Xiaomi India on Wednesday announced the launch of "Mi Music" and "Mi Video" to offer value-added Internet services in India.

"With the launch of these two apps 'Mi Music' and 'Mi Video', we hope to serve millions of Xiaomi smartphone users with a better user experience through enhanced Internet services," Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, said in a statement.

"Mi Music" is a pre-installed music app which offers an integrated music streaming service along with the ability to store offline music and has nearly seven million daily active users in India, the statement said.

"Mi Video" is a pre-installed video app that provides integrated video streaming across platforms.

"Mi Video" content is currently powered by Hungama Play, SonyLiv and Voot. It offers more than 500,000 hours of content with nearly 80 per cent free content, the statement added.

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iVOOMi on Thursday launched its first health band, 'FitMe', in India at Rs 1,999. The fitness band sports a 90mAh battery, scratch-proof display heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, running mode, vibration reminder, pedometer, GPS and other features, the Chinese electronics company said in a statement

"The 'FitMe' health band is sleek, smart, dust-proof and water resistant and features a display of 128x32 pixels resolution that makes it crystal clear from all viewing angles," said iVOOMi India CEO Ashwin Bhandari.

With "IP67," the watch remains water-resistant for 30 minutes, has auto-sync for "Smart Me OS 2.0" and is capable of OTA (Over the Air Software) updates.

"FitMe" is chargeable without a USB cable; the display can be directly connected to any USB port to charge the device. The health band on available on Flipkart and 

Available on Flipkart, the health band comes with a six-month warranty.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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Telecommunications service provider Ericsson on Thursday introduced a new category of radio products called Street Macro in India to enable a smooth evolution from 4G to 5G.

Street Macro is a new site type that addresses the need for operators to grow in cities with limited available radio locations.

The company also launched new radio products that support "Massive MIMO" technology to simplify use for wider 5G adoption.

"Operators today are looking at ways and means to increase network capacity, especially in urban areas. Ericsson's Street Macro adds a new layer in the network layer to boost capacity enabling service providers to cater to the growing demands of data users," Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India, told reporters here.

According to Ericsson's new economic study of enhanced mobile broadband, evolution to 5G will enable 10 times lower cost per gigabyte than current 4G networks.

To help operators capture growth opportunities presented by new 5G use cases, Ericsson has expanded its 5G Core System offering with new capabilities to support 5G New Radio (NR) standard and also enhanced its Distributed Cloud solution.

The announcement came on the sidelines of Ericsson's annual technology roadshow in India, where the company recreated a "Do Zone" to showcase the highlights from Mobile World Congress 2018.

To date Ericsson has signed 39 memorandums of understanding with service providers for trials, the company said.

Aiming to disrupt India's mid-segment smartphone market, Samsung is set to launch four new smartphones -- two each in Galaxy "A" and Galaxy "J" series -- this month.

The upcoming Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ smartphones could be priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 while the devices in Galaxy "J" series could cost customers Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, industry sources told IANS on Friday.

Two of the four smartphones in the upcoming line-up would come with dual camera set-up, the sources added.

All of them will be made at the company's Noida facility. The smartphones will feature Samsung's super AMOLED "Infinity Display" -- bezel-less screen that creates an immersive viewing experience.

Notably, Samsung's flagship smartphones such as Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9 series feature the "Infinity Display". Now, with the upcoming devices, the display feature would be introduced at lower price points in the Indian market.

The South Korean giant first introduced the "Infinity Display" in Galaxy S8 series in 2017.

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Forced to agree to discounts due to the aggressive policies of delivery platforms, the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) and its member had started the #Logout campaign last August in protest. While the campaign turned out to be successful to an extent with aggregator platforms forced to change their predatory pricing policies, the NRAI decided to put a definitive plan into action to find a way out. The association has now announced plans to launch an alternative discovery and delivery platform, which will come into force by August-September.

"We realised that this is the new way of doing business [online aggregators] and we cannot ignore it, so let's make it better for us. With this platform, the customer data will be ours, discounts will be decided by the restaurants, and services will be unbundled. Every individual restaurant that gets the order will own the data; NRAI is not the owner of the data. Existing aggregators had become digital landlords. We are not saying that the app will replace the current players overnight, it's just another choice which will be available," says Anurag Katriar, president of NRAI; CEO and executive director of deGustibus Hospitality Pvt Ltd.

The project had been in the works months before COVID-19 hit the industry and all members were of the opinion that a marketplace cannot decide what the buyer and seller should do about the price. The high rate of commission is another concern. Restaurants are also forced to compulsorily buy the full bouquet of services by the platform, for example restaurants cannot use their own delivery fleet despite having one. One of the biggest issues for restaurateurs is that the customer and transaction data is the sole property of the aggregator, something that platforms started utilising to launch and promote their own properties.

Gauri Devidayal, restaurateur

Members of the F&B industry feel positive about the move. "These aggregators have used every situation to their advantage. Even now these guys are trying to raise the commission at a very high percentage. We are more than happy that the organisation is launching this platform which will help us work on a lower commission and reduce our expenses, especially now," said Ryan Tham, owner, The Good Wife, Koko, Foo.

Gauri Devidayal, Co-founder The Table, Magzine Street Kitchen, Iktara, Mei13, Mag St. Bread Co, saod , "The commissions and discounts offered by them were not at all viable for restaurants. This platform will also smoothen the ordering process and remove the need for us to organise a rider when delivering out of our radius."

Meanwhile, NRAI has already collaborated with a tech company to work on this platform, and the money for the platform is also being pumped in by the company; Katriar is tightlipped about the name for now.

Ryan Tham and Avik Chatterjee

Avik Chaterjee, founder, Hoppipola, Episode One, admits that everyone in the industry is in survival mode during lockdown: "Anything that will make us bear lower expenditure will be the best service for us. NRAI is not putting in money in this; this may change in the future. This hasn't been done to spite anyone, it is to protect what's best for our trade and take control of our own business decisions," he says.

Smaller restaurants will benefit the most from this as the platform will allow the owners to accept orders as small as R20 and use their salaried employee for delivery. NRAI is also working on two other tech projects, a loyalty programme, and a platform for transactions which might run parallel to the aggregator platform.

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The stay-at-home period has given Ayushmann Khurrana a breather from his acting commitments to pursue other creative hobbies. Over the past few weeks, he has often shared poems about life during the lockdown, the valour of the frontline workers and other subjects he holds close to his heart. The actor has lined up a special surprise for moms on Mother's Day tomorrow — he will be launching the single, Maa, that he created with friend and frequent collaborator Rochak Kohli.

Though the duo had developed the song years ago, they rendered it only recently amidst the lockdown. "The spirit of motherhood has always amazed me, and I am glad to celebrate this ever-nurturing force through the song. Rochak and I will be singing this track together. It is an honour to dedicate it to mothers who selflessly shape our lives," says Khurrana. The number has been penned by Gurpreet Saini.

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Lawmakers in the Philippines have endorsed plans for a tax amnesty scheme that will cover estate taxes, general taxes, and delinquent accounts, covering liabilities up to December 31, 2017.

The Filipino Government has said it is planning to launch its proposed estate tax amnesty next month.

The Philippines' Bureau of Internal Revenue has launched a digital tax payments system.

Tata Trusts has begun a pan-India community outreach to induce adoption of health practices, as promoted by the Government of India, in rural areas to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Beginning March 31, the exercise is expected to have already reached about 12 million people in 21 states.

The campaign '5 Kadam, Corona Mukt Jeevan', ranges from video messages in the country's languages, even dialects, short animation videos and infographics to audio messages, and SMS based messaging.

For wider deployment by any interested organisation, the Trusts have made publicly available through social media about 300 such videos and audio messages, in different languages, and dialects like Dongri, Kumaoni, Ladakhi, Garhwali, Santhali, Mundari, Kutchi (Gujarat) and Koborok (Tripura). All of them are available in the playlist here.

Over 70 celebrities from all over India, have lent their support with video and audio messages. Among them are Nana Patekar, Sonali Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh, Ila Arun, Atul Kulkarni, Malini Awasthi, and Sanju Samson for Rajasthan Royals, to name a few.

The Trusts have deployed more than 430 master trainers in these 21 states who in turn have trained a pool of over 8,700 community resource persons (village volunteers) to deliver the message till the last mile.

Through the existing network of the Trusts' programmes, the volunteers, associate organisations of the Trusts, community radios, village-based public address systems, and use of various internet and communication technologies, the programme is expected to have reached out to about 12 million people till date.

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Former Slovak tennis star Daniela Hantuchova has launched her own podcast, The Real DNA, where she plans to have people who have inspired her, as guests on her show. After retiring in 2017, Daniela, 37, has been a tennis commentator for the past couple of years.

"The reason behind launching a podcast was that I love to communicate and learn from all the inspiring people I have in my life. I thought it would be nice to able to share their stories and their real DNA with our listeners. At the end of the day, one of the things I cherish the most in life is being able to sit down and have a cup of coffee with people I love, my family, friends, and people I admire, and listen to their stories and their experiences in life," she was quoted as saying by Tennis World USA.

"I believe the most inspiring people I've encountered in life share certain core values as humans that have helped get them where they are, whether in sports or somewhere else. I want my listeners to get to know these people and understand those core values," she added.

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It is becoming very common these days to get at least one mail per month from EM announcing some new service. Usually an existing service is broken up into pieces and offered as something new. EM is degrading itself into a MLM company. Equity research is ..

South Africa is to launch an inquiry into the reasons behind a shortfall in tax revenue collections.

Having increased the headline value-added tax rate to 15 percent from 14 percent on April 1, South Africa has appointed a panel to consider a review of the list of food items subject to the zero rate.

On October 23, 2019, the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service launched the re-established Large Business Centre, which aims to bring about higher levels of voluntary tax compliance among large taxpayers.

Engineers have done preliminary work and talked to smartphone operating system makers Apple Inc and Google about possibly adopting technology the companies plan to release jointly this month to make tracing easier

On November 18, 2019, the German Ministry of Finance published a question and answer section on its website to clarify the role of a new special unit within the tax authority designed to detect cases of tax fraud more quickly.

Both cars come with eight-speed steptronic sport automatic transmission and a host of safety features like six airbags, attentiveness assistance, dynamic stability control, including dynamic traction control, anti-lock braking system and electric parking brake

Jio has also announced new add-on data packs under work from home theme

An official said that the people of Myanmar can now get access to quality treatment and latest medical technology in India with the Apollo Group of Hospitals

On February 19, the Canada Revenue Agency officially opened the 2019 tax filing season.

China's Government announced recently that a local insurance company had issued the country's first tax-deferred pension insurance policy, saying it marked the beginning of tax-deferred pension plans in China.

On February 10, 2020, the Italian tax agency commenced a short consultation on the rules surrounding the patent box self-assessment regime.

The Slovenian tax authority announced on July 9, 2019, that it will increase tax compliance checks on companies carrying out certain services for foreign e-commerce platforms to ensure they are charging VAT when required.

On January 9, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the launch of a new Gig Economy Tax Center, which is intended to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations through more streamlined information.

Malta's Minister for Finance, Edward Scicluna, recently announced the launch of a number of fiscal incentives, which are intended to boost the take-up of voluntary private pensions.

Hong Kong's Inland Revenue Department on March 5 launched its new Country-by-Country Reporting Portal.

On January 9, 2019, the United States Internal Revenue Service announced the launch of a new Gig Economy Tax Center, which is intended to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations through more streamlined information.

On March 31, 2020, the United States Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service launched the Employee Retention Credit scheme, designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Abu Dhabi Global Market, the low-tax international financial center, is seeking feedback on its proposal to allow the formation of "foundations," a trust-like entity widely used in civil law jurisdictions.

The European Commission has taken the first step toward negotiating a new relationship with the UK by issuing a recommendation to the European Council that the talks should commence.

17th January 2014 – Colombo, Sri Lanka – His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, has officially launched a new, hi-tech information system that promises to enhance water management in the South Asian country. Download the full media release

Experts meet in Delhi to discuss a new initiative to "future-proof" livelihoods of one million smallholder farmers in South Asia

International Water Management Institute (IWMI) launched a mobile app, called AgRISE, in support of a new national agricultural insurance scheme.

The Centre has launched online data pool of human resource, comprising details of doctors, other healthcare professionals and auxiliary help, to fight against COVID-19.

The United States component of a global registry that aims to help protect health care providers who intubate patients with COVID-19 and better quantify

CORONTINE app could help authorities track asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. A team led by Manjesh K Hanwal

A new helpline has been launched by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) to provide counseling support to children and parents

On March 16th, 2020, Royal Park Hotels and Resorts Company, Ltd. (hereafter RPHS) launches The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Osaka Midosuji, its second hotel in Osaka, bringing together Japanese charm and modern design elements. Over the next 5 years, RPHS plans to open six more hotels in Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya, and Tokyo. The new hotel forms part of the ICONIC brand, the flagship line of RPHS' "THE" series for premium limited service hotels. Targeting business and bleisure travelers the hotel features a total of 352 rooms including two executive floors with 48 rooms, restaurants, two gyms, English-speaking guest relations staff, executive lounge, and meeting facilities on the executive floor with complimentary two-hour usage. Visitors benefit from the new hotel being a part of the "Preferred Hotels & Resorts", the world's largest independent hotel group representing more than 750 distinctive hotels, resorts, residences and unique hotel groups across 85 countries. It is located in the brand-ne...

Chinese smartphone major Lenovo on Tuesday launched Phab 2 Plus -- a 6.4-inch full-HD IPS display device designed for those who look for heavy data consumption.

Domestic mobile handset maker Intex Technologies on Monday launched two new speakers for Rs 5,700 and Rs 8,200, respectively.

Extending its P series, Panasonic India on Tuesday launched a new smartphone P71 that will come in two variants.

Expanding its Spark series portfolio, Micromax on Wednesday launched Canvas Spark 4G -- the first device in this line-up with a 4G/LTE feature -- for Rs.4,999.

Domestic start-up Hyve Mobility in collaboration with MediaTek on Wednesday launched a new smartphone 'Pryme' at Rs.17,999.

Digital imaging company Canon India on Thursday launched new laser printers designed to address the needs of the government, large enterprises, BFSI and healthcare segments.

Expanding its Zenfone 3 series, Taiwanese giant ASUS on Wednesday launched two variants of Zenfone 3 Max smartphone with a massive 4,100 mAh battery in India.

October turned out to be the best month for the Indian smartphone market because of the festivals. With the launch of some amazing and most anticipated smartphones

In a bid to grab a bigger pie of the selfie craze, Chinese smartphone maker Vivo on Tuesday

Alcatel, TCL communication's mobile brand, on Wednesday launched a GPS-enabled smartwatch in India which allows kids to communicate with pre-approved contacts at Rs.4,799.

2016 witnessed the launch of various smartphones built with new technologies and features.