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Amazon walks back employee TikTok ban, saying it was sent by mistake.

Amazon has said an email sent to employees asking them to remove the video-sharing app TikTok from any mobile device that can access their company email was sent in error.

The first message was dramatic enough, as the email directive to employees appeared to buttress recent scrutiny of TikTok security issues from governments in the U.S. and India.

Then, the second message, in which a spokesman called the email an error, backed away from what briefly appeared to be a major policy change. It was a rare instance in which such a shift played out in public for one of the world’s most valuable and closely watched companies.

In a statement sent later on Friday, company spokeswoman Kristin Brown said, “There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok.”

Amazon is the second-largest US private employer after Walmart, with with more than 840,000 employees worldwide.

TikTok said the company had not received any communication from Amazon before the email went out.

“We still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community,” TikTok said.

Tiktok is owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, and has faced questions over privacy and security for its connections to China. Earlier this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is “looking at” possibly banning TikTok.

A US national-security agency has been reviewing ByteDance’s purchase of TikTok’s precursor, Musicaly, while US military branches banned the app from government-issued phones. Meanwhile, privacy groups say TikTok has been violating children’s privacy, even after the Federal Trade Commission fined the company in 2019, for collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent.

Last month, a researcher uncovered that TikTok had the ability to siphon off anything a user copied to a clipboard on a smartphone — passwords, photos and other sensitive data like Social Security numbers, emails and texts. The researcher began posting the findings on the online message board Reddit.

TikTok was banned in India in June, and two Republican senators in March introduced a bill to ban federal employees using the app on government-issued phones.

PM Modi inaugurated Asia’s largest solar plant.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the 750 MW (megawatt) 
solar project set up at Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa via video-conferencing. The project comprises three solar generating units — 250 MW each — located on a 500-hectare plot inside a solar park.

The Solar Park is a Joint Venture Company between the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL), a Joint Venture Company of Madhya Pradesh UrjaVikas Nigam Limited (MPUVN), and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Central Public Sector Undertaking. Central Financial Assistance of Rs. 138 crore has been provided to RUMSL for the development of the Park.

With Solar plant at Rewa the industries here will not only get electricity, but even the metro rail in Delhi will get its benefits. The project exemplifies India’s commitment to attain the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022.

The Project comprises of three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500-hectare plot of land situated inside a solar park (total area 1500 hectare).

Apart from Rewa, work is underway on Solar Power Plant in Shajapur, Neemuch and chhatarpur, Modi said dedicating the 750 M solar project to the nation.

The Rewa Solar Project is the first in India to break the grid parity barrier. It is expected to reduce carbon emission equivalent to 15 lakh ton of CO2 per year. World Bank Group President has also awarded the project for innovation and excellence and was included in the Prime Minister’s “A Book of Innovation: New Beginnings”.

PM Modi said that solar energy will be a medium of energy needs of the 21st century because solar power is pure and secure. 

Arunachal Pradesh: Multiple landslide killed 8 people including a minor.

Multiple landslides caused due to incessant rains in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday. Two landslides occurred in Papum Pare district and at Modirijo in between Itanagar and Naharlagun, officials said.

At least 8 people died including an 8 month-old baby in separate incident in Arunachal Pradesh.

In the first incident, four members of a family, including an 8-month-old baby, were killed in a landslide in Papumpare district of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday at around 2:30 am.

In the second incident at Modirijo, located between Itanagar and Naharlagun, four persons were buried in another landslide that occurred at 12:30 pm.

CM Pema Khandu had tweeted that Itanagar has witnessed heavy rainfall of 142mm which had triggered landslide in many places.

As per released from Arunachal Pradesh Disaster Management department the South-west monsoon have caused huge damage to State’s infrastructure including road bridge building erosion and flooding of agriculture and horticulture field among others.

Instruction has been issued to all district to keep a strict vigil and continuously monitor the situation to a avoid largescale devastation and loss of human lives

PM Narendra Modi tweeted and expressed his deep Condolences for the the family and people who loss their lives.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed his deep shock and sorrow over the loss of four lives due to landslides at Tigdo village and announced an ex-gratia of Rs four lakhs for each next of kin of the deceased.

The Chief Minister further cautioned that as per Indian Meteorological Department, there is a likelihood of heavy rain in the next few days across Arunachal Pradesh.

Unusual rating of TV9 Bharatvarsh- Raising concern NBA write to BARC.

Now, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has written to BARC India to bring to its notice the “unusual” ratings of TV9 Bharatvarsh. The broadcasters’ body also insisted that for the last 8 weeks or more, the ratings have been unusable. It raised concerns about the unprecedented growth of viewership of TV9 Bharatvarsh as well as the frequent substantial swings in English.

The NBF letter, accessed by e4M, said, “Some of our member companies, FTA news channels, solely rely on BARC for the ratings as the only currency to convert into advertising – the predominant source of revenue for our channels. Several of our channels have raised concerns over the past few weeks on the drop in ratings.”

The letter written out on Monday further stated, “On analyzing the BARC data from week of 21, we notice there is a significant change in ratings, which is a matter of grave concern for us, more so during the current pandemic-driven economic crisis, since it determines our survivability. The drop in ratings, as has been witnessed in the past five weeks, threatens our existence while it also raises the issue of transparency and accountability on the BARC reporting of the FTA news genre ratings.”

The numbers put out by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) for week 25 of the current year for 15+ HSM show that TV9 Bharatvarsh which has been aggressively growing since the lockdown has perched itself clearly at the No 2 spot with 185,325 impressions.

TV9 CEO Barun Das has given a detailed response on e4M’s story reporting NBA and NBF letters to BARC alleging ‘unusual’ rise of TV9 ratings.

Thanks for seeking my response to this rather amusing charge which cast unfounded aspersions on both BARC as an institution and TV9 Bharatvarsh as a business of integrity. 

Braun’s response:

  1. If there is indeed an official letter from NBA to BARC, I would have been happy to have received a copy of the same from NBA so that I could have officially replied to NBA
  2. Businesses move as per industry but market shares have no relation to industry movements. The two are not always in sync.
  3. This is a transparent industry. We all have access to BARC ratings; we all have access to the second-by-second content of every competitor in logger. 
    4. Really, there is no magic or manipulation. Just business basics at work.
    5. as far as TV9 Bharatvarsh is concerned, it is still work in progress.

Yes Bank: ED attaches assets in money laundering case against Rana Kapoor.

Enforcement Directorate on Thursday attached assets worth over₹2,200 crore of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, DHFL’s insolvent promoters Kapil and Dhiraj Wadhawan in the Yes Bank money laundering case, said officials.

The attached properties of Kapoor and the related entities is valued at Rs 792 crore — the current market value is Rs 1,400 crore. The assets include a residential building at Cumbala Hill, three duplex flats at Napean Sea Road, a flat near NCPA, eight flats in IndiaBulls Blue, Worli, and a bungalow at 40 Amrita Shergill Marg in Delhi, which is worth around Rs 685 crore, stated an ED release.

The ED probe is based on two cases instituted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in March. 

The first case alleged that during April-June 2018, Yes Bank had invested ₹3,700 crore in Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), in lieu of a kickback of ₹600 crore in the form of loan to DOIT Urban Ventures (India), which belonged to Mr. Kapoor’s family members. 

In the second case, it was alleged that Mr. Kapoor, as the managing director and chief executive officer of Yes Bank, had received illegal gratification in the form of the Lutyens’ Delhi property. 

62-year-old Rana Kapoor was arrested by the central probe agency early this year in March. 

Days after being arrested by ED, Kapoor in March was also booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation over suspicious transactions between Yes Bank, DHFL and companies owned by Kapoor’s daughters.

Enforcement Directorate later also summoned Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani in connection with its money laundering probe against Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others. They said Ambani has been asked to depose at the ED office in Mumbai on Monday as his group companies are one among the big entities whose loans went bad after borrowing from the crisis-hit bank.

The CBI had filed a chargesheet against Rana Kapoor, his wife Bindu and daughter Roshini among others last month in connection with an alleged Rs 600 crore bribe received from scam-tainted DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan

Trump’s financial records can be examined- US Suprime Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday firmly rejected President Donald Trump’s arguments for sweeping presidential immunity and ruled that a New York prosecutor can obtain his financial records but prevented – at least for now – Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from getting similar documents.

Two Democratic-controlled House of Representatives committees and New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance – also a Democrat – had demanded Trump”s tax documents over several years in order to determine whether current conflict-of-interest laws on a US president were tough enough.

Essentially, the president wants to keep his financial records secret. Unlike any other chief executive in recent history, he has not disclosed his taxes. Congressional oversight committees and prosecutors in New York want to see them. They subpoenaed Trump’s accountants and bankers for the president’s records, and those entities say they will do whatever a court orders.

US house speaker Nancy Pelosi called the supreme court ruling on Thursday allowing various financial records of President Donald Trump to be turned over to a grand jury as part of criminal investigation as “not good news” for Trump.

By 7-2 votes, the justice upheld the Manhattan district attorney’s demand for Trump’s tax returns but kept a hold on Trump’s financial re that congress has been seeking for more than a year.

The cases could have long-term implications for the ability of lawmakers to scrutinize presidents, as well as test the claim by Trump’s attorneys that a president is immune from criminal investigation while in office. Stormy problems – One of the cases before the Supreme Court relates to an investigation opened by the state of New York, and poses the specific question of the president’s immunity from prosecution.

E-Commerce sarpassed during pandemic.

E-business companies have not just recovered, but sarpassed pre-covid-level sales as more people shop online due to the pandemic.

Over 3 million daily shipment E-Commerce are back.

Platforms like Amazon India and Flipkart Asin 120% and 140% growth in their shipments. The panoramic has accelerated the use of online shopping in India.


“E-commerce has seen increased positive traction and accelerated bounce back when consumers have health and safety concerns for stepping out when cases are increasing exponentially. Ultimately, it will change shopping habits and some of it will definitely be irreversible.It expects its e-commerce contribution to nearly double in the near term ,” said Sanjeev Mohanty, MD, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Levi’s.

“E-commerce has seen increased positive traction and accelerated bounce back when consumers have health and safety concerns for stepping out when cases are increasing exponentially. Ultimately, it will change shopping habits and some of it will definitely be irreversible,” said Sanjeev Mohanty, MD, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Levi’s. It expects its e-commerce contribution to nearly double in the near term, he said.

“The volumes are back to pre-Covid levels. Customers would still be wary of going to markets or malls to buy things. Till the Covid-19 situation stays, there will be a new shift towards online shopping and that’s already happening. The uptake is at a different level,”co-founder T A Krishnan Said.

Meanwhile bicycle sales in the country has increases during the coronavirus crisis. People are preparing bicycles for a good social distancing activity and an alternative to public transport.

Flipkart and Amazon India did not reply to specific queries on shipment growth by TOI, but executives at these companies who did not wish to be named confirmed the numbers.

The E-Commerce back is not only due to existing customers transacting more or buying across more categories, but also due to a new set of users transacting online. “On a sustainable basis, online penetration will go up by around 50%, which is even 100% in the short-term. In a lot of categories, there will be a 40-50% spike in consumers who will stay on post-Covid-19,” said Ankur Pahwa, partner and national leader (e-commerce and consumer internet), EY India. Last year, around 140-150 million users transacted at least once online.

NIA gets the Kerala gold smuggling case.

The Home Minister ordered probe by NIA ( National Investigation Agency) into the Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling case.

Few days back UAE consulate ex staff has been arrested by custom official at Thiruvananthapuram airport. Custom official has 30 30 kg of gold from diplomat bag.

Now the case is registered under section 15, 16, 17 and 18.

The decision came a day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his “intervention for an effective investigation” into the seizure of gold worth crores of rupees from a “diplomatic baggage” at the airport in the state capital.

“NIA probe will ensure a thorough investigation since the case involves an organised racket with international linkages, and was deemed appropriate given the implications for national and economic security of India,” said an officer.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will investigate the Kerala gold smuggling case in which the gold was smuggled into the country in diplomatic baggage in the name UAE’s consulate in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

MHA gave the case to the investigative team saying “organised smuggling operation may have serious implications for national security.”

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “Ministry of External Affairs had kept the Embassy of the UAE informed regarding the matter. The UAE Mission has extended all cooperation to the Customs Authorities in examining the said consignment. The matter is under further investigation.”

“The MHA permits the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling case, as the organised smuggling operation may have serious implications for national security,” a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Hong kong: China imposed National security Law

Australian expats in Hong Kong are feeling jittery about their future after Beijing imposed a new national security law that could lead to foreigners being arbitrarily detained. They say the move has hastened their plans to leave the financial hub amid calls from their government for its citizens to “reconsider” their need to stay there.

It was inevitable that Chinese diplomats would excoriate Australia after prime minister Scott Morrison’s measured moves this week in response to Beijing’s draconian national security legislation for Hong Kong: offering limited sanctuary to Hong Kongers, suspending an extradition treaty with Hong Kong and heightening the travel warning for the city.

The United Kingdom has joined the United States in condemning China, accusing it of breaching the handover agreement that established the “one country, two systems” principle for Hong Kong. London is also offering millions of Hong Kong citizens an escape route through a new immigration plan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned Australia to stop interfering in China’s affairs. He told a daily briefing: “We reserve the right to take actions and all consequences will be borne by the Australian side.” When asked which international law Australia is in breach of, he said: “Non-interference is a basic norm in international relations. Need I say more?”

National Security Law:
The law criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign powers, and critics say it undercuts political and legal freedoms that have existed since Britain handed the former colony to China in 1997. Hong Kong authorities insist the law is needed to restore stability after months of pro-democracy protests.

Hong Kong’s government says the law is required to bring order to a city that saw mass pro-democracy protests last year that often turned violent.

On Monday, Hong Kong’s newly established national security committee released rules clarifying how portions of the law will be implemented. “The police can request online platform service providers to hand over information about their users, or remove content the government deems to be ‘endangering’ national security,” says Jenny Wang, a strategic adviser at the Human Rights Foundation. “This is a huge threat to internet freedom and the anonymity that Hong Kong protesters have relied on in the past year to organize and exchange ideas.”

USC joins Harvard lawsuit against visa restrictions on students.

Los Angeles: The University of Southern California (USC) has joined lawsuit filed by Harvard university and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The lawsuit is against US President Donald Trump administration announces ban on foreign students taking only online courses.

On Monday, the US ICE ( Immigration Custom Enforcement) fresh guideline’s for F-1 and M-1 visas given to students, restricting them to only those students who take online courses or a combination of online and offline courses.

Meanwhile, those who only takes online courses would not be Eligible for the Visa.

“International students will not be allowed to stay in the country if they attend institutions, like Harvard, that are holding courses online this fall. Their choices are either to transfer to another institution that provides in-person or hybrid (both in-person and online) instruction or to depart the country and risk not being able to return. Those students who fail to comply with this guidance may face deportation”, Harvard President Larry Summers said.

“Issued without warning or broad consultation, the policy could negatively impact countless international students, and restrict research and competitiveness not only here but at research universities across the nation,” USC said.

“Given the broad range of courses being offered, both in person and online, we are optimistic we will be able to support our international students to study in person safely if they wish, but it may take a few days”, further added.

USC is extremely popular for international students.

Coronavirus latest update: Seven-day lock-down in West Bengal .

Covid cases in India is now 7,93,802. On Thursday covid cases rose bi over 26,000 setting daily record.

Now India have over 7,00,94,000 cases with death around 21,604. With total 2,76,685 active cases.

India recovery rate is is 62.4 % yesterday and total of 4,56,831 have recovered and the recovery rate is 61.53 per cent.

A strict seven-day lockdown was imosed in all containment zones across West Bengal from Thursday evening as the state witnessed the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases. The state Thursday registered the highest single-day increase of 1,088 COVID-19 cases. It also reported 27 deaths, raising the toll to 854, officials said.

Five COVID-19 patients died in Assam on Thursday, bringing the death toll due to the disease to 27, while 568 fresh cases pushed the tally to 14,600 in the state, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Latin America and the Caribbean have become ‘a hot spot’ for the COVID-19 pandemic, with several countries now having one of the highest per capita infection rates and absolute number of cases in the world.

Nepal bans Indian private news channels.

Nepal on Thursday stops the broadcasting of all Indian private news channels except Doordarshan.

Amid tension between Nepal and India cable operators in Nepal have banned news channels.The tension was since Nepal police shot Indian farmer of Sitamarhi, Bihar and also due to land dispute.

We have stopped the distribution of all Indian news channels except Doordarshan. We have halted distribution of India’s private news channels as they have aired news reports hurting Nepal’s national sentiment,” Dinesh Subedi, the chairman of Multi-System Operator (MSO), foreign channel distributor said.

“News stories and comments coming from the Indian media against the government and Prime Minister of Nepal are highly objectionable”, Bishnu Ramal, chief advisor to PM KP Sharma Oli, said.

“We do not want to interfere in affairs of the media. Not just foreign but even domestic TV channels will be regulated if they are found to be airing offensive content or are indulging in character assassination [of Nepalese citizens and leaders] and are found to be disrespectful of Nepal’s sovereignty. Nepal will also seek political and legal remedies against such channels,” said Minister of Communication and Information Technology Yubaraj Khatiwada.He said in response to a question about certain Indian channels airing objectionable content on Prime Minister Oli and the Ambassador of China Hou Yanqi.

“There is an open race to remove me from the post. Nepal’s nationality is not weak. No one thought that a prime minister would be removed from office for printing a map,” KP Sharma Oli said.

Uttar Pradesh: Government extended lockdown for 3 days in the state.

Uttar Pradesh will be under lockdown from Friday night till Monday morning amid Coronavirsu pandemic. Government  imposed a lockdown in the state since 10 pm today till 5 pm on 13 July.

The total confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh has reached 31,156.
The death toll has also increased to 845.

During the lockdown period from Friday night till Monday morning, all markets, food grain markets and other establishments will remain closed during this period and the supply of essentials will be ensured through doorstep delivery.

Testing for Covid-19 touched a new benchmark on Tuesday as 34,085 samples were tested in a single day. So far, over 10 lakh samples have been tested in UP, he said.

Amit Mochan Prasad said so far the teams involved in this task have visited over 84.12 lakh houses and talked to over 4.29 crore people referring to the ongoing door to door screening in all divisions of the state.

Italy Marines: with eight Fishermen there was a 14 years old boy ‘Prijin’ who took his own life on 2nd July.

February 15, 2012, the unarmed victim aboard  the fishing vessel at St Antony were killed without warning, on shoot through the the head, the other in the stomach, with automatic weapon. The two were killed at sea, approximately 20.5 nautical miles of Kerala in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Recently, it has emerged that there was a 14-year-old boy named Pinjin, too, on that boat according to his family. He took his own life on July 2, 2019, as he never recovered from the trauma of that incident.

Prijin was shifted to another fishing boat as its captain Fredy Jhon Bosco, feared that he would be straighten up for child labour.

The family assert to the centre moves through advocate Yash Thomas Munnally claims that from the time of incident Prijin was afraid to venture out to see even to do minor fishing related job, he was so disturbed, he became insomniac and suffered from Nightmare.

Prijin was the sole wage-earner for his family. On July 6, his mother and 7 siblings demanded that Prijin’s posthumous rights as a minor be protected as per international Child Rights Law and the Indian constitution, and that Rs 100 crore compensation be obtained from Italy.

He never received any compensation because, officially, he was never on the boat.

The court said the marines should be immune from prosecution in India, but should face trial in Italy.

Italy has argued that the marines fired on a boat carrying the two Indian fishermen after they had failed to heed warnings to stay away from the MV Enrica Lexie tanker off the coast of the south-western state of Kerala.

Currently, the two marines are in Italy pending a decision from the PCA. After having been detained in India for two and four years, respectively, the two marines were finally released and returned to Italy.

Earlier, Kerala Police also charged the marines under Section 3 of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on the Continental Shelf Act, 2002 (SUA), which attracts the death penalty.

The issue of jurisdiction over the case became a big argument between the two countries. While India maintained that the incident happened in Indian waters and also the fishermen killed were Indian, and hence the case must be tried as per its laws, Italy claimed that the shooting took place outside Indian territorial waters and its marines were on-board the ship with the Italian flag.

On September 28, 2016, the apex court had allowed Latorre to remain in his country till the international arbitral tribunal decided the jurisdictional issue.
The apex court had said all the conditions, which were imposed on the other marine, Salvatore Girone, would be applicable on Latorre as well.

The Italian government had given the families of Jalastine and Ajeesh Binki, who hailed from Kanyakumari, a compensation of one crore rupees each in exchange for withdrawing their petitions in the case. Further, the Kerala government appointed Doramma as a peon in the state collectorate, where she still works to support her two sons.


Municipality Corporation gifted a flat to a Labour’s Daughter for securing first division in 10th examination.

“Nothing is impossible, if you work hard to reach the goal”.

Indore: Glad with the performance of a labourer’s daughter who scored 68 per cent in Class X examination, Municipal Corporation has gifted a house to the bright student as the student along with her family was living on the footpath.

After receiving the gift, she thanked the administration for the house, and also for making her future education free. “I thank my parents for encouraging me. We didn’t have a house to live in, we were staying on footpath,” said Bharti.

Bharti’s parents is a daily wage workers. She also have two siblings. Whole family used to live in a hut on the front side of the pavement in Shivaji Market, earlier. Their hut was demolished during an encroachment drive. 

Bharti is aspiring to study in future to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS), officer. She gave the credit of her success to her parents and also thanked her teachers and mentors.

Laxmi, her mother, said that Bharti is like Goddess Laxmi to the family. Her mother, who earns Rs.2000 a month, also mentioned how Bharti had worked really hard to excel in her exams. Kudos to Bharti for her sheer grit and determination. We wish her good luck for all her future endeavours.

Bharti was gifted 1 BHK under the Prashant Dighe of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The Commission also provided her with clothes, books among other essentials.

Commission also made arrangements that the girl gets further education free of cost. Table, chair, books, clothes were also provided to her,” said Prashant Dighe of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Indore.