Author Archives: Loknath Das

Cash crisis forces secondary schools in England to cut 15,000 staff

Analysis of government figures shows half of the staff lost from schools were classroom teachers. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Secondary schools in England have lost 15,000 teachers and teaching assistants in the last two years, resulting in bigger classes and less individual attention for pupils, according to teachers’ leaders. Unions say the job cuts are the result of £2.8bn of real-terms funding ... Read More »

Cheques, balances, degrees: How will Budget 2018 impact higher education?

(Getty Images/iStockphoto) The union budget 2018 has big-ticket plans for higher education. It has earmarked Rs 85,000 crore. There are plans for 24 new medical colleges and hospitals, 18 schools of planning and architecture (SPA) and research fellowships. It has also introduced the Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education scheme to grant loans to higher education institutions. Is it enough ... Read More »

Judge who convicted Talwars moves SC, wants personal comments against him removed from HC judgment

PTI The trial court judge who convicted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the twin murder cases of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in November 2013 has moved the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court judges who overturned the conviction, ANI reported. The trial court judge, Shyam Lal, who is now retired, has moved the Supreme Court asking that “personal ... Read More »

Jio Cashback Offer, Amazon and Flipkart Sales, WhatsApp for Business, and More News This Week

HIGHLIGHTS Amazon and Flipkart are both holding big sales WhatsApp for business has been launched in some regions OnePlus confirmed up to 40,000 users were affected by a credit card leak Welcome back to our weekly news roundup. This was a week of news about deals, as both Flipkart and Amazon are running sales. It’s lining up to be a good time for deal-hunters, ... Read More »

Contrite Facebook Executives Seek to Ward Off More European Rules

Facebook executives are fanning out across Europe this week to address the social media giant’s slow response to abuses on its platform, seeking to avoid further legislation along the lines of a new hate speech law in Germany it says goes too far. Facebook’s communications and public policy chief used an annual meeting in Munich of some of Europe and Silicon ... Read More »

Inside Facebook’s Year of Reckoning

HIGHLIGHTS Facebook has stepped back from choosing news on the site It doesn’t want to look politically biased Some see attention maximising algorithm as the problem Mark Zuckerberg’s crusade to fix Facebook this year is beginning with a startling retreat. The social network, its chief executive said, would step back from its role in choosing the news that 2 billion users see ... Read More »

Budget 2018: Customs Duty on Mobile Phone Imports Increased to 20 Percent

The Budget 2018 announcement of increase in custom duty on mobile phone imports was largely expected HIGHLIGHTS In Budget 2018, customs duty on phones raised to 20 percent Apple most likely to be affected as Xiaomi, Samsung mostly make in India This was first introduced in July at 10% and raised in December to 15% In the Union Budget 2018 speech, the ... Read More »

Honor 7X Now Being Manufactured in India, Says Huawei

Chinese electronics giant Huawei on Wednesday announced that it has started manufacturing its mid-priced segment device Honor 7X at a facility in Tamil Nadu, in line with its commitment towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Honor is manufacturing the devices in partnership with Flex, a Sketch-to-Scale solutions provider, at Flex’s plant in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. “Honor and Huawei will keep evaluating the demands for the ... Read More »

InFocus A2 With 4G VoLTE Support Launched in India: Price, Specifications

HIGHLIGHTS InFocus A2 price in India is Rs. 5,199 Smartphone comes with 2GB RAM Launch offers include 30GB data on Reliance Jio InFocus A2 is the latest handset to be launched by the company in the entry-level smartphone segment in India. The InFocus A2 has been priced at Rs. 5,199 and will be available via offline retailers. The key highlight of ... Read More »

These six tech companies are worth $500 billion, and their earnings are about to sway the market

As 2017 dawned, two tech companies were worth $500 billion on their own. That number has since tripled, forming a group of half a dozen tech companies worth at least half a trillion dollars that dominate the markets as their products weave their way into every facet of consumers’ lives. All six companies — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, +0.20%  , Alphabet Inc.GOOGL, +0.41% GOOG, +0.54%  , ... Read More »