KOLKATA, India — Partha Paul, 46, a self-employed businessman in Kolkata’s packaging industry, woke up to a new reality during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India. “I supply packaging materials for garments and other apparel, and there was a robust demand for my products before the pandemic,” Paul told Zenger News. “However, from […]

ACCRA, Ghana — All his life, Solomon Quao Kummey, 72, from Nungua in the Greater Accra region in Ghana, had never participated in an anti-government demonstration. But on Aug. 4, aided by a walking stick, he joined thousands of young people in the capital Accra protesting the country’s alleged “bad” leadership. “This is an opportunity I […]

NOIDA, India — India’s third-biggest software solutions company, HCL Technologies, announced on Aug. 17 that it had signed a five-year deal with German multinational chemical company Wacker Chemie. The deal is aimed at establishing a modernized digital workspace and improving quality-of-service delivery. Wacker Chemie operates as many as 26 production sites around the world. The 107-year-old multinational’s […]

NEW DELHI — The Indian government on Aug. 17 announced tax refund rates for 8,555 products to enhance trade to international markets. As much as INR 12,454 crore ($1.67 billion) has been earmarked for refunds for the current fiscal year under the scheme known as Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products. “The Remission of […]

WASHINGTON — The degree of introversion or extraversion and gender of a person may be linked to their online interaction patterns and determine whether they prefer interacting with a system rather than with other people, as per a new study. The findings were published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. Researchers found that people considered websites […]

WASHINGTON — There is a 59 percent chance the short-lived radioactive elements that went into making the Earth’s solar system were the legacy of a massive dying star, and significantly greater odds suggest they came from multiple sources, a new study has found. A study of the Ophiuchus star-forming complex has offered new insights into […]

NEW DELHI — American social media conglomerate Facebook issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India’s leading opposition political party, the Indian National Congress, on Aug. 17. The notice was under a complaint regarding a video posted on Instagram by Gandhi, where the parents’ identity of a minor victim of sexual assault had been disclosed. […]

EAST GODAVARI, India — As a protest against Twitter’s action of suspending Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s account, politician G.V. Sri Raj fried a quail bird symbolizing the Twitter bird. He couriered it to the Twitter headquarters in Mumbai on Aug. 16. “Though Twitter had restored the account of Rahul Gandhi, they protested to showcase their anger over […]

WASHINGTON — American tech giant Google has officially launched the Pixel 5A 5G after the phone was announced in April 2021. It comes with a small list of updated features compared to its 4A 5G predecessor, including a slightly bigger screen, a much bigger battery, and an IP67 rating for water resistance. “The phone arrives on Aug. 26 […]

PUNE, India — Indian vaccine manufacturer and immuno-biologicals Serum Institute of India (SII) has acquired a 50 percent stake of Schott Kaisha to become Schotts joint venture partner and secure pharma packaging supply. Serum Institute of India announced this acquisition on Aug. 17. “Securing supply chain is of strategic importance. As a longtime customer, we use their vials, […]

WASHINGTON — Amid the rapidly evolving security situation in Afghanistan, social media giant Twitter on Aug. 17 said they would continue to enforce their rules on content concerning the war-torn country and review posts that glorify violence and violate their regulations. Violence surged in Afghanistan after U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops began to withdraw in May. […]

WASHINGTON — Online dating app Tinder will soon be making its ID Verification option available to all users worldwide. “Tinder is announcing it will make ID Verification available to members around the world in the coming quarters,” said Tinder in a press release. “Tinder will take into consideration expert recommendations, input from our members, what documents are most appropriate […]

NEW DELHI — Facebook has initiated action against posts and accounts affiliated with the Taliban because the social media giant identifies the outfit as a terrorist organization under United States law. In a statement released on Aug. 17, Facebook said it has started action against social media accounts affiliated to the Taliban, including posts and videos circulating on […]

NEW DELHI — Teenagers and adults in 18 countries believe perceptions of online civility have deteriorated one year into the global pandemic, with respondents in Poland, Philippines, Italy, Germany, and Hungary reporting the sharpest net-negative sentiment, a new Microsoft research shows. This latest study, “Civility, Safety and Interaction Online 2021,” polled teens aged 13 to 17 and adults […]

WASHINGTON — American space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Aug. 17 announced that scientists had spotted a previously unrecognized feature of our Milky Way galaxy. A contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds is sticking out of one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms like a splinter poking out from a plank […]