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department of telecommunications (DoT) and mobile operators devised a system that can identify and block spoof international calls showing up as Indian numbers. Through this, the government and telcos are seeking to give relief to mobile users who have been getting such calls from cyber criminals posing as police officials, courier company workers and even DoT and Trai officials. Hoax international calls originate outside the country, but cyber criminals manipulate the calling line identity (CLI) to make such calls appear as originating within India. The DoT has directed telecom carriers to block such calls.

summer travel this year, with hospitality and travel services providers noticing buoyant demand. Although the ongoing general elections have had a minor impact on corporate and meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) business, hotels are finding increased retail business with beach destinations still fighting it out with hill stations for the favoured holiday site. «Those in the northern part of the country head to the hills to escape the heat. There is also movement from the cities to nearby tourist or leisure destinations. Industry sources estimate a 30 to 40% increase in the summer travel this year as compared to last year,» Hotel Association of India, president and Radisson Hotel Group chairman, south Asia, KB Kachru said. MakeMyTrip group CEO Rajesh Magow said, «Summer is always one of the biggest quarters of the year in terms of travel intent, and this year too, the buoyancy in the sector continues. We are observing a healthy growth in searches over those recorded last year at this time.»

electronics manufacturing industry is urging the government for a ₹30,000-₹35,000 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for components and sub-assemblies, along with capital expenditure backup to support surging exports of mobile phones and other electronics. «The incentive scheme is needed to support growing demand for electronics components to the tune of $75-$80 billion by 2026, and $300 billion by 2032 to support $300 billion worth of electronics products manufacturing by 2026 and $1.2 trillion by 2032,» the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents top smartphone brands and manufacturing companies, said. The scheme's objective is to boost domestic value addition, especially in mobile phone manufacturing to 35-40%, from 18% now, said ICEA, adding component manufacturing should run parallel to the development of semiconductor ecosystem, currently underway in India. «In confronting its burgeoning semiconductor demand, we must recognise the emergent necessity to pivot from heavy reliance on imports towards fostering an indigenous semiconductor ecosystem, underpinned by localised PCBA operations, focused circuit design, and deepened value addition across product manufacturing,» the industry body said.

Final data across five phases of Lok Sabha elections indicates that 3-4 states have pulled down overall voter turnout, with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan leading the tally. Maharashtra has also reported lower turnout across several seats, but has made up on others, as per full data released by the Election Commission of India on Saturday. Overall, many more Lok Sabha seats have witnessed lower turnout in comparison to 2019. «We are disappointed with the turnout in UP, Bihar and Maharashtra. We expected them to do much better and that has affected overall turnout. Deeper examination of the reasons will be done to understand this dip,» a senior ECI official told ET.

India has the potential to generate around 750 GW of power from solar sources, according to government data. While the country has doubled its solar power installed capacity rapidly to 81.8GW from 40.1GW in FY21, it has only utilised 11% of its potential. However, new schemes targeted at rooftop solar can help ramp up faster. ET takes a look 1)India has a solar power potential of nearly 750 GW

Radisson Hotel Group, the second biggest international chain in India by hotel network and room inventory, plans to open a new hotel every 20 days in the country this year, Nikhil Sharma, the chain’s new managing director, and area senior VP for South Asia told ET. Sharma said the chain, that aims to have a hotel at every two hours of driving distance in India, is also building its presence in religious destinations and will launch the first globally branded hotels in markets such as Vrindavan, Ujjain and Guruvayur. «People are visiting religious destinations far more than pre Covid times. We were the first to launch a branded hotel in Ayodhya before the Ram temple inauguration. The hotel clocked an average daily rate of Rs 1.15 lakh in the first month. It is still sold out on most days and the average daily rate is Rs 30,000 now,” said Sharma.

CG Foods, which makes India's third-largest instant noodles brand Wai Wai, is for the first time, reducing salt in its noodles by anywhere between 10% and 25% starting next quarter with select variants, Manvendra Amber Shukla, global chief executive officer of CG Foods, owned by Nepal-based diversified CG Corp Global, said in an interview. The move comes amid tighter regulation and heightened scrutiny on packaged foods. «What the government is doing (in terms of regulation) is definitely welcome; it is positive for consumers, and positive for the ecosystem and a responsibility of all organisations towards consumers,» he said. The salt reduction process will start with the spicier packs of Wai Wai, according to Shukla. «In India, starting next quarter, we will start the first phase of reduction of salt by 10% starting with spicy noodles. As we move forward, we will reduce salt up to 25% in other variants of our portfolio,» he said. Additionally, the group is working on plans to introduce healthier variants such as millet noodles and renewing focus on atta noodles.

Narendra Modi claimed on Sunday that people have decided to elect him for a third term in these Lok Sabha elections due to "good intentions, welfare policies and dedication to the nation" of his dispensation in the last decade. While campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, he alleged that the erstwhile Samajwadi Party government in the state would even release terrorists for appeasement politics. Modi addressed BJP public meetings in Mirzapur, Ghosi and Bansgaon in UP on Sunday where he attacked the Samajwadi Party and Congress on law and order issues and alleged plans of giving reservation to Muslims from the SC, ST and OBC quota.

Karan Bhagat, founder, managing director and chief executive officer of wealth and alternatives-focused asset firm 360 ONE, bought two sea-view luxury apartments in a super-premium residential tower in Mumbai’s plush Worli locality for a total Rs 170 crore. The apartments cover 12,900 sq ft built up area on the 45th and 46th floors of Three Sixty West project on Dr. Annie Besant Road. Bhagat will also get exclusive access to eight car parking slots. The deal was struck at about Rs 1.31 lakh per sq ft, pushing it higher in the tally of most expensive deals on per sq ft basis anywhere in the country.

Severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' is likely to make landfall between Bangladesh's Khepupara and West Bengal's Sagar Island by midnight Sunday with maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 km per hour, gusting to 135 kmph, the India Meteorological Department said. More than 300 flights have been cancelled with the Kolkata airport suspending operations for about 21 hours starting 12 PM Sunday. All local trains totalling around 59 have also been cancelled from 11pm Sunday. Ahead of the final and seventh phase of polls, BJP and Trinamool Congress have cancelled their political programmes on Sunday and Monday.

genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a «significant win» for India and the global South ,comprising mainly low-income and developing countries, the commerce and industry ministry said on Sunday. The treaty will establish in international law a new disclosure requirement for patent applicants whose inventions are based on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. This will also offer added protection to Indian generic resources and traditional knowledge in countries that don't currently have disclosure obligations. The signing of the treaty on Friday capped two decades of negotiations. It was adopted at the multilateral fora with a consensus among more than 150 countries, the ministry said in a statement.

Indian Army successfully defused three Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Imphal East district. Defence sources said the IEDs were discovered on the road connecting Nongdam Tangkhul and Etham Tangkhul villages, near Maphou Dam. A defence spokesperson said during a routine area surveillance operation, army personnel noticed the three IEDs placed in tandem, along the road. The army column acted swiftly and cordoned the area. Subsequently the bomb disposal squad arrived and defused the IEDs.

high culture are consumed by most people in their easily-chewable, lowest common denominator formats. Nothing wrong with that.

Lok Sabha election in Punjab this time is unprecedented compared to the last few decades, as many prominent Sikh leaders are missing from the poll scene in multi-cornered contests and a new player -AAP — is in power in the state. Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who was a dominating face of Punjab politics in the state for the last two decades, is missing from the poll scene this season. Owing to his ill health, Singh has been keeping away. But family members of SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who passed away last year, and Amarinder Singh — Badal's daughter in-law Harsimrat Kaur and Amarinder Singh's wife Perneet Kaur are contesting elections.

cybercrime complaints being registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal run by the ministry of home affairs between January to April 2024. According to Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), on an average 7,000 cybercrime complaints were registered per day in May 2024, a jump of 113.7% between 2021-2023 and 60.9% from 2022-2023, and 85%of them were financial online frauds. I4C is a body established by the MHA to provide a framework for law enforcement agencies to deal with cybercrime. The massive rise in number of cases can be seen between 2019 to 2024 with 26,049 complaints being registered in 2019, 2,57,777 in 2020, 4,52,414 in 2021, 9,66,790 in 2022, 15,56,218 complaints in 2023 and 7,40,957 in 2024 in the first four months of the year. Most victims were targeted using online investment fraud, gaming apps, algorithm manipulations, illegal lending apps, sextortion, and OTP forwards among others. Over 1 lakh investment scam cases were reported in 2023, according to I4C. In cases of digital arrests, Indians lost ₹1.2 billion in 4,599 cases in the first four months of 2024. Trading scam accounted for 20,043 cases in which ₹14.2 bn were lost to cyber criminals during the same period.

ALSO READ: Remal cyclone: When and where will cyclonic storm make landfall? All FAQs answered hereIMD said, as quoted by news agency ANI, “Cyclone Remal over the North Bay of Bengal is to move northwards about 130 km southeast of Sagar Islands (WB), 140 km southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh), 140 km southeast of Canning (WB), 160 km southwest of Mongla of Bangladesh and cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts by midnight today with a max wind speed of 110-120 kmph."With the ‘Cyclone Remal' to hit West Bengal coast, state Governor CV Ananda Bose chaired an emergency review meeting.ALSO READ: Cyclone Remal Alert! How India, Bangladesh are bracing for the year's first cyclone? Explained“As you know Cyclone Remal is expected any time. Bulletins are being issued from time to time and the whole of West Bengal is prepared.

Gemini is designed to assist with drafting messages, brainstorming, event planning, or simply engaging in entertaining conversations. Its responses are optimized for brevity. Unlike Google Assistant in the now-defunct Google Allo, Gemini is strictly for one-on-one interactions and cannot be incorporated into group chats.The feature supports Gemini Extensions such as Workspace (@Gmail, etc.), @YouTube, and @GoogleMaps, though the YouTube Music extension is notably absent.

Also Read: Modi says INDIA bloc performing 'mujra' for vote bank; Priyanka Gandhi quips 'no PM ever used such words'Soon, realising Nitish Kumar's gaffe, one of the party members who were present on the dais tried correcting his flub.However, Nitish, who seems to have not realised the gaffe, said, “Narendra Modi is already a Prime Minister...That's why I am saying that he may keep moving."Several social media users have reacted to Nitish Kumar's slip of tongue. Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar hit out at Opposition in the state and questioned what was there even if they (RJD) got the opportunity before we (NDA) come to power in 2005.

KKR vs SRH IPL 2024: Abhishek Sharma will open for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 final against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He has provided multiple solid starts to Hyderabad and is among the top six scoring batters in the tournament. But, as the Orange Army goes against Kolkata at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, Abhishek Sharma made a special request to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans.

ALSO READ: How ace shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa is training smart for the 2024 OlympicsHe added, Just to clarify, I am not injured but I don't want to take any risk during the Olympic year so had to take the decision. Once I feel its fully recovered, I will get back to competitions.

career change, Priyanka Gupta has shattered all such stereotypes. Gupta, who is a graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute Of Technology Kanpur shocked the world, by making a bold career move — she left her job at a big MNC to pursue her dream of being a fitness coach. Her LinkedIn post went viral. In the post she talked about the difficult decision she took and how, despite tasting failure on her first startup, she decided to persevere. «I left a big MNC and my IIT pedigree attachment. Now, I help professionals stay fit and live longer. Like many of my fellow IIT buddies, right after graduation, I started chasing that golden ticket to financial stability. I was responsible for supporting my family and this was the most apparent path. After 5 years, when I took my first break from work, I got bugged by entrepreneurship. Don't know how. I wanted to start a home-cooked food delivery business. It didn't start. I could not get enough courage. And got dragged into 9-to-5 again,» she wrote.