Ambani to bring the pod taxis to India; will also set up India’s electronic payment platform
+ Amazon sued for discrimination; NASA to review SpaceX’s Falcon 9 engine issue
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Mukesh Ambani buys majority stake in US-based transportation company skyTran to bring the pod taxis to India
Pod taxis use magnets' power to move around at speeds that can reach up to 240 km per hour.
Ambani partners with Facebook and Google to seek a license from RBI to set up India’s electronic payment platform
The Indian digital payments market is likely to touch $1 trillion by 2023.
Amazon sued for allegedly discriminating against Black and female workers in the hiring process
It is said that Amazon hires people of colour “at lower levels” and promotes them less than White co-workers.
Delhi government cancels subsidy on Tata Nexon EV due to complaints from users of sub-standard range performance
Users claimed that the car wasn’t going 312 km per charge as promised.
Ratan Tata to exit Lenskart with returns 4.6 times the investment
Tala will see a 28 times return on his Rs 10 lakh investment in Lenskart.
CMIE Data: India’s unemployment rate rises to 6.9% in February 2021 from 6.53% in January
Rural areas saw a surge in unemployment during the month.
GST revenue collections cross Rs 1 lakh crore mark, up 7% year-on-year in February
Revenue from imports of goods was 15% higher year-on-year.
Sources: Finance ministry may cut excise duties on petrol and diesel to mitigate the impact of high domestic prices
India is seeking a more effective way to keep fuel prices stable.
Chinese hackers target Indian vaccine makers SII, Bharat Biotech; spotted vulnerabilities in the supply chain software
India produces more than 60% of all vaccines sold in the world.
LPG (cooking gas) price hiked by Rs 25 per cylinder
In Kolkata, it costs Rs 845, the highest among the 4 major metros.
Highlights:
“We have to expand India’s agriculture sector into the global markets for processed food” - PM Narendra Modi
He also added that Contract farming will boost farm income.
“The large scale power failure in Mumbai during Oct 12, 2020, is an act of sabotage” - Energy Minister of Maharashtra
Large parts of Mumbai and parts of Thane were hit by a power outage.
#Dhandha Corner
Viewership of eSports in India rose to 17 million in 2020; prize money pool grows to 25-30%
Several approached the government recently seeking a sports categorisation for the sector.
Airtel Xstream partners with “Divo”; Users can now have access to Divo’s entire Tamil catalogue of movies
Users can subscribe to Divo Movies priced at Rs 30/month.
Indian smartphone retailers call to investigate Amazon’s business practices
The mobile retailers wrote to PM Modi on the daily limitations on a single seller’s online smartphone sales.
After Australia and France, Indian News publishers seek 85% of ad revenue from Google, other tech giants
The Indian Newspaper Society wrote to Google, asking it to compensate for the use of their content.
About The #TechGiants
Google News Initiative introduces new courses to innovate the idea of Newsroom
It has been training journalists across India to use free digital tools to help improve the quality of journalism.
WhatsApp spyware creator NSO Group again under US scanner
US asked WhatsApp to provide details of the users that were targeted by the spyware creator’s software.
WhatsApp now lets users to mute audio on videos before adding them to their status or before sharing in chats
Stable users on Android can experience this new update.
Reddit CEO has no plans to ban pornography, says “Reddit provides a valuable forum to talk about sex”
Steve Huffman added that sex as a topic is often not well served.
Google is paying for more information; Commits $1 billion for content deals on its own terms
After Australian and French efforts to force Google to pay the publishers, Canada and the US consider this trend.
Instagram launches “Live Rooms” feature that allows four people to go live in a live broadcast at the same time
The feature encourages people to start a talk show or a podcast.
More #GlobalTechNews
Russia accuses Twitter of not deleting banned contents that are deemed illegal under the Russian law
Twitter failed to delete 2,862 posts linked to suicide, drugs since 2017.
NASA to review SpaceX’s Falcon 9 engine issue
One of the engines shut down because a hole in one of the covers allowed hot gas into the engine.
Goldman Sachs Group resume its cryptocurrency trading desk amidst the digital assets’ influence
It is also exploring the potential for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund and digital asset custody.
Sony PlayStation Network continues facing a global outage; PSN users also face issues on social media services
Sony assured that it is working on the issue; there is no timeline on how long it may take.
Bitcoin (BTC) rises 7% after MicroStrategy firm buys an additional $15 million worth of the digital asset
The firm bought $1.2 bn BTC a few days back through convertible notes.
Bitcoin up 6% as risk assets rally, Citi says cryptocurrency could become the preferred currency for international trade
Bitcoin gained support from major tech giants like Tesla and Mastercard.
China’s Inner Mongolia bans cryptocurrency mining; Shuts all digital coin projects
The aim is to constrain growth in energy use to about 1.9% in 2021.
#NationalNews
To keep a close eye on the Indian Ocean Region, DRDO deploys the “Sindhu Netra” surveillance satellite in space
The satellite was launched using ISRO’s PSLV-C51 from Sriharikota.
IBM releases its Hybrid cloud service, pivoting to the fast-growing cloud and AI markets
It is targeting industries that are slow to adopt internet-based storage solutions due to security concerns.
Elon Musk’s “Starlink” satellite internet service to be launched in India sometime in 2022; Open for Pre-booking
The deposit price has been set at $99, approx. 7,300 INR.