Shahid Kapoor recently opened up about his film, ‘Jab We Met’ with Kareena Kapoor Khan which has now achieved a cult status. The actor called it a sort of film that happens once in two decades.
The UP Board class 10 English paper is a crucial exam that tests the language skills of the students. The paper comprises of sections such as Reading, Writing, and Grammar, which assess the student's ability to comprehend and communicate in English. The exam requires students to read and analyze a variety of texts, including prose, poetry, and non-fiction.
March 2023 National and International Important Days List include some of the significant events such as - World Wildlife Day, National Safety Day, International Women's Day, World Water Day, etc. Read below to find out Day and Dates of all these important events:
In a new interview, Virat Kohli talked about Anushka Sharma has made a lot of sacrifices and how he sees wife as his inspiration.
ETimes told you a few days ago that The Entertainers tour where Akshay Kumar, Nora Fatehi, Mouni Roy, Disha Patani and Sonam Bajwa will perform, was well on track, despite one of their city shows being canceled last minute. That show was slated to be in New Jersey.
Kriti Sanon looked visibly miffed when she was asked about Kartik Aaryan at a recent award function after Shehzada flopped at the box office.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued the JEE Main Final Answer Key 2023 for Paper 2. Candidates who took the examination can check the final answer key from the official website - jeemain.nta.nic.in. The Joint Entrance Examination Main 2023 Session 1 Paper 2 was conducted on January 28, 2023.
Rumoured couple Ananya Panday and Aditya Roy Kapur along with Bhumi Pednekar and her sister Samiksha Pednekar, Pragya Jaiswal and others were seen arriving at Jackky Bhagnani's party for CKay.
Actors Aditi Rao Hydary and Siddharth, who are reportedly dating, have given their cute touch to a viral song titled 'Tum tum'.
Amid the rough patch, a reddit user shared an old interview where Ranveer Singh was told by the captain of the Indian football team Sunil Chhetri that Deepika Padukone was skeptical of his films.
On the occasion of Marathi Bhasha Diwas, Anil Kapoor remembered his dear friend and late actor Laxmikant Berde. He took to Twitter to share an old picture with Laxmikant and sent the fans on a nostalgia ride.Honor Magic 5 series was unveiled by the company on the first day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. The flagship lineup from the Shenzen-based company includes Honor Magic 5, and Honor Magic 5 Pro. The smartphone company also unveiled the Honor Magic Vs, which is its first foldable flagship to debut outside China. The Honor Magic 5 series smartphones come equipped with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. Moreover, the Honor Magic 5 Pro packs a bundle of significant upgrades.
The MWC 2023 witnessed the launch of latest flagship smartphones from Honor, which included non-foldable Magic 5 series and company's first global foldable smartphone — the Honor Magic Vs. The Honor Magic 5 Pro comes five colour variants — Black, Glacier Blue, Meadow Green, Orange and Coral Purple, while the vanilla Magic 5 variant comes in Blue and Black colour options. Similarly, the Honor Magic Vs also offers Cyan and Black colour variants.
The Honor Magic 5 will be available at the stating price of EUR 899 (nearly Rs. 78,800), while the Honor Magic 5 Pro comes at EUR 1199 (nearly Rs. 1,05,100) for the 12GB RAM and 512 GB storage model. On the other hand, the Honor Magic Vs offers similar configuration at EUR 1599 (nearly Rs. 1,40,300).
The company has not revealed any date regarding the availability of the smartphones yet.
The smartphone features a 6.81-inch OLED display with 19.54:9 aspect ratio. It gets quad-curved floating screen with support for gestures. The Honor Magic 5 runs on MagicOS 7.1, based on Android 13. It packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC coupled with Adreno 740 GPU.
For optics, the smartphone gets a triple unit rear camera unit led by a 50-megapixel wide primary sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra wide camera and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with OIS. It also sports a rear single LED flash in the camera unit. Meanwhile, users get a 12-megapixel front snapper with 3D depth camera for selfies and video calls.
The Honor Magic 5 Pro packs a 5,100 mAh battery with 66W SuperCharge charger and 50W support for wireless charging. The dual-SIM smartphone gets connectivity support for 5G, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB Type-C. It is IP68-rated for water and dust resistance.
On the other hand, the Honor Magic 5 offers a 6.73-inch OLED display with 19.54:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone has similar details as its high-end variant when it comes to operating system and processor.
Meanwhile, the tripe rear camera setup includes a 54-megapixel wide main camera, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 32-megapixel telephoto lens, along with a 12-megapixel front camera for selfies and video calls. The Honor Magic 5 is backed by a 5,100mAh battery. Other specifications are similar to the Honor Magic 5 Pro.
Claimed to be the company's first foldable smartphone to be launched outside China, the Honor Magic Vs offers 7.9-inch inner display and 6.45-inch external screen, with screen-to-body ratio of 90 percent.
The smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC coupled with Adreno 730 GPU. The keyboard supports gestures and comes equipped with three-key navigation. Just like the other two smartphones in the Magic series, the Honor Magic Vs also runs on Android-13 based MagicOS 7.1.
The optics specifications of the smartphone include a 54-megapixel led triple camera setup and a 16-megapixel front snapper. The rear camera unit also has a 50-megapixel ultra-wide shooter and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens.
It gets a 5,000mAh coupled with an HONOR 66W SuperCharge charger. With USB Type-C cable, the Honor Magic Vs gets WiFi, Bluetooth, and 5G connectivity support.
Staff Selection Commission will be releasing the Combined Graduate Level Examination Tier 1 result today on the official website of the commission — https://ssc.nic.in
After much speculation, Ranbir Kapoor has finally confirmed being a part of late singer-actor Kishore Kumar’s biopic. The actor spoke in detail about the same at a promotional event of his upcoming film, ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar’.
Suniel Shetty shares how he first met KL Rahul at an airport back in 2019 and admits he was surprised when he got to know that Athiya and Rahul were already on talking terms and Suiel had no idea about it.
Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will begin the ICSE Class 10 board exams tomorrow, February 27, 2023. The exams will be conducted from February 27 to March 15, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Students will also be given 15 minutes of reading time to read the question paper.
State Level Police Recruitment Board, SLPRB Assam has issued the admit card for the recruitment of Excise Constable, Jail Warder and Havilder on the official website at slprbassam.in. Candidates may note that the admit card is released for the Physical Efficiency Test (PET) and Physical Standard Test (PST) which is scheduled to begin on March 01, 2023.
Actor Hrithik Roshan recently hosted 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai' fame Mohsin Khan and his family at his residence. He also met Mohsin's nephew.
Shahid Kapoor celebrates his birthday today and the actor who has been getting a lot of accolades for his latest performance in 'Farzi' is being showered with wishes from his fans and industry friends.Xiaomi 13 series will be launched in Barcelona on February 26, a day before the Mobile World Congress 2023 begins. The company will unveil three models in this series — the Xiaomi 13, the Xiaomi 13 Pro, and the Xiaomi 13 Lite. While the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro were already launched in China, the global series will reportedly have one more addition i.e, the Xiaomi 13 Lite. The details about all three devices have been doing rounds on the internet. Now, the Xiaomi 13 Lite has appeared on a Geekbench listing, suggesting the processor and its performance.
According to a report by Gizmochina, the upcoming Xiaomi 13 Lite has been spotted on the Geekbench certification site with model number 2210129SG. The listing suggests that the handset will be powered by a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC coupled with 8GB RAM. The phone is hinted to come pre-installed with Android 12, paired with MIUI 13 skin. Additionally, the listing reveals that the phone has scored 793 in single-core tests and 2,938 in multi-core tests.
While the Geekbench listing has only this much information, the phone was recently spotted on German e-retailer CyberPort for a brief time. The listing reportedly revealed its detailed specifications and pricing. Xiaomi 13 Lite is speculated to be available in two shades – Black and Pink.
The other two models — Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro — were already launched in the Chinese market in December 2022. The global variants of the phone are speculated to carry the same features as their Chinese variants. The vanilla variant in the series runs MIUI 14 and has a 6.73-inch 2K OLED display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC coupled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM.
The phones also appeared on a European retail site, suggesting that the Xiaomi 13 will be priced at EUR 999.90 (roughly Rs. 88,300) for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant, while the Xiaomi 13 Pro will cost EUR 1,299.90 (roughly Rs. 1,14,700). Both smartphones are said to be available in lack and white colour options.
Ranbir Kapoor had received a massive flak for expressing his desire to work in Pakistani films at the Red Sea International Film Festival held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in December last year.
Conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar on Friday was produced before Delhi's Patiala House Court, where he made statements about his alleged girlfriend Jacqueline Fernandez and her involvement in the Rs 200 crore extortion case.Meta Platforms introduced a research tool for building artificial intelligence-based chatbots and other products, seeking to create a buzz for its own technology in a field lately focused on internet rivals Google and Microsoft.
The tool, LLaMA, is Meta's latest entry in the realm of large language models, which “have shown a lot of promise in generating text, having conversations, summarizing written material and more complicated tasks like solving math theorems or predicting protein structures,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in an Facebook post on Friday.
For now LLaMA isn't in use in Meta's products, which include social networks Facebook and Instagram, according to a spokesperson. The company plans to make the technology available to AI researchers.
“Meta is committed to this open model of research,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Large language models are massive AI systems that suck up enormous volumes of digital text — from news articles, social media posts or other internet sources — and use that written material to train software that predicts and generates content on its own when given a prompt or query. The models can be used for tasks like writing essays, composing tweets, generating chatbot conversations and suggesting computer programming code.
The technology has become popular, and controversial, in recent months as more companies have started to build them and introduce tests of products based on the models, spotlighting a new area of competition among tech giants. Microsoft is investing billions in OpenAI, the maker of GPT-3, the large language model that runs the ChatGPT chatbot. The software maker this month unveiled a test version of its Bing search engine running on OpenAI's chat technology, which raised immediate concerns over its sometimes-inappropriate responses.
Alphabet's Google has a model called LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications. The internet search and advertising leader is testing a chat-based, AI-powered search product called Bard, which also still has some glitches.
Meta previously launched a large language model called OPT-175B, but LLaMA is a newer and more advanced system. Another model Meta released late last year, Galactica, was quickly pulled back after researchers discovered it was routinely sharing biased or inaccurate information with people who used it.
Zuckerberg has made AI a top priority inside the company, often talking about its importance to improving Meta's products on earnings conference calls and in interviews. While LLaMA is not being used in Meta products now, it's possible that it will be in the future. Meta for now relies on AI for all kinds of functions, including content moderation and ranking material that appears in user feeds.
Making the LLaMA model open-source allows outsiders to see more clearly how the system works, tweak it to their needs and collaborate on related projects. Last year, Big Science and Hugging Face released BLOOM, an open-source LLM that was intended to make this kind of technology more accessible.
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In yet another clampdown on big tech companies, China has instructed them not to offer access to ChatGPT services on their platforms, either directly or via third parties, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Nikkei Asia.
Beijing's clampdown on ChatGPT, the hugely popular AI-powered chatbot, comes as little surprise to many in China's tech industry.
Chinese state media outlet blasted the chatbot for spreading US government 'misinformation' amid growing alarm in Beijing over the AI-powered chatbot's uncensored replies to user queries, reported Nikkei Asia.
On Monday, state-owned media outlet China Daily said in a post on Weibo, China's heavily censored equivalent of Twitter, that the chatbot "could provide a helping hand to the US government in its spread of disinformation and its manipulation of global narratives for its own geopolitical interests."
Tencent Holdings and Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, have been instructed not to offer access to ChatGPT services on their platforms.
The sources added that tech companies will also need to report to regulators before they launch their own ChatGPT-like services.
ChatGPT, developed by Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, is not officially available in China but some internet users have been able to access it using a virtual private network (VPN), reported Nikkei Asia.
There have also been dozens of "mini programs" released by third-party developers on Tencent's WeChat social media app that claim to offer services from ChatGPT.
Under regulatory pressure, Tencent has suspended several such third-party services regardless of whether they were connected to ChatGPT or were in fact copycats, people familiar with the matter told Nikkei.
This is not the first time that China has blocked foreign websites or applications. Beijing has banned dozens of prominent US websites and apps.
Between 2009 and 2010, it moved to block Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Between 2018 and 2019, it instituted bans on Reddit and Wikipedia.
The latest move by regulators comes amid an official backlash against ChatGPT. Sources in the tech industry say they are not surprised by such a clampdown, reported Nikkei Asia.
"Our understanding from the beginning is that ChatGPT can never enter China due to issues with censorship, and China will need its own versions of ChatGPT," said one executive from a leading tech company.
An executive from another leading Chinese tech player said that even without a direct warning his company would not use ChatGPT, reported Nikkei Asia.
"We have already been a target of the Chinese regulator [amid the tech industry crackdown in recent years], so even if there were no such ban, we would never take the initiative to add ChatGPT to our platforms because its responses are uncontrollable," the person said.
"There will inevitably be some users who ask the chatbot politically sensitive questions, but the platform would be held accountable for the results."
Since ChatGPT took the tech world by storm, Chinese tech giants, including Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu, have rushed to unveil their own plans for developing ChatGPT-like services.
These companies have been cautious about wording their announcements, however, with all of them stressing that their services are ChatGPT-like but do not integrate ChatGPT itself, reported Nikkei Asia.
China's clampdown on ChatGPT comes as tensions between the world's two largest economies continue to escalate.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that new information suggests Beijing could provide "lethal support" to Russia in the Ukraine war, triggering concerns over a new Cold War. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the claims were false and accused Washington of spreading lies.
5 Interesting factors to look forward to Dhruva Sarja's 'Martin
All the allopathic doctors practising in the state are asked to submit their self-attested copy of a valid medical registration certificate along with their degree in a proper format so that it can be verified by the concerned department.
If the latest buzz is to be believed, Shehnaaz Gill will be seen romancing Nawazuddin Siddiqui in B Praak's new music video. Recently, she was seen with Punjabi singer Guru Randhawa in their music video The Moon Rise.
While Akshay Kumar had earlier spoken about wanting his son Aarav to follow his dreams, the Khiladi Kumar has now set the records straight about Aarav's Bollywood career.
Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sunny Leone and more Bollywood celebrities suffer from some bizarre Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions is in a more upbeat mood now than ever before. Director Raj Mehta’s Selfiee starring Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi is being marketed without gimmicks and unreal promises.Food delivery platform Zomato on Wednesday said it has launched Everyday, home-style meal service under which its food partners will collaborate with home-chefs. "Zomato Everyday will bring you closer to home by serving you meals that make you feel at home," company's Founder Deepinder Goyal said in a blog-post. "Our food partners collaborate with the home-chefs, who design each recipe with love and care to serve you home-styled, wholesome food at the best prices within minutes," he added.
Goyal informed that Zomato Everyday is currently available in select areas of Gurugram only.
"With fresh meals starting at only Rs. 89, our customers can eat healthier and better daily," Goyal said.
Users will be able to order home-cooked meals on Zomato Everyday using a simple process. They will get the choice to customise their selected meal, available on the menu, which will be served to them from home-made chefs.
As visible from the screenshots shared by Zomato on its blog, users will be displayed home-chefs for the day and the menu on the home page. With affordable prices, Zomato Everyday will make it easy for office-goers, college students to order from the food delivery platform.
However, the company has not revealed if the meal comes with an extra delivery charge and taxes.
A few days back, a Zomato spokesperson confirmed its plan to rebrand Instant, its ten-minute food delivery service, while clearing rumours that the service is not being shut down. There were reports claiming that the company was planning to close Instant, launched less than a year ago, owing to tough market conditions.
The food aggregator had launched Instant in March 2022. It seems like Everyday is the rebranded Instant.
Around 76 percent of respondents have claimed that they have noticed a rise in pesky calls or SMS based on their conversations with WhatsApp business accounts and their activity on Facebook or Instagram, online survey firm LocalCircles said on Wednesday.
According to the survey conducted between February 1 and 20, 95 percent of WhatsApp users surveyed by LocalCircles in India indicate that they get one or more pesky messages each day out of which 41 percent claim to get four or more such messages daily.
When contacted, a Meta spokesperson said that Whatsapp has built systems that make it faster for WhatsApp to suspend a business from sending messages when people provide feedback they have had a low-quality experience.
"If a business receives excessive negative feedback we may limit or remove a business' access to WhatsApp," Meta spokesperson said.
LocalCircles said that to understand if users were having such an experience based on the privacy policy changes and to quantify the magnitude of such instances, it asked respondents if they are seeing an increase in unsolicited commercial messages on WhatsApp based on their conversation with WhatsApp business users or your activity on Facebook or Instagram.
"Nearly three fourth or 76 percent of the 12,215 WhatsApp users who responded to this question stated that they are seeing an increase in pesky or unsolicited commercial messages based on their conversations with WhatsApp business accounts and their activity on Facebook/Instagram, the platforms owned by Meta in addition to WhatsApp," the survey report said.
The survey claims to have received over 51,000 responses from citizens located in 351 districts of India.
LocalCircles said that the survey finding indicates that the majority of WhatsApp users surveyed are using tools available to them like blocking or archiving and yet the spam messages are continuing indicating that the senders are also switching numbers or that there are so many of them that the menace continues.
"Majority or 73 percent out of 12,673 respondents to this question indicated that they exercise the option to block the numbers from where the unsolicited commercial messages come," the report said.
The Meta spokesperson said that the user's choice is key and provides them the option to block a business account.
"We would like to share that at WhatsApp, users' choice is at the core of what we do. Messaging is the new way to get business done that is better than SMS, e-mail, and the phone, which have become overloaded and spammy. Our rule is that whether people want to talk to a business or not, the choice is that of our users," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson shared it constantly works with businesses to ensure messages are helpful and expected.
"We allow businesses to only send a certain number of messages per day... We've recently added the ability for businesses to create a simple way for customers to opt out of receiving certain types of messages right within the chat," the spokesperson said.
Mercedes-Benz said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Google to develop branded navigation for its new MB.OS operating system, as carmakers seek more control over technology in their vehicles.
The system will equip Mercedes-Benz cars with Google traffic information and automatic rerouting, and enable drivers to watch YouTube on the cars' entertainment system when the car is parked, or in Level 3 autonomous driving mode.
Level 3 driving, for which Mercedes-Benz has received certification in Germany and Nevada, allows a driver to take their eyes off the wheel on certain roads as long as they can resume control if needed.
Google and Mercedes-Benz also agreed to explore further collaboration with Google Cloud data and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Mercedes-Benz is moving from a patchwork approach of integrating software from a range of suppliers to controlling the core of its software, Chief Executive Ola Kaellenius said on a media call on Wednesday, "That's where the paradigm shift is going on in the auto industry."
Mercedes will control the hardware and software "base layer" but work with partners for various services and content, the luxury carmaker said at a software-oriented capital markets day held in California.
Technology companies are racing to control carmakers' dashboards and automated driving features as software becomes an integral part of car design, but some carmakers are wary of allowing tech giants unfettered access to their cars' valuable data.
The MB.OS operating system is due to launch in the middle of the decade in vehicles on the modular architecture — or MMA — platform, which will underpin its future compact cars, and be rolled out across the product line from then on.
A precursor to the system will be available in the new E-Class from 2023.
Self-driving sensor maker Luminar Technologies, in which Mercedes owns a small stake, said in a separate statement it had struck a multi-billion dollar deal with the carmaker to integrate its sensors across a broad range of its vehicles by mid-decade.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Amazon.com said on Wednesday it had completed its $3.5 billion (nearly Rs. 29,000 crore) takeover of primary care provider One Medical, a day after a US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official announced that the agency would not challenge the deal.
The acquisition, announced last July, gives the online retailer a virtual health offering as well as offices for in-person medical services for the first time.
It reflects Amazon's long-held ambition to greatly simplify how consumers navigate healthcare in the United States, a lofty goal it has yet to realize even as the company has rolled out a virtual pharmacy and other programs.
In a statement, Amazon's Chief Executive Andy Jassy said the deal would help the company improve, speed up and personalize care for patients. "If you fast forward 10 years from now, people are not going to believe how primary care was administered," he said.
Amazon shares rose 2 percent in morning trade.
The company also announced it would discount One Medical membership to $144 (nearly Rs. 11,900) from $199 (nearly Rs. 16,500) for the first year to new customers, irrespective of whether they are subscribers to Amazon's Prime loyalty program. Membership covers access to One Medical's virtual care services, referral and insurance navigation, Amazon said.
The FTC official on Tuesday said the agency would watch for any possible harm to competition caused by the tie-up, along with how consumer data is used. Antitrust agencies can file complaints to undo a merger after it is complete.
The FTC is also probing Amazon's plan to buy iRobot, maker of the autonomous Roomba vacuum, for $1.7 billion (nearly Rs. 14,100).
Amazon said it had no layoff plans for One Medical after closing the deal. Amir Dan Rubin, One Medical's chief executive, will remain with the company and report to Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, the retailer said.
One Medical had 836,000 members at last year's end and 2022 net revenue of $1 billion (nearly Rs. 8,300 crore). It had a physical presence in 27 markets across the United States, from San Diego to Cape Cod, it said in its annual report.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Facebook-parent Meta Platforms is planning a fresh round of job cuts in a reorganisation and downsizing effort that could affect thousands of workers, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Last year, the social media company let go 13 percent of its workforce — more than 11,000 employees — as it grappled with soaring costs and a weak advertising market.
Meta now plans to push some leaders into lower-level roles without direct reports, flattening the layers of management between top boss Mark Zuckerberg and the company's interns, the Washington Post reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Meta declined a Reuters request for comment, but spokesperson Andy Stone in a series of tweets cited several previous statements by Zuckerberg suggesting that more cuts were on the way.
Zuckerberg told investors earlier this month that last year's layoffs were "the beginning of our focus on efficiency and not the end." He said he would work on "flattening our org structure and removing some layers of middle management."
Last year's layoffs were the first in Meta's 18-year history. Other tech companies have cut thousands of jobs, including Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Snap.
Meta aggressively hired during the COVID-19 pandemic to meet a surge in social media usage by stuck-at-home consumers. But business suffered in 2022 as advertisers pulled the plug on spending in the face of rapidly rising interest rates.
Meta, once worth more than $1 trillion (nearly Rs. 82,840,100 crore), is now valued at $446 billion (nearly Rs. 36,94,700 crore). Meta shares were down about 0.5 percent on Wednesday.
The company has said it would also reduce office space, lower discretionary spending and extend a hiring freeze into 2023 to rein in expenses.
More than 1,00,000 layoffs were announced at US companies in January, led by technology companies, according to a report from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
Ranbir Kapoor opened up about his new role of a father and said that he feels like being at home and spending quality time with his daughter Raha.Electronics and IT secretary Alkesh Kumar Sharma on Tuesday said that the production of semiconductors in the country will start very soon.
He was responding to a query around plan of action of the Ministry of Electronics and IT after state-owned company Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) raised the issue of shortage of electronic chip and printed circuit board (PCB or motherboard) hindering domestic production of electric meters.
"India will be one of those top 6-7 partners which will have semiconductor manufacturing. It will happen very soon," Sharma said.
Speaking at a conference on technology transfer by C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram for local manufacturing of smart meters and electric chargers, Sharma said Meity has taken lead in technology development, be it electronic or automotive sector, artificial intelligence.
"We have taken a lead when it comes to the climate change initiative. One big component is the shift towards green technology, and EV is an important mission in that. Demand is increasing. We need 5,000 chargers at present in the top 20 cities of India. ToT for EV will provide immense benefit to the country," he said.
The C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram under the National Mission on Power Electronics Technology (NaMPET) programme has developed a Smart Energy Meter based on Indian standards and is suitable for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).
Sharma said that the development of local smart meters will enhance efficiency in metering, reduce power consumption, people will get correct bills and benefit power distribution companies.
A senior official from EESL said that it is a transient phase from conventional smart meters to digital smart meters.
"As on date we are facing challenges like hardware components, chips and PCBs (printed circuit board) are not available because of which we all have to depend on different countries. Thanks to C-DAC for developing indigenous technology, we will have our own manufacturing. Our own country PCB should be there," the officer said.
The firm behind Binance's stablecoin, Paxos Trust Company, is in discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after the regulator told the company it should have registered the token as a security, according to an internal email from Paxos' chief executive officer.
"We are engaged in constructive discussions with the SEC, and we look forward to continuing that dialogue in private," said Paxos CEO Charles Cascarilla in an email sent on Saturday to Paxos employees which was seen by Reuters.
He added that if necessary, Paxos would defend its position that Binance USD is not a security through litigation.
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment. Paxos declined to comment beyond the email.
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) said in a consumer alert on February 13 that it had ordered Paxos to stop minting Binance USD, the third biggest stablecoin with about $16 billion (nearly Rs. 1,32,570 crore) in circulation.
In turn, Paxos said it would stop issuing new Binance USD from February 21, but would continue to support and redeem the tokens until at least February 2024.
Cascarilla said the company's decision to end its relationship with Binance was separate from the NYDFS directive and the communication it has had with the SEC over Binance USD.
"The market has evolved and the Binance relationship no longer aligns with our current strategic priorities," he said.
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has said it would continue to support Binance USD for the foreseeable future.
Cascarilla said that Paxos was still working with the SEC towards the publication of its application to obtain a clearing agency license, and with the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to get final approval for its national trust bank charter.
The OCC declined to comment.
Stablecoins, digital tokens typically backed by traditional assets designed to hold a steady value, have emerged as one of the key cogs in the crypto economy. They are used for trading between volatile tokens like bitcoin and, in some emerging economies, as a means to protect savings against inflation.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
In a recent deveoplment to Nawazuddin Siddiqui's maid Sapna putting out a video to say that she has been coerced to paint a wrong picture of the actor, here comes Nawaz's wife Aaliya's lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee salvo.
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan's son Jehangir Ali Khan turned two today and the doting parents celebrated the occasion by hosting a pool party for their little munchkin.G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss debt troubles in developing economies, crypto currencies and global inflationary pressures at a meeting later this week, Indian officials said on Tuesday.
The February 22-25 meeting in the Nandi Hills summer retreat near Bengaluru is the first major event of India's G20 presidency. The meeting straddles the February 24 anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war is likely to be high on the agenda.
Unblocking debt restructuring for distressed economies and boosting aid for Ukraine is expected to take prominence at the meeting, where US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is also expected to press China to "quickly deliver" on debt relief for low and middle income countries.
India's presidency of the bloc comes at a time when neighbouring South Asian countries Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan have sought a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the past year due to an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war.
Reuters reported last week that India is drafting a proposal for G20 countries to help debtor nations by asking lenders, including China, the world's largest sovereign creditor, to take a large haircut on loans.
"While thinking about debt concerns faced by countries, it is also important to think about what we can do to forestall them," India's Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran told reporters at a news conference ahead of the G20 meeting.
"So the discussions would be aimed both at handling them before they arise and after they arise as well."
Other items on the agenda include rules on cryptocurrencies, reform of multilateral development banks, international taxation and securing adequate finance to combat climate change, the officials said.
During the event, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plans to hold a virtual meeting with the World Bank, India, China, Saudi Arabia, the United States and other Group of Seven (G7) nations to try to reach understandings on common standards, principles and definitions on how to restructure distressed country debts.
India also supports a push by the IMF, the World Bank and the United States for the so-called Common Framework (CF) — a G20 initiative launched in 2020 to help poor countries delay debt repayments — to be expanded to include middle-income countries.
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For Helen Mirren, playing Israel's only female prime minister, Golda Meir, was not unlike a role as a British monarch.
The application process for UPSC CSE is usually conducted in the month of February/March every year, and the exam is conducted in three stages: Preliminary Exam, Main Exam, and Personality Test (Interview). It is essential to check the eligibility criteria, exam pattern, and other details before applying for the exam.A joint venture of Indian conglomerate Vedanta and electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn has finalised the Dholera Special Investment Region near Ahmedabad city of Gujarat for setting up their semiconductor and display manufacturing facility, a senior state government official said on Monday.
In the biggest ever corporate investment in the history of independent India, a joint venture of Vedanta and Foxconn in September last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to invest Rs. 1,54,000 crore to set up the plant in the state. This will be the first manufacturing facility for semiconductors in India.
At that time, the joint venture company had not disclosed the exact location of the facility.
"After a detailed site analysis in consultation with Gujarat government authorities, the joint venture entity of Vedanta and Foxconn has selected Dholera SIR for setting up their semiconductor and display manufacturing facility. The project is in the advanced stage of evaluation by the government of India," the official said.
The MoU was signed in September last year in Gandhinagar in the presence of Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Both the companies would invest Rs. 1,54,000 crore to set up the facility in Gujarat, which would create one lakh job opportunities, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had said on the occasion. Patel had also said his government will provide cooperation to set up the facility and to make it a success.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a poll rally in Bhavnagar in November ahead of the Assembly polls, had given clear indication that the mega semiconductor plant will come up at Dholera SIR, nearly 100 km from Ahmedabad.
This project is likely to get huge subsidies and incentives, like zero stamp duty on land purchase and subsidised water and electricity, under the 'Gujarat Semiconductor Policy 2022-27' announced by the state government in July last year.
Gujarat became the first state in the country to have such a dedicated policy for the semiconductor and display fabrication sector, a government official earlier said.
Under this policy, eligible projects will be given 75 percent subsidy on the purchase of the first 200 acres of land for setting up manufacturing units. The eligible projects will be provided good quality water at the rate of Rs. 12 per cubic metre for the first five years.
To encourage investors under the policy, the state government has also announced to reimburse 100 percent of stamp duty which investors would pay for the first time for taking land on lease, sale or on land transfer.
Google Chrome is rolling out the Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes, which were announced last year, on Chrome for desktops. The features are now available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chromebooks and are turned on by default. Both Memory and Energy saver mode will boost the desktop's performance, as well provide better battery life while using Google's browser. Memory Saver mode will automatically free up memory from inactive tabs, while the Energy Saver feature will reduce battery consumption by limiting background activity. The modes, if not needed, can be turned off in Chrome Settings.
According to a report by 9To5Google, Google, which first introduced the Memory and Energy Saver modes in December 2022, is now rolling out the features widely to Chrome 110 for Mac, Windows, Linux, as well as Chromebooks. The features prioritise the active tabs and limit the background activities to free memory and reduce power consumption.
As per the details shared on Google's support page, the Memory Saver and Energy Saver modes are enabled by default. Users can disable them by going to Chrome's settings, in the Performances tab on the sidebar. Google explained that Memory saver will help users save space as well as run active tabs smoothly by deactivating inactive tabs.
When a user is not using a tab actively, Memory saver mode will change it into inactive mode. The activity status will change as and when the user will browse the tab again. It will display a 'Tab Active Again' message once the inactive tab is accessed.
On the other hand, the Energy saver mode will reduce the power consumption of device and offer improved battery life. It will do so by reduce the image capture rate and other background tasks. It automatically works when the device is running low on battery and is unplugged. If the device is plugged in to energy source and being charged, the Energy Save mode will be turned off. The mode will be displayed on title bar with a leaf and an electric signal.
Tough capital rules for banks holding cryptoassets must be fast-tracked in the European Union's pending banking law if Europe wants to avoid missing a globally-agreed deadline, the bloc's executive has said.
The global Basel Committee of banking regulators from the world's main financial centres has set a January 2025 deadline for implementing capital requirements for banks' exposures to cryptoassets such as stablecoins and bitcoin.
"For the time being, banks have very low crypto-asset exposures and only a limited involvement in providing crypto-asset-related services," the European Commission said in an informal discussion paper seen by Reuters.
"Banks have expressed interest in trading crypto-assets on behalf of their clients and to provide crypto-assets-related services."
Basel's standards are applied in the EU with a law, and a delay could mean that banks have to wait longer to enter the cryptomarket as separate EU rules for trading cryptoassets come into force in 2024.
To enforce Basel's crypto rules, the EU could either propose a new law, or expand the banking law it is now finalising as called for by the European Parliament.
Parliament and EU states have equal say on the banking law and are due to start negotiating the final text, which could include the provisions on cryptoassets, the paper said.
This would give banks clarity on their requirements for crypto-asset exposures and would ensure that risks stemming from these are adequately addressed, the Commission paper said.
"From an international perspective, it would also allow the EU to fully align itself with the implementation deadline agreed on at Basel level."
A separate draft law would not be forthcoming until the end of 2023 at the earliest, the paper said. Parliament goes to the polls mid-2024, making it harder to approve a new law in time for 2025.
The Commission paper also suggests that the bloc's European Banking Authority (EBA) could coordinate with the EU's securities watchdog ESMA to ensure that cryptoassets are properly categorised.
Basel has set punitive capital charges on unbacked crypto currencies like bitcoin, and less conservative charges on stablecoins, which are backed by an asset or fiat currency.
It could also be useful to mandate EBA, in cooperation with ESMA, to maintain a list of how existing cryptoassets are categorised, the paper said.
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According to the CRPF notice, posted on the official website, the Admit Card for ASI and Head Constable posts recruitment written examination will be released today i.e., Monday, February 20, 2023, on the official website.
After a royal wedding in Rajasthan, Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra hosted a dreamy wedding reception for their Bollywood friends. Now, some new inside pictures from the wedding reception venue have surfaced on the internet and it is sure to make your jaw drop!
State Level Police Recruitment Board, Andhra Pradesh conducted the first level preliminary examination for Police SI posts on 19 February. More than 1.5 lakh candidates appeared in the written test. For the convenience of the candidates, the board has made examination centres in almost all the cities.
The State Level Police Recruitment Board (SLPRB), Andhra Pradesh will hold the recruitment exam for the AP Police SI today, on February 19, 2023. Through this recruitment drive, AP Police aims to fill a total of 6,500 vacancies for the post of Sub Inspector and Constable. Candidates who have registered for the recruitment exam can check important instructions here.
Actor Varun Dhawan is a huge ball of energy. The 35-year-old, who is extremely active on social media often posts photos and videos of his dance, exercise routine and fitness schedule
Shehzada could have been Kartik Aaryan’s followup blockbuster after Bhool Bhulaiya 2. That was not to be. And it isn’t because remakes are not in favour any longer among Hindi-speaking audiences. If that was the case, how do we explain the super-success of Drishyam 2?
The Staff Selection Commission has published the SSC Constable (GD) Answer Key- 2022 on the official website at ssc.nic.in. Candidates who appeared for the Constable (GD) in CAPFs, SSF, Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles and Sepoy in NCB Examination - 2022 can check the provisional answer key here.
Priyanka Chopra treated her Instagram followers with adorable selfies on Sunday morning. Her daughter Malti Marie Chopra Jonas was beautifully captured in these clicks.
Bihar Public Service Commission has published the provisional answer key for the General Studies paper of 68th Prelims Examination-2023 on the official website at bpsc.bih.nic.in. The BPSC 68th Preliminary Exam was conducted on February 12, 2023 across 38 districts in the state.
Palak Tiwari, daughter of Shweta Tiwari, is all set to make her big Bollywood debut with Salman Khan in the upcoming film Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.
Actress Anju Mahendru is the latest actor to join the cast of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much-talked about web series Heeramandi.Binance has pulled back on some potential investments in the United States, its CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Friday, following a Bloomberg report that the major crypto exchange was considering ending relationships with US business partners.
"We pulled back on some potential investments, or bids on bankrupt companies in the US for now. Seek permission first," Zhao wrote in a tweet, without elaborating.
The Bloomberg report, which cited an unnamed person familiar with the matter, said Binance is considering ending business relationships with banks and services firms in the United States, amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of the company.
Binance is also reassessing US venture capital investments and will consider de-listing tokens from any US-based projects, including the major stablecoin USD Coin, the report said.
Word that Binance may drop its US partners comes a day after Reuters reported that the global Binance exchange, which is not licensed to operate in the United States, had secretly moved more than $400 million (nearly Rs. 3,310 crore) from accounts held by its purportedly independent US partner. That money, according to company messages, was shifted to a trading firm managed by Binance CEO Zhao.
"Like every other blockchain company, we are conducting a careful cost-benefit analysis and will pivot our business as necessary to protect our global user base," a Binance spokesperson said. The company did not immediately respond to questions on which US investments Binance had pulled back from.
US regulators have stepped up scrutiny of crypto companies this year. The regulatory action comes after multiple meltdowns in the crypto sector last year that saw a string of major industry players in the United States and beyond collapse.
On Monday, New York's top financial regulator ordered the company behind Binance's stablecoin to stop issuing the token.
Earlier this month Binance said it had suspended all dollar bank transfers after a US banking partner, Signature Bank, dialled back exposure to crypto firms.
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"We are still slightly ageist, especially with women because powerful roles go to the men. Like special scripts are being written for Mr Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, but not for Waheeda (Rehman) ji and not for many other ageing lady actors," Sharmila Tagore said.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday proposed a $175,000 (nearly Rs. 1.45 crore) civil penalty against SpaceX for failing to submit some safety data to the agency prior to an August 2022 launch of Starlink satellites.
The FAA said SpaceX was required to submit the information, known as launch collision analysis trajectory data, directly to the agency at least seven days prior to an attempted launch. The data is used to assess the probability of the launch vehicle colliding with one of the thousands of tracked objects orbiting the Earth. SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA after receiving the penalty notice.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The proposed penalty is SpaceX's latest bout of tension with the FAA as the Elon Musk-owned company's fast-pace launch business tests US launch and rocket reentry regulations.
In 2020, the FAA found SpaceX in violation of launch regulations for allowing a prototype of the company's giant Starship rocket to liftoff without securing approval of key data involving the vehicle's potential blast radius.
In 2021, the FAA revised SpaceX commercial launch requirements to mandate that an FAA safety inspector be present for every flight at its Boca Chica launch facility after the FAA said the company violated license requirements for a Starship launch.
Earlier this month, SpaceX announced its plans to fire up all 33 engines powering its massive Starship launch system ahead of its first orbital launch, a key milestone in the company's efforts to reach the moon and Mars. The announcement comes about two weeks after the company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, filled the rocket and booster with propellant in a “wet dress rehearsal.”
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