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Brazil suspends Whatsapp Payment Service

24Jun By AdityaNo Comments

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Brazil suspends Whatsapp Payment Service

Brazil's central bank ordered Visa and Mastercard to suspend a joint project with WhatsApp to roll out digital payments within the popular messaging service, over fears it would be anti-competitive. Brazil, which has the second-most WhatsApp users worldwide after India, was the pilot country for the platform's new integrated payments feature, which it launched on June 15 with an eye to rolling it out worldwide. But the central bank, which regulates payment systems in Brazil, put the new feature on hold indefinitely. "The reason for the central bank's decision is to preserve an adequate competitive environment, ensuring an interoperable, fast, secure, transparent, open and economical payment system," it said in a statement. WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, is the most popul...

Facebook Launched WhatsApp Payment Service in Brazil

15Jun By AnkitaNo Comments

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Facebook Launched WhatsApp Payment Service in Brazil

SAO PAULO, 15th June 2020 -- Facebook launched its WhatsApp payment service in Brazil today. With the addition of Visa’s trusted payment technology, WhatsApp users will now be able to swiftly and securely send and receive money to family and friends, and to make purchases from small businesses on the popular global messaging service. Payments on WhatsApp will allow users to send money to individuals or local businesses within a chat, attaching payment as they would a photo or video. WhatsApp tested the payment system in India beginning in 2018. The Brazil launch will be the first nationwide rollout and will introduce the ability to directly pay a business. The company has over 120 million individual users in Brazil, its second-largest market behind India. “WhatsApp is heavi...

Facebook fires employee who tweeted over coworker not supporting Protest

13Jun By AdityaNo Comments

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Facebook fires employee who tweeted over coworker not supporting Protest

San Francisco, June 13, 2020: A Facebook employee lost his job after he tweeted about his co-worker not cooperating with him for the silent Black Lives Matter protest within the company. Brandon Dail, who worked as an engineer at Facebook, tweeted that he lost his job after he asked another co-worker to add a Black Lives Matter banner on an open source website developed by Facebook. "In the interest of transparency, I was let go for calling out an employee's inaction here on Twitter. I stand by what I said. They didn't give me the chance to quit," Dail tweeted, He mentioned the employee by name, saying that "intentionally not making a statement is already political". Facebook confirmed to CNET that that "Dail's characterization of his firing was accurate" but didn't provide fur...

Mark Zuckerberg promises a review of facebook content policies

6Jun By NitishNo Comments

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Mark Zuckerberg promises a review of facebook content policies

Facebook founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to review the content policies of the social media platform that led to its decision to not moderate a post by President Trump. The announcement, which came in the form of a letter to employees, appeared aimed at quelling anger inside the company that was so severe it prompted 5,500 employees to complain and third to resign. The outrage was sparked when Zuckerberg said Facebook would not remove or flag Trump's recent posts that appeared to encourage violence against those protesting police racism. “I know many of you think we should have labelled the President's posts in some way last week,” Zuckerberg wrote. “We're going to review our policies allowing discussion and threats of state use of force to see if there are any amend...

4Jun By reutersNo Comments

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SoftBank launches $100 mln fund investing in ‘people of colour’

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp is launching a $100 million fund to invest in “companies led by founders and entrepreneurs of colour”, in the latest corporate action as protests roil the United States. Described as SoftBank’s bid to improve diversity, “we have to put money behind it, set plans, and hold ourselves accountable,” SoftBank’s Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure, who will head the fund, wrote in a letter to employees on Wednesday. Named the “Opportunity Growth Fund” and focused on African Americans and Latinos in the U.S. it is, SoftBank says, the largest fund of its kind. It will invest in entrepreneurs “from communities that face systemic disadvantages in building and scaling their businesses,” Claure wrote. SoftBank also runs the $100 billion Vision Fund,...

Facebook employees criticize Mark Zuckerberg for being Neutral over Protest

2Jun By AdityaNo Comments

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Facebook employees criticize Mark Zuckerberg for being Neutral over Protest

New York, Jun 2, 2020: Some Facebook employees criticize Facebook founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg's inaction over President Donald Trump post that suggested protesters in Minneapolis could be shot. While arch-rival of Facebook, Twitter took the stand and placed a warning on President's tweet about the protests “when the looting starts the shooting starts,” while Facebook founder Zuckerberg took the neutral stand and leave it to US authorities. “I know many people are upset that we've left the President's posts up, but our position is that we should enable as much expression as possible unless it will cause an imminent risk of specific harms or dangers spelled out in clear policies,” Zuckerberg wrote. The tweets of President Trump evoked the civil-rights era by borrowing a phrase...

29May By AnkitaNo Comments

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Google gives Emergency Funds to 5,300 local Online News Organizations

New York, May 29th, 2020: 5,300 small and medium local newsrooms around the world have been selected by Google to receive emergency funding from $5,000-$30,000 (approximately Rs 3.7 lakh-Rs 22.7 lakh). Covid-19 has upended the news industry, hitting local news particularly hard with job losses, furloughs, cutbacks, and even closure, Google said in a blog post. To provide some help, the Google News Initiative last month launched the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund. "Applications covering a number of publications under one organization will be capped at $85,000. As we await a final funding tally, we expect to spend tens of millions of dollars through the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund," said, Ludovic Blecher, Head of Google News Initiative Innovation. Google said in just two w...

Thierry Delaporte becomes new Wipro CEO and MD

29May By PriyankaNo Comments

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Thierry Delaporte becomes new Wipro CEO and MD

IT services major Wipro has appointed Capgemini Group veteran Thierry Delaporte as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, effective July 6, 2020. In January this year, the company had said its CEO and Managing Director Abidali Z Neemuchwala had decided to step down from the company. Abidali Neemuchwala will relinquish his position as CEO and MD on June 1. Rishad Premji will oversee the day-to-day operations of the company until July 5, Wipro said in a statement. "Until recently, Thierry Delaporte was the Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini Group and a member of its group executive board. During his 25 year career with Capgemini, he held several leadership roles," it said. He also oversaw Capgemini's India operations, and led the group's transformation agenda, c...

Livspace Lays off 450 employees due to impact from COVID-19

26May By AdityaNo Comments

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Livspace Lays off 450 employees due to impact from COVID-19

Bengaluru-based Livspace, which is into home design and renovation, has laid off 450 employees 15 percent of its total workforce due to an adverse impact of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The decision to lay off was taken last week. Earlier this month, leading co-working operator WeWork India also announced laying off nearly 100 employees. Founded in 2015 by Ramakant Sharma and Anuj Srivastava, Livspace provides a three-sided marketplace and a design automation platform that connects homeowners, certified designers and vendors. Livspace uses data science-enabled algorithms to match homeowners with designers (based on style preferences, budget, scope of work and timelines). "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, like every business in the discretionary purchase sector, Livspace also...

Car Rental firm Hertz files for bankruptcy

23May By PriyankaNo Comments

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Car Rental firm Hertz files for bankruptcy

ESTERO, Fla., May 22, 2020-- Car rantel firm Hertz today announced that its U.S. and Canadian subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The impact of COVID-19 on travel demand was sudden and dramatic, causing an abrupt decline in the Company's revenue and future bookings. Hertz took immediate actions to prioritize the health and safety of employees and customers, eliminate all non-essential spending, and preserve liquidity. However, uncertainty remains as to when revenue will return, and when the used-car market will fully re-open for sales, which necessitated today's action. The financial reorganization will provide Hertz a path toward a more robust financial structure that best pos...

Swiggy to Lay off 1,100 employees, will give 3 months salary

18May By PriyankaNo Comments

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Swiggy to Lay off 1,100 employees, will give 3 months salary

Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy said it is laying off 1,100 employees across grades and functions in cities and the head office over the next few days due to the impact of coronavirus pandemic on its business, including cloud kitchens. In an email to all employees, SwiggyCo-founder & CEO Sriharsha Majety said, "Today is one of the saddest days for Swiggy as we have to go through an unfortunate downsizing exercise."COVID-19 has hit the company with a huge blow of uncertainty, forcing it to look even harder at its cost base and preparedness for the road ahead, he added. Giving the reasons for the laying off of 1,100 employees, Majety shared the management outlook and key business decisions that were reasons for this decision. The core food delivery business has been s...

Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Resign from Softbank board

18May By reutersNo Comments

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Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Resign from Softbank board

SoftBank Group Corp said that Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma will resign from its board, in the latest departure by a high-profile ally of CEO Masayoshi Son. The departure of Ma, who retired as Alibaba's executive chairman in September, comes as he pulls back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy. SoftBank will propose three new appointments to the board, including group Chief Financial Officer Yoshimoto Goto, at its annual general meeting on June 25. The number of board members will expand to 13. SoftBank will also propose the election of Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of chip design software firm Cadence Design Systems who is also chairman of venture capital firm Walden International, and Yuko Kawamoto, a professor at Waseda Business School as outside directors. Kawamoto will become ...