Airtel grabs minority stake in cloud networking solutions firm
Bharti Airtel has become a minority shareholder (7 percent stake) in cloud-based networking solutions provider Cnergee Technologies, according to The Hindu. The move is part of the telco’s attempts to ramp up its Network as a Service (NaaS) offering to Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) who are looking to accelerate their shift to cloud-based applications.
Online fraud worth Rs 3,000 crores uncovered by UP Police
UP Police’s Cyber Cell has arrested one person who is allegedly part of a gang that defrauded people in the guise of securing part-time jobs for them and doubling their investment returns, a PTI report revealed. Victims were asked to transfer the amounts through UPI IDs to crypto wallets controlled from China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, the report added.
Nirmala Sitharaman talks up fintech to Silicon Valley investors
Financial technology (fintech) represents a unique opportunity for sustainable and inclusive growth, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while asking Silicon Valley investors to get involved in India’s growth in the financial services and emerging tech sectors. She made these remarks at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the US Chamber of Commerce’s US-India Business Council (USIBC), according to ET.
I&B Minister vows strict action against fake news, propaganda
“Within or outside the country, those trying to spread this kind of propaganda, fake news, myths and fear, strict action will be taken in future, too. We cannot compromise on country’s security,” Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur was quoted as saying by the Indian Express. Thakur’s statement comes just days after the ministry invoked emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021 to block 16 YouTube channels for spreading disinformation. The total tally of social media accounts blocked by the ministry under the IT Rules nears 100.
Lack of regulations is affecting “legit” real-money gaming platforms
In an interview with the Economic Times, Games24x7 CEO Bhavin Pandya reiterated why India’s gaming sector needs a regulatory structure. “As an industry, we’ll have to address two problems. One, under the guise of games of skill, all kinds of betting and gambling operations are happening…and second, gambling operators internationally are coming in and operating in the market just under the radar through surrogate marketing,” Pandya said.
CarDekho now offers paperless car loans to users
The automobile marketplace unicorn has launched a digital lending platform called Rupyy which will offer instant loans to users for purchasing cars (new and used), two-wheelers, etc., with more financial products to come, Inc42 reported. The loans would be sanctioned to borrowers after KYC verification, e-NACH, and signing an online agreement, the report revealed.
Flipkart alters marketplace policy with a focus on sellers
The Walmart-backed e-commerce company said that it would be shortening its payment cycle from 15 days to 7 days and simplifying its onboarding process in a bid to attract new sellers and retain the existing ones. Flipkart has also rolled out a new advertisement policy under which sellers get guaranteed returns on the money they spend to advertise on the platform, the Economic Times said in its report.
Bitcoin adopted as legal tender by the Central African Republic
The Central African Republic’s lawmakers have adopted a bill that makes bitcoin the legal tender for the country alongside the CFA franc, as per the news agency AFP. El Salvador was the first in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender in September last year. But the cryptocurrency’s market volatility, together with technical glitches and patchy implementation, has spelled trouble for Salvadorans. Will the CAR which is reportedly one of the poorest countries in the world, be able to pull off its bitcoin experiment?
Twitter censors tweets about US docuseries on QAnon movement
Gizmodo has reported that shortly after a docuseries exploring the origins of the QAnon movement in the US was released on HBO Max, director Cullen Hoback tried to publicise the series by paying to boost his own tweet. Instead, he received an email from Twitter’s ad department that stopped him from buying promotions on the social media platform as it allegedly violated its “inappropriate content” policy. Interestingly, ‘Q: Into the Storm’ also sheds light on how Twitter was allegedly used to spread the infamous political conspiracy theory.
WhatsApp dangles cashback rewards for P2P payments
The Meta-owned instant messaging platform has launched a cashback rewards system in an attempt to get more Indian users to make peer-to-peer transfers using its payment service, Reuters reported. The company is also planning a cash back rewards pilot program with merchants, the report added.
Also Read:
- Why Is NPCI Limiting WhatsApp’s UPI Userbase?
- Why Did MIB Block 16 YouTube News Channels?
- Delhi Police Arrests 5 Behind Chinese Loan App For Extortion
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