The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) on Wednesday opened on a positive note during the morning session of the trade.

The Sensex of the BSE opened at 34,493.21 points, touched a high of 34,500.03 and a low of 34,346.50, after closing at 34,299.47 points on Tuesday.

The Sensex is trading at 34,486.44 points up by 186.97 points or 0.55 per cent.

On the other hand, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 10,331.85 points after closing at 10,301.05 points on Tuesday.

The Nifty is trading at 10,329.85 points in the morning.

IANS

Samsung India on Tuesday announced it has partnered with online retailer Amazon.in to offer deep discounts on a range of smartphones during the “Great Indian Festival” sale between October 10 and October 15.

During the sale on Amazon.in, users can get Galaxy Note8 at Rs 43,990 – a massive discount of Rs 30,700. Galaxy A8+ will be available at Rs 23,990 on the online marketplace, the smartphone maker said in a statement.

Priced at Rs 57,900, Galaxy S9 that comes with 64GB ROM, will be available at a discount of Rs 19,600.

For Amazon Prime members, the sale started on Tuesday from 12 noon.

IANS

Taking on Amazon and Google in the smart home space, Facebook has unveiled a pair of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered smart video chat devices, Portal and Portal +, which are designed to connect people and feel like being in the same room.

Facebook on Monday said the new video communication speakers with tablet-size screens for the home can dramatically change the way people keep in touch and their built-in AI technology makes video calling easier and more like hanging out.

“With a 10-inch 1280 x 800 display, Portal from Facebook improves video calling and lets you enjoy quality time with family and friends. You can also opt for a 15-inch 1920 x 1080 pivoting display with Portal+,” Facebook said in a statement.

Portal and Portal+ are available now for pre-order in the US and will begin shipping in November.

Portal home comes for $199 and Portal+ will cost $349.

“You can also receive $100 off any two devices — this means a bundle of two Portal devices will be priced at $298,” Facebook added.

The video chat speakers come with Smart Camera and Smart Sound technology.

Smart Camera stays with the action and automatically pans and zooms to keep everyone in view.

Smart Sound minimises background noise and enhances the voice of whoever is talking, no matter where they move.

“You can call Facebook friends and connections on Messenger even if they don’t have Portal. Calls can be made to and from Messenger-enabled smartphones and tablets. Portal supports group calls of up to seven people at the same time,” said the social media platform.

Portal offers hands-free voice control. You can start a video call simply by saying ‘Hey Portal’ and noting who you’d like to call.

Portal also comes with Amazon Alexa built in.

Portal and Portal+ also come with a camera cover, so users can block camera’s lens at any time and still receive incoming calls and notifications, including using voice commands.

“To manage Portal access within your home, you can set a four- to 12-digit passcode to keep the screen locked. Changing the passcode requires your Facebook password,” the statement said.

When people are not on a call, Portal’s “Superframe” can display favourite photos and videos and important notifications like birthday reminders.

IANS

Healthy buying in metals and capital goods stocks along with upbeat economic growth projections for India buoyed the key domestic equity indices during Tuesday’s morning trade session.

However, broadly negative Asian stock markets dented investors’ sentiments.

Index-wise, the Sensex opened at 34,651.82 points from its previous close of 34,474.38 points.

At 9.25 a.m., it traded at 34,631.83 points up by a little over 157 points or 0.46 per cent.

Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made gains.

The NSE Nifty50 traded at 10,394.75 points during the morning trade session, up 46.70 points and 0.45 per cent.

IANS

 The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) has dropped two films — AIB’s “Chintu Ka Birthday” and Rajat Kapoor’s “Kadakh” — from the line-up of the upcoming 20th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in the wake of the #MeToo tide.

“We as an Academy (MAMI) strongly support the #MeToo movement. In light of recent developments, we have decided to drop the following films from our line-up — AIB’s ‘Chintu Ka Birthday’ and Rajat Kapoor’s ‘Kadakh’,” read a statement from MAMI.

It was sent to IANS via Whatsapp by MAMI’s Creative Director Smriti Kiran.

“We want to use this opportunity to open up the conversation, and find solutions to harassment and sexual misconduct in the workplace. Starting with this edition of the festival, we would like to unite the community to find positive and constructive ways to deal with it,” the statement read further.

Actor-director Rajat Kapoor has been called out by two women for inappropriate behaviour. He has apologised.

Comedy collective, All India Bakchod (AIB), on the other hand, landed in a full-fledged controversy after a woman named Utsav Chakraborty — once associated with the group — was named by a barrage of ladies on social media of sexual harassment.

Chakraborty accepted and apologised his misdeeds, but the #MeToo fire soon spread out to reveal how AIB’s CEO and co-founder knew about it all along but did nothing against it. It even opened up a box of complaints against some of the group’s other comedians, notably Gursimran Khamba.

On its part, AIB announced on Monday that Bhat and Khamba are “stepping away” from the group.

IANS

Internet giant Google has said it is shutting down the consumer version of its own social networking site Google+ due to low usage and a bug discovered in March last year that could leak the data of about half a million of its users.

“The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds,” said Google, which is headquartered in Mountain View in northern California, Xinhua reported.

Google on Monday said it is going to close Google+ in the coming months seven years after it was launched as a social networking site of its own name brand.

The demise of Google+ also came as a result of a bug discovered last year but acknowledged for the first time by Google on Monday, and the flaw in one of its Google+ “People APIs” exposed some private user data to third-party developers, including such information as the occupations, genders, ages, and email addresses of many users.

“We discovered and immediately patched this bug in March 2018,” Google said, but the flaw, which has existed since 2015, could potentially affected up to 500,000 Google+ accounts.

“Our analysis showed that up to 438 applications may have used this API,” Google said. However, “We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any Profile data was misused.”

The Google+ vulnerability was discovered at a time that almost coincided with the notorious privacy leakage scandal of the world’s largest social media network Facebook, which has been widely criticized for its failure to protect its users’ private data.

Facebook has been under heavy scrutiny about its privacy policy after a British data mining firm Cambridge Analytica was accused of illegally accessing the data of 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was summoned to a hearing in US Congress in April this year to explain the firm’s security measures and how it handled users’ privacy.

IANS

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday acknowledged the economic reforms carried out under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and projected India to be the world’s fastest growing major economy this year and next.

The World Economic Outlook (WEO) released ahead of the IMF annual meeting in Bali said, “In India, important reforms have been implemented in recent years, including the Goods and Services Tax, the inflation-targeting framework, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and steps to liberalize foreign investment and make it easier to do business.”

But citing external factors — “the recent increase in oil prices and the tightening of global financial conditions” — it cut India’s growth projection made in July for next year by 0.1 per cent to 7.4 per cent, which would still be the world’s fastest growth rate for major economies.

It kept the 7.3 per cent growth projection for this year made in July.

Compared to the projections made in April, the current one for 2018 is lower by 0.1 per cent and for 2019 by 0.4 per cent.

Up from India’s growth rate of 6.7 per cent in 2016, the growth projections for this year and the next reflect “a rebound from transitory shocks” of demonetisation and the implementation of the national Goods and Services Tax” and “strengthening investment and robust private consumption,” WEO said.

Beyond 2019, the IMF sees India’s growth rate improving “owing to structural reforms and a still-favourable demographic dividend.”

“India’s medium-term growth prospects remain strong at 7.75 per cent, benefiting from ongoing structural reform,” it added.

For China, the next fastest growing major economy, the IMF said it was lowering the growth projections for next year made in April by 0.2 per cent to 6.2 per cent “given the latest round of US tariffs on Chinese imports.”

This year’s growth for China stays at 6.6 per cent.

Overall for the global economy, the IMF cut the growth projections made in July for this year and the next by 0.2 per cent to 3.7 per cent, as IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld warned that “there are clouds on the horizon” and “the likelihood of further negative shocks to our growth forecast has risen.”

“In several key economies, moreover, growth is being supported by policies that seem unsustainable over the long term,” he said.

He cited the uncertainties in trade as a result of US President Donald Trump’s policies and the tightening of financial markets in developing countries among factors increasing the risks to global growth,

This was the final WEO released under Obstfelt’s watch as he is leaving the IMF at the end of this year and will be succeeded by Gita Gopinath, the Kerala government’s economic adviser.

For India the IMF recommended “reform priorities include reviving bank credit and enhancing the efficiency of credit provision by accelerating the cleanup of bank and corporate balance sheets and improving the governance of public sector banks”.

It added, “A high interest burden and risks from rising yields also require continued focus on debt reduction to establish policy credibility and build buffers. These efforts should be supported by further reductions in subsidies and enhanced compliance with the Goods and Services Tax.”

Mumbai Asian cues, along with a weak rupee subdued the key domestic equity indices during Monday’s morning trade session.

However, a slight fall in Brent crude oil price aided in arrest of the sharp fall.

In addition, heavy selling pressure in consumer durables, capital goods and auto stocks led the fall. The barometer S&P BSE Sensex dropped by over 260 points and the NSE Nifty50 traded below the 10,300-mark.

Index-wise, the Sensex opened at 34,412.36 points from its previous close of 34,376.99
points on last Friday.

At 9.40 a.m., it traded at 34,116.70 points down by a little over 260 points or 0.76 per cent.

Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded in the red.

The NSE Nifty50 traded at 10,250.10 points during the morning trade session, down 66.35 points and 0.64 per cent.

(IANS)

San Francisco Despite claims by a company executive that Microsoft tech support has the tools to help users recover the files deleted by the “Windows 10 October 2018” update, users have not yet been able to avail the facilities, a media report said.

Microsoft on Saturday paused the roll-out of the software update after several users complained that installing the update was wiping off their data.

Later in the day, the head of the Windows Insider program, Dona Sarkar tweeted that Microsoft tech support has the tools to recover the missing files and guided followers how to reach out for assistance.

But the Microsoft tech support team appears to be clueless about these tools, the Bleeping Computer reported on Sunday.

Numerous users who called the support number were told that the bug was still under investigation and that the agents were not aware of any tools, the report said.

On Saturday, Microsoft advised users who manually downloaded the update to not “install it and wait until new media is available”.

“We will provide an update when we resume rolling out the Windows 10 October 2018 Update to customers,” the post added.

Earlier, some users complained that the update wiped out their profiles, including documents and photos.

An alarming number of users took to social media forums and Microsoft’s own support website to complain about the issue.

The Windows 10 October 2018 update rolled out globally on October 2.

(IANS)