Technical Information

Elon Musk asked a US judge on Friday to throw out a $258 billion (roughly Rs. 21,20,200 crore) racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency Dogecoin . In an evening filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for Musk and his electric car company Tesla called the lawsuit by Dogecoin investors a "fanciful work of fiction" over Musk's "innocuous and often silly tweets" about Dogecoin. The lawyers said the investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and that his statements such as "Dogecoin Rulz" and "no highs, no lows, only Doge" were too vague to support a fraud claim. "There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,200 crore)," Musk's lawyers said. "This court should put a stop to plaintif...

General Motors plans to phase out widely-used Apple CarPlay and Android Auto technologies that allow drivers to bypass a vehicle's infotainment systems, shifting instead to built-in infotainment systems developed with Google for future electric vehicles. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto systems allow users to mirror their smartphone screens in a vehicle's dashboard display. GM 's decision to stop offering those systems in future electric vehicles , starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer, could help the automaker capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs. GM is designing the on-board navigation and infotainment systems for future EVs in partnership with Alphabet 's Google . The decision to phase out CarPlay smartphone projection technology is a setback for Apple Inc in the competition with Google to capture more real estate on vehicle dashboards in North America. GM's Chevrolet brand in the past boasted of offering more models with CarPlay or Andr...

China's cyberspace regulator will conduct a cybersecurity review of products sold in the country by US memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology, the regulator said on Friday. The move, which comes amid a spat over chip technology between Washington and Beijing, is aimed at protecting the security of the supply chain for critical information infrastructure, prevent hidden risks and safeguard national security, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a brief statement. It gave no other details, including which Micron products it was reviewing. The United States has imposed a series of export controls on chipmaking technology to China for fear it could be used to produce chips for applications such as artificial intelligence which could be used by China's military, and blacklisted a number of China's largest chip firms, including Micron rival Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd . Micron, one of the world's largest memory chip makers, did not respond immediatel...

Japan said on Friday it will restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning its technology trade controls with a US push to curb China's ability to make advanced chips. Japan, home to major global chip equipment makers such as Nikon and Tokyo Electron, did not specify China as the target of the measures, saying equipment makers would need to seek export permission for all regions. "We are fulfilling our responsibility as a technological nation to contribute to international peace and stability," Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura told a news conference. Japan wants to stop advanced technology being used for military purposes and does not have one specific country in mind with the measures, he said. But Japan's decision is seen as a major diplomatic win for US President Joe Biden's administration, which in October announced sweeping restrictions on China's access to US chipmaking tech to slow its t...

Air India, until recently tied to an antiquated manual pricing system when setting airfares, is shifting to algorithm-based software long used by rivals to help it squeeze out more revenue from each flight. In another sign of the formerly government-owned carrier's whirlwind transformation under its new owner Tata Group, Air India is testing ChatGPT , OpenAI's popular chatbot, to replace paper-based practices. The push to modernise underscores the decay left by years of under-investment as Air India looks to shed decades-old bureaucratic processes and recapture customers from Dubai's Emirates and powerful domestic rival IndiGo. "Frankly the system is almost so bad it's good," Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson told Indian airline executives last week, adding that this offered the chance to start from scratch rather than "jury-rig" existing architecture. Air India is not only reworking every aspect of operations - from systems to supply chai...

A US judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc that alleged its Facebook social media business drove a now-defunct photo software application startup out of business in violation of federal antitrust law. US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn, New York, federal court said in her 67-page order that Phhhoto Inc had failed to timely bring its claims under relevant US antitrust law that sets a four-year window and under New York state competition provisions that have a three-year statute of limitation. "Phhhoto has failed in its 69-page amended complaint of 222 paragraphs to allege sufficient facts that cure the untimeliness of all of its federal claims," Matsumoto wrote. She said, "no exception applies to toll the limitations periods." The court declined to allow Phhhoto to fine-tune its case and bring another complaint. Lawyers for Phhhoto at plaintiffs' firm Hausfeld did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Thu...

The government today came out with Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 which seeks to boost the country's exports to $2 trillion by 2030 by shifting from incentives to remission and entitlement based regime. Unlike the practice of announcing 5-year FTP, the latest policy has no end date and will be updated as and when needed, said Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi while briefing media about FTP 2023. Earlier, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal unveiled FTP 2023 which will come into effect from April 1, 2023. The DGFT also said India is likely to end this fiscal year with total exports of  $760-770 billion as against $676 billion in 2021-22. The last five-year policy came into force on April 1, 2015. However, it was extended several times in the wake of coronavirus outbreak and subsequent disruptions in economic activities globally. The last extension was given in September 2022 till March 31, 2023. The new FTP identifies four new Towns of Export Exc...

E3 2023 has been cancelled — it's not happening in any form, in-person or digital, this year. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed the news on Twitter, following an original report from IGN based on emails sent to its members. It mentioned that while E3 was a beloved brand, the 2023 edition ‘simply did not garner the sustained interest necessary' to execute the event in a manner that would display the size and strength of the games industry. In January, the big three — PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo — pulled out of the summer video game event, leaving barely any major publishers. Following IGN's report , E3 2023 organiser ReedPop issued a public statement. “This was a difficult decision because of all the effort we and our partners put toward making this event happen, but we had to do what's right for the industry and what's right for E3 ,” Kyle Marsden-Kish, Global VP of gaming, ReedPop said, adding that a lot of publishers and developers int...

The rupee appreciated by 24 paise to 82.10 in early trade on Friday following foreign fund inflows and a fall in crude oil prices. Gains in the local stock market and weakness in the US dollar in early Asian trade also boosted the rupee sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened higher at 82.12 and stayed in the green in early trade. It moved in a range of 82.16 to 82.10 in early deals. The rupee had closed lower by 18 paise at 82.34 to a dollar on Wednesday. The forex market was closed on Thursday for Ram Navami. FIIs have turned net buyers in Indian markets following the ebbing of the banking contagion fears. The fact that there have been no further bank failures or major stress in the system has boosted FII flows, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rebounded from early lows to trade 0.05 per cent higher at 102.20...

What are the biggest movies releasing in April 2023? Salman Khan headlines the biggest offering in Indian cinema this month, with Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan , a new action-packed affair which sees him as a self-appointed vigilante hoping to rid crime of the city. Directed by Farhad Samji ( Pop Kaun ), it is a remake of the 2014 Tamil film Veeram and is slated to release on April 21 in theatres. Follow that up with a mythological drama charting the epic love story of Shakuntala and King Dushyant, drawn from the pages of Mahabharata. Samantha Ruth Prabhu — best known for Super Deluxe — leads the cast of the Telugu film Shaakuntalam , hitting theatres on April 14. Coming to the Hollywood side, we've got The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the main draw of which has been the discourse surrounding Chris Pratt's voice, which doesn't sound high-pitched or Italian enough. Director duo Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!), however, continue repeatedly defending their voice...

Alibaba Group said on Thursday it will look to monetise non-core assets and consider giving up control of some businesses, as the Chinese tech conglomerate reinvents itself after a regulatory crackdown that wiped 70 percent off its shares. Group CEO Daniel Zhang said the company's breakup into separate businesses will allow its units to become more agile and eventually list on their own. His comments come two days after Alibaba announced its largest restructuring in the company's history, which will see it change into a holding company structure with six business units, each with their own boards and CEOs. "Alibaba will be more of the nature of an asset and capital operator than a business operator, in relation to the business group companies," Zhang told investors on a conference call on Thursday. On the same call, Alibaba CFO Toby Xu said the group would "continue to evaluate the strategic importance of these companies" and "decide whether or not...

The government has exempted basic customs duty on all drugs and food for special medical purposes imported for personal use for treatment of rare diseases. The import duty waiver will come into effect from April 1. Also, the government has exempted Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), used in treatment of various cancers, from basic customs duty. Drugs/Medicines generally attract basic customs duty of 10 per cent, while some categories of life saving drugs/vaccines attract a concessional rate of 5 per cent or Nil. "The Central Government has given full exemption from basic customs duty on all drugs and Food for Special Medical Purposes imported for personal use for treatment of all Rare Diseases listed under the National Policy for Rare Diseases 2021," a finance ministry statement said. Food for Special Medical Purposes is a food formulation intended to provide nutritional support to persons who suffer from a specific disease, disorder or a medical condition, as a part of their die...

Alibaba Group said today it will look to monetise non-core assets and consider giving up control of some businesses, as the Chinese tech conglomerate reinvents itself after a regulatory crackdown that wiped 70% off its shares. Group CEO Daniel Zhang said the company's breakup into separate businesses will allow its units to become more agile and eventually list on their own. His comments come two days after Alibaba announced its largest restructuring in the company's history, which will see it change into a holding company structure with six business units, each with their own boards and CEOs. "Alibaba will be more of the nature of an asset and capital operator than a business operator, in relation to the business group companies," Zhang told investors on a conference call on Thursday. On the same call, Alibaba CFO Toby Xu said the group would "continue to evaluate the strategic importance of these companies" and "decide whether or not to continue t...

Stock markets BSE and NSE will remain close today on the account of Ram Navami. According to the Bombay Stock Exchange website, the equity segment, equity derivative segment, the SLB segment and the currency derivatives segment will remain shut today. There will be no trading on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) for the entire session today. The stock markets will reopen on Friday, March 31. Trading in Commodity Derivatives Segment and Electronic Gold Receipts (EGR) Segment will also remain shut on Ram Navami only in the morning session. However, trading in these segments will be open from 5.00 pm for the evening session. According to the list of trading holidays on BSE website, this is the second stock market holiday in the month of March 2023. Earlier, the stock market was closed on March 7, 2023 on the occasion of Holi. In the month of April 2023, according to BSE website, the stock market will remain closed for three days. On April 4, the market will...

OnePlus is all set to launch the successor to Nord CE 2 Lite in India on April 4. The company has confirmed to launch the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G on the above-mentioned date. A teaser page for the phone is already live on the OnePlus India website. The site has revealed its colour variants and key specifications. Meanwhile, a reliable tipster has now tipped the expected price of the upcoming smartphone in India. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite will be powered by a Snapdragon 695 5G SoC. Tipster Abhishek Yadav (Twitter: @yabhishekhd) has tipped that the upcoming OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G will start at Rs. 21,999 in India. However, the storage variants of the upcoming smartphone are yet to be known. It is tipped to pack 8GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage. The company has also shared that the phone will be equipped with a 5,000mAh battery with 67W fast charging support. Additionally, the phone will come in Pastel Lime and Chromatic Gray colour options. A recent report also suggest...

All the ten listed Adani Group stocks were trading in the positive territory on Wednesday after two days of decline. Shares of Adani Enterprises jumped 5.46 per cent, Adani Power climbed 4.98 per cent, Adani Ports (4.70 per cent), Adani Wilmar (4.22 per cent) and Adani Green Energy (4.15 per cent) on the BSE. The stock of NDTV advanced 3.73 per cent, Adani Transmission went up by 2 per cent, Adani Total Gas (2 per cent), Ambuja Cements (1.94 per cent) and ACC (1.92 per cent). Shares of all the ten listed firms of Adani Group ended lower for the second day in a row on Tuesday, with Adani Enterprises tumbling 7 per cent. The group stocks were down on Tuesday amid reports on debt payment not matching with pledged shares data. Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Robbie Singh on Tuesday said stock exchanges update data on promoter share pledges at the end of the quarter, as he tried to clarify on present data not matching with the conglomerate's statement of repaying all the USD 2.15 billi...

The Last of Us Part I was finally released on PC on Tuesday, March 28, and it's already getting bombarded with negative Steam reviews. At the time of writing, the game has a 33 percent positive rating, mainly owing to the broken state it was released in. Since its launch, there have been multiple reports in regard to performance issues, ranging from hard crashes, stuttering, poor optimisation, and long loading times. Developer Naughty Dog remade its 2013 magnum opus for the PS5 last year and originally planned on porting it to PC on March 3. However, it was then delayed to March 28 , in light of ensuring that the game debuts in ‘the best shape possible'. Sadly, things don't seem to have gone according to plan. In a tweet, Naughty Dog confirmed that it's ‘actively investigating' the issues. “We will continue to update you, but our team is prioritizing updates and will address issues in upcoming patches,” it reads. Prior to its launch, it seems that media outlets ...

Shares opened higher today, aided by broad-based gains across sectors, while lingering concerns over the ongoing global banking crisis kept the mood cautious. The Nifty 50 index was up 0.33% at 17,008.20 as of 9:42 a.m. IST. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.28% to 57,772.50. Analysts expect high volatility in Wednesday's session ahead of the March derivatives series monthly expiry. Twelve of the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with high weightage financials and information technology rising 0.4% each. The broader Asian equity indexes rose, aided by Alibaba, which jumped 15% in Hong Kong on plans to split into six units and explore fundraisings or listings. The Nifty 50 fell on Tuesday, as the sell-off in Adani group stocks soured the mood. Two of the Adani group stocks in the Nifty 50, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports, rose over 1.5% and were among the top gainers. The group's stocks fell on Tuesday after a report said the conglomerate was seeking to renegotiate terms ...

Asus has launched the Strix Scar 16 and Strix Scar 18 gaming laptops in India. These new models debuted at CES 2023. Both laptops feature the latest Intel 13th Gen CPUs and Nvidia's 40-series GPUs. Asus has also launched updated models of its Zephyrus M16 , Strix Scar 17 , and Zephyrus Duo 16 in India. The latter two laptops are based on AMD's latest Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. Out of these, the Strix Scar 16 and Strix Scar 18 are the brand new models that feature a fresh design and per-key RGB illumination. Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, ROG Strix Scar 18, Zephyrus M16, ROG Strix Scar 17, Zephyrus Duo 16 price in India The Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 has a starting price of Rs. 2,79,990, while the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 starts at Rs. 2,79,990. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 starts at Rs. 2,69,990. The new Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 has a starting price of Rs. 2,99,990, and finally the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 starts at a whopping Rs. 4,29,990. All the new laptops are available for purchase throug...