NPCI in talks to remove ‘pull transactions’ on UPI to reduce digital frauds

Mumbai, (IANS): In an effort to curb rising digital frauds, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is reportedly in early discussions with banks to eliminate ‘pull transactions’ on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).Most frauds are happening through the pull method, and NPCI is exploring the possibility of removing this feature altogether to reduce fraudulent activities.A 'pull transaction' happens when a merchant sends a payment request to a customer, while a 'push transaction' occurs when a customer directly makes the payment using a QR code or other methods.By removing 'pull transactions', fraud cases could decline, but some bankers fear that genuine transactions may also be affected, potentially lowering efficiency, according to a report by NDTV Profit.However, NPCI, which operates retail payment and settlement systems in India, has not commented on this development yet.The discussions are still at an early stage, and a final decision on implementation has not been made yet, the report said.This development comes at a time when UPI payments are gaining immense popularity...

Read More........ → March 21, 2025

Adani Group’s ‘foray into industrial 5G’ is a complete failure

Two and a half years after acquiring the spectrum at auction, the Indian conglomerate has yet to make use of its airwavesReports this week suggest that Adani Group is considering surrendering it 5G mmWave spectrum after failing to turn its dream of deploying private 5G networks into reality.According to the reports, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sent multiple requests to the company asking how it intends to use the currently idle spectrum, as well as penalising it for failing to meet minimum rollout targets.Adani Group purchased the spectrum for $27 million at India’s first 5G auction back in 2022. At the time, Adani said it would use the 400MHz of 26GH (also known as mmWave) spectrum to deploy private 5G networks for its own digital subsidiaries, as well as offering it to enterprise and industrial customers.As part of the deal, Adani was obligated to begin offering commercial services using the spectrum within a year.“The Adani Group’s foray into the industrial 5G space will allow our portfolio companies to offer a set of new add on services that capitalises on all...

Read More........ → February 05, 2025

US-China trade war flares as both sides introduce new chip tech restrictions | Total Telecom

New US export controls on semiconductor technology this week have been met immediately by retaliatory measures from ChinaThis week has seen the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ramp up controls on its tech exports to China, particularly those related to the manufacture of semiconductors.The additional restrictions cover 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and three types of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors. It also includes High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a computer memory interface at the heart of AI chip technology.In addition to these restrictions, the update added 140 companies to the US’s infamous Entity List, 136 of which were Chinese. US companies looking to sell restricted items to entities designated on this list are required to acquire a specialised export licence from BIS, which is seldom granted. Companies to the list in this most recent batch include semiconductor fabs, tool companies, and investment companies that the US claims have links to the Chinese government.These new measures, BIS says, are designed...

Read More........ → December 05, 2024

Namibia halts Starlink operations amid licensing dispute

The news comes just days after fellow African nation Chad approved Starlink to begin operations in the country Namibia’s Communications Regulatory Authority (CRAN) has ordered Starlink, the satellite internet provider owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to cease business for operating without license in the country. While Starlink has filed an application for an operating license, the CRAN has yet to grant it, and has cautioned consumers against purchasing or using Starlink equipment. “The public is hereby advised not to purchase Starlink terminal equipment or subscribe to its services, as such activities are illegal,” said an emailed statement. “Investigators have already confiscated illegal terminals from consumers and have opened criminal cases with the Namibian police in this regard.” The escalation highlights Starlink’s ongoing challenges in establishing a foothold in Africa, where it faces regulatory hurdles and resistance from a number of state-owned telecoms monopolies. However since the start of 2023, Starlink has been launched in 15 African countries. Starlink’s services,...

Read More........ → December 02, 2024

Australia’s fertility rate has reached a record low. What might that mean for the economy?

BaLL LunLa/Shutterstock Jonathan Boymal, RMIT University; Ashton De Silva, RMIT University, and Sarah Sinclair, RMIT UniversityAustralia’s fertility rate has fallen to a new record low of 1.5 babies per woman. That’s well below the “replacement rate” of 2.1 needed to sustain a country’s population. On face value, it might not seem like a big deal. But we can’t afford to ignore this issue. The health of an economy is deeply intertwined with the size and structure of its population. Australians simply aren’t having as many babies as they used to, raising some serious questions about how we can maintain our country’s workforce, sustain economic growth and fund important services. So what’s going on with fertility rates here and around the world, and what might it mean for the future of our economy? What can we do about it? Are lower birth rates always a problem? Falling fertility rates can actually have some short-term benefits. Having fewer dependent young people in an economy can increase workforce participation, as well as boost savings and wealth. Smaller populations...

Read More........ → October 24, 2024

China hits tech firms with hefty fines as crackdown draws to close

BEIJING - Chinese regulators said they had fined fintech giant Ant Group almost $1-billion for "illegal acts" and handed an affiliate of rival Tencent a $415-million penalty, adding that a long-running crackdown on tech firms was drawing to a close.Ant operates Alipay, the world's largest digital payments platform, which boasts hundreds of millions of monthly users in China and beyond.It was one of the most prominent targets of a sweeping crackdown on the country's tech sector."In view of the illegal and irregular acts by Ant Group and its affiliates in previous years... (the companies) have been fined 7.123 billion yuan (US$984-million)," the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement.The penalty "included the confiscation of illegal income", added the statement, which was also carried by the country's central bank.In its statement, the CSRC said that "at present, most of the outstanding problems in the financial business of platform enterprises have been rectified"."The work focus of the financial management department has shifted from promoting the centralised...

Read More........ → October 14, 2024

Telia to slash 3,000 jobs in cost cutting drive

The company has cut 455 jobs this year already Swedish telco Telia is set to cut 15% of its workforce, around 3,000 jobs, in an effort to cut annual costs by $253 million. The company currently employs around 18,000 people across five markets. The move, according to Telia, is part of its strategy to streamline decision-making processes, improve commercial execution, and better align its operations with local market needs. “This is a tough decision, but one that is necessary to ensure the long-term success of Telia,” CEO Patrik Hofbauer in the announcement. “We need to be much more simpler in the way we operate, faster on decision making, and also when it comes to commercial execution, and we need to create more margin,” he added in an interview with Reuters. “We are changing the operating model … we are putting much more responsibility and accountability into the countries, because there we meet our customers.” The job cuts will take place across all five of the company’s operating markets, with the lion’s share (around 1,400 jobs) being cut from the company’s home market of Sweden....

Read More........ → September 05, 2024

Telegram CEO Durov released on bail, but formally put under investigation

Paris, (IANS): Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, was released after paying a five-million-euro (about $5.6 million) bail, but he is required to report to the police twice a week, Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.Durov is officially placed under investigation on six charges and he was prohibited from leaving France during the investigation, Beccuau added on Wednesday night as reported by Xinhua news agency.Durov was arrested by French Police at an airport outside Paris on Saturday night.Beccuau said on Monday that the Telegram founder is accused of 12 criminal offences, including failing to act against Telegram users involved in cyberbullying, sharing pedophilic content and glorifying terrorism.He added the arrest "comes in the context of a judicial investigation opened on July 8, 2024".It also concerns "refusal to communicate, at the request of competent authorities, information or documents necessary for carrying out and operating interceptions allowed by law," the Paris prosecutor said.In response to the arrest, the Telegram group...

Read More........ → August 30, 2024

60 million americans under alert as heat wave hits US Midwest states

A heat wave brought record-high temperatures to US Midwest states this week, with more than 60 million people included in alerts over the conditions.The US National Weather Service (NWS) said a late-season high-pressure system over cities in the Midwest regions, such as Chicago, Des Moines, and Topeka, has left them experiencing rare extreme heat for a long period of time. The NWS warned the public of the combined dangers of heat and humidity associated with heat waves. US Midwest states have set up several public cooling centres in preparation for the dangerous heat.According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, extreme heat together with humidity is one of the leading weather-related killers in the United States. Every year, approximately 1,220 people in the country are killed due to extreme heat. 60 million americans under alert as heat wave hits US Midwest stat...

Read More........ → August 30, 2024

One small update brought down millions of IT systems around the world. It’s a timely warning

Gerd Altmann/Pixabay David Tuffley, Griffith UniversityThis weekend’s global IT outage caused by a software update gone wrong highlights the interconnected and often fragile nature of modern IT infrastructure. It demonstrates how a single point of failure can have far-reaching consequences. The outage was linked to a single update automatically rolled out to Crowdstrike Falcon, a ubiquitous cyber security tool used primarily by large organisations. This caused Microsoft Windows computers around the world to crash. CrowdStrike has since fixed the problem on their end. While many organisations have been able to resume work now, it will take some time for IT teams to fully repair all the affected systems – some of that work has to be done manually. How could this happen? Many organisations rely on the same cloud providers and cyber security solutions. The result is a form of digital monoculture. While this standardisation means computer systems can run efficiently and are widely compatible, it also means a problem can cascade across many industries and geographies. As we’ve now...

Read More........ → July 22, 2024

Former Chinese navy captain arrested in Taiwan after illegal approach

Taipei, (IANS/DPA) A Chinese man detained by Taiwan after illegally entering a harbour near Taipei on a speedboat has been identified as a former Chinese navy captain, senior officials said on Tuesday.On Sunday, the Chinese man drove a speedboat directly into the Tamsui River estuary, telling Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officers of his intention to surrender. The intruder was arrested and transferred to prosecutors for questioning.The Chinese speedboat was detected about six nautical miles from the estuary of the Tamsui River, which leads into Taiwan's capital, Taipei.Kuan Bi-ling, Minister of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, which supervises the Coast Guard, told reporters on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that the detained Chinese man had previously served as a navy captain.Kuan said that it remains uncertain whether the Chinese detainee truly wanted to seek freedom or if the approach was an attempt by China to test Taiwan's maritime defences."It cannot be ruled out that this is a kind of test," Kuan said, referring to about 18 similar cases in the past year.However,...

Read More........ → June 29, 2024

Chamber calls for Western Australia to overturn uranium ban

Yeelirrie: one of four uranium projects excluded from the ban (Image: Cameco Australia)Restarting uranium mining in Western Australia could create up to 9000 jobs and produce uranium worth more than AUD1 billion a year, a 12-month inquiry by the state's Chamber of Commerce and Industry has found. It recommends that the state overturn its ban on uranium mining to unlock significant economic benefits. Western Australia is home to a "considerable share" of Australia's uranium but cannot capitalise on this, due to the state government's 2017 ban on uranium mining, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (CCIWA) notes in its report. The ban conditionally excludes four uranium projects that had already received ministerial approval from the previous government: Wiluna, Kintyre, Mulga Rock and Yeelirrie.South Australia and the Northern Territory currently allow uranium to be mined and exported, proving the industry is safe and sustainable, the CCIWA said. Last year South Australia produced around 5,469 tU: Western Australia has capacity to produce an estimated 8,000...

Read More........ → March 31, 2024

A law that helped end slavery is now a weapon to end affirmative action

Demonstrators gathered in Washington after the Supreme Court ended race-conscious college admissions in June. The ruling has created momentum for legal challenges to affirmative action and DEI initiatives in the workplace. (MUST CREDIT: Minh Connors/The Washington Post)After Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 – establishing citizenship for newly emancipated slaves – President Andrew Johnson vetoed it, voicing concern that it was “made to operate in favor of the colored and against the white race.”But lawmakers overrode his veto, enacting one of nation’s first building blocks of an equal society.Now, 157 years later, the law has become central to the legal battle over what is fair and equal when it comes to race in the workplace. In recent years – and especially since the Supreme Court overturned race-conscious college admissions in June – the Reconstruction-era law has emerged as a critical tool for conservatives intent on dismantling race-specific programs that promote “diversity, equity and inclusion,” or DEI.More than a dozen lawsuits – nearly all filed within the past...

Read More........ → January 01, 2024

Gig workers could find it easier to unionize under new ruling

The Bing search engine website on a laptop computer arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. Microsoft Corp wants to adopt more OpenAI technology in its Bing search engine, Office productivity applications, Teams chat program and security software. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Gabby JonesThe National Labor Relations Board issued a new ruling Tuesday that makes it easier for Uber and Lyft drivers, construction workers, home health aides, and strippers to organize and join unions.Existing labor law extends the right to unionize only to workers with employee status, excluding independent contractors. Tuesday’s board ruling broadens the factors considered in the federal government’s test for determining a worker’s status as an independent contractor or an employee.“Applying this clear standard will ensure that workers who seek to organize or exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act are not improperly excluded from its protections,” NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran said in a statement.- ADVERTISEMENT -The reversal of a 2019 independent-contractor...

Read More........ → December 19, 2023

Convicted lab owner Minal Patel, ordered to forfeit over $187 million in health care fraud proceeds

Exhibit from court record. Provided by Justice Department. PHOTO Justice.govMIAMI – On Sept. 22, U.S. District Court Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz, in Miami, ordered the defendant, Minal Patel, to forfeit over $187 million in health care fraud proceeds including over $30 million seized from personal and corporate bank accounts, a 2018 Red Ferrari Spider, a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover, and real property. Minal Patel, 44, of Atlanta, owned LabSolutions LLC (LabSolutions), a lab enrolled with Medicare that performed sophisticated genetic tests. Patel, who has already been convicted, is accused of having conspired with patient brokers, telemedicine companies, and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries with telemarketing calls falsely stating that Medicare covered expensive cancer genetic tests, the Justice Department press release of October 3, 2023, said. After the Medicare beneficiaries agreed to take a test, Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to patient brokers to obtain signed doctors’ orders authorizing the tests from telemedicine companies. To conceal the kickbacks and bribes, Patel required...

Read More........ → October 05, 2023

Musk’s X challenges India ruling on content blocking, cites censorship risk

‘X’ logo is seen on the top of the headquarters of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoNEW DELHI (Reuters) -Social media platform X is seeking to quash an Indian court ruling that it was not compliant with federal government orders to remove content, arguing it could embolden New Delhi to block more content and broaden the scope for censorship. X, formerly known as Twitter, in July 2022 sought to overturn government orders to remove some content from its platform. A court in June 2023 quashed that request and imposed a fine of 5 million rupees ($60,560). X has now appealed against that decision, arguing in a 96-page filing that the government “will be emboldened to issue more blocking orders” that violate law. The filing, which was dated Aug. 1 but has not been posted publicly, was submitted by local law firm Poovayya & Co at the Karnataka High Court. The original lawsuit predates X’s ownership by billionaire Elon Musk, who is also pursuing a number of business enterprises...

Read More........ → September 08, 2023

A guide: Uranium in Niger : Uranium & Fuel

Current events in Niger mean world attention is turning to the West African uranium-producing country. Here is an overview of Niger's uranium sector.  What has happened in Niger? After reports on 26 July that presidential guards had seized Niger's president, Mohamed Bazoum, General Abdourahmane Tchiani - also known as Omar Tchiani - went on national TV on 28 July and declared himself the new leader of Niger. Bazoum became president following a runoff election in February 2021 in which he won 55.67% of the vote. How much uranium does Niger produce? Niger produced 2020 tU in 2022, just over 4% of world uranium output. Current production is from the open-pit operations of SOMAÏR (Société des Mines de l’Aïr), near the town of Arlit. SOMAÏR is 63.4% owned by French company Orano and 36.66% owned by Sopamin (Société du Patrimoine des Mines du Niger). Sopamin manages Niger's state participation in mining ventures. According to data from the World Bank, uranium is Niger's second largest export, in monetary terms, after gold. What is Niger's uranium history? Uranium...

Read More........ → August 10, 2023

Pakistan home to terrorist groups; should not receive any aid: Nikki Haley

MAR 02, 2023 Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has said that Pakistan is home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations and it should not receive any aid from the US, ramping up her attack on America's adversaries. The 51-year-old two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations formally launched her 2024 presidential bid last month. "Pakistan is home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations. #CutEveryCent," Haley tweeted Wednesday. Over the past few days, Haley has been speaking on US foreign policy and asserting that the US should not give any financial assistance to countries that are friends and allies of China and Russia. On Sunday, Haley in an op-ed in the New York Post wrote that if voted to power, she will cut foreign aid to countries like China and Pakistan which hate America. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, she repeated her pledge to cut US foreign aid to countries that are friends and followers of Russia and China, the two adversaries of the US. Haley, who announced her candidacy on February 14...

Read More........ → March 02, 2023

​The UK's economic prospects continue to dwindle

In early February, about half a million people went on strike in the U.K. [Photo/cfp.cn]"The United Kingdom lost more working days to strikes in 2022 than in any year since 1989, as employees walked out in large numbers over pay amid soaring living costs," reads an article on CNN. Last year was, to put it mildly, a miserable experience for the U.K. Despite having mostly recovered from COVID-19, the country's economy remains in a state of stagnation. Faced with shrinking incomes and crippling levels of inflation, its economic performance is worse than any country in the G7 and the only one expected to enter recession.The grim economic prospects throughout the country have led to a tidal wave of economic discontent that has manifested in strikes across the board, drawing upon memories of the industrial unrest and upheavals faced in the 1970s and 1980s. In public opinion polls, the current government is deeply unpopular and trails the opposition Labour Party by over 20 points. Many decisions the government has made, including the decision to follow the U.S. blindly in escalating tensions...

Read More........ → March 01, 2023