DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Elon Musk's X suspends some India accounts after order from Modi government
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | In Charmainemariajacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's social media platform X said Thursday it will block certain accounts and posts from India in response to executive orders by the government. X said it did not agree with the order but failure to comply would subject the company to "potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment." Tens of thousands of Indian farmers — mostly from the northern state of Punjab — have been protesting since mid-February in renewed calls for better crop prices which were promised to them in 2021. In October, the Modi government warned Musk that X would have to comply to country's new and upcoming IT rules. However, it has written an appeal challenging the Indian government with accounts that are pending to be blocked, the company said.

Persons: Elon, X, Jack Dorsey —, Musk —, Narendra Modi's, Modi, Musk, Naman Tandon Organizations: Global Government Affairs, CNBC, country's Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, Reuters, Twitter Locations: Punjab, Haryana, Ambala, India, New Delhi, Delhi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) — Landlocked Laos doesn't have the famous beaches of its neighbors to attract tourists, but instead relies on the pristine beauty of its mountains and rivers and historical sites to bring in visitors. The crown jewel is Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where legend has it that Buddha once rested during his travels. Nestled among the mountains of northern Laos, Luang Prabang was the capital from the 14th to the 16th century before it was moved to Vientiane. “This dam won't generate a lot of power for Laos, it's going to power new shopping malls in Bangkok,” Eyler said of the Luang Prabang project. “In isolation, the potential transboundary harmful effects due to the Luang Prabang hydropower project may not be substantial," the river commission said.

Persons: Buddha, it's, ”, Brian Eyler, Stimson, Eyler, ” Eyler, Philip Hirsch, “, you've, ” Hirsch, Vietnam —, Barbara Curti Organizations: UNESCO, Asia Program, Sustainability, ” UNESCO, Associated Press, Ministry of Information, Foreign Ministry, Heritage, Monitor, Sydney University, CBA, Commission Locations: LUANG PRABANG, Laos, Prabang, Southeast Asia, Washington, Luang Prabang, Luang, Paris, New Delhi, Vientiane, Vietnam, China, Kunming, Thailand, Stimson, Bangkok, British, Cambodia, Asia, asia

☆ Four bidders approved for Colombia 5G auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Flags flutter on the facade of the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies building in Bogota, Colombia, November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Luis Jaime Acosta/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBOGOTA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Four operators have been approved to participate in Colombia's auction to offer fifth-generation (5G) cellular data services, the communications ministry said. Telecall Colombia S.A.S., the fourth approved bidder, is a Brazilian telecoms coming looking to enter the Colombian market. The government expects to raise about $500 million via the Dec. 20 auction and join regional neighbors like Argentina and Mexico, where 5G is already available. Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Luis Jaime Acosta, Julia Symmes Cobb, Mark Porter Organizations: Colombian Ministry of Information, Communications Technologies, REUTERS, Rights, Telefonica, Telecall, Thomson Locations: Bogota, Colombia, Rights BOGOTA, Claro, Telecall Colombia, Brazilian, Colombian, Argentina, Mexico

☆ Colombia eyes raising $499 mln in cell service auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Flags flutter on the facade of the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communications Technologies building in Bogota, Colombia, November 8, 2023. Colombia hopes to improve connectivity as it joins its Latin American neighbors, including Argentina and Mexico, which already have 5G services. "We're going to award up to four blocks of 100 megahertz in the 3,500 frequency," Minister of Information and Communications Technologies, Mauricio Lizcano, said in an interview. "Whoever pays the most wins the spectrum, ... it's impossible for there to be a defect in the procedure," Lizcano said. Colombia had 80.8 million cellphone subscribers at the end of 2022, spread among operators including Claro, Movistar, Tigo and WOM.

Persons: Luis Jaime Acosta, Mauricio Lizcano, Lizcano, Oliver Griffin, Diane Craft Organizations: Colombian Ministry of Information, Communications Technologies, REUTERS, Rights, Information, Thomson Locations: Bogota, Colombia, Rights BOGOTA, Argentina, Mexico, Claro, Movistar

India has vehemently denied the claims, calling them “absurd and motivated.” Bagchi said Canada has provided “no specific information” to support the allegations. Over the years, violent clashes have erupted between followers of the movement and the Indian government, claiming many lives. In counterinsurgency operations, Indian security forces arbitrarily detained, tortured, executed, and “disappeared” tens of thousands of Sikhs, the rights group said. The Khalistan movement nowThere is no insurgency in Punjab today and analysts say supporters of the Khalistan movement remain very much on the margins in India. Nijjar’s death shocked and outraged many within the Sikh community in Canada, which has more than 770,000 members and is one of the largest outside India.

Persons: Arindam Bagchi, India’s, Bagchi, Justin Trudeau, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, ” Bagchi, Nijjar, “, Indira Gandhi, Gandhi Organizations: New, New Delhi CNN, ”, that’s, Canadian, India’s Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, India’s, Indian National Investigation Agency, Khalistan, Human Rights Watch, Air Locations: New Delhi, India, Canada, Delhi, Surrey, British Columbia, India’s Punjab, Punjab, Pakistan, Air India, Toronto, Britain, Australia

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, addresses the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, hosted virtually by India, in Islamabad, Pakistan July 4, 2023. Press Information Department (PID)/Handout via REUTERS /File PhotoISLAMABAD, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has proposed that parliament be dissolved on Aug. 9, three days before the end of its term, political sources said on Friday, paving the way for a general election by November. Parliament's five-year term is set to expire on Aug. 12. Sharif's coalition came to power after former cricket star Khan was ousted in a vote of no confidence in April 2022. The military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half its history, denies that.

Persons: Shehbaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Khan, Asif Shahzad, Robert Birsel Organizations: Pakistan's, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO, Summit, Press Information Department, REUTERS, Pakistani, Sharif, Thursday, Reuters, Information, Monetary, Thomson Locations: India, Islamabad, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD

☆ Russia targets neighbour Kazakhstan with army recruitment ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Filipp Lebedev | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia, is home to over 3 million ethnic Russians and has traditionally been one of Russia's closest allies. Clearly targeting Kazakhs, ads seen by Reuters feature Russian and Kazakh flags and the slogan "Shoulder to shoulder". The ads lead to a website that offers potential recruits a chance to join the Russian army in the Sakhalin region in Russia's Far East. Joining military conflicts abroad for pay is illegal under Kazakh law. In Kyrgyzstan, a local man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in May for joining Russian proxy forces in Ukraine's Luhansk region.

Persons: Russia's, Wagner, Mariya Gordeyeva, Gareth Jones Organizations: Russian, Astana, Moscow, Reuters, Human Capital Development Agency of, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Information, Social Development, Soviet Central, Thomson Locations: Kazakhstan, Soviet, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakh, Russian, Sakhalin, Russia's Far, Lysychansk, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine's Luhansk, Moscow, Bishkek

☆ Top FARC dissident leader Ivan Marquez dead, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The attack against Marquez, whose real name was Luciano Marín Arango, may have been led by Ivan Mordisco, leader of a rival FARC dissident group, according to security sources. Colombia's Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told journalists there was still no official information on Marquez's death. Marquez later emerged as the leader of the so-called Segunda Marquetalia, a group of former FARC who took up arms anew. Marquez died in Venezuela the two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, which also included an intelligence source. Petro reopened diplomatic and trade relations with Venezuela and Venezuela is a guarantor at Colombia's peace talks with the National Liberation Army rebels.

Persons: Ivan Marquez, Marquez, Luciano Marín Arango, Ivan Mordisco, Ivan Velasquez, Gustavo Petro, Miguel Botache Santillana, Gentil Duarte, Seuxis Hernandez, Hernan Dario Velasquez, Jesus Santrich, El Paisa, Nicolas Maduro, Petro, Luis Jaime Acosta, Vivian Sequera, Oliver Griffin, Julia Symmes Cobb, Michael Perry Organizations: Reuters, Revolutionary Armed Forces, Segunda, Colombia's, Venezuela's Ministry, Information, National Liberation Army, Thomson Locations: BOGOTA, Venezuela, Colombia, Caracas, Venezuela's, United States, Colombian

☆ Top FARC dissident leader Ivan Marquez dead - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Luis Jaime Acosta | Thomson Reuters | Luis Jaime Has Worked At Reuters For More Than Years. While He Chiefly Covers Colombia'S Armed Conflict | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BOGOTA, July 6 (Reuters) - Ivan Marquez, the well-known leader of a faction of former FARC rebels who returned to arms after a peace deal with Colombia's government, has died in Venezuela, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The attack against Marquez, whose real name was Luciano Marín Arango, may have been led by Ivan Mordisco, leader of a rival FARC dissident group, according to security sources. Colombia's Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told journalists there was still no official information on Marquez's death. Marquez later emerged as the leader of the so-called Segunda Marquetalia, a group of former FARC who took up arms anew. Petro reopened diplomatic and trade relations with Venezuela and Venezuela is a guarantor at Colombia's peace talks with the National Liberation Army rebels.

The government said the BBC had failed to respond to repeated requests to clarify its tax affairs related to the profits and remittances from its Indian operations. The documentary, which was only broadcast in Britain, accused Modi of fostering a climate of impunity that fuelled the violence. Reuters spoke to eight Indian journalists, industry executives and media analysts who said that some media which reported critically on the government have been targeted with inspections by government agencies, the suspension of state advertising, and the arrest of reporters. Modi's government has vigorously denied the BBC tax inspection - the first against an international news organisation in decades - was a response to the film. Gupta said there had been complaints after the government reduced its advertising spending but that was not an assault on media freedom.

☆ Indian tax inspectors examine mobiles, laptops of BBC employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) stand guard outside a building housing BBC offices, where income tax officials are conducting a search for a second day, in New Delhi, India, February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Altaf HussainNEW DELHI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Indian tax officials examined mobile phones and laptops used by some BBC editorial and administrative employees, two sources told Reuters, as an inspection at the British broadcaster's offices in New Delhi and Mumbai entered a third day on Thursday. Tax officials had remained at the BBC's offices, some sleeping there, since the surprise inspection was launched on Tuesday, according to witnesses. A second source gave a similar account. The BBC has stood by its reporting, which investigated one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in India during the modern era.

[1/5] Police officers stand outside a building having BBC offices, where income tax officials are conducting a search, in New Delhi, India, February 14, 2023. The government last month dismissed the documentary, "India: The Modi Question", as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. The BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary and said it was cooperating with Indian tax officials. The tax survey relates to transfer pricing rules and alleged diversion of profits. India's Income Tax Department has so far declined to comment on the reason for the search.

☆ Cambodia's Hun Sen orders shutdown of independent local news outlet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PHNOM PENH, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the shutdown of one of the last independent local news organizations in the country on Sunday night, saying it had attacked him and his son and hurt the country. "Commentators tried to attack me and my son Hun Manet," Hun Sen wrote. The story quoted government spokesperson Phay Siphan saying the prime minister's son and presumed successor Hun Manet had signed the aid agreement. Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest-serving dictators, on whose watch political rivals have been jailed and exiled, critical media outlets shuttered and civil dissent crushed, demanded a public apology. Hun Sen said the response was unacceptable.

☆ India's Gen Z grapples with Modi's dark past in clashes over new documentary
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Yashraj Sharma | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Modi denies being complicit in the attacks, and India’s Supreme Court upheld a ruling last year that he should be cleared of all charges. The first part of the documentary is about Modi’s political career before he became prime minister. The second half of the BBC documentary, which aired in Britain this week, focuses on his leadership since then. Critics say Modi has promoted discrimination against India’s Muslim minority and quashed dissent, especially since his re-election in 2019. Students at Jamia Millia Islamia defied university warnings not to screen the BBC film.

☆ YouTube and Twitter are blocking links and videos sharing a BBC documentary in India about its prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

YouTube and Twitter blocked links to a BBC documentary about Indian PM Narendra Modi in India. Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, tweeted on Saturday that the office "issued directions for blocking multiple" YouTube videos showing the first episode of the documentary. The ministry also ordered Twitter to block "over 50 tweets with links to these YT videos," he said. A YouTube spokesperson told Insider in a statement that, "The video in question has been blocked from appearing by the BBC due to a copyright claim." A spokesperson for the BBC said it "has not asked Twitter to remove any content relating to the documentary.

New Delhi CNN —India has banned a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in deadly riots more than 20 years ago from being shown in the country, in a move critics decried as an assault on press freedom. CNN has contacted Twitter and YouTube for comment but is yet to hear back. The two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question,” criticizes Modi, who was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat in 2002 when riots broke out between the state’s majority Hindus and minority Muslims. The Indian government had declined to reply when contacted by the BBC, the statement added. The documentary explores an unpublished British government report obtained by the BBC, which the British public broadcaster said came in the form of a diplomatic cable.

☆ Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +17 min

Now the main Russian Cossack organisations are loyal to Putin, and they are fighting alongside Russia’s forces in Ukraine. He is regularly pictured on his and other social media pages at Cossack gatherings, often wearing Cossack military uniform. Felk has worked as a security guard and has run a logistics firm, according to posts on Felk’s OK social media account. Photos shared by Kharkovsky on social media show him and other participants standing in front of a Great Don Army flag. Eremenko confirmed to Reuters that he worked for Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

☆ India asks Google to stop displaying online betting ads - Mint
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Dec 7 (Reuters) - India has asked Google not to display surrogate ads of overseas betting companies, Mint newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a person aware of the development in the ministry of information and broadcasting. The letter sent last week to Alphabet Inc's Google India (GOOGL.O) asked the company to immediately drop all advertising, direct or surrogate, from betting platforms like Fairplay, PariMatch, Betway in search results and YouTube, the report said. “After our last advisory on 3 October, TV channels and OTT (Over-the-top) players stopped showing surrogate ads of online betting firms, but it was brought to our notice that many such ads are running on YouTube and Google. We have asked Google to stop this immediately," said a senior ministry official to Mint. read moreReporting by Meenakshi Maidas in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Google recently conducted an experiment in Europe where it sought to counter anti-refugee narratives online in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like other countries, misinformation spreads rapidly across India, mostly through social media, creating political and religious tensions. Indian government officials have called on tech companies such as Google, Meta, and Twitter to take stronger action against the spread of fake news. Inflammatory messages have also spread via Meta's messaging service Whatsapp, which has more than 200 million users in India. The company's recent research on the subject suggested viewers were 5% more likely to identify misinformation after watching such videos.

CNN —Two British-Iranian journalists working in the United Kingdom have been warned by police of a “credible” plot by Iran to kill them, according to their employer, London-based news channel Iran International. The Iranian government has labeled Iran International as a “terrorist organization,” Iran’s state-aligned news agency ISNA reported Tuesday, citing the country’s information ministry. CNN reached out to Iran International for comment. Iran International’s protest coverageFounded in 2017, Iran International has been at the forefront of covering the recent demonstrations with exclusive footage of events on the ground. The sanctioned entities included what Tehran referred to as “anti-Iranian TV channels” such as Iran International, Tasnim reported.

"The government wants to fix what it sees as the 'news-lisation' of social media," said one source familiar with the talks. "News-lisation", or báo hoá, is a term used by the authorities to describe the misleading of users into thinking that social media accounts are authorised news outlets. Authorities would be able to order social media companies to ban accounts that break those rules, they said. YouTube has 60 million users in Vietnam and TikTok has 20 million, according to 2021 government estimates, although Twitter remains a relatively small player. Sources told Reuters in April that the new rules, which were originally planned for July, reflected the government's dissatisfaction with social media platforms' take-down rates.

☆ YouTube considered entering China and bowing to the government's censorship rules, book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Tom Dotan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

YouTube discussed launching the site in China but later abandoned the idea, a new book says. YouTube and Google do not currently operate in mainland China. Google and YouTube employees debated whether to launch in China not long after Google bought the site in 2006 for $1.65 billion. After Google bought YouTube, the company struggled to figure out how to launch around the world. It was also an indication that moderating content would be a never-ending struggle for YouTube and its new parent company.

Search resuls for: "Ministry of Information"

22 mentions found