Category: Breaking News

Covishield vaccine gives 93% protection against COVID-19 and 98% protection from mortality, a new study by the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) during the second wave has shown.   Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul presented findings of the study which was conducted on 15 lakh doctors and frontline workers.   “Protection to the extent of 93 per cent was seen (in people who were administered the Covishield vaccine) and this was during the second wave which was driven by the Delta variant… also 98 per cent mortality reduction was seen,”…

The Government has taken a number of steps to facilitate digital banking, doorstep banking services and digital lending platforms. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.   Key Highlights of the Minister statements:   Initiation of digital lending has been made contactless through PSBloansin59 minutes.com, using triangulation of credit bureau, income-tax and goods and services tax (GST) data, to provide online in principle approval for MSME loans.   Online bill discounting for MSMES has…

Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, today announced the launch of ‘IZOTM Financial Cloud’, a purpose-built community cloud platform, enabling next-gen digital transformation, customised to meet the stringent data privacy and protection compliance and security guidelines defined by India’s regulators for the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector. Developed on Tata Communications IZOTM Private Cloud, this platform aids in building an open banking ecosystem that offers BFSI and FinTechs, the foundation to enable advanced digital services. It also allows international banks to expand their footprint in India by…

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a bill in Lok Sabha to amend the insolvency law and bring a pre-packaged resolution process for stressed MSMEs. Amendments would enable the government to notify the threshold of a default not exceeding ₹1 crore for initiation of pre-packaged resolution process. The Centre has already prescribed a threshold of ₹10 lakh for it.   The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021 — which was introduced by Corporate and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman — will replace the ordinance that was promulgated on April 4 as part of efforts to provide…

The Reserve Bank of India recently said that it has been working towards a phased implementation strategy of central bank digital currency (CBDC).   The move has been welcomed by industry stakeholders, a few statements made by RBI have stoked concerns regarding the future of virtual currencies such as bitcoin, ether and dogecoin.   On July 22, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor T Rabi Sankar said the regulatory body is considering introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a phased manner. A CBDC is a legal tender issued by a central bank…

The fake Windows 11 installers are cashing on the trending keyword to spread adware and related tools, but the trick to stay safe is actually very easy.   Cybercriminals, of course, are exploiting that, slipping malware to users who think they’re downloading Microsoft’s new operating system.   Officially, Windows 11 will become available to the general public in 2021, but loads of people are trying it out early by installing a pre-release build. Currently, it is only available for Windows Insider Program members and developers. But understandably there are a lot of…

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur launched a technology innovation hub to find cyber security solutions for intrusion detection systems, anti-drones technologies, cyber physical systems and block-chain.   The cutting-edge technology in cyber security is increasing and there is a need to protect the digital assets of the common public as well as the industry and government.   Key Highlights:   # After a rigorous application process, 25 research and development principal investigators and 13 start-ups were selected. # Cutting-edge technology in cyber security is in increasing need to protect the digital assets of the…

The work from home culture has changed the way we work now. Earlier, people would travel to the workplace and work for fixed hours. From home, you are ‘logged in’ almost always.   People aren’t realizing what they are losing in terms of health with this new abnormal lifestyle, warns Dr Swati Bhat, Director (South) with Interventional Pain and Spine Centre (IPSC) and Head, IPSC Varsity.   Many workers and employers were forced to embrace the prospect of home-based working when lockdown first started in last year March. It has…

PM Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each for the families of the nine tourists killed in the landslide incident in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. A video of the incident showed huge boulders rolling down a hill and crashing onto a bridge and passing vehicles. The tourists’ vehicle was hit by the boulders. Rs. 50,000 would be given to the injured. Whereas, Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur also announced an ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh for families of those who died in landslide incident. He added…

The new MSME Minister Narayan Rane had recently said in the Lok Sabha that there is “no” plan by the government to implement a rating system for MSMEs. Back in November 2019, Gadkari had announced that the government is in the process of launching ‘Digital data-based credit ratings’ for MSMEs to enable them to get bank loans on the basis of the ratings. For MSMEs with AAA rating, the government was expected to buy 15 percent of the amount raised by them from public markets as equity stakes. The move was intended to encourage MSMEs to raise…