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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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Zoom heads for end-to-end encryption launch with Keybase acquisition

The company is planning to develop tools that will give more controls to meeting hosts and allow users to securely join a meeting.




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India sees most IoT attacks in April-June

The country saw a 22% jump in total number of attacks in the IoT segment during the quarter ended June, the report said.




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Patent issues leading to unprecedented growth of IoT companies

It is unclear today how to draft a patent framework that allows seamless communication between IoT devices manufactured by different companies adhering to different standards




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Vodafone Idea, Airtel to launch NB-IoT services

New standard can make communication between machines better and cheaper. “We'll be going with a pilot in a denser way rather than just a few trial sites…in a couple of months, we will be commercially rolling out,” Ajay Chitkara, CEO, Airtel Business, told ET. Vodafone Idea, on the other hand, has already conducted commercial pilots in eight cities.




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How will the launch of 5G change IoT in India

5G with its high-speed and low latency service will help realise the Government of India’s Digital India, Smart Cities and Digital Villages Missions aiming to improve citizen services, bring transparency and good governance. IoT based solutions and services in healthcare, agriculture and retail when powered by 5G will enable connected and ubiquitous services to the citizens.




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Xiaomi launching disrupting IoT products in India in 2020: Manu Jain

Xiaomi's arch rival, Madhav Sheth-led Realme, has revealed plans to become a tech-lifestyle company in India next year, with introducing a bouquet of IoT products. Others are following suit too. Xiaomi has already shared how its AIoT (AI+IoT) dual strategy is going to shape its product vision.




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IoT tech firm Singularity Automation raises Rs 8.5 crore funding

The company said it will utilise the capital to work with manufacturers to build IoT products for the consumer segment that can be plugged into its platform.




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SenRa launched new analytics platform to manage IoT devices

With the release of the IoT analytics platform - Ginjer 2.0, SenRa is now able to provide customers with end-to-end IoT solutions while facilitating them with immediate insights on their business operations, cost savings, and overall ROI.




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Amdocs launches SI capabilities, to upskill 5,000 Indian employees to cloud-based solutions

The company on Wednesday announced systems integration (SI) capabilities including consulting, agile devOps, cloud migration, cloud capacity optimization and the Future Mode of Operation aimed at taking the communications industry to the cloud at an accelerated pace.




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Google Cloud unveils machine images to simplify workflow

Google has announced machine images, a new type of Compute Engine resource that contains all the information people need to create, backup or restore a virtual machine, reducing the amount of time people spend managing their Cloud environment.




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Hybrid clouds span the edge of the universe

While workloads are increasingly moving from traditional to cloud data centers - both private and public, hybridization has allowed mission-critical workloads to stay on-premise. Multi-cloud adoption is also being driven by the evolution of new orchestration and management services that are helping to define and run cloud processes and create competitive solutions.




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Unlocking the value of data

Data is the lifeblood of any business looking to thrive and excel today. All organisations, from the bakery down the street to the banks at the centre of the city’s financial district are somewhere on the journey to unlocking the value of that data. Collectively, there is a massive amount of data constantly being used, stored, and processed.




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Zoom heads for end-to-end encryption launch with Keybase acquisition

The company is planning to develop tools that will give more controls to meeting hosts and allow users to securely join a meeting.




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Accenture says Unacademy hack has no impact on its data

"Accenture has no professional relationship with Unacademy, and any implication or assertion otherwise is erroneous. Accenture has suffered no data breach or loss of any records or client information as a result of this incident," Accenture said in a statement.




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Pune labour commissioner asks Wipro to respond to complaint on employee salary cuts

NITES, said that this went against the government guidelines of not firing people or cutting salaries during the pandemic.




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Amazon Web Services launches 3rd availability zone in Mumbai

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Cloud arm of retail giant Amazon has announced the third availability zone in its Mumbai Cloud Region.




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Data centres may prove to be the next big opportunity in India

From big businesses to real estate companies to global technology firms, everybody is talking of setting up data centres or of making aggressive expansions. Priyanka Sangani delineates the new trend.




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India's data centre plan in anticipation of tsunami of data in country

With close to 450 million Internet users, India is already the largest market for companies like Facebook in terms of users.




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Amazon invests Rs 2,500 crore in marketplace and data centre units

The investment follows a Rs1,715 crore infusion into Amazon’s payments and wholesale arms last month.




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How Indigo improved turnaround times for its flights

A simple fix has helped the airline’s cabin crew save 20 minutes of their work, helping the airline improve turnaround times for better on-time performance.




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Understanding and addressing the causes of biodiversity loss

Many species around the world are likely to become extinct as ecosystems and the diversity of life found in them are threatened by pressures, such as pollution, overexploitation, climate change, invasive species, fragmentation, degradation and loss of habitat. A recent report has examined the causes of biodiversity loss and the policies surrounding efforts to tackle this loss




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Promoting biodiversity through agricultural field boundaries

New research in Estonia indicates that plant biodiversity in field boundaries varies with features, such as ditches, trees and nearby roads. It suggests that, in addition to common non-weedy plants, more consideration should be given to rare weeds by broadening of field boundaries and reducing the use of agrochemicals and fertilisers near these boundaries.




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Natural capital underestimated by regional development plans

Recent research has established how forest, wetland and agricultural ecosystems could affect economic growth in Sweden. The findings suggest that regions conventionally considered to be of low economic benefit, are in fact rich in valuable ecosystem resources.




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Dispelling myths around ecosystem service projects

A new study has compared conservation projects that focus on promoting only biodiversity with projects that focus on promoting both biodiversity and ecosystem services. The results dispel several myths surrounding ecosystem service projects and indicate they are as effective at addressing threats to biodiversity as their biodiversity counterparts.




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Hunting and fishing quotas should be used with care

Quotas on the hunting or fishing of wildlife may be worsening the problem they seek to address. A new study has predicted cycles in wildlife population sizes over time and indicates that quota systems, introduced in response to declining numbers of wildlife, do not respond quickly or accurately enough to changes in population size and may put wildlife at greater risk.




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The study of mosses could help understand environmental impacts

Mosses are an important but sometimes overlooked group of plants, which play a significant role in cycling in carbon and nitrogen between the land and the air. A new study proposes that scientists could use mosses as a model to investigate the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity and nature.




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A Census of Marine Life: measuring and understanding biodiversity

A global team of marine biologists have recently completed a Census of Marine Life, which contributes to our basic understanding of marine ecosystems. Among its findings - marine biodiversity in the Baltic and Mediterranean are among the most threatened globally.




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Set-aside land improves farmland biodiversity in Hungary

Setting aside agricultural land remains an important method of promoting biodiversity in Central Europe, according to new Hungarian research. Results have indicated that, compared to winter cereal fields, set-aside land has greater plant and insect diversity. This supports the continuing use of set-aside policy in Central and Eastern Europe.




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Fracking: a serious concern for surface water as well as groundwater

While the ecological impact of shale gas exploration and extraction on groundwater has received considerable attention, the implications for surface water and terrestrial ecosystems is often overlooked, according to a new US study. Although more data are needed, preliminary results suggest that regulations based on proximity to surface water could be necessary to protect valuable ecosystems.




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Risk of sleeping sickness in Africa spreads under climate change

By 2090, up to 76.7 million more people in Africa could be at risk of infection by the parasite that causes sleeping sickness, according to recent research. The study predicted which areas of Africa would be at greatest risk in future.




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New system of sustainable funding for global ecosystem services

Researchers argue that of the five mechanisms available for ensuring the provision of ecosystem services ??? prescription, penalties, persuasion, property rights and payments ??? only payments are likely to be effective at the global level. However, while a number of international Payments for Ecosystem Services (IPES) schemes exist, their impact on ecosystem services remains negligible.




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'Bundled' PES schemes to boost cost-effectiveness

A recent project has developed a method to spatially target payments to areas where multiple ecosystem services, combining biodiversity conservation with carbon and water services, are jointly provided, so as to enhance the cost-effectiveness of the PES scheme. The study focuses on Madagascar, but the method could be applied at the national or regional level in any country.




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Reindeer are important in shaping Arctic plant communities

Reindeer grazing and climate change both affect Arctic plant communities, according to new research. The study suggests that reindeer grazing management strategies could significantly influence the future Arctic landscape.




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Environmentally-harmful fungal diseases on the rise

Scientists have called for tighter biosecurity measures to reduce the growing threat to biodiversity, food security and ecosystems from fungal infections. Their study reveals that fungal disease outbreaks are on the rise around the world, and will cause further damage unless urgent steps are taken to restrict their unintentional spread through international trade and transport.




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Areas surrounding tropical forest nature reserves also need protection

To preserve rich biodiversity in protected areas of tropical forests, safeguarding the surrounding area can be just as important as safeguarding the park or reserve itself. This is according to a new study, which assessed the ecological health of 60 protected areas across the tropics.




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Biodiversity loss threatens key ecosystem functions

A synthesis of 192 studies has provided a quantitative estimate of the impact of the loss of plant biodiversity on ecosystem primary production, showing that this impact could be as great as that of other major environmental changes, such as climate warming, rising ozone levels and ocean acidification. They examined the effects of biodiversity loss on primary plant production of biomass and decomposition of plant litter, both of which underpin the carbon cycle and provision of key ecosystem services.




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Pollinator-dependence an underestimated risk?

Researchers have found that crops which rely heavily on pollinators have lower yields compared to less pollinator-dependent crops. They also have slower growth in yields and less stable yields from year to year. The results highlight the importance of managing biodiversity to support ecosystem services, such as pollination, on which much modern agriculture depends.




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Bird flu study: no harmful strains found in wild birds in Georgia

The role of wild birds in spreading potentially deadly strains of 'bird flu' is poorly understood. Recent research in Georgia examined an important crossover point of migratory routes, including routes into Europe, and found that only 1% of wild birds tested here carried avian influenza. None of these had the harmful, pathogenic strains.




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Drainage tunnels provide safe road crossings for wildlife

Drainage tunnels running under roads can provide small animals with safe road crossings, mitigating habitat fragmentation, a new study has confirmed. The researchers suggest that the tunnel design can be further improved to aid animal movements, for example, by providing dry ledges to ensure the routes are still available in times of high rainfall.




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New guidelines for protection of unique deep-sea ecosystems

Guidelines to establish reserves protecting deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seep ecosystems have been proposed. A group of stakeholders from 14 countries have put forward the Dinard Guidelines for Chemosynthetic Ecological Reserves, to help design and manage reserves for these unique ecosystems in national and international waters.




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Offshore wind farm foundations could alter seafloor ecosystems of the North Sea

The planned expansion of offshore wind farms in the German Bight of the North Sea will provide hard surfaces in what is currently a soft-bottom habitat. This could see an increase in the numbers of some species, such as mussels, which attach themselves to these hard structures, in turn leading to increased numbers of fish and crabs specialised to this habitat, new research suggests.




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Small mammals flourish under UK agri-environment scheme

Small mammals clearly benefit from a UK agri-environment scheme (AES), a recent study concludes. Numbers and diversity of voles, shrews and mice were found to increase on and around farmland with 6 m wide field margins and patches of semi-natural habitat - features encouraged under the government-led AES.




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Communicating biodiversity to farmers: developing the right tools

Two metrics for informing farmers about the biodiversity on their land are presented in a recent Swiss study: average species richness and farm ‘uniqueness’. These are both easy to understand and comparable between farms, the researchers say.




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Unconventional shale gas and oil: overview of ecological impacts

Research findings on the wildlife and habitat impacts of unconventional shale gas and oil developments in the US have been collated in a new review. Its authors stress the importance of collecting data on local ecosystems before such developments begin, to allow changes in nature be tracked and aid on-going improvements to management.




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European salamanders and newts under threat from fungus spread by wildlife trade

A new disease capable of devastating European salamander and newt populations was probably introduced via international wildlife trade, new research has found. The study shows that the disease is deadly for many European species of salamanders and its analysis of more than 5000 amphibians from across four continents suggests the pathogen spread from Asia to Europe via the pet trade.




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Four of nine 'planetary boundaries' exceeded

Civilisation has crossed four of nine ‘planetary boundaries’, increasing the risk of irreversibly driving the Earth in to a less hospitable state, concludes new research. These are: extinction rate, deforestation, atmospheric CO2 and the flow of nitrogen and phosphorus.




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Bear hunting's hidden impacts on cubs is highlighted in new study

Hunting has obvious impacts on wild populations. However, new research concludes that for Scandinavian brown bears (Ursus arctos), it also contributes to the killing of cubs by adult males to increase the male's chances of mating with the cubs' mother. The researchers say that this indirect effect of hunting should be considered when developing sustainable hunting quotas and management plans.




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Volunteers can help on-going monitoring efforts of coral reefs by detecting long- term changes

Citizen scientists are increasingly playing an important role in monitoring environmental conditions around the world. There have been concerns, however, that the quality of volunteer data might not match the reliability of data collected by professional scientists. A new study has found that both citizen scientists and professional scientists were able to identify widespread decreases in the cover of live corals and increases in rubble and sand, during two long-term monitoring programmes of coral reefs. These results show that volunteers can indeed play a meaningful role in the conservation of these reefs, say the authors of this study.




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Beneficial soil fungi boosted by organic farming with reduced tillage

The biodiversity and abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi — important soil organisms that can help plants to capture nutrients — is greater in organically managed soils with reduced tilling compared to conventional methods, a new Swiss study suggests. This illustrates the impacts that land management practices such as ploughing can have on soil biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.