Google scrapped Cloud initiative in China, other markets !!

Google abandoned plans to offer a major new cloud service in China and other politically sensitive countries due in part to concerns over geopolitical tensions and the pandemic, according to two employees familiar with the matter, revealing the challenges for U.S. tech giants to secure business in those markets. In May, the search giant shut down in the initiative, known as “Isolated Region” and which sought to address nations’ desires to control data within their borders, the employees said. The action was considered a “massive strategy shift,” according to one…

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok: Army asks personnel to remove 89 apps from phones by July 15 !!

New Delhi: Amid rising tensions with China and concerns over data privacy, the Indian Army on Wednesday asked its personnel to delete 89 apps from their phones. Issuing an order, the Army asked personnel to delete popular social media apps such as Facebook, Truecaller, Instagram & games like PUBG from their mobile phones. The latest instruction comes as a bid to plug leakage of sensitive national security information from phones of armed forces personnel. The personnel have also been asked to delete dating apps such as Tinder and Hinge and…

This new Google Maps feature could be a big lifesaver !!

Google is getting more useful for millions of users around the globe. The app is not spotted showing traffic lights By Droid Life website. While for some people, this feature is seen in the regular view, some are seeing this in the navigation mode. These are usually seen on the crossroads however, the icons are a bit too tiny to spot, specially during navigation when most of us have our eyes on the road and check the map only for a quick glimpse on where to turn next. Also mentioned…

Aarogya Setu will now let you delete your account !!

New Delhi: Aday after releasing a new feature, Aarogya Setu app has now released a new update for its users. The app on Monday introduced a new feature that will also the users to delete their account from the app and erase all the other data stored in the app. Apart from this, another feature that has been rolled out for users would allow them to give health data access to third-party apps. The new updates are available for both Android and iOS users. The users will now see a…

Mass layoffs brewing in IT sector amid uncertainties !!

BENGALURU : The information technology (IT) industry is laying off thousands of employees across the globe, including in India, on grounds of non-performance, lack of projects and rightsizing the workforce as pressure mounts on firms because of an uncertain business environment. Global IT companies have gradually reduced their headcount in last two years as they embark on automation and related technologies. The covid-19 crisis may have accelerated all these process as newer challenges have emerged for these firms. International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. is laying off about 2,000 employees globally as the company…

Working to raise health spending to 2.1% of GDP, says finance panel and all the latest news !!

As India battles the Covid-19  pandemic, fifteenth finance commission chairman NK Singh on Tuesday said the commission was working towards a financing model to raise federal public-health spending to about 2.1% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) over the next five years. The NK Singh-led finance commission for the first time will devote an entire chapter on public health financing when it submits its final report, which is under preparation , he said. On Tuesday, Singh led a brainstorming session on the country’s health sector and the current Covid-19 pandemic…

Gadkari seeks forest clearance for infra projects, nudges ministries !!

New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the ‘group on infrastructure’ with railway minister Piyush Goyal and environment minister Prakash Javadekar seeking to expedite clearances for several pending highway and infrastructure projects. The road transport and highways minister raised the issue of outstanding forest clearance for 187 highway projects. It was also noted that many of the projects had not yet applied for Stage II forest clearance. Environment minister Javadekar was asked to direct the forest officers posted in states to follow and implement the…

Startups wake up to a post-China world !!

BENGALURU : Last week, after India abruptly announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, TikTok’s CEO Kevin Mayer called for a virtual town hall with his India employees. Over the past two years, ByteDance, which owns TikTok and Helo (also included in the list of the banned apps), had established a large presence in India. Despite the border conflict between India and China that led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers and the anti-China rhetoric that had been bubbling up here as the pandemic spread, the Beijing-headquartered Byte Dance had no inkling…

Google finally pulls the plug on Google Plus, replaces it with Google Currents !!

Google is finally doing away with Google Plus. In case you did not know, Google Plus is the company’s failed social network which once aimed to compete with the likes of Facebook. Google has already shut the end-user version of Google Plus. And now it is pulling the plug on the enterprise version as well. Google is replacing Google Plus with Google Currents. The iOS & Android apps of the social networking platform have already been re branded. Currents is available to everyone starting today.  Aimed at enterprise users, Google Currents…

Kashmiri student develops FileShare Tool, an Indian alternative to popular Chinese app SHAREit !!

The ban of Chinese apps, coupled with the demand for ‘Made in India’ apps, has fueled the local talent to develop new alternatives. One such made in India app is the FileShare Tool which has been developed by a boy from Kashmir. FileShare Tool has been launched as an alternative to SHAREit, a popular Chinese app that was recently banned by the Indian government. FileShare Tool, as the name suggests, is an app for sharing files between all these devices. The application is available for download on the Google Play Store and has an…