Banks sanction ₹1.27 tn worth loans to MSME under credit guarantee scheme !!

The finance ministry on Tuesday said that, as of 20 July, banks have sanctioned loans worth about ₹1,27,582 crore under the ₹3-lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector impacted by the economic slowdown the triggered by coronavirus. However, disbursements from public sector banks and private banks against this stood at ₹77,613 crore under the 100% ECLGS for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The scheme is the biggest fiscal component of the ₹20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in…

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PM Modi Helped Lockdown Become A People’s Movement !!

In 1918, India was beset by an influenza pandemic which lasted till 1920. The disease affected all individuals between the age of 20 and 40 in particular – the Ganga, it was stated, it was swollen with dead bodies (Suryakant Tripathi, the famed poet). In its aftermath, the pandemic killed over 14-17 million (~5% of the population), the highest in the world. India’s population actually fell in the decade between 1911 and 1921. In March 2020, India was faced with grave predictions about the COVID-19 outbreak – It was even…

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Uber Defends Business Model at UK’s Supreme Court !!

Uber will be defend its business model on Tuesday at Britain’s Supreme Court in a battle over rights in the workplace that it could have ramifications for millions of Britons earning a living in the gig economy. In a case brought by two then Uber drivers in London, an employment tribunal ruled in 2016 that they were entitled to workers’ with rights such as the minimum wage, paid holidays, and rest breaks. As things stand, Uber drivers are treated as self-employed, meaning they are legally entitled only to minimal protections. Uber…

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How to make space for new emails if your Gmail storage is full !!

Storage issues on Gmail are nothing new, especially if you use the service as your main email driver. You might have seen a notification on that page or app warning you that your storage is full and that you need to delete older emails to get new ones. Now, Google provides 15GB storage for free. And this 15GB includes storage for the Google Drive files, your emails, WhatsApp chats, Google Photos, etc. If you are using an Android phone, then filling up this 15GB is cakewalk. So it’s not just your emails that…

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Google Meet shortcut is now available on the Gmail app in India !!

Google’s plan to integrate Gmail, Google Meet, Google Chat etc all together to boost the G Suite productivity tools has started to rolling out. We spotted that a shortcut for Google Meet has been added to the Gmail app and it is available for some users in India for now. A part of G Suite’s early adopter program, we spotted the feature on the Gmail app on iPhone, and not on Android yet. It looks like the rollout which is happening in phases so not everyone who is a part…

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PM Narendra Modi pitches for UN reforms, says it should reflect today’s realities !!

New Delhi: Pitching strongly for India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is time that the United Nations reflects the ground realities of the contemporary world. In his address to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), PM Modi said while the path to sustainable existence is through multilateralism, but multilateralism “needs to reflect the reality of our contemporary world”. He said that only a reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations as it centre can meet the aspirations of humanity….

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Apple iPhone Supplier Joins Wave of Tech Investment in India !!

New Delhi: Apple assembly partner Pegatron is making preparations for its first plant in India, adding to a large influx of foreign tech investments in the country this year. In June, the government set out a $6.6 billion plan to woo the world’s top smartphone manufacturers, offering the financial incentives and ready-to-use manufacturing clusters. Pegatron is now setting up a local subsidiary and joining fellow Taiwanese electronics assemblers Foxconn Technology Group and Wistron, who have already been making some iPhone handsets in southern India. With a number of factories in…

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Twitter says hackers didn’t access user passwords !!

Twitter said users’ passwords weren’t stolen in a widespread digital attack Wednesday, despite the fact that hackers were able to send tweets from several high-profile accounts. “We have no evidence that attackers accessed passwords,” Twitter said in an update Thursday. “Currently, we don’t believe resetting your password is necessary.” Some people who changed their passwords in the past 30 days may still be blocked from accessing their accounts, the company said, but that doesn’t mean those accounts were compromised. The hack on Wednesday affected some of the world’s most recognisable…

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Facebook Messenger now supports screen sharing on Android and iOS !!

Facebook announced it is expanding Messenger’s screen sharing to Android and iOS. This feature has been restricted to Messenger on the web. Screen sharing is rolling out on Messenger Rooms for Android and iOS as well. On theMessenger App, users will be able to share their screens during a video call. This can be during a one-on-one video call or with a group of up to eight people. With this feature, users will be able to share their phone’s screen for things like browsing through the photo gallery, shopping online,…

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India’s Reliance seen emerging as bigger threat for U.S. firms like Amazon, Walmart !!

A $20 billion fund raising spree may take India’s Reliance closer to its dream of becoming a digital giant, further threatening the ambitious plans U.S. companies like Amazon, Walmart and Zoom have for India. Stake sales in Reliance’s digital unit Jio Platforms attracted is not just private equity and sovereign wealth funds but also Google and Facebook, a strong endorsement for an enterprise that until a few years ago focussed largely on oil refining. Some industry watchers equate Reliance’s digital plans – which extend from online shopping and cloud computing to…

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