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Rapid and significant sea-level rise expected if global warming exceeds 2°C, with global variation

The world could experience the highest ever global sea-level rise in the history of human civilisation if global temperature rises exceed 2 °C, predicts a new study. Under current carbon-emission rates, this temperature rise will occur around the middle of this century, with damaging effects on coastal businesses and ecosystems, while also triggering major human migration from low-lying areas. Global sea-level rise will not be uniform, and will differ for different points of the globe.




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Sewage treatment plants can do better to close the circular economy loop: resources recovered by only 40% of Italian plants

Scientists have published findings from the largest and broadest survey on sewage resource recovery conducted in Europe to date. Researchers surveyed more than 600 waste-water treatment plants (WWTPs) in Italy, which represent approximately 25% of the country’s total load of treated sewage. The findings provide a comprehensive picture of the current state of sewage resource recovery in WWTPs, revealing that just 40% of plants perform some form of material or energy recovery, and identifying several of the important driving forces behind implementation. This research provides valuable information and insights for policymakers and WWTP managers aiming to improve WWTP sustainability and close the sewage resource-recovery loop.




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Non-essentials removed from e-commerce cart

Allowing supply of non-essential items through ecommerce would have defeated the purpose of lockdown, according to a joint secretary in the MHA




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COVID-19: Indian Internet infra not prepared for shift to online teaching-learning, says QS report

The report titled "COVID-19: A wake up call for telecom service providers" is based on a survey conducted by QS I Guage, which rates colleges and universities in India with complete operational control held by London-based QS.




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Facebook's startup bets in India

Over the past year, social networking giant Facebook has been actively investing in the Indian tech and startup ecosystem




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Internet traffic up 30-40% in first two weeks of lockdown in India, says DE-CIX

“Gaming traffic has increased by 50% in the last few weeks, with doubling of traffic in video streaming and collaborative work apps like Skype, Teams and Zoom,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX International, which runs an internet exchange in Mumbai.




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Covid-19 Impact: Top retailers urge government to open non-essential retail to reset the Indian economy

The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), said only 8% of its members have funds to pay salary next month since 90% of all apparel retail is still at physical stores.




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India has over 500 mn active Internet users, 14% of 5-11 yrs: IAMAI

​​ According to IAMAI's 'Digital in India' report, India had 504 million active Internet users, who logged onto the web at least once in the last one month, at the end of November 2019. In rural India, the number of accessing Internet daily had grown by 30 million from March 2019, it added.




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India witnesses 40% increase in peak Internet traffic: Report

There was significant spike in downloads and uploads per user, owing to the high volume of work and streaming content across India.




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Business continuity essentials for a secure remote working future

Over the next few years business continuity solutions will continue to power the new redefined future of work itself.




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Xiaomi phones may reveal your private search, usage: Report

Cybersecurity researchers have accused Xiaomi of infringing on the privacy of its phone users by recording their 'private' web and phone use habits.




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Fake ransom seeking email scam prowling in Indian cyberspace

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), in a latest advisory, has said while there is "nothing to worry" about such emails, users should update or change their passwords, used to login any of their social media or other online platforms, if they find them compromised.




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Take user privacy seriously, don't collect data without consent: Xiaomi

Xiaomi India Managing Director said that the company does not collect any user data that the user has not explicitly given permission or consent to. He added that in the browser's incognito mode, all user data is completely encrypted and anonymised. He also pointed out that all Mi Browser and Mi Cloud data of Indian users is stored locally in AWS servers in India.




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Fake ransom seeking email scam prowling in Indian cyberspace

The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), in a latest advisory, has said while there is "nothing to worry" about such emails, users should update or change their passwords, used to login any of their social media or other online platforms, if they find them compromised.




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4 in 5 users removing private information from social media apps globally

The Internet consumers are becoming more aware of their personal data and 82 per cent users have tried to remove private information from websites or social media channels, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.




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Chinese hacking group targeting governments across Asia: Report

The group has been very active during the last five years, especially in 2019-20.




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Hackers disrupt virtual S.African parliament meeting with porn

Hackers on Thursday disrupted a virtual session of South Africa's parliament, posting pornographic images in the second such incident since the coronavirus outbreak.




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New clause added to IT Act: Onus of content not generated by users on social media platforms

‘Safe harbour protection’ only if intermediaries facilitate and not modify such content, including ads




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400 million social media users are set to lose their anonymity in India

The advent of new rules for social media applications - like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp - could spell the end for privacy in the Indian internet space. Despite push back from major internet companies, the Indian government is all set to go ahead with the new regulations. The rules are a bid to quell the spread of fake news and trace anti-social elements in the Indian internet ecosystem faster.




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Social media to join hands to fight fake news, hate speech

The proposed alliance — to be named the Information Trust Alliance (ITA) — will be a grouping of digital platforms and publishers, fact checkers, civil society and academia that will aim to control the spread of harmful content, including fake news and hate speech. So far, discussions have taken place among Facebook, Google, Twitter, Byte-Dance, ShareChat and YY Inc.




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Facebook to ramp up promotions in India

Facebook also recently announced the appointment of Avinash Pant as the marketing director for India to drive the consumer marketing efforts of its family of apps.




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India Inc tiptoes through CAA social media minefield

​​Companies are seeking to balance freedom of expression with the potential for damage to their business, not for the first time, but more gingerly perhaps, given the level of polarisation. ​​




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PM Narendra Modi mulls giving up social media on March 8

Government officials remained tightlipped on the reasons and said the PM would reveal more in a day or two. It was also not clear whether Modi, who has used social media to communicate directly with the masses, would be giving up the platforms for a long time or only for a day on Sunday — which also happens to be the International Women’s Day.




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Social media giants warn of AI moderation errors as coronavirus empties offices

The Silicon Valley tech giants have asked employees and contractors to work from home if possible, to slow the fast-spreading respiratory disease




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Indian government asks social media firms to curb Covid-19 fake news

The government asked social media platforms to start awareness campaigns, remove misinformation from the platform and promote authentic information




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Living in the golden age of social distancing

Working from home was never so good. Five tips from a pro for social distancers and the social distanced on not just how to survive self-quarantine but thrive in it.




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Accenture forms alliance with Paxata to help clients build an intelligent enterprise

The alliance aims to help clients provide enterprise end users with exceptional data control across multiple data sources.




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Why this is India's big data election

The ongoing Lok Sabha polls may or may not be an election for a new India, but they certainly are an election that’s about Big Data and its consorts.




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How an Indian Tech startup helped brands execute their IPL campaigns

For the recent IPL season, Roanuz partnered with various brands and offered their product to run IPL campaigns, key ones being Zomato, RCB, and Book My Show.




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Reliance Retail's fashion business invests in data intelligence to go hyperlocal this year

Reliance Retail has deployed a technology team to develop applications in order to create seamless online and offline experience in the coming financial year.




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WhatsApp Pay to comply with all rules in India by May

A full-fledged rollout of WhatsApp Pay has not been approved for over two years due to concerns over its data storage policy in India and over sharing of that data with its parent entity. In February, a plan to allow WhatsApp Pay to increase the number of users in a pilot project, from 1 million to 10 million, did not take off.




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‘Google tax’ could draw reprisal, US cautions India

US also marked a slew of issues in India’s digital trade including those in the ecommerce policy.




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Walmart Labs will hire 2,800 in India this year

Since its inception in Bengaluru in 2008, Walmart Labs India has built cross-disciplinary teams engaged in cutting edge engineering, product development and data sciences.




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Global lobbying groups call for delay to India's new digital tax

The tax also applies to advertising revenue earned from companies overseas if those advertisements eventually target customers in India. Google is particularly concerned that it would not be able to swiftly identify countries where such advertising arrangements were in place, Reuters has reported.




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Appliances, consumer electronic makers assist customers virtually amid lockdown

Companies like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Haier and Godrej Appliance are leveraging Livechat, WhatsApp, DIY video as well as on-call assistance, and helping remotely on real time basis as their service centres are closed in compliance with the government directives.




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Covid-19 impact may set India's smartphone production back by four years

India's contribution to global smartphone production had jumped to 16 per cent in 2019 from 9 per cent in 2016, as several handset makers cut down output in China or moved out due to the US-China trade war and received heavy incentives by the Indian government to beef up manufacturing in the country.




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Essential supplies severely impacted in hotspots

With authorities completely sealing the areas, FMCG companies said they are facing problem moving trucks through such localities to other places.




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Millions of mobile phones, thousands of appliances pile up for repairing amidst lockdown

There are more than 30,000 microwave ovens, AC and washing machines which needs repair at a time when Indians are locked indoors and doing household chores themselves due to the lockdown.




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India phone exports more than doubled on-year to 3.6 crore units in FY19-20

“We have attracted interest from companies such global giant Samsung and Chinese OEMs in the mobile phone segment coupled with the right set of incentives for them,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst, TechArc. “The mass domestic market, which was underpenetrated for long, has provided an opportunity to these players to address local demand as well as set-up base here,” he added.




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Indians spent 4.3 hours a day on smartphones in March, up 24%

India also saw the biggest jump in video consumption of 40% to over 2.9 billion hours during the week starting March 22 as compared to the last week of December 2019




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Covid lockdown: Handset companies seek essentials tag

“We request for your kind direction to the MHA on this very important recommendation from the industry which is duly considered and approved by the crisis management structure set up you – the Empowered Group of Technology and Data Management,” India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo wrote in the letter.




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Apple clears bills of partners in India for 2 months

Apple has also provided an additional credit period of 60 days to help them tide over business disruptions due to Covid-19.




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Mobile phone retailers' body AIMRA urges govt to not include devices in essential goods

“We did not request you to change the category of mobile phones to essential items. We again reiterate we are not asking to change the category of mobile phones,” Arvinder Khurana, National President All India Mobile Retailers Association said in a letter to Piyush Goyal.​




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Indians bet on online gaming to kill boredom

Gaming firms have noted a sharp increase in customers looking to ward off boredom by indulging in games such as poker, rummy and bingo




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ASUS India aims to commence new PC launches from June

Despite the disruptions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic on global supply chain, Taiwanese electronics major ASUS expects a surge in demand for laptops in India once the lockdown is lifted, even as the company prepares for a couple of launches in June this year, a top company executive has said.




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How Facebook’s Reliance deal upends a $1 trillion digital arena

Reliance and Facebook know a friction-less payments service is key to successful online commerce — but so are mom and pop shops. JioMart and WhatsApp’s embryonic Mumbai service is intended to first get Indians accustomed to messaged transactions with local businesses known as kirana: the tiny neighborhood stores where most Indians buy daily essentials.




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Covid-19 to bring India software market growth down to 4.1%

The decline in growth rate is likely because enterprises relook at their buying decisions owing to increased focus on profitability, said IDC's report.




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IIT-Madras startups develop PPEs from 3D printers and regular stationery materials

Initial batches have been supplied in Chennai, while some were in the process of being scaled up towards mass production for use in hospitals and clinics across the country.




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Ameyo launches RBI compliant video KYC engagement platform

The platform enables enterprises to reduce Video KYC completion drop-offs by 20% and reduce the cost of operations by up to 90%




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India tops Zoom downloads in April

Zoom was the most downloaded non-game app worldwide for April 2020 with close to 131 million installs, a 60x growth from April 2019