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From streaming to theatres: How platforms are reaching Indian moviegoers

Amazon MGM Studios' 'Nishaanchi' marks its second theatrical release in India, showing how streaming platforms are now also releasing films in cinemas, not just online

Jamia Millia Islamia starts admissions for distance and online programmes

The CDOE, Jamia Millia Islamia, has released the 2025-26 academic session prospectus and opened admissions for several distance and online mode programmes on the official website at jmi.ucanapply.com

SC asks Centre to set up dedicated online portal to trace missing children

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to create a dedicated online portal under the aegis of the home ministry to trace missing children and investigate such cases. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan underlined the lack of coordination among police authorities entrusted with the job of tracing missing children in states and union territories in the country. The court said the portal could have a dedicated officer from each state who could be the in charge of missing complaints besides disseminate information. The top court outlined the need for a "coordinated effort" to trace missing children and creation of a dedicated online portal to deal with the issue. The bench consequently asked additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, to seek instructions in the matter. The top court previously directed the Centre to issue reminders to several states and union territories to furnish data on missing children cases. NGO Guria Swayam S

India's online home services market to grow 22% to ₹88 bn by FY30: Report

India's online home services market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18-22 per cent to reach Rs 85-88 billion by FY30, driven by a growing urban demand for convenience, reliability and speed, a report has said. Following the widespread adoption of quick commerce, 'Instant Home Services' is emerging as the next frontier in India's digital economy, aiming to create a new habit loop for time-pressed urban consumers, says consultant firm Redseer. India's overall home services market, valued at around Rs 5,100-5,210 billion in FY25, remains dominated by the unorganised sector. "Instant Home Services acts like an on-demand household support system, bridging the gap between informal domestic help and structured service platforms. "...India's home services industry continues to be predominantly unorganised and offline. As of FY2025, online penetration stands at less than 1 per cent of net transaction value, highlighting how deeply entrenched traditional, ..

YouTube expands 'Hype' to 39 countries: What is it, how it works, and more

YouTube's Hype feature lets the viewers on the platform support creators with under 500K subscribers, earn points, and see videos on leaderboards across 39 countries worldwide

RBI to mandate application submissions via Pravaah portal from May 1

RBI on Friday asked all applicants, including Regulated Entities (REs), to use the PRAVAAH platform for submitting applications for regulatory authorisations, licences, and approvals with effect from May 1, 2025. In a statement, the Reserve Bank said it is committed to achieving end-to-end digitization of all internal workflows involved in regulatory approval processes to enhance efficiency, transparency, and timeliness in service delivery. To this end, it had launched PRAVAAH (Platform for Regulatory Application, Validation And Authorisation) portal on May 28, 2024, to streamline online applications for regulatory authorisations, licenses, and approvals ensuring seamless, secure and faster delivery of services in a transparent manner. "With effect from May 01, 2025, all applicants, including Regulated Entities (REs), are advised to use PRAVAAH for submitting applications for regulatory authorisations, licenses, and approvals to the Reserve Bank using the application forms already .

What is ZooWIN: Govt portal to monitor anti-rabies, anti-snake venom stocks

India records an estimated three to four million snake bites annually, resulting in approximately 50,000 deaths

Twitter Down: Several users report massive outage, company yet to respond

X users reported a huge outage today, as Downdetector, an online tracker platform says nearly 2K users from India, 18K from US and 10K from UK reported the issue with website

Australia to tax digital platforms, search engines that don't pay for news

The Australian government said Thursday it will tax large digital platforms and search engines unless they agree to share revenue with Australian news media organisations. The tax would apply from January 1 to tech companies that earn more than 250 million Australian dollars ($160 million) a year in revenue from Australia, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said. They include Meta, Google, Alphabet and ByteDance. The tax would be offset through money paid to Australian media organizations. The size of the tax is not clear. "The real objective ... is not to raise revenue -- we hope not to raise any revenue. The real objective is to incentivise agreement-making between platforms and news media businesses in Australia, Jones told reporters. The move comes after Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced that it would not renew three-year deals to pay Australian news publishers for their content. A previous government ...

66% businesses surveyed paid a bribe in the last 12 months: Report

Around 66 per cent of business firms surveyed across 159 districts admitted that they paid bribes in the last 12 months, a report by online platform LocalCricles said on Sunday. The survey, which received 18,000 responses, found that 54 per cent were forced to pay bribes while 46 per cent paid voluntarily to expedite the process. "As many businesses would vouch anonymously, bribes remain a way of life when wanting to get government departments to speed up the permit or compliance process, even getting duplicate copy of the authority license or anything to do with property matters. 66 per cent of businesses surveyed paid a bribe in the last 12 months," the report said. Only 16 per cent of businesses surveyed claimed that they always managed to get work done without paying a bribe and 19 per cent said they "did not have a need" to do so. "Of businesses that paid bribes in the last 12 months, 54 per cent were forced to do so, while 46 per cent paid it for timely processing. This kind

Udaan's online marketplace net loss narrows to Rs 666 crore in FY24

Hiveloop Technology recorded a loss of Rs 1,080 crore in the financial year (FY) 2023

Google Doodle today: Google celebrates Nov half moon with this fun game

To celebrate the end of the Half Moon cycle, Google has launched an interactive game today. Users can earn points and unlock rewards at various levels by matching moon phases to make a full moon pair

Swiggy introduces 'Swiggy Seal' during the festive season; what is this?

The Swiggy Seal, a badge for restaurants upholding strict hygienic standards, is introduced by Swiggy. Currently based in Pune, the project will eventually expand to more than 650 Indian locations

OTT releases this week: Web series and movies to watch this festive weekend

Festive days are here. Get ready to watch this week's top OTT releases. From romantic-thriller and action-adventure to mythological-epic and dark-fantasy, this week's list has it all

Govt working on welfare and social security benefits for gig workers

A new version of the E-shram portal (E-shram 2.0) will also be launched in the coming week, which will ensure the onboarding of platform workers onto the portal, said Mandaviya

Majority say they will stop using UPI if transaction fee levied: Survey

Around 75 per cent UPI users will stop using it if any transaction charge is levied on the service, a survey by Localcircles said on Sunday. The survey found that 38 per cent of users make over 50 per cent of their payment transactions via UPI instead of debit, credit or any other form of digital transaction. "Only 22 per cent UPI users surveyed are willing to bear a transaction fee on payments, 75 per cent of respondents stated that they will stop using UPI if a transaction fee is introduced," the survey said. The survey comprising three broad areas claims to have received 42,000 responses from 308 districts but the number of replies on each question varied. The questions regarding transaction fee on UPI received 15,598 responses. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) posted a record 57 per cent rise in the volume of transactions and 44 per cent rise in value in the 2023-24 fiscal year, compared to the previous fiscal year. For the first time UPI transactions crossed

Centre asks platform aggregators to register workers on e-Shram portal

Registration on the e-Shram portal is essential for workers to benefit from various social welfare programmes, said Union Ministry of Labour & Employment

India, EU to host conference to discuss threats in online radicalisation

The two-day EU-India Track 1.5 Conference in New Delhi will bring together experts, policymakers, academia

After getting out of hand during Covid, subscription boom faces big test

A majority of US adults surveyed in March said they pay too much for subscriptions

Top 5 OTT releases of this week: Modern Masters to Batman, check list below

Get ready for another power-packed week as many high-octane OTT shows and movies are about to hit different platforms. Check out the top releases of this week