Tech

BENGALURU: Indian food delivery firm Zomato Ltd surged 65.8per cent in its stock market debut on Friday, giving the startup a valuation of 988.49 billion rupees (US$13.28 billion) and setting the stage for other domestic startups that are waiting in the wings with listing plans of their own. The 13-year-old company belongs to the first generation of big home grown startups in the country to go public successfully on Indian bourses. "Zomato is definitely a big event for the startup community, and for the other technology companies that are waiting to come to the capital market," said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research, broking & distribution at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Berkshire Hathaway Inc-backed Paytm, hospitality company Oyo Hotels and ride-hailing firm Ola, both backed by SoftBank, are among other Indian startups set to enter markets. Like U.S.-based DoorDash Inc, Zomato is mainly a food delivery app, having partnered with about 390,000 ... » Learn More about Ant-backed Zomato’s stellar debut sets pace for other Indian tech listings

A Russian court fined US social media firms Facebook and Twitter on Thursday, July 22, for failing to delete illegal content, the latest salvo in a standoff between Russia and Big Tech. Russian authorities have taken steps in recent months to regulate technology giants more closely by imposing small fines for content violations, while also seeking to force foreign companies to open offices in Russia and store Russians' personal data on its territory. Moscow's Tagansky District Court said it had fined Facebook a total of 6 million roubles ($81,320) for two different administrative offenses related to stipulations that website owners delete banned information or face penalties. The court fined Twitter a combined 5.5 million roubles for two offenses. Messaging app Telegram was also ordered to pay a total of 11 million roubles for three offenses, the court said. Facebook, Twitter and Telegram did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Other ... » Learn More about Russia fines Facebook and Twitter for failing to delete content

A pro-China disinformation network is distorting legitimate scientific research to undermine Japan, after Tokyo announced plans to release more than 1 million tonnes of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, beginning in 2023. The radiation levels of the wastewater from Fukushima, the site of a devastating nuclear disaster in 2011, should fall within the safe standards for drinking water. However, the decision to dump it into the ocean has been heavily criticized by environmental groups and neighboring countries, including China. According to new research shared exclusively with Coda Story from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which analyzes global disinformation networks, prominent Chinese journalists, government officials, and a cluster of five pro-China “super-spreader” Twitter accounts are misrepresenting a 2012 simulation of the dispersal of radioactive materials after the Fukushima disaster, in order to claim ... » Learn More about Pro-China disinformation network weaponizes scientific research to attack Japan

SINGAPORE: Singapore has one of the best subscribed COVID-19 tracing, tracking and safe entry webs worldwide.  Then how is it that we are back to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert)? It would be tempting but wrong to blame the technology as being insufficiently intrusive or robust. A look at the recent outbreak suggest we should avoid an over-reliance on tech solutions when incompatible human behaviours are at work. READ: Commentary: COVID-19 has exposed our lack of digital inclusion PEOPLE CAN TURN OFF BLUETOOTH SIGNAL The KTV cluster is a case in point.  Most of these lounges are located in malls and commercial precincts. TraceTogether-SafeEntry (TT/SE) check-in is only required into the complex and not the individual retail premises since mid-May . Though its use is mandatory, there is also nothing stopping someone from turning off the bluetooth on their phone after they have scanned at the entry point thus disabling the tracing capacity. The token on the other ... » Learn More about Commentary: TraceTogether and SafeEntry were never foolproof in averting recent fishery port and KTV clusters