VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

Soon WhatsApp can stop working for iPhone's older iOS versions:  According to a report,   WhatsApp   will soon   stop working on iPhones   which are running on iOS 9. The Facebook-owned WhatApp has reportedly decided to drop support of Apple iPhones running on iOS 9. (iOS 14 is the latest version currently available for iPhones)   A report by WABetaInfo, a website that tracks changes and features on WhatsApp, said that the WhatsApp version 2.21.50 beta no longer supports  iPhones running iOS 9 . Thus only those iPhone users who are using iOS 10 or above will be able to use WhatsApp.   Though the messaging app has not updated the same information and even its FAQ page does not mention if there is a change in its supported operating systems. The WhatsApp tracking website also says that the page is yet to be updated.... Read More

European Banking Authority under the trap of cyber-attack:  A sophisticated attack on   Microsoft’s Exchange Server   are now being used in widespread attacks against thousands of organisations with potentially tens of thousands of organisations affected.   The report even coming from the  European Banking Authority (EBA)  has taken all email systems offline after being hit by a cyber-attack targeting their Microsoft Exchange Servers. The attack, which Microsoft has said started with a Chinese government-backed hacking group, has so far claimed at least 60,000 known victims globally, according a former senior U.S. official with knowledge of the investigation.   The widely used business email software is facing a global cybersecurity crisis, as hackers race to infect as many victims as possible before companies can secure their computer systems.   There are multiple hacking groups across the world exploiting vulnerabilities to backdoor unpatched se...

Facebook eradicates 915 malicious accounts and 606 fake accounts from Instagram:  February, the social media giant –   Facebook   removed 915 malicious accounts from its main app and 606 fake accounts from   Instagram . The accounts were involved in misleading users.   The  social media platform  has also removed 86 Pages and 21 Groups last month that are involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a foreign or government actor and domestic bad actors.   The company said that it has removed 446 Facebook accounts, 4 Pages, 3 Groups and 2 Instagram accounts that originated in Iran and targeted primarily Iraq, and to a lesser extent Israel, the UK, and Afghanistan.   "Our investigation found links to individuals in Tehran. We found this network after reviewing public reporting about a handful of its accounts focused on Israel. Our internal investigation uncovered the broader network," the company said in a statement.   530 In...

Biden admin to set up task force for Microsoft hack linked to China:  According to sources,   President Joe Biden`s administration   is expected to put together a task force to deal with major cyber intrusions that   Microsoft   said this week were linked to China as relations between the two -- Washington and Beijing -- continues to spiral downwards. It has been reported that there are an estimated 30,000 affected customers in the US and 250,000 globally, though those numbers are expected to increase.   A White House official said, "We are undertaking a whole of government response to assess and address the impact. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive to agencies and we`re now working with our partners and looking closely at the next steps we need to take. This is an active threat still developing and we urge network operators to take it very seriously. Unified Coordination Group" (UCG), is a multi-agenc...

Facebook celebrates the possibilities of connections in the new 'More Together' campaign:  Facebook  today launched a new phase of its consumer marketing campaign in India - ‘ More Together ’. This phase marks the first anniversary of Facebook’s consumer marketing journey in the country, a key strategic focus area for the company, and continues to celebrate the power of connections and communities, and how people can do more together than alone.   Speaking about the campaign,  Avinash Pant, Director - Marketing, Facebook India,   said, “Facebook is deeply entrenched in the cultural fabric of India. Everyday we see different ways in which people across the country come together on our platform to create meaningful connections, fuel discovery, and help and support one another. This ability to connect and share with the world can lead to endless possibilities, and we feel humbled with the stories where our family of apps have provided this value to the people. Our ...

Shruti Haasan poses with boyfriend Santanu Hazarika:  Bollywood diva Shruti Haasan   has found love again and dating with   an art illustrator and rapper Santanu Hazarika   from Guwahati. The latest picture of the duo is going viral on the online, who arrived in Chennai on Feb 26. Where they both can be seen posing for a mirror selfie.   On Shruti Haasan's 35th birthday, the young doodle artist took to social media and shared a lovely dovely picture of them from the actress' birthday bash. Shruti shared a beautiful picture of her with her boyfriend on Instagram stories. Both of them are seen wearing face masks with quirky print. The duo posed for the camera hugging each other   He captioned it, "Happy birthday princess," while spilling the beans about their relationship. Recently, the actress was snapped as she was walking hand in hand with him as they were heading for a pre-birthday lunch date in Mumbai. A few days after that, they both were also spotted t...

Govt rolls out a total of 18 services online to stay away from RTO visits:  The   Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH)   has released a notification stating that contactless services via   Aadhar authentication   have been launched for citizens. People would no longer need to visit the regional transport offices (RTOs) for availing services like renewal of driver’s license, vehicle registration, obtaining a learners’ permit etc.   The ministry said the new system will “simplify the government delivery processes and bring in transparency and efficiency”, adding that “it would also enable applicants to get their work done directly in a seamless manner”. A total of 18 services will be covered.... Read More

Infosys wins $500 mn deal from Google:  After a $500 million deal from the   Global search giant Google   is really its remarkable and once again brought the limelight back on Infosys, strengthening the belief that large deal momentum continues to be strong for this Indian IT bellwether, which could translate into a windfall for its shareholders. The deal from Google to provide customer experience and engineering support for its product. In FY2021, Infosys has bagged deals worth $12 billion as against $9 billion in FY20. Out of the deals signed in the nine months to FY21, net new large deals stood at $8 billion.   Varun Ahuja and Krati Sankhlecha, research analysts at Credit Suisse, note that the deal with Google has strengthened the company's positioning in the technology vertical which has been one of the fastest-growing segments for the company over the past 12-24 months.   We believe the pace of deal signings would remain strong in the coming quarters, as it...

Global PC market to grow 8% in 2021 despite worsening component shortages:  The global PC market   (including desktops, notebooks and tablets) will grow 8% in 2021, on top of what was a blockbuster year for the industry in 2020. Total shipments in 2021 are expected to hit 496.8 million units, with all categories enjoying growth. Backlogs on device orders from last year are being boosted by continued demand from workers and students still affected by COVID-19 restrictions. But supply issues will persist throughout this year and be the main restriction on higher growth levels. Growth in 2021 is expected to be frontloaded in the first half of the year, with shipments up 54% in Q1 and 7% in Q2. Chromebooks and tablets will be bright spots for the industry in 2021, achieving growth of 30% and 8% respectively.     “Following the boom in 2020, the PC industry is set to grow for years to come,” said   Canalys Research Director Rushabh Doshi . “Order backlogs and ongoing...

Government emphasizes on integration of road, rail and waterways to achieve One nation and One market:  Minister of Commerce and Industry, Railways and Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution Piyush Goyal   today emphasized on integration of road, rail and waterways to bring down the cost of transportation logistics and ensure success in achieving One nation, One market. Speaking at the Maritime India Summit 2021, he said that we are working on multi-modal logistics solutions to bring down the cost of transportation & increase supply chain efficiency.   Appealing to all stakeholders to utilize this opportunity to transform from being 'service provider' to 'knowledge provider', the Minister said that if we re-invent with technology driven solutions like robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, our sector will be SAFE: Sustainable, Agile, Futuristic, and Efficient. “It's time that we plan our port sector in such a man...

India attracts Tesla with offer of cheaper production costs than China :  According to   Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari , India is ready to offer incentives to ensure Tesla Inc's cost of production would be less than in China if the carmaker commits to making its electric vehicles in the south Asian country.   Gadkari's pitch comes weeks after billionaire  Elon Musk's Tesla  registered a company in India in a step towards entering the country, possibly as soon as mid-2021. Sources familiar with the matter have said Tesla plans to start by importing and selling its Model 3 electric sedan in India.   Gadkari said in an interview, "Rather than assembling (the cars) in India they should make the entire product in the country by hiring local vendors. Then we can give higher concessions. The government will make sure the production cost for Tesla will be the lowest when compared with the world, even China, when they start manufacturing their cars in India. We w...

IBM Launches Cloud Satellite:  IBM Cloud® Satellite   helps you deploy and run applications consistently across all on-premises, edge computing and public cloud environments from any cloud vendor. It standardizes a core set of Kubernetes, data, AI and security services to be centrally managed as a service by IBM Cloud, with full visibility across all environments through a single pane of glass.   The result is greater developer productivity and development velocity. Lumen Technologies partners with IBM to integrate IBM Cloud Satellite with its edge platform enabling clients to harness hybrid cloud services and build innovative solutions at the edge. It will integrate IBM Cloud Satellite with its edge platform enabling clients from 180,000 connected enterprise locations to harness hybrid cloud services and build innovative solutions at the edge.   With the Lumen platform and  IBM Cloud Satellite , customers can now deploy data-intensive applications across highly...

On 1st day of spectrum auction sees bids worth ₹77,146 crore :  The government on Monday received bids worth ₹77,146 crore on the first day of the spectrum auction for telecom airwaves, exceeding its own pre-bid estimates of about ₹45,000 crore. Informed by   Ravi Shankar Prasad , Minister of communications , electronics and information technology .   The  department of telecommunications (DoT)  aims to raise at least ₹3.92 trillion in the auction of 2,308.8MHz of spectrum.  Airtel , Vi and Jio were the bidders this year, against seven bidders during the last auction in 2016. Around 60% of five bands out of seven on auction has been sold, Prasad said.   The department of telecommunications (DoT) aims to raise at least ₹3.92 trillion in the auction of 2,308.8MHz of spectrum. The auction will continue on Tuesday, the minister said.   The minister said bids were received for radio airwaves in the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz and 2,300MHz bands....

Russia accuses Twitter for violating laws for failing to delete content :  Russia accused   Twitter   on Monday of violating   Russian law , saying the social media platform had not complied with some of its requests to delete banned content.   The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said Twitter had failed to delete over 2,862 posts containing material linked to suicide, pornography and drugs since 2017. It could be fined heavily if found guilty of repeatedly failing to delete content deemed illegal under Russian law, it said.   The platform is used extensively by Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his allies to criticize the authorities and announce new protests. Twitter, which declined to comment, has been fined in the past for breaching Russia’s data laws, but the penalties have been relatively small. A Moscow court last year fined Twitter 4 million roubles ($54,000) for failing to comply with Russian data law after the platform refused to locate its server holding...

Donald Trump accused big tech of censorship and pledged to break up monopolies:  Former US President Donald Trump , in his first public speech at the   Conservative Political Action Conference   said, "The time has come to break up Big Tech monopolies and restore fair competition."   Trump has frequently accused tech companies of censorship over his removal from both Facebook and Twitter for violating their policies. However, the section 230 gives websites the ability to regulate the content that appears on their platforms. It also protects sites from being legally liable for content shared by users.   Trump spoke on the final day of CPAC in Orlando, Florida. It was his first public speech since leaving the White House last month. He further called on US states to punish companies like Twitter, Google and Facebook with sanctions "whenever they silence conservative voices". Twitter permanently banned Trump after the attack at the US Capitol.... Read More

Metroman E Sreedharan formally joins BJP:  India’s ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan   joined the   Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)   in   Kerala , just weeks ahead of the state Assembly elections.   “A great day for Kerala which looks forward to politics based on development agenda. Welcome to BJP Metro Man,” the party’s Kerala handle tweeted. Sreedharan, last week had confirmed the news about his entry into BJP. On asking about his decision he said that he had been living in Kerala for the last ten years and tried his best to bring in development in the state but had met with political resistance.   “I have been living in Kerala for 10 years, but I have noticed that the LDF and UDF are only interested in their political growth, not in the state’s growth. In this scenario, it is only the BJP that can do something for the state,” he had said. The 88-year-old technocrat said that his main aim is to bring BJP to power in Kerala and once that happens he will focus mai...