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IRCTC), the primary platform for booking tickets on Indian Railways, faced another significant outage on Thursday, leaving users across the country unable to access the website and mobile app. The outage, caused by scheduled maintenance activities, left many passengers frustrated, as they were unable to book or manage their train tickets. Downdetector reported over 2,500 complaints of the outage at its peak. This issue is not new. Similar disruptions have occurred in recent weeks, including one on December 26 and another on December 31, leading to growing concerns among frequent users about the platform’s reliability. Passengers trying to book tickets during peak hours, such as the Tatkal scheme, expressed their frustration on social media, with some tagging the railway minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw. One user wrote, “Please make a reel on trying to login to IRCTC portal at 10 AM for Tatkal ticket.” Another user shared, “It is 10:11 am… still IRCTC is not opening… IRCTC should be enquired and checked… definitely scams are happening. By the time it opens, all the tickets are gone… @AshwiniVaishnaw @irctc.” The IRCTC website displayed a message confirming the outage, saying, «Due to maintenance activity, e-ticketing service will not be available. Please try later.» This is the fifth such disruption in a short period, prompting calls for better digital infrastructure to support India’s vast railway network.

Meta offices. According to The New York Times, facilities managers across Meta’s offices in Silicon Valley, Texas, and New York were instructed to remove the menstrual products, which had previously been provided for non-binary and transgender employees. As per the reports, this move was part of Meta’s broader strategy to align its internal policies with the anticipated values of the incoming political leadership. The company implemented a range of changes, such as eliminating transgender and nonbinary customisation options from its Messenger app and revising its «Hateful Conduct» guidelines. In a major policy shift, Meta ended its US fact-checking program and introduced a community-based notes system, inspired by the model used on X. CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the move, stating that traditional fact-checking had been perceived as politically biased and had undermined public trust.

Russia-Ukraine war has again proved it, an army commander said on Saturday. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen M K Katiyar, in his address at an investiture ceremony here, without naming any country, also said, «Because our disputes, along northern and western borders, are related to land, therefore for us it becomes even more necessary to win on land». «This is a challenging time for our army. Two major wars are currently underway in the world and going on for a long time. Many countries are directly or indirectly linked to these wars,» he said. Despite efforts by world bodies such as the UN, these wars are neither ending nor getting limited. Today's situation encourages those countries who want to settle disputes through the use of force or fighting, the top army officer said.

offering playe offering players a chance to experience Elden Ring Nightreign ahead of its official launch. A network test will take place in February 2025 to examine the game’s performance and connectivity. The test is available on selected platforms, with early registration required.

Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Pune on Saturday. The minister also said C-DAC plays a major role in this regard. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier organisation of the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for carrying our research and development in IT, electronics and associated areas. Vaishnaw launched one VEGA-based SoC ASIC and two DIR V VEGA processor based development boards designed and developed by C-DAC.

Donald Trump’s inauguration this month, the latest sign that the industry is trying to bolster its relationship with the president-elect ahead of his return to the White House. OpenAI chief executive officer (CEO) Sam Altman plans to go to the swearing-in ceremony on JanU 20, said a company spokesperson. Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also plans to go to the event, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. Uber Technologies Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will be at some of the surrounding festivities, according to the company. Uber also plans to host an inauguration party in Washington with Elon Musk’s X social media firm and The Free Press, a media company.

EMA Partners India on Saturday said it is looking to raise Rs 76 crore on the NSE's Emerge platform through an initial public offering, which will open for public subscription on January 17. The issue with a price band of Rs 117-124 apiece will conclude on January 21. The bidding for anchor investors will open for a day on January 16, the company said in a statement. At the upper end of the price band, the company will raise about Rs 76.01 crore.

The users complained that they were unable to access the platform. While logging, many greeted with an error message that read, «Booking and cancellation for all sites will not be available for the next hour. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused.» One user posted, «IRCTC Down!!! Users are unable to book tickets as the website faces its first outage of 2025! The site had previously gone down just before New Year, marking the second service disruption in less than two weeks.»

Describing him as “hardworking, loyal, empathetic, and exceptionally talented,” she shared his illustrious career journey, which includes roles ranging from manager to CEO at esteemed companies like Swaraj Mazda, Maruti Joint Venture, and others. Taking to LinkedIn, she wrote, “I am using this platform not for myself but to seek a lucrative job offer in the automobile sector (Paint shop) for my father. As he is not active on social media, I, his proud daughter, am sharing his resume and experience on his behalf. With 30-40 years of expertise in the automobile industry, particularly in the paint shop segment, he has served as a Manager, Plant Head, Director, and CEO in top companies.” She emphasized his leadership qualities, calm demeanor, and exceptional communication skills, adding that his juniors, many of whom he trained decades ago, continue to work under his guidance—even switching companies to stay with him.

A One-Time Mandate (OTM) is a directive given by an investor to a mutual fund house to invest a specific lumpsum amount in a particular mutual fund scheme. Unlike systematic investment plans (SIPs), which involve regular, periodic investments, an OTM involves a single, one-off investment. This approach allows investors to deploy their funds immediately based on their financial goals, market outlook, or specific investment opportunities. Also Read | Small cap mutual funds see inflows of over Rs 34,000 crore in 2024

Labour Codes with the objectives of promoting labour welfare by way of “universalisation of wages and social security, ensuring safe and healthy workplace, formalisation of employment, higher female labour force participation, skill development of workers, portability of benefits for migrant workers” and other means. While not yet notified, the Labour Codes replace over 30 central legislations to simplify and modernise labour laws in India, with an emphasis on ease of doing business. I have briefly summarised the Codes below: Code on Wages, 2019 (Wages Code) The Wages Code replaces four legislations including the Payment of Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act, Equal Remuneration Act and Minimum Wages Act.

X (formerly known as Twitter) which will be including the removal of date and time stamps from posts in the main timeline, reported Fortune. According to Fortune, this proposal has actually raised concerns among the staff regarding its potential to exacerbate misinformation as most of the users might lack the crucial context about the timing of posts. Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes that eliminating these timestamps could actually enhance the user interface, although at the same time, many employees worry that it could lead to confusion for casual users who typically scroll without clicking through to individual posts. In addition to this change, X plans to implement an $8 sign-up fee for the new users which could begin as early as the month of February, asserted Fortune. This fee aims to combat bots on the platform but has been eventually criticized as an unusual move for a social media service which traditionally relies on ad revenue from free users.

Quebec said Friday it will send two more firefighting aircraft to California, a day after one of the province’s water bombers collided with a drone while battling the wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area.

Goosebumps: The Vanishing is set for its release on January 10, 2025. Fans of R.L. Stine’s classic stories can expect the entire season to drop at once.

fact-checking operations after Meta's shock announcement that it will halt its US programme. Here are the key facts about how the practice has developed and what could lie ahead for the sector. Years of growth

career catfishing," where young professionals accept job offers but fail to show up on their first day without notifying their employers. This new phenomenon has sparked debates on corporate culture and workplace ethics. According to The New York Post, a survey by CVGenius, a résumé-building platform, found that 34% of Gen Z workers (aged 27 and under) admitted to engaging in career catfishing. The trend, perceived as an assertion of independence, is reportedly a response to frustrations stemming from exhaustive hiring processes, including lengthy applications and delayed responses from hiring managers. «Our survey found that Gen Z workers, in particular, reported opting for creative ways to put themselves first before their jobs,» explained the UK-based researchers, who surveyed 1,000 employees across generations.

Mudrex, a global crypto investment platform, is celebrating its 7th anniversary on January 10 with the announcement of a fee-free trading day on January 12, 2025, for all coins. This special gesture comes as the platform celebrates a year of extraordinary growth, including a 200% increase in its user base, which now exceeds 3 million, and a 20X surge in monthly trading volume, reaching $200 million. Commenting on the occasion, Alankar Saxena, Co-Founder and CPO of Mudrex said, “This fee waiver is our way of thanking our community for their unwavering support and trust”.

UN rights chief insisted Friday that regulating hate speech and harmful content online «is not censorship», days after Meta scrapped its fact-checking programme on Facebook and Instagram citing censorship concerns. «Allowing hate speech and harmful content online has real-world consequences. Regulating such content is not censorship,» Volker Turk said on X. «My Office calls for accountability and governance in the digital space, in line with human rights.»

creative careers are not as viable as other career paths like medicine and tech. They are often dismissed as hobbies and passion projects that lack financial stability, with the struggles of freelancers and artists further perpetuating such beliefs. However, what we tend to often overlook is the long-term success that follows the initial struggle. Having said that, the times are changing. With digitalization, global platforms, innovation, and technology brewing new partnerships, the creative economy is registering unprecedented growth, opening doors for several lucrative opportunities in areas like content creation, design, and branding. So, for those envisioning a creative career, here are 4 myths you need to stop believing to taste success.

Elon Musk's expected hosting of Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, for a discussion on his X platform on Thursday was being watched by the European Commission to check for any spreading of misinformation before next month's German election. The European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) is intended to address illegal content such as hate speech and intentional manipulation to influence elections. X has been under investigation under the DSA since 2023 over suspected dissemination of illegal content and the effectiveness of its measures to combat information manipulation.

Infosys, has come forward to take up the ambitious skill census program to take forward in a more beneficial way to improve the employment opportunities in the state by providing necessary technical assistance, a statement said. For pre-certification of the skills of the candidates as part of the skill census, Infosys, regardless of financial resources, has come forward to provide a digital platform through generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation (APSDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Infosys in the presence of the Minister for Education, Information Technology (IT) and Electronics, Nara Lokesh, here on Friday, a statement said. In a statement, it's mentioned that it is commendable that Infosys has come forward for data pre-validation under corporate social responsibility, Lokesh said. This will certainly make it easy to impart skill development training to the youth as per the market demand after assessing their talent, the minister felt.