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   The Union Budget offered a second chance to financially ailing power distribution companies (discoms) with the Finance Minister announcing a Rs 3,05,982 crore outlay for a revamped reform scheme for the discoms. In her Budget speech, finance minister Nirmala Sithraman said a revamped, result-linked scheme for five years would be launched for the discoms. “ The viability of distribution companies is a serious concern. A revamped, reform-based, results-linked, power distribution sector scheme will be launched with an outlay of Rs 3,05,982 crore over five years. The scheme will provide assistance to discoms for infrastructure creation, inclusion of prepaid smart metering, feeder separation, upgradation of systems,” she said. This paper had  reported  that the discoms will get five more years to reform their financials and operations. The FM also noted that consumers should be provided with the choice of power supplier. “The distribution companies across the country a...

  To push growth via infrastructure creation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday hiked the government's capital expenditure for FY 2021-22 by 34.5 per cent to Rs 5.5 lakh crore. The government's planned capital expenditure for the current fiscal has been increased to Rs 4.39 trillion, as against the Budgeted Rs 4.12 trillion. Check Budget live updates here "Sharp increase in capital budget in BE 2020-21. We have provided for Rs 4.12 trillion for (capital) expenditure. It was our effort that in spite of resource crunch we should spend more on capital expenditure and we are likely to end this year at around Rs 4.39 trillion which we have provided in RE (revised estimate) of 2020-21," Sitharaman said in her 2021-22 Budget speech. For the next fiscal, the minister proposed sharp increase in capital expenditure and provided Rs 5.54 trillion. This is 34.5 per cent higher than Budget estimate of Rs 4.12 trillion in 2020-21. Read ...

   In a significant change amid digitalisation, Finance Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman  this year unveiled a 'Made in India' tablet replacing the traditional briefcase before presenting  Budget  2021. With the move aimed at a paperless Budget, now 'bahi khata' (a ledger wrapped in a red cloth) has been completely removed from this year -- a move to reinforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Digital India' mission. In 1947, India's first Finance Minister R. K. Shanmukham Chetty carried a leather portfolio to present the first  Budget. In January, the Central government also launched 'Union  Budget  Mobile App' on the occasion of the Halwa ceremony to enable MPs and people to access Budget documents digitally. It was launched as no budget papers will be printed this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sitharaman, who will present the Budget for the third time, is expected to lift and give an impetus to the Indian economy that has ...

   The  Samsung  Galaxy S21 Ultra is a premium smartphone that impresses on all fronts, including the hard-to-get-right areas like design, imaging and value-added features. The top-end model in the Galaxy S21-series, it shows the South Korean electronics maker’s innovation competence with regard to technology. Among many other notable upgrades, the smartphone has got a complete design makeover which looks fascinating and novel. Besides, it is the first smartphone in the Galaxy S-series to support the otherwise Galaxy Note-series-exclusive Samsung’s digital stylus (SPen – sold separately). Priced Rs 1,05,999 onwards, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is quite unique in its own right if you compare it with the other Galaxy S-series  smartphones  that came before it. But is it worth your money? Let’s find out: Galaxy S21 Ultra: Design The  Samsung  Galaxy S21 Ultra looks nothing like any other smartphone, and for a good reason. It’s big, heavy and bulky, but the ...

   Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  on Friday said Finance Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman  had to give four-five mini-budgets in the form of packages in 2020 and expressed confidence that the upcoming budget would also be seen as part of that series. In his remarks to the media before the commencement of Parliament's Budget Session, Modi said the first session of this decade commences on Friday and emphasised that this decade is very important for the bright future of India. Keeping in mind this decade, there should be discussions and presentation of different views this session, he said. The prime minister expressed confidence that MPs will not shy away from contributing to make full use of Parliament for fulfilling people's aspirations. "Probably for the first time in India's history, the finance minister had to give four-five mini budgets in 2020 in the form of different packages," he said. "Therefore, I am confident that this budget will also be seen as par...

   India’s federal budget Monday will be a much tougher balancing act than New Delhi’s regular annual fiscal trapeze. For one thing, the pandemic has upset business-as-usual calculations of how much to spend, on what, and how to finance it. For another, an impatience to make up for lost time has to be weighed against a shrinking of policy space in emerging markets: A reprise of the 2013 global taper tantrum could compound the country’s considerable domestic challenges. On the first question — how much to spend — Finance Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman  must simply do a lot more. Even with some loosening of the purse strings in the final months of the fiscal year that will end in March, Moody’s Investors Service affiliate ICRA Ltd. expects annual government expenditure to have been broadly unchanged from the Rs 30 trillion ($415 billion) estimated before the outbreak. The answer to what to spend on is being dictated by the fault lines that opened after India imposed one ...

   Exhibiting its 5G prowess,  Bharti Airtel  on Thursday announced that it had successfully conducted a live demonstration of 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city. The company said the full impact of the 5G experience would be available to Airtel customers when adequate spectrum is available and government approvals received. Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer of Bharti Airtel, said, “Every one of our investments is future proofed as this game-changing test in Hyderabad proves. With Airtel being the first operator to demonstrate this capability, we have shown again that we have always been the first in India to pioneer new technologies in our quest for empowering Indians everywhere.” The demonstration in Hyderabad was conducted over an existing liberalised spectrum in the 1800 megahertz (MHz) band. ALSO READ:  Bharti Airtel tops Nov user additions, increases base to 335 mn: Trai data Vittal said India has the potential...

   Airtel  is now a 5G-ready network and the telecom operator is waiting for adequate spectrum allocation to rollout  5G  services in the country, said Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO,  Bharti  Airtel  on Thursday. Recently, the company demonstrated live  5G  over a commercial network in Hyderabad city and said that its network is  5G  ready.  Airtel  did this over its existing liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz band through the Non Stand Alone  network technology. Using the dynamic spectrum sharing, Airtel operated 5G and 4G concurrently within the same spectrum block. “I am very proud of our engineers who have worked tirelessly to showcase this incredible capability in Tech City, Hyderabad today. Every one of our investments is future proofed as this game changing test in Hyderabad proves. With Airtel being the first operator to demonstrate this capability, we have shown again that we have always been the first in...

   Chinese social media firm Bytedance, which owns  Tiktok  and Helo apps, has announced the closure of its India business following continued restrictions on its services in the country. Tiktok's global interim head Vanessa Pappas and vice president for global business solutions Blake Chandlee in a joint email to employees have communicated the decision of the company that it is reducing team size and the decision will impact all employees in India. The executives expressed uncertainty on the company's comeback to India but expressed hope to do so in times to come. "While we don't know when we will make a comeback in India, we are confident in our resilience, and desire to do so in times to come," the email said. According to a source at Bytedance, the company held a town hall on Wednesday where it communicated about the closure of India business. When contacted  Tiktok  spokesperson said the company has worked steadfastly to comply with the government of ...

   South Korean tech giant  Samsung  is reportedly working on a new chipset in the first half of this year with an aim to beat the performance of the  Apple  A14 Bionic. Samsung  launched its Exynos 2100 chipset with the latest Galaxy S21 series smartphones. Though the  Samsung  Exynos 2100 is a big improvement over the company's Exynos 990, the chipset still lags behind when compared to the  Apple  A14 Bionic chipset that powers the  Apple  iPhone 12 lineup, reports GizmoChina. While the Exynos 2100 matches the Snapdragon 888 in pure CPU-only tests, an earlier speed test shows that performance drops when the GPU is stressed. That's probably why Samsung seeks AMD's expertise to optimize the next chipset's performance and efficiency. The Samsung Exynos chip will reportedly have the Cortex X1 Prime core, clocked at 2.9GHz, alongside Cortex A78 cores, which will be clocked at 2.8GHz and four small A55 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz...

   By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - China's  ByteDance  has decided to reduce the size of its India team and is unsure when the company will make a comeback in India, it said in an internal memo to employees on Wednesday. India has decided to retain its ban on video app  TikTok  and 58 other Chinese apps after reviewing responses from the companies on issues such as compliance and privacy, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The apps were banned amid rising tensions between India and China following a border clash between the two nations last year. "We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived ... we find that has not been the case,"  ByteDance  wrote in an internal memo to staff, seen by Reuters. "We simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational ... we don't know when we will make a comeback in India" Budget News:    unionbudget2021-2022 Read Co...

   Sony  is reportedly planning to launch a member of the premium 'Compact' line of phones in 2021 with a 5.5-inch Xperia model to compete with the  iPhone  12 mini. The new device is expected to feature dimensions of 140 x 68.9 x 8.9 mm (5.5 x 2.71 x 0.35 inches), making it just a bit bigger than the  iPhone  12 mini (which measures 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.4 mm or 5.18 x 2.53 x 0.29 inches), reports The Verge. The new Xperia Compact is also said to offer an 8MP selfie camera in a teardrop notch, a dual-camera setup with a 13MP main camera on the back. A fingerprint sensor is embedded in the power button - similar to Touch ID on the latest iPad Air - and a 3.5mm mini-jack sits in the top of the phone for those who prefer wired headphones. It may not be a flagship, but rather an entry-level device powered by Snapdragon 480 chipset. The new device is expected to succeed the Xperia XZ2 Compact that was launched during MWC 2018. Back then, the Xperia Z Compact se...

   Amazon has rolled out a new feature called "hunches" that allows  Alexa  to proactively complete tasks around the house, such as turning off lights, based on your habits and frequent requests. If the new proactive hunches are enabled, though,  Alexa  will skip asking for permission for a task and just do it, The Verge reported on Monday evening. Alexa  has been able to sense these habits and ask about them since 2018 -- the company calls them acehunches" -- but before this update, Alexa would ask permission before acting on something. While proactive hunches seem like they could make Alexa a lot more useful, having granular controls over what Alexa can automatically act on will be important, the report said. Along with new Alexa abilities, Amazon is also rolling out its Guard Plus security subscription service. The service can alert you if Alexa picks up on certain types of sounds in your home and offers access to human agents who can call emergency...

   On the occasion of Republic Day,  Akshay Kumar  launched the mobile action game 'Fearless and United Guards (FAU-G). Kumar took to Twitter and shared a short trailer of the game to announce its launch. "Face the enemy. Fight for your country. Protect Our Flag. India's most anticipated action game, Fearless and United Guards: FAU-G takes you to the frontlines and beyond! Start your mission today," he tweeted along with the trailer. The initial episode of the game is based in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh and the rest of the episodes will be set in other Indian battlegrounds. The game is free to download and play while the users will have to pay for several premium features like skins of their avatars. 'FAU-G' was announced earlier in September last year when the Government of India banned the game ' PUBG. Budget News:     unionbudget2021-2022 Read Complete Article

   The next killer smartphone app has arrived — and it offers the potential to transform how we communicate, share knowledge and even make new friends. I am talking about voice-and-audio-based social networking startup Clubhouse. Its platform enables users to drop in and out of ephemeral chat rooms and take part in a range of gatherings, from small "water-cooler" type conversations to larger discussions featuring expert panels, often attended by thousands of listeners. Since its launch last March, Clubhouse has increasingly become a cultural phenomenon, attracting politicians, celebrities and experts from all walks of life. With its success and prominent backing, it may now be poised to upend the entire  social media  space. Clubhouse's latest figures reveal how quickly it is growing. During a weekly town hall event on Sunday, co-founder Paul Davison said the app's weekly active user base had doubled to 2 million over the last couple of weeks. He also announced the s...

   OnePlus  on Monday launched a limited edition of its Buds Z in collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist and designer Steven Harrington, for Rs 3,699 in India. "For our users who are looking for the right combination of great sound quality and aesthetic design, the  OnePlus  Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition will prove to be a valuable addition,'' said Pete Lau, Founder, and CEO,  OnePlus  in a statement. According to the company, the new OnePlus Buds Z Steven Harrington Edition features the artist's signature stylized graffiti along with artistic caricatures and designs. The limited-edition earphones have a two-tone purple and mint colour combo with a matching charging case. Equipped with a dynamic 3D stereo powered by Dolby Atmos, these earphones construct a thoroughly immersive soundstage. On a full charge, these limited-edition earphones provide an impressive 20 hours of playback time, while a quick 10-minute top-up provides three hours of vibr...

   Apple  is adding a new 'Time to Walk' feature for its Fitness+ subscribers, which is an audio experience in the Workout app where guests will share inspiring stories while walking. According to MacRumors,  Apple  Fitness+ subscribers will be able to open the Workout app on an  Apple  Watch, select 'Time to Walk' and choose from one of the audio stories to listen to during their walk. The feature is likely to be extended to wheelchair users too. According to the report, the settings for 'Time to Walk' started showing up weeks ago in earlier betas of watchOS 7.3 and iOS 14.4, the stories are not yet accessible. Fitness+ is designed to work with the Apple Watch, providing workouts that can be done on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, with the  Apple Watch  tracking  fitness  progress. To use Fitness+, one must have an iPhone 6s or later updated to iOS 14.3 and an  Apple Watch  Series 3 or later updated to watchOS 7.2. It also ...

   Serial entrepreneur Kunal Shah is backing the new venture of Carl Pei, the Swedish tech entrepreneur and co-founder of smartphone company  OnePlus.  Pei has received seed investment from Shah, who has added the London based venture into his portfolio. Pei is working on a stealth project that he plans to unveil this month. “Kunal (Shah) is one of the sharpest people I know. I am proud and glad to have him as a friend, advisor and now also an investor,” said Carl Pei. “We are in advanced stages of our vision and are excited to introduce it to the world soon.” Pei had already raised $7 million in a seed financing round for his new venture from friends and private investors including Tony Fadell (Principal at Future Shape and inventor of the iPod), Casey Neistat (YouTuber), Kevin Lin (co-founder of Twitch). The other investors include Steve Huffman (CEO of Reddit), Liam Casey (founder and CEO, PCH), Paddy Cosgrave (founder of Web Summit) and Josh Buckley (CEO of Produ...

   The global refurbished  smartphone market  fell 9 per cent (on-year) in 2020 owing to Covid-19 lockdowns and related economic deterrents, according to a new report. The market saw a dramatic 16 per cent decline in the first half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2019, said the latest Counterpoint Research's 'Refurbished  Smartphone Market  Update'. "It rebounded slightly in the second half of 2020 due to increases in new device sales and a very strong Apple iPhone launch cycle which helped the supply of devices in the secondary market," said the report. All major countries and regions showed a decline for the full year of 2020, mainly due to Covid-19. "The pandemic caused a significant number of smartphone owners to avoid or delay new purchases. Key secondary markets India and Latin America saw 20per cent and 24 per cent declines, respectively, during the first half of 2020 due to strict and extended lockdowns," said senior Research Analyst Glen C...

    Google  has signed a deal with a group of French  publishers  paving the way for the internet giant to make digital copyright payments for online news content. After months of talks,  Google  France  and the Alliance de la Presse d'Information Generale said Thursday that they agreed to set up a framework under which the U.S. company will negotiate individual licensing deals with  publishers. Google  has already negotiated a few individual payment deals with some French news  publishers  such as national daily paper Le Monde and weekly magazine l'Obs. The company was forced to negotiate with publishers and news agencies for reusing their material online under a neighboring rights" law that took effect after  France  became the first country to adopt new European Union copyright rules. Google had initially balked at paying for news, saying new companies benefited from the millions of readers it sends to their websit...

   Audio equipment maker  JBL  by HARMAN, owned by tech major Samsung, on Thursday launched its new  JBL  C115 true wireless  earbuds  in India for Rs 4,999. According to the company, the  earbuds  come with access to voice assistance, autonomous connectivity and jumbo battery life making it the ultimate go-to headphones. "Over its 75-year history,  JBL  has delivered the best sound experiences to different generations of audio enthusiasts cutting across demography and pocket size. Celebrating our milestone 75 year anniversary, we are excited to bring the new JBL C115 TWS to our aspiring youth who are discerning in their sound choices, without losing sight of the price tag," said Vikram Kher, Vice-President, Lifestyle Audio, HARMAN India said in a statement. It comes with ergonomic fit  earbuds  for comfort, autonomous connectivity and access to the phone's voice assistants like Google Echo or Alexa directly from the ...

   A day after India asked it to withdraw changes to its privacy policy,  WhatsApp  on Wednesday said the proposed change does not expand its ability to share user data with  Facebook  and that it is open to answering questions on the issue. The Indian government on Tuesday posed 14 questions to  WhatsApp  on its "invasive" changes in Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. "We wish to reinforce that this update does not expand our ability to share data with  Facebook.  Our aim is to provide transparency and new options available to engage with businesses so they can serve their customers and grow," a  WhatsApp  spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that WhatsApp will always protect personal messages with end-to-end encryption, so that neither WhatsApp nor  Facebook  can see them. "We are working to address misinformation and remain available to answer any questions," the spokesperson further stated. In a strongly wo...

   Vivo  on Wednesday expanded its youthful Y series with the launch of  Vivo  Y31 in India at Rs 16,490 for 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM variant. The smartphone is available for purchase in two attractive colour options- racing black and ocean blue on  Vivo  India E-store, Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm, as well as across all partner retail stores. "Like all vivo devices, the Y31 follows Vivo's commitment to 'Make in India' and is manufactured at Vivo's Greater Noida facility," the company said in a statement. The smartphone features 48MP AI Triple Rear Camera setup with photo processing algorithms. The device also has a 2MP Bokeh camera and a Super Night Mode for the rear camera which uses the multi-frame noise reduction algorithm to reduce the noise in your photos. The smartphone also uses Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) technology in the rear camera which crops and aligns individual frames, which is further supported by an algorithm that automatically correct...