The roll-out of Disney Plus, the streaming platform from Disney, in India through Hotstar has been put on hold, the company said on Friday.
Some of the Disney Plus content, including Star Wars series “The Mandalorian”, that became available to Hotstar users ahead of the streaming service’s launch in India on March 29, is no longer available on the app.
“We recently announced that Disney+ would launch in India through the Hotstar service in conjunction with beginning of the Indian Premier League cricket season. Given the delay of the season, we have made the decision to briefly pause the roll-out of Disney+ and will announce a new revised premiere date for the service soon”, Uday Shankar, President – The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India, said in a statement.
With social media networks buzzing with misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian government is tying up with social media firms and others to ensure that citizens have access to authentic data and details about the spread of the disease.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday tweeted the initiatives that Google India, Facebook/WhatsApp and Twitter have taken to ensure people have access to authentic sources of information on COVID-19 and the novel coronavirus that causes it.
Google has been putting out simple tips on handwashing for Android users, believed to be the best defense against contracting the virus, Twitter India has set up a “dedicated COVID-19 page that provides essential real-time updates to people from various authorities across India,” while Facebook-owned WhatsApp has partnered with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to launch a chatbot on the lines of the one launched by the World Health Organisation this past week.
The MyGov Corona Helpdesk, launched late Thursday night, works on an IVR-like interface and lets users choose the information they want by choosing the options provided. It is available at the number +91 9013151515, which, once added to a person’s phone contacts will enable them to nteract with the bot by texting “hi”.
MyGov, the government’s idea crowdsourcing platform (under MeitY), MoHFW and Mumbai-based rim Haptik developed the Helpdesk chatbot within 36 hours. “We already have a microsite carrying important information about the advisories, precautions or travel and so on from the government, but citizens should not get overwhelmed with information. We spoke to top managers at Facebook and arranged approvals in record time to get this helpdesk up and running,” said Abhishek Singh, CEO at MyGov.
Facebook India Vice President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan called it a “unique collaboration with the government across multiple ministries”.
Haptik, which launched a similar chatbot of its own to provide information on coronavirus, said the firm worked for about four days to set up the MyGov bot.
Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp said Wednesday that it would launch the WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub globally, in partnership with the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, and United Nations Development Programme, and a $1 million donation to the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
The WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub will be available at whatsapp.com/coronavirus and provide simple, actionable guidance for health workers, educators, community leaders, nonprofits, local governments and local businesses that rely on WhatsApp to communicate. The site also offers general tips and resources for users around the world to reduce the spread of rumours and connect with accurate health information.
“We know that our users are reaching out on WhatsApp more than ever at this time of crisis, whether it’s to friends and loved ones, doctors to patients, or teachers to students. We wanted to provide a simple resource that can help connect people at this time. We are also pleased to be able to partner with the Poynter Institute to help grow the amount of fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp and to support their life saving work to debunk rumors. We will also continue to work directly with health ministries around the world for them to provide updates right within WhatsApp,” said Will Cathcart, Head of WhatsApp.
The four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case were hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail at 5:30 am on Friday. This was after the Supreme Court, in a pre-dawn hearing, brought the curtains down on the gangrape and murder case by dismissing a plea by one of the four against rejection of his second mercy plea by President Ram Nath Kovind.
In an indication of public outrage over the case that had shaken the conscience of an entire nation, several posters were seen outside the Tihar premises in the wee hours on Friday ahead of the hanging with placards and posters reading “thanks to judiciary” and “the morning of justice”.
Earlier, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna rejected the fervent plea of Pawan Gupta that his mercy plea had been wrongly rejected by the President without considering the fact that he was a minor at the time of offence in 2012.
“The consistent view of this court is that scope for review of President’s decision in mercy petitions is very limited,” the bench said.
Bioconon Friday said it has received the establishment inspection report (EIR) from US health regulator for the post-approval and good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspection of its small molecules manufacturing facility in Bengaluru.
“The EIR has been closed with a voluntary action indicated (VAI) classification for the observations, the company spokesperson said in a filing to BSE.
“Biocon has received the EIR from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the post-approval and GMP inspection of its small molecules active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility at 20th KM, Biocon Campus, Bengaluru, conducted between Feb 20 and Feb 26, 2020,” as per the filing.
An Olympiccauldron was ignited on Friday in Japan with a flame carried from Greece ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games, amid concerns that a coronavirus pandemic could disrupt the event planned this summer.
“We will do our utmost in preparing for a safe and secure event,” Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori said at the ceremony at the Matsushima air base of Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.
The officials would work closely with the International Olympic Committee, the government of Japan, the Tokyo metropolitan government, and take into consideration advice from the World Health Organisation, he added.
The arrival of Olympic fires in Japan represents a small victory for the International Olympic Committee and local organisers. The burning flame could be used as a symbol particularly if the games are eventually delayed and a rallying point for the Japanese public.
2020 Summer Olympics also known as Tokyo 2020 is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August, 2020, in Tokyo, Japan. The preliminary events in some sports will begin on 22 July.
Former India opener and domestic legend Wasim Jaffer has said that going into the T20 World Cup, Team India cannot look beyond veteran wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni, if he is fit and in form.
Jaffer, who announced his retirement from all forms of the game earlier this month, claimed Dhoni’s inclusion could ease the pressure on KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant; who are currently sharing the gloves for Team India in limited-overs cricket.
“If Dhoni is fit and in form I think we can’t look beyond him as he’ll be an asset behind the stumps and also lower down the order. It’ll take the pressure of keeping off Rahul and India can play Pant as a batsman too if they want a lefty,” Jaffer said in a tweet.
Dhoni, 38, last played for India at the 2019 World Cup in England where the Men in Blue were knocked out in the semi-finals. Since then, he has been on a sabbatical and is due to appear on the cricket field in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The ICSE 2020 exams for class 10 and ISC 2020 exams for class 12 have been postponed in view of thecoronavirus outbreak, according to a notification released by the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). The revised dates for conduct of the remaining papers will be notified in due course of time, the notice read.
This comes a day after the board chief executive and secretary Gerry Arathoon said the exams would be held as per schedule.
On Wednesday, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Testing Agency of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), and all universities postponed exams until March 31.
“In view of Covid-19 spreading across the country, and with much uncertainty and speculation in the air, the Council, in the interest of the health and well-being of the students and the tesching community, has decided to postpone all ICSE and ISC 2020 exam scheduled to be conducted between the period March 19 to March 31, 2020.
Apple on Wednesday launched the iPad Pro with breakthrough LiDAR Scanner and new Magic Keyboard with Trackpad, along with a new 13-inch MacBook Air that now comes with twice the storage compared to predecessor.
Price of the Apple MacBook Air 2020 starts at Rs 92,990 for the base variant with 256GB solid state drive (SSD) storage.
The 11-inch iPad Pro (Wi-Fi model) starts at Rs 71,900, and the Wi-Fi+Cellular model starts at Rs 85,900.
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at Rs 89,900 for the Wi-Fi model and Rs 103,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
The availability for the India market will be announced at a later date, said the company.
“Combining the most-advanced mobile display with powerful performance, pro cameras, pro audio, the breakthrough LiDAR Scanner and new Magic Keyboard with Trackpad, this is another huge leap forward for iPad,” Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said in a statement.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended a credit line of Rs 60,000 crore to YES Bank to ensure that the bank is able to meet its obligations to depositors as it resumed its full-service operations on Wednesday, according to sources familiar with the development.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday had said the regulator was ready to offer liquidity if required.
“YES Bank has enough liquidity to meet any requirements. If required, the RBI will provide necessary liquidity support to it,” he said.
“Never in the history of banks (in India) have depositors lost money. The point is, depositors’ money is absolutely safe,” Das had said in a conference, adding that the central bank’s support should come as a “comforting factor for depositors”.
However, this is a case of the RBI being the “lender of the last resort”, and, in accordance with the terms of the arrangement, the bank will have to use its immediate liquid assets before it can touch the credit line, sources said. This is perhaps for the first time that the RBI has come with such an arrangement.
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