really excited for its public release,” said Vijayeta.

The film is available on YouTube.

Kunal Kemmu on how real-life fatherhood helped him portray father on screen

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Kunal Kemmu on how real-life fatherhood helped him portray father on screen

Actor Kunal Kemmu says fatherhood in real life has helped him portray a father on screen.

“It obviously helps because being a father in real life, one understands the equation shared between child and father,” said Kunal, who is currently seen essaying the title role in the web series, “Abhay 2”.

He added: “However, the reel life Abhay and real-life Kunal are completely different people, which is why the narrative differs.”

Kunal’s character in the show, Abhay Pratap Singh, is a bad-tempered but brilliant investigating officer. Abhay locks horns with a psychotic criminal who has kidnapped a bunch of schoolchildren.

The the show streams on OTT platform ZEE5.

Kunal and his wife, actress Soha Ali Khan, have a three-year-old daughter, Inaaya.

30 candidates, including Sandhu, to attend online goalkeeping course

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30 candidates, including Sandhu, to attend online goalkeeping course

Arjuna awardee Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will take part in the first-ever online goalkeeping introductory course next month. The three-day course will kick-off on October 2. Thirty selected candidates from 200-odd applicants will take part in the course.

“I am looking forward to attending the online goalkeeping coaching certificate course. It will be my first-ever coaching certification and I am eager to learn from the esteemed instructors,” Gurpreet stated as per an AIFF media release.

Following that, the online scouting workshop is scheduled from October 12 to 16. The registration window for the same will be open till October 4.

The online goalkeeping introductory is considered as a prerequisite for the AFC goalkeeping level 1 course along with AFC/AIFF c-certificate. Dinesh Nair and Gumpe Rime will be the instructors and they will be assisted by Rajat Guha, Raghuvir Khanolkar and Pradhyum Reddy, AIFF added.

Was looking to bowl dot balls to put pressure on DC batsmen: Rashid

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Was looking to bowl dot balls to put pressure on DC batsmen: Rashid

Leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who played an instrumental role in SunRisers Hyderabad’s first win in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), has revealed that all he tried was to bowl dot balls in order to put Delhi Capitals’s batsmen under pressure.

On Tuesday, Delhi Capitals chose to field first and saw SRH score 162/4 with contributions from Jonny Bairstow (53), David Warner (45) and Kane Williamson (41) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

In reply, the Shreyas Iyer-led side never looked comfortable during their chase and could muster 147/7 in their allotted 20 overs, losing the match by 15 runs.

Rashid starred with the ball for the SunRisers as he returned with figures of 3/14 taking wickets of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan.

“Initially, when I bowled my first ball, I was able to get turn, so I realised the ball is turning and I also summarised that the ball is turning more when I am bowling it quicker,” Rashid told his teammate Abdul Samad in a video posted on iplt20.com after the match.

“I tried bowling in just the right areas and was looking to bowl dot balls to create pressure on the Delhi batsmen,” he added.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Samad – who made his IPL debut against DC – said the six that he hit against Anrich Nortje gave him the confidence to perform well in the upcoming matches.

“Yeah, I felt really good playing my first match in the IPL. I also hit a big six off the bowling of Anrich Nortje, it gave me confidence that I will be able to do good in the coming games. People back home have a lot of expectations from me and I hope to do well,” said 18-year-old Samad who scored 12 runs from seven balls.

“Before coming out to bat, the team management had told me to express myself and to play the way I normally do. I started hitting from the first ball, I missed one-two balls, but the six I was able to hit, I got a lot of confidence from that,” added the all-rounder from Kashmir.

SRH will next take Chennai Super Kings on October 2 in Dubai.

IPL: KL holds onto Orange Cap, Purple now with Rabada

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IPL: KL holds onto Orange Cap, Purple now with Rabada

KL Rahul continues to hold the Orange Cap while Kagiso Rabada has taken over the Purple Cap from Mohammad Shami following the conclusion of Monday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 clash between SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals.

Rahul has so far scored 222 runs in three matches, including one hundred and a half century for Kings XI Punjab and sits at the top of the charts in the list of leading run scorers. He is followed by teammate Mayank Agarwal (221 runs in three games) and Chennai Super Kings’ Faf du Plessis (173 runs in three games).

In the bowlers’ list, Rabada leads the bowling chart with seven wickets in three matches, having an average of 10.71. Shami (seven wickets in three games with average of 11.71) and CSK pacer Sam Curran (five wickets in three games) are the next two top wicket-takers.

These running caps are presented to the leading run scorer and wicket-taker and keep changing hands throughout the duration of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals have dropped to the second spot in the points table – behind Rajasthan Royals – with two wins from three matches following their 15-run to SunRisers Hyderabad on Tuesday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Royal Challengers Bangalore are at the third spot with four points from three games.

On Wednesday, Rajasthan Royals will be taking on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Bejoy Nambiar on why ‘Taish’ releases as film as well as web series

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Bejoy Nambiar on why ‘Taish’ releases as film as well as web series

Filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar is ready to launch his new thriller, Taish, in the form of a web series as well as a film.

Explaining the unprecedented move of releasing the same project as a film as well as a web series, Nambiar said: “In the last five or six years, we have seen a paradigm shift in the way the audience consumes content — from short formats to binge-worthy long formats and straight-to-digital film premieres, etc. As creators, we, too, are constantly navigating and adapting to these changes.”

“Since consumer viewing patterns are constantly evolving, we wanted to give them a choice to watch our content in the way they would like to. After giving it some thought and as a first of its kind initiative, ‘Taish’ has found different formats as a six-part web series and a film — each equally effective,” the filmmaker explained.

“Taish” features Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Jim Sarbh, Harshvardhan Rane and Sanjeeda Sheikh, and revolves around two families based out of London. The film and series will be out on Zee5.

Divya Dutta lists the films that changed her career graph

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Divya Dutta lists the films that changed her career graph

Actress Divya Dutta, who has completed 26 years in the entertainment industry, celebrated her birthday quietly with loved ones at home on September 25.

Divya started out as a mainstream Bollywood actress in the mid-nineties but made heads turn for the first time with a small but impactful role in Pamela Rooks’ 1998 screen adaptation of Khushwant Singh’s novel, “Train To Pakistan”. Over the years, she has carved a niche as a vesatile performer who can impress in commercial as well as arthouse cinema.

In conversation with IANS, the 2018 National Award (Best Supporting Actress) winner for her role in “Irada” looks back at the films that changed her career completely.

Veer Zaara (2004)

Recalling the Yash Chopra film, Divya said: “By that time I had worked in a few films but the amount of recognition that I got because of ‘Veer Zaara’, never happened before. Like many others, I have grown up watching Yash Chopra’s iconic films and in my dreams, I also wanted to be a YRF heroine! Of course, that did not happen with ‘Veer Zaara’ but the way Yash Chopra ji introduced me to the commercial cinema space and the recognition I got was surreal!”

“These days, everyone is doing substantial roles that are not so-called ‘lead roles’, nowadays the word ‘character actor’ is outdated. But 15 years ago, it was a risk for me — what if I get typecast? Everyone remembered Shabbo, though there were three superstars in the film.”

Delhi 6 (2009)

“That was the first time I have got a chance to work with Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra and it was a completely different character from Shabbo. My look, my dialogues, the section of society that the character represents — everything was an integral part of the story. It was so satisfactory,” recalled Divya. In the film, she played a sweeper named Jalebi, who comes from a lower caste and is untouchable.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013)

“It was such a well-written character. It was the biopic on one man but the character of his sister and her contribution in his journey is so intertwined that it became a brother-sister story! I not only got positive reviews for that role but love, admiration and reverence.”

Badlapur (2013)

“The character graph of Shobha that I had in the film, some of the crucial scenes with Varun (Dhawan) in the story, and the way the equation between the two changes, was all so deliciously written! (Director) Sriram (Raghavan) is such a brilliant filmmaker. I think that film was also very important in my career because, again, with a superstar like Varun Dhawan in a film, we reached out to a different set of audience that otherwise I do not get a chance to with films that are close to my heart,” said the actress.

“Badlapur” also featured Yami Gautam, Radhika Apte, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vinay Pathak.

“Special 26” (2013) and “Ramsingh Charlie” (2020)

Apart from these films that gave her a wide exposure to the mainstream audience, Divya cites two films that are very close to her heart — “Special 26” (2013) and “Ramsingh Charlie”, which dropped digitally a few weeks ago.

“During the shoot of both these films I had to unlearn a lot in order to play these characters. Neeraj Pandey (director of ‘Special 26’) and Nitin Kakkar (‘Ramsingh Charlie’) have very different styles of working, and I had nervous energy on the first day of shoot. I think that is good energy, which made me push to an extent to bring out my best. So, these two films are very very special!” said Divya.

General Atlantic to invest Rs 3,675 cr in Reliance Retail ventures

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General Atlantic to invest Rs 3,675 cr in Reliance Retail ventures

Reliance Industries Limited on Wednesday announced that global growth equity firm General Atlantic will invest Rs 3,675 crore into its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ventures Limited to pick up 0.84 per cent equity stake in the company.

This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.285 lakh crore, a company statement said.

This marks the second investment by General Atlantic in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, following a Rs 6,598.38 crore investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “I am pleased to extend our relationship with General Atlantic as we work towards empowering both merchants and consumers alike, and ultimately transforming Indian Retail. Like Reliance Retail, General Atlantic believes in the fundamental ability of digital enablement to drive progress, growth, and inclusion across India and the world.”

“We look forward to leveraging General Atlantic’s extensive expertise at the intersection of technology and consumer businesses, and two decades of experience in investing in India, as we create a disruptive New Commerce platform to redefine retail in the country,” he said.

Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, operates the retail business of the company serving close to 640 million footfalls across its 12,000 stores nationwide. The company, through its New Commerce strategy, has started a transformational digitalisation of small and unorganised merchants and is expanding the network to over 20 million of these merchants.

General Atlantic is a global growth equity firm with a track record of investing in the Technology, Consumer, Financial Services and Healthcare sectors. It has a longstanding tradition of backing disruptive entrepreneurs and companies around the world, including Airbnb, Alibaba, Ant Financial, Box, ByteDance, Facebook, Slack, Snapchat, Uber and other global technology leaders.

Bill Ford, Chief Executive Officer of General Atlantic, said, “General Atlantic shares Reliance Industries’ foundational belief in the power of technology to foster transformative growth, and we are excited by the immense potential of the full Reliance ecosystem. We are honoured to again be partnering with the Reliance team to meaningfully accelerate India’s position in the global digital economy.”

Isha Ambani, Director of Reliance Retail, said, “General Atlantic has tremendous knowledge in the retail space developed by working with leading consumer and retail companies globally over the years and we hope to benefit from that as we progress on our journey.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Retail and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel to General Atlantic.

Telangana’s Covid recovery rate crosses 84 per cent

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Telangana’s Covid recovery rate crosses 84 per cent

Telangana’s Covid-19 recovery rate crossed 84 per cent on Wednesday as the state again reported more recoveries than the daily count of new positive cases.

A total of 2,243 people recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours, taking the total number of people recovered so far to 1,60,933.

With this the state’s recovery rate mounted to 84.08 per cent against the national average of 83.27 per cent.

Eleven more people succumbed to Covid, pushing the death toll to 1,127. The fatality rate in the state stands at 0.58 per cent against the national average of 1.57 per cent.

With fresh positive cases, the state’s tally mounted to 1,91,386 of which 29,326 are active. These include 23,880 who are in home/institutional isolation.

Of the fresh cases, 298 were recorded in Greater Hyderabad. For the fourth day in a row, the state capital saw less than 300 cases.

Medchal Malkajgiri district recorded second highest number of cases at 176 followed by Rangareddy (172), Nalgonda (141), Karimnagar (103), Bhadradri Kothagudem (102), Khammam (93), Siddipet (92) and Warangal Urban (85).

A total of 17 government-run laboratories, 43 private laboratories and 1,076 rapid antigen test centres conducted 55,359 tests during the last 24 hours ending 8 p.m. Tuesday. These include 24,358 primary contacts.

With this the state has so far tested 29,96,001 samples. According to a media bulletin released from the office of the director of public health and family welfare, samples tested per million population improved further to 80,494. It says the daily testing target for the state is 5,600 per day as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark of 140 per million per day.

Out of 1,91,386 total positive cases so far, 70 per cent (1,33,970 were asymptomatic while remaining 30 per cent (57,416) are symptomatic.

The data also shows that 64.13 per cent of those tested positive are in the age group of 21-50 years while 22.76 are above 51 years of age. Those below 20 years are 13.13 per cent.

Officials said 64.28 per cent of those tested positive were male while the remaining 38.72 per cent were female.

The bed status in 62 government hospitals treating Covid patients shows that 6,675 out of 8,868 beds are vacant.

A total of 230 private hospitals treating Covid patients, have 9,484 beds, of which 6,231 are vacant.

DC win toss and bowl against SRH, Ishant Sharma returns

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DC win toss and bowl against SRH, Ishant Sharma returns

Delhi Capitals won the toss and chose to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. DC captain Shreyas Iyer said that senior fast bowler Ishant Sharma is fit to play, having missed the first two matches due to injury.

SRH captain David Warner said that star batsman Kane Williamson finally gets a place in the squad, replacing Mohammad Nabi while 18-year-old Abdul Samad replaces Wriddhiman Saha.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, K Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer(captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje

IAMAI calls meet over new Google Play Store payment system

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IAMAI calls meet over new Google Play Store payment system

With the developers and payment gateway players criticising new Google in-app purchase policies where those using Play Store to sell digital services will be required to use the tech giant’s own built-in payment system, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on Tuesday announced it has called a meeting of its founder members very soon to deliberate on the situation.

Google faced strong backlash from developers globally after it announced it will enforce its own in-built billing system, which charges a 30 per cent fee to all app developers.

According to the IAMAI, as a payment aggregator, currently unlicensed but soon to be licensed in India, Google Billing System can choose which payment instruments it would work with and which ones it would not.

“The new draft RBI guidelines on payment aggregators, too, allows for that freedom. The compounding factor for many founders is the current revenue sharing policy of the Play Store,” it said in a statement.

Google said in a blog post on Monday: “We have clarified the language in our payments policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods in their apps are required to use Google Play’s billing system.

The tech giant added it would give app developers a one-year grace period to adopt the system, while it will start enforcing the billing system on the Play store’s new apps from January 20, 2021.

“Just because Google owns the gate and the gateway to the digital ecosystem of this country, they should not act arbitrarily and enforce their rules and regulations which are contrary to our country’s laws,” said Vishwas Patel, Founder, CCAvenues and Chairman, Payments Council of India.

“Also, they cannot force Indian apps developers/owners selling digital services to compulsorily use the Google Billing and payment system and charge 30 per cent MDR,” he added.

Google, on its part, clarified that the policy change will not affect the majority of app developers as nearly 97 per cent of those that sell digital goods already use the Play’s billing system.

“Google’s stand in courts is that it does not need RBI authorisation as it is not a payment system operator and here it is mandating that Indian apps use only Google’s proprietary Billing and Payment systems. Google should not exercise its dominant position, rather allow a level playing field for everyone in the ecosystem,” Patel said.

According to the IAMAI, prima Facie, Google’s announcement today even if legal is certainly not innocuous.

“For many founders of Indian start-ups, this brings back fears of the not so old deeply problematic revenue share model between VAS service providers (mainly digital goods) and telcos, it said.

Telcos took up to 70 per cent revenue share from VAS companies on the pretext of discovery, marketing and collection.

“In India, 98 per cent of people use mobile Internet and more than 90 per cent of people use Android phones, which gives Google control over many layers between customers and their service providers,” the IAMAI stressed.

Chinese espionage case: Delhi court denies bail to journalist

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Chinese espionage case: Delhi court denies bail to journalist

A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed the bail application filed by freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was arrested for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence.

Denying him bail, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh Rajawat noted that if a journalist, who is an important brick in the fourth pillar of democracy, decides to act with the intention to destabilise and negatively impact the sustainability and survival of democracy, it would be darkest day in the free press movement.

“The preliminary electronic evidence collected by the investigating agency points towards involvement of the accused in commission of offence under the Officials Secrets Act. I am satisfied that if accused Rajeev Sharma is released on bail at this stage, he may attempt to hamper the investigation. Accordingly, bail application stands dismissed,” the court order said.

On September 14, Delhi Police’s Special Cell had arrested Sharma, 61, for allegedly working for Chinese intelligence. During the search of his house, a laptop, some confidential documents related to Indian defence and incriminating papers were seized. He is currently in judicial custody.

Sharma had moved the court seeking bail on the grounds that he is suffering from various ailments, which include acute sinus problems, has undergone two surgeries for sinus and is at a high risk of Covid-19.

The prosecution had vehemently opposed his bail plea, claiming that the accused received huge sums of money from some companies and cash was collected on behalf of the accused from such companies.

The Additional Public Prosecutor further submitted that the source of secret documents found in the possession of the accused is yet to be established, and his alleged foreign handlers are also to be traced.

The present case was registered on the basis of secret inputs received from Indian intelligence agencies about links of Sharma with foreign intelligence officers and that he was receiving funds, through hawala and Western Union monet transfer, from his foreign handlers for conveying sensitive information on national security and foreign relations.

A case under Sections 3 (possession of any sketch, plan, model, article, note, document or information, which relates to munitions of war), 4 (Communications with foreign agents) and 5 (Wrongful communication of information) of the Official Secrets Act was registered on September 13 and Sharma arrested the next day.

On interrogation, Sharma allegedly disclosed his involvement in the procurement of secret and sensitive information and conveying the same to his Chinese handlers Michael and George, based in Kunming, China, through different digital channels. He is also said to have further disclosed that he was about to send these recovered secret documents to his handlers.

After Sharma’s arrest, Chinese woman Qing Shi and her Nepalese partner Sher Singh alias Raj Bohra were also arrested as they were found supplying Sharma with huge amounts of money, routed through hawala channels, for conveying sensitive information to Chinese intelligence.

Actor Sonu Sood honoured by UNDP

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Actor Sonu Sood honoured by UNDP

Actor Sonu Sood has been honoured with the prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for helping thousands of migrant workers reach home during lockdown.

“This is a rare honour. A UN recognition is very special. I have done whatever little I have done in my own humble way for my fellow countrymen without any expectations. However, to be recognised and awarded feels good. I fully support the UNDP in its endeavours to achieve SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) by 2030. Planet Earth and mankind will greatly benefit from the implementation of these goals,” Sonu said.

The award was presented to him via a virtual ceremony.

Apart from arranging transportation facilities for migrant workers to help them reach homes during lockdown, Sonu also looked after the educational needs of underprivileged students.

He recently launched an initiative to provide full scholarships for higher education to students facing financial challenges.

OnePlus 8T to come with OxygenOS 11 out of the box

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The upcoming OnePlus 8T flagship will launch with OxygenOS 11 out of the box, the company announced on Tuesday.

Aside from Google’s own products, the OnePlus 8T will be the first global smartphone to launch with Android 11.

“With the upcoming OnePlus 8T and OxygenOS 11, you’ll have what we feel is the best combination of hardware and software, letting you enjoy improved one-handed gestures for easier navigation and an overall more refined experience thanks to the 120Hz Fluid Display,” said Pete Lau, OnePlus Founder and CEO.

OxygenOS 11 offers a bold new design and improved features and functionality that improve the Android experience.

The company has introduced a new layout that moves touch controls closer to thumbs for easier access.

A wide range of ‘Always on Display’ options lets you customise your interface and more intuitive animations and gestures help you more quickly access important information.

OnePlus 8T 5G is set for a global launch on October 14.

OnePlus 8T is likely to run OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11 and comes with 120Hz refresh rate.

The OnePlus 8T will succeed the OnePlus 7T that launched in India in September 2019.

The device may feature a 6.55-inch AMOLED display just like the regular OnePlus 8.

The smartphone is expected to come with four cameras at the back, with a 48MP primary lens joined by a 16MP wide-angle module, 5MP macro, and 2MP portrait lens, according to the report.

Amazon introduces new way to make people pay with their palm

TB Team
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Amazon introduces new way to make people pay with their palm

Amazon on Tuesday introduced a contactless way for people to use their palm to make everyday activities like paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, or entering a location like a stadium.

Called, Amazon One, the service uses custom-built algorithms and hardware to create a person’s unique palm signature.

“We’ll start in select Amazon Go stores, where Amazon One will be added to the store’s entry gate as a convenient choice for customers to use to enter the store to shop,” Dilip Kumar, Vice President Physical Retail & Technology at Amazon, wrote in a blog post.

He said that in most retail environments, Amazon One could become an alternate payment or loyalty card option with a device at the checkout counter next to a traditional point of sale system.

“Or, for entering a location like a stadium or badging into work, Amazon One could be part of an existing entry point to make accessing the location quicker and easier,” Kumar said.

Starting Tuesday, customers can use Amazon One as an entry option at two Amazon Go stores in Seattle, US.

“It takes less than a minute to sign up at these Amazon Go stores using an Amazon One device,” Kumar said.

“Once you’re enrolled, to use Amazon One to enter these Amazon Go stores, you’ll just hold your palm above the Amazon One device at entry for about a second or so, and be on your way.”

Amazon One is likely to be added as an option in additional Amazon stores in the coming months.

“And, we believe Amazon One has broad applicability beyond our retail stores, so we also plan to offer the service to third parties like retailers, stadiums, and office buildings so that more people can benefit from this ease and convenience in more places,” he said.

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