You’ve got work to do, and you gotta keep your laptop happy to finish it. Keep your computer cool as a cucumber with this portable laptop stand for 60% off with coupon code 606JP97A.
Sure, this stand looks like a big pair of glasses, but it’s also super sleek and can easily be popped into your bag so you can use it anywhere to allow airflow to the bottom of your laptop.
Apply the code 606JP97A at checkout to bring the black or silver stand down to just $8. Unfortunately, this code won’t work on the rose gold version.
Airtel and Vi (Vodafone Idea) both offer a list of comparable prepaid packs to take on each other. The operators also try hard to compete against Jio, that leads in terms of user base in the Indian telecom sector. But despite bringing similar offerings, both Airtel and Vi have some differences between their plans. Airtel and Vi have the Rs. 129 prepaid pack as one of their identically priced recharge plans. Although the Rs. 129 pack has the same price, both Airtel and Vi have different benefits.
In this article, we compare the Airtel and Vi Rs. 129 recharge packs to mark out their differences.
Rs. 129 Airtel vs Vi recharge pack
Airtel offers the Rs. 129 prepaid recharge pack with unlimited voice calls, 300 SMS messages, and 1GB data for 24 days. Upon exceeding the given data limit, users will be charged 50 paise per megabyte. Similarly, post the 300 SMS message limit, Airtel will charge each local message at Re. 1 and each national message at Rs. 1.5. Vi, on the other hand, offers unlimited local, STD, and roaming calls, 300 SMS messages, and 2GB of data for 24 days.
In comparison with the Rs. 129 Airtel recharge pack, Vi offers 1GB of additional data allocation. The operator, however, also charges 50 paise per megabyte after exceeding the given data allocation and Re. 1 for each local and Rs. 1.5 for each national message post the 300 SMS message limit.
The Rs. 129 prepaid recharge pack by Airtel comes along with free access to Amazon Prime Video Mobile Edition, Hello Tunes, Wynk Music, and Airtel Xstream. However, Vi doesn’t include any free access to Web content or any value added service.
Click here to check out recharge plans for your mobile operator.
What will be the most exciting tech launch of 2021? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
Future Group says the deal is critical for the survival of its 1,700 stores and thousands of employees
Amazon.com Inc’s bid to stall Future Group’s $3.4 billion retail assets sale is similar to Alexander the Great’s “ruthless ambition to scorch the earth”, the Indian group’s CEO Kishore Biyani said in an internal staff memo seen by Reuters. Amazon, locked in protracted legal disputes with Future, alleges the Indian firm violated contracts by agreeing to sell its retail assets to Reliance Industries last year. Future denies wrongdoing. The two sides this week traded barbs in a New Delhi court, the latest legal case where Amazon is seeking to block the sale. India’s second-largest retailer says the deal is critical for the survival of its 1,700 stores and thousands of employees.
Dubbing it a corporate battle “for supremacy over Indian customers”, Biyani’s staff e-mail late on Friday said Amazon was “playing the dog in the manger”. Taking a further dig at Amazon, he said the “vexatious litigation and harassment makes one wonder about the similarity in ruthless ambition to scorch the earth akin to the Greek Alexander – after all, they are inspired to name their product as Alexa”. “History tells us that Alexander conquered large parts of the world but failed in India.”
The Macedonian leader’s military campaign greatly expanded the Greek-speaking empire throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia, ushering in the Hellenistic age before he died in present-day Iraq in 323 B.C. Amazon declined to comment on the memo by Biyani, often referred to as India’s retail king for transforming the country’s retailing in recent decades.
In the latest court case, Amazon has also asked the judge to detain Biyani in a civil prison, arguing his firm “deliberately” disobeyed a Singapore arbitrator’s October order that put the deal on hold. Future maintains that arbitration order is not binding. Its lawyer on Friday said Amazon was trying to block the deal because it will make it difficult for the U.S. firm to compete with Reliance, led by one of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who is fast expanding into e-commerce.
“Amazon is only interested that Reliance should not improve in India,” said Future’s counsel Harish Salve. The next court hearing is on Monday. Indian stock exchanges this month cleared Future’s deal with Reliance, despite Amazon’s repeated requests to regulators to block the deal. “We are on firm legal footing and this is vindicated by the approvals,” Biyani said in his memo.
Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress chief after the party’s poor results in the 2019 election (File)
New Delhi:
The Congress’ Delhi unit passed a “unanimous” resolution on Sunday evening asking Rahul Gandhi to return as party chief “with immediate effect”.
The resolution, expected to trigger a series of similar declarations by other state units, comes days after the party said organisational polls would be held in June – after Assembly elections in several key states, including Bengal and Tamil Nadu. That announcement came after a tempestuous meeting of the CWC (Congress Working Committee) – the party’s highest decision-making body.
At the meeting, senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and P Chidambaram – among those who have raised uncomfortable questions over party leadership and management – asked for immediate organisational polls.
Against them were so-called Gandhi loyalists – Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Amarinder Singh, and AK Antony, Tariq Anwar and Oommen Chandy – who said it should be held after state polls.
Mr Gandhi resigned as party chief in 2019 after the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha election, and has been adamant about not returning since, despite several calls to do so.
Neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi have expressed desire in the top post
His mother, Sonia Gandhi, who has been interim chief since he resigned and was President before he took over, has made it clear she is not interested in retaining the post longer than necessary.
However, while the Gandhis say they do not want the top job, they continue to be the centre of power in the party. No big decision is taken without their sign-off.
Over the past months senior Congress leaders have called for introspection over continued poor performances in elections, and for “full time” and visible” leadership to take the party forward. In August last year, 23 top leaders wrote to Mrs Gandhi, triggering a row that split the party down the middle.
Veteran leaders like Mr Azad, Mr Sharma, Mr Wasnik, and Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor were among the signatories and called for empowerment of state units and organisational elections at every level.
In response sources close to Mrs Gandhi, 73, said she talked of quitting, citing her poor health.
Sonia Gandhi met some of the letter-writers last month and discussed the issues raised by them. Another meeting – the party called it the first in a series of discussions – was held last week.
With MIUI 12, Xiaomi introduced some interesting new features. Xiaomi redesigned the look and feel of MIUI 12, and has taken some inspiration from iOS in executing certain features. It also has some features that not only clear out the clutter, but also make accessing some apps much quicker. In this guide we will walk you through the steps that’ll make your experience of the MIUI 12 clean, clutter-free and even more functional.
Please note that the tips below were tested on a Redmi 9 Power for this tutorial, so some features may be a bit different on your smartphone or may not appear altogether because Xiaomi makes different builds of MIUI 12 for different smartphones. You can check out the video embedded below as well which is based on the same steps.
1. Enable iOS-style control centre
Normally in Android smartphones, the notification shade hosts some quick settings. But MIUI 12 has a dedicated quick settings pulldown, which it calls the Control Centre. To enable it:
1.Open the Settings app > Display > Control centre & notification shade.
Enable the Use new control centre setting
To use it, simply swipe down on the right half of your screen. The cool thing is you don’t have to go all the way up and swipe down on the right corner of your display like how you do in iOS, you can swipe anywhere in the right half.
2. Disable app drawer
MIUI 12 brought the much awaited app drawer to Xiaomi devices. Not only does it arrange everything alphabetically, but also on the basis of their type, just like Poco Launcher. But some people prefer the old look of it, which is also reminiscent of iOS. Follow these steps to turn it back on:
Long press an empty area of the home screen.
Then select Settings > More.
This will open up some extra settings, where you have to select Home screen > Regular.
3. Lite Mode
Moving on, if you’re a fan of large icons on iOS, MIUI 12 has something for you. To enable a similar vibe:
Go to Settings > Special features > Lite mode.
Here enable the Lite mode .
Although this makes your home screen look clean, it has a large font size. To turn down the font size, go to Display > Text size and then select the size of the font you like. If you think the Lite mode is not for you after trying it out, it’s very simple to turn it off. Go to Settings > Tap to turn off Lite mode.
4. Gesture-based navigation
MIUI 12 offers gesture based navigation. To enable this:
Go over to Additional settings > Full screen display.
Select Full screen gestures. MIUI will then give you a quick tour of how it works.
Is LG Wing’s unique design alone enough to help it succeed in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
Fuel Prices: Domestic petrol and diesel prices vary across states due to value added tax (VAT).
Petrol, Diesel Prices Today: Petrol and diesel prices in the metros remained unchanged for the fourth consecutive day, on Sunday, January 31. In the national capital, the price of petrol remained unchanged at Rs 86.30 per litre and diesel was steady at Rs 76.48 per litre, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer. Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the petrol and diesel prices are at Rs 92.86 per litre and Rs 83.30 per litre respectively, the highest among all four metros. (Also Read: How To Check Latest Petrol And Diesel Rates In Your City)
Here are the current prices of petrol and diesel (in rupees per litre):
City
Petrol
Diesel
Delhi
86.30
76.48
Mumbai
92.86
83.30
Chennai
88.82
81.71
Kolkata
87.69
80.08
Source: Indian Oil
Petrol and diesel prices have recorded an upswing since January 6, 2021, after staying unchanged for almost a month. Fuel rates have increased amid a rally in global crude oil prices, with COVID-19 vaccination drives beginning across the world.
Oil marketing companies – Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum align the prices of domestic fuel with the global benchmarks, by taking into account any alterations in the foreign exchange rates. Any changes in fuel prices are implemented with effect from 6 am every day. The fuel rates vary from state to state across the country due to the value-added tax or VAT.
On Friday, January 29, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.41 per cent to $55.76 per barrel.
Kim Sharma posted a picture from a beach destination
She accompanied her post with the hashtag #Sunday
Kim Sharma can be seen dressed in bralette and a pair of shorts
New Delhi:
Kim Sharma couldn’t have spent her Sunday in a better way. The actress, on Sunday, posted a stunning picture of herself from an undisclosed beach destination on her Instagram profile and her smile says it all. In the picture, Kim Sharma can be seen dressed in a powder blue bralette and she paired it with denim shorts. Kim accessorised her look with a hat and a pair of sunglasses. Kim, who can be seen smiling with all her heart in the picture, captioned her post: “Hop skip and jump.” She accompanied her post with the hashtag #Sunday with a desert island emoji. Kim’s Instafam filled up the comments section of her post with fire and heart emojis.
Take a look at Kim Sharma’s post here:
Let’s just say that Kim Sharma’s Saturday was as much fun as her Sunday. “Swipe right to focus,” she wrote while sharing a set of stunning pictures.
Kim Sharma celebrated her 41st birthday on January 21 by sharing a few pictures from a (no points for guessing) beach and she captioned her post: “Laughing/dancing /walking into my new year.” ICYMI, this is the post we are talking about:
Kim Sharma stepped into Bollywood with the 2000 film Mohabbatein, which featured Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jimmy Sheirgill, Uday Chopra, Preeti Jhangiani and Shamita Shetty. The actress has also been a part of films like Fida, Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar, Tum Se Achcha Kaun Hai, Nehlle Pe Dehlla and Money Hai Toh Honey Hai among others.
Asus ROG Academy is a new virtual initiative by the Taiwanese PC, component, and peripherals maker, aimed at enabling gamers in India to showcase their skills and get a chance to become professional e-sports players. Asus, with help from AFK Gaming, will organise this programme and pick six contestants to be part of the ROG Academy. Here, they will be put under the tutelage of professionals who will mentor, train, and guide them towards the goal of representing Asus ROG locally, as well as globally. With the significant growth of gaming in India especially in the last year owing to the pandemic, people can now have a virtual platform to not only compete with others, but assess e-sports as a legitimate profession for themselves.
ROG Academy is a year-long programme divided into four quarterly sessions that focuses on one of the most prominent games in the e-sports scene, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Registration will start from February 1 and last till February 10.
Players will go through a rigorous selection process to make it to the top six and get a chance to be part of the academy. As per the companies, the final six players will be given Rs. 1,00,000 after successfully completing their three month training. They will also get a stipend of Rs. 15,000 along with a bonus on monthly basis during the training.
We spoke with Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, at Asus India and Siddharth Nayyar, Co-founder and Director of AFK Gaming to get some insight on ROG Academy, the selection process, its potential, and more.
Gadgets 360: In terms of the overall gaming market in India, how big is it and what’s the growth potential?
Arnold Su (AS): Gaming can be segregated between hardware and software. In terms of hardware, PC gaming since 2016 has seen phenomenal growth. From 40,000 units of gaming PCs sold in India in 2016, the number went up to around 350,000 units last year. In terms of e-sports audience in the country, it should be around 17 million as of 2020.
Siddharth Nayyar (SN): The general gaming market has grown a lot as mobile has probably proven to be a gateway into the PC gaming e-sports space. People went from mobile gaming to PC gaming and invested in laptops and PCs to get a more immersive experience. People are jumping on to e-sports with CS:Go, Valorent, and other games. Even more games and engagement is expected in the competitive space as companies like Riot and Valve are investing in the e-sports space, testimony to its growth potential.
AS: ROG is investing in the youth of India and there is a large group of people in that demographic, one of the key reasons for the investment. Additionally, online gaming and gaming in general has grown a lot thanks to data plans becoming much more affordable in India. However, there are certain challenges for professional e-sports – infrastructure.
Why now, where did the idea come from, what do you hope to achieve?
AS: In countries like China, US, Europe, Korea, and others, e-sports is already an industry, just like cricket and IPL is in India. Since 2017, Asus organised the ROG gaming tournament in India and over the last two years, Asus had its own ROG TiTans team to participate in gaming tournaments in India. So there is scope for more talents.
The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns stopped physical events since March 2020 and though it wasn’t possible for players to come together for tournaments, the ROG Showdown tournaments attracted lots of gamers. And, 40 percent to 50 percent of the participants are the same group of people. Which brought up the point of why not make more people ready and skilful to be part of esports tournaments? That’s how the concept for ROG Academy came up. With ROG Academy, Asus aims to provide proper training to make gamers them more skilful and make them capable of competing across the globe.
SN: It’s a first of its kind programme and disruptive to the e-Sports space.
With respect to the pandemic, what’s changed in the past year, has gaming been affected?
AS: The gaming industry boomed. Since the choice of entertainment was reduced, people flocked towards gaming. And, when people started gaming at home, the demand for better hardware increased, and Asus being a hardware company benefitted. Casual gaming became popular during the pandemic and so e-sports is also expected to become more popular. This trend will continue even after the pandemic.
SN: With no disrespect to those that suffered because of the pandemic, the gaming industry did benefit. The natural progression for any gamer kind of went from mobile or laptop to better laptop or better PC, and people became regular.
How do you plan to go about this course; what are the selection criteria, faculty, material covered?
AS: AFK Gaming is helping Asus with the execution of ROG Academy. The basic criterion for applicants is that they should be 16 years and over. Applicants who are between 16 and 18 years of age will need consent from their parents/ guardians to take part in the programme. 18 and over can apply directly. And, the selection process involves two phases.
SN: Phase 1 of the selection process will involve a trial to determine a player’s skills in CS:GO. There will be a robust and thorough theoretical and practical analysis. The first level will be a online selection form that involves questions based on the role they choose (sniper, IGL, rifle). 50 candidates will be shortlisted and as part of Phase 2 and will have to play CS:GO in mixed teams on a server hosted on SoStronK. Marzil and the team from SoStronk will assess the players who will then be shortlisted to 20. Then, there will be a mini tournament to assess how the players perform in a competitive space. And, a jury consisting of CEO of AFK Gaming, Arnold from Asus, and CEO of SoStronK will judge secondary aspects of the players. Six people will then be selected from the 20 candidates.
How do students participate online, what will they need?
SN: There is a recommended setup but it depends on how well you play. Players can use their own setups and should preferably have below 50 ping and the finalists will get equipment from Asus training sessions.
AS: The key is to bring this opportunity to a broader gamer base so as long as they have a basic setup, are able to play and participate, they are welcome.
What can someone hope to get out of this?
AS: Asus wants to give players a platform for e-sports. Similar to training cricket players, selected candidates will be trained at CS:GO. ROG Academy aims to make them understand that this is the kind of training needed to be a professional player. After three months of training, they will get an opportunity to represent Asus and ROG in India, as well as globally. As of now, the focus is only on CS:GO and other games will be added later on.
What are the key challenges that you’ve seen in the Indian e-sports market?
AS: Infrastructure and broadband have been the main issues, but the situation is improving. The overall ecosystem in India in terms of gamer base is improving.
SN: We could improve on reaching out to tier 2 and tier 3 markets in India as there is a strong gamer base. Not just mobile but PC gaming and e-sports as a whole will benefit if we are able to reach out to this market. Gaming in India will phenomenally skyrocket by exposing those markets to good internet and Asus laptops.
Would ROG Academy be limited to PC gamers or would it be available for both PC and mobile gamers?
AS: Gaming ecosystem is quite huge including console and mobile gaming. We are happy to see more and more vendors are investing in the gaming industry which can change the perception of gaming in India. Parents initially used to be sceptical about gaming as a profession but it’s changing now. E-sports will be part of 2024 Olympics as a medal sport which will further change the perception of parents.
SN: The stigma around e-sports is lifting as conversations become open and more commonplace.
AS: For now, the focus is on PC games.
In what ways Asus will support gamers through the initiative?
AS: For final selected candidates, equipment for training, professional curriculum will be provided. After that, they will be given them a chance to represent Asus and ROG.
SN: This will be a stepping stone for gamers to jump start their professional gaming career. ROG Academy will help them understanding of how professional teams train. They will get support in terms of internet charges which will be taken care of, coaches will be provided, and travel will be taken care of.
Does WhatsApp’s new privacy policy spell the end for your privacy? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
Union Budget 2021: Nirmala Sitharaman has said it (Budget) will “be a Budget like never before.”
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget in Parliament on Monday, February 1. The budget comes at a time when the country is facing a once-in-a-lifetime health crisis. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year and according to the World Bank, the economy is estimated to contract by 9.6 per cent in fiscal year 2020-21, reflecting a sharp drop in household spending and private investment. The World Bank, however, projected economic growth to recover to 5.4 per cent in 2021. The Finance Minister has raised hopes, going into the Budget event, by stating that it will “be a Budget like never before.”
This year’s Budget will be unique as it will be paperless, in a significant break from tradition, due to the Covid 19 pandemic. This is the first time in the history of independent India that budget papers will not be printed, so as to minimize the possibility of social interaction and maintain social distancing norms.
Expectations are high that the government will boost economic revival by focussing on infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, rural economy, MSMEs and sectors impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions. The government has already unveiled a slew of measures in the past 10 months, under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat initiative, to support the faltering economy. Yet, concerns persist that the finance minister may impose a cess on corporate earnings to shore up the government’s coffers.
From the markets point of view, the budget will be considered market-friendly if the government does not introduce a Covid cess and does not increase taxes such as Securities Transaction Tax and long-term capital gains tax.
Meanwhile, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2020-21 in Parliament on Friday. The Economic Survey forecasted a “V-shaped” recovery for the Indian economy and real GDP growth of 11 per cent in 2021-22, on the back of the roll-out of a massive vaccination drive. It highlighted that faced with unprecedented uncertainty at the onset of the pandemic, India focused on saving lives and livelihoods by taking short-term pain (of lockdown) for long-term gains. It emphasised the need to reduce the economic policy uncertainty in the country in order to foster a favourable investment climate.
Mr Punia was presented before a magistrate at the Tihar Court Complex this morning
New Delhi:
Two journalists covering the farmers’ protests at Singhu (on the Delhi-Haryana border) were detained Saturday night, for allegedly misbehaving with police personnel stationed there.
The journalists have been identified as Mandeep Punia and Dharmendra Singh, who was released after he signed an undertaking. Mr Punia was held overnight at the Samaypur Badli Police Station.
Mandeep Punia – a freelance journalist who contributes to the Caravan magazine – was presented before a magistrate at the Tihar Court Complex this morning, after being charged under multiple sections of the IPC, including those relating to the use criminal force on a public servant.
The detention of the journalists – coming a day after police in the national capital filed yet another case against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and others – for comments on the Republic Day tractor rally violence – has triggered a furious outcry.
In a FIR (first information report) filed in Delhi on Saturday, the police said Mr Tharoor and the others misled people over the death of a protester in the ITO area. Other journalists named in that FIR are Mrinal Pande, Paresh Nath, Anant Nath and Vinod K Jose.
“…they posted fake, misleading and wrong information regarding unfortunate death of the tractor driver in accident to instigate violence amongst protestors,” the police said Saturday.
“They all tried to imply that the death of the farmer was caused by the violence committed by the Delhi Police under directions of the central government… Such insensitive statements are prejudicial to national integration in this sensitive situation. Such messages are forwarded several times causing false narrative and making citizenry ill-informed,” the police statement added.
The Editors Guild of India has condemned cases against journalists covering the farmers’ protest.
“The journalists have been specifically targeted for reporting the accounts pertaining to the death of one of the protestors on their personal social media handles as well as those of the publications they lead and represent,” the Editors Guild statement said.
Journalists also gathered at the Press Club of India in Delhi on Saturday to protest against the FIRs.
“Today the atmosphere is such, it’s so poisonous, so toxic… Even during the Emergency, rules against journalists were not so harsh, I don’t recall anybody going in for sedition,” Anand Sahay, the Press Club of India chief, said, according to a report by news agency PTI.
Lakhs of farmers across India have spent the last several weeks demanding the centre repeal laws they say will leave them at the mercy of large corporate firms.
The tense situation exploded on Republic Day when groups of farmers and others clashed with police during a tractor rally that turned violent. Police had to resort to firing tear gas and lathi charges to control the situation. One farmer died and hundreds of cops were injured.
The farmers have alleged a conspiracy to derail their, until now, largely peaceful protests, and have blamed Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu of leading that conspiracy. Sidhu was named in a case, police sources told NDTV this week, as have a few farmer leaders.
