Hello All, Technology news for this week are as follows
Foreign investment Raised for Defense by India
On Saturday, India announced that global companies can now invest up to 74% up from 49% in the country’s defense manufacturing units without requiring any government approval.
Hope is that, the new policy will attract foreign companies with high-end technologies to set up their manufacturing bases in India in collaboration with Indian companies. This announcement came as part of reforms Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is implementing to revive India’s economy, which has been shattered by the coronavirus pandemic.
India introduced up to 49% foreign direct investment in defense production in 2016 to attract modern technology in the country which has attracted over 18.34 billion rupees ($244 million) until December last year, according to a government statement. India issues defense industrial licenses for making tanks, military aircraft, spacecraft and their parts, unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles for military purposes and warships. It has been a major buyer of military equipment, depended largely on the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. But it has been diversifying its purchases by opting for U.S. equipment as well.
During President Donald Trump’s visit to India in February, the two countries signed a deal for India to buy from the U.S. more than $3 billion in advanced military equipment, including helicopters.
Annual Exam Results to be Released in Nepal
If it was the normal time, joy of students could be witnessed with the running of new academic year. In a bid to the relief and inspiration to the students in face of crisis, some local levels have directed the community and institutional schools to publish annual results using technology.
The Machhapuchchhre rural municipality has directed all schools in it to immediately publish results. They could adopt new ways of releasing the annual result as via Facebook page of the school, Messenger, telephone, FM radio, email, etc.
The Nishpakshya Secondary School at Rivan of Ward No 5 in Machhapuchchhre rural municipality released the annual result via Facebook page of the school and the notice on its notice board, said Principal Durga Bahadur Rawat. “As the result was sent via Messenger, students and their guardians got the result. Utilizing technology, the result is shared to all students and guardians,” he added.
Deputy chief of the rural municipality, Krishna Kumari Duwadi, said the schools were directed to continue linking with the students so that they would not be deviated from reading habit. After the publication of result, the students can gather books from their elder sister and brothers and begin reading at home. Similarly, the Rupa rural municipality in the district has informed that all schools in it were prepared to release the result soon.
Chief administrative officer at rural municipality, Bishnu Prasad Pokhrel, said the schools were urged to maintain social distancing, adopt technology and release annual result. The rural municipality has planned to distribute old books and engage students in study until the new textbooks arrive in the market.
Antitrust Charges filed against Google by US
The Justice Department is planning to file antitrust charges against Google as early as this summer.
The regulators are focused on Google’s dominance in the online advertising industry, and the case will also involve allegations that the company abused its dominant position in online search to harm competitors, the people said. Whereas, state attorneys general are likely to file their own antitrust lawsuit against Google or join the Justice Department case sometime this year, said a person with knowledge of the state investigation.
Such actions against Google, would lead to controlling around 90 percent of all web searches globally and it would be one of the biggest antitrust cases in the United States since the 1990s when the Justice Department joined 20 states to sue Microsoft. The two sides reached a settlement in 2001.
This would also set a benchmark for how regulators and lawmakers proceed with investigations into other large tech companies such as Facebook and Amazon, which the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general and Congress are scrutinizing for their market power and corporate behavior. For nearly two decades, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and others have grown with little regulation from American authorities, becoming gateways to internet search, advertising, online communications, digital entertainment and e-commerce.
On the other hand, Google said it was continuing to engage in the various investigations. “We don’t have any updates or comments on speculation,” the company said. “Our focus is firmly on providing services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses, and enable increased choice and competition.”
As part of its inquiry, the Justice Department has spent months interviewing Google’s competitors in the areas of search, advertising technology and news publishers, seeking information about the company’s business practices. Attorneys general from Texas, New York and other states announced last September that they were focused on investigating the power of Google and Facebook.
Google captures roughly one-third of every dollar spent in online advertising. Its search engine is the on-ramp to the internet and controls what information users see, while the company owns many of the critical tools and technologies used to advertise online. It also boasts seven businesses with more than one billion users. Antitrust scrutiny has been one of the prominent issues hanging over Google. But as the investigations have ramped up, the Silicon Valley company has played down the concerns about regulatory actions, noting that it has been investigated before and emphasizing how consumers are satisfied users of its products. In past investigations by U.S. regulators, Google did not end up facing charges.
In 2013, the F.T.C. decided to wrap up a 19-month investigation without charging the company of violating antitrust laws. At the time, some staff members at the agency felt that there was sufficient evidence to press forward with a case, but the commissioners voted unanimously to close the matter.
