BLOG FROM RAKESH KUMAR JHA

Mumbai, Sep 20: A vast majority or 96 per cent of sellers on social commerce platforms attribute their growth to the growth of  digital payments  in the country as it offers them seamless and efficient  payment experience, said a survey. Social commerce - which is selling products on  social media  platforms like  Facebook , YouTube, among others - has not only enabled growth for domestic small sellers but has also improved the financial health with 66 per cent merchants using social commerce to access a global  consumer base, digital payment solutions provider Paypal said in its survey. Across the Asian markets surveyed, India leads with 84 per cent merchants using mobile-enabled payment methods and Facebook tops the platform with 89 per cent merchants selling on it, the survey revealed. Among all the markets surveyed, India emerged top in terms of usage of YouTube (64 per cent), Twitter (61 per cent), Google+ (50 per cent ), Skype (53 per cent) and ...

Internet search giant Google has already confirmed that is holding an event on October 9, where it is expected to launch its third-generation of smartphones, but now a fresh report has revealed that along with that the company may launch a smart speaker, allegedly being called the Google Home Hub. According to a report by MySmartPrice, the specifications and the full renders of the product have appeared online. As per the report, the device is likely to feature a 7-inch touchscreen screen. The display is described to be a toned-down version of the Google Assistant interface and not a complete smart tablet running on Android operating system. The display is said to show information including time, weather and users' daily tasks. Just like the existing lineup, this speaker is expected to perform voice command-based instructions using Google Assistant. Apart from that, it is said to be able to perform functions related to Google Photos as well courtesy the display. As per th...

SAN FRANCISCO:  Facebook Inc on Wednesday said it would team with two U.S. non-profits to slow the global spread of misinformation that could influence elections, acknowledging that fake news sites were still read by millions. The largest social network, under intense pressure to combat propaganda, said it would work abroad with the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, created in the 1980s and funded by the U.S. government to promote democratic processes. The institutes have informal ties to their namesake U.S. parties. The partnerships, disclosed by company executives on a call with reporters, were among a slew of announcements from Facebook on election integrity ahead of major contests in Brazil next month and the United States in November. As the company prepares a "war room" that will launch for Brazil's vote, Facebook executives said that they had been testing the social network's resilience with simulations of attempted ...

NEW DELHI: Unhappy with the steps taken so far by  WhatsApp , the government plans to reiterate its demand to the messaging app to work out a technical solution to trace the origins of incendiary  messages  spread on its platform. The  Ministry of Electronics and IT  ( MeitY ) is drafting a letter — its third since July to the Facebook-owned platform — asking it to design a technology-led solution to the issue that in the past has led to mob lynching or riots in the country. Since India first raising its concerns, WhatsApp has announced measures such as limiting forwards to five groups at a time from the earlier 250, identifying forwarded messages, and a publicity campaign against fake news. The government says these measures may not be enough. “It’s a reasonable demand from us, and very much doable. The third letter will reiterate that WhatsApp is not meeting all our concerns,” said a top government official, who did not want to be identified. If Wha...

NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion (about Rs. 7,210 crores) ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth's ice sheets. The mission will inform sea level rise forecasts and is "exceptionally important for science," according to Richard Slonaker, ICESat-2 program executive at  NASA . The half-ton satellite should reveal unprecedented detail about the current thickness of ice at the vulnerable polar regions as the climate warms. The weather forecast was 100 percent favourable for the 40-minute launch window opening at 8:46am (1246 GMT) on Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The measurements will be "extremely precise," down to the width of a pencil, said team member Kelly Brunt. It has been nearly a decade since NASA had a tool in orbit to measure ice sheet surface elevation across the globe. The preceding mission, ICESat, launched in 2003 and ended in 2009. From it, s...

The Indian space agency expects to fly its first small rocket with a carrying capacity of about 500-700kg sometime next year, according to a top official. "The developmental work for our small rocket that can carry satellites weighing around 500kg is on. The first flight of the small rocket is expected to happen sometime next year,"  ISRO  Chairman, K. Sivan told IANS. He said the small rocket will be launched from the existing rocketport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. In a recent interaction with IANS in Bengaluru, S. Rakesh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Antrix Corporation said the low-cost small rocket requires a dedicated launch pad with a simple vertical launch mechanism. "Though SSLV will be initially launched from our rocketport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, we want to have a separate spaceport for it later," Rakesh had said. Queried about Rakesh's views on the separate spaceport Sivan said initially the small rocket will be flo...

HIGHLIGHTS The two satellites belonged to Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd The satellites were put into sun synchronous orbit Total lift-off weight of the two satellites was 889kg India on Sunday night successfully put into orbit two British earth observation satellites, NovaSAR and S1-4, in textbook style. Two satellites aboard the Indian rocket - Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) - belonged to Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd (SSTL), UK. The satellites were put into sun-synchronous orbit under commercial arrangement with  Antrix Corp , the commercial arm of the  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) , the Indian space agency. The total lift-off weight of the two satellites was 889kg. NovaSAR weighing 445kg is a S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite intended for forest mapping, land use and ice cover monitoring, flood and disaster monitoring. S1-4 weighing 444kg is a high-resolution Optical Earth Observation Satellite, used f...

HIGHLIGHTS Three satellites to together provide international level bandwidth speed There will be a rocket launch mission every second week: ISRO chief "Much expected moon mission will happen next January" The  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)  will launch three more satellites to provide high-speed bandwidth connectivity to rural areas as part of the government's Digital India programme, an official said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters after the successful launch of two UK satellites by Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) here on Sunday, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said: "The ISRO will launch three more satellites, which together will provide international level bandwidth speed." According to Sivan, the satellites are AGSAT 20 (to be launched next year), GSAT 11, and GSAT 29. GSAT 19 has already been launched. Sivan said that the space agency had planned a series of launches over the next six months. He said tha...

Researchers at the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  are building a device that uses machine learning, and is similar to a Wi-Fi router, to track breathing, heart rate, sleep, gait, just by sitting in one spot. The device can help people living with conditions like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, depression, and pulmonary diseases and enable their physicians to wirelessly monitor their health. According to  MIT professor Dina Katabi, the novel device will be able to replace the array of expensive, bulky, uncomfortable gear we currently need to get clinical data about the body. It transmits a low-power wireless signal throughout a space the size of a one- or two-bedroom apartment (even through walls), and the signal reflects off people's bodies. The device then uses machine learning to analyse those reflected signals and extract physiological data. The device takes advantage of the fact that every time we move - even if it's just a teeny, tiny bit, ...