Removed 61,114 content pieces in November in India: Google compliance report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Google received 26,087 complaints from users and removed 61,114 pieces of content based on those complaints in November, the tech giant said in its monthly transparency report.

In addition to reports from users, Google also removed 3,75,468 pieces of content in November as a result of automated detection.

Google had received 24,569 complaints from users and removed 48,594 pieces of content based on those complaints in October, while 3,84,509 pieces of content were removed as a result of automated detection.

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The US-based company has made these disclosures as part of compliance with India’s IT rules that came into force in May this year. Google, in its latest report, said it had received 26,087 complaints in the month of November (November 1-30, 2021) from individual users located in India via designated mechanisms, and the number of removal actions as a result of user complaints stood at 61,114.

These complaints relate to third-party content that is believed to violate local laws or personal rights on Google’s significant social media intermediaries (SSMI) platforms, the report said.

“Some requests may allege infringement of intellectual property rights, while others claim violation of local laws prohibiting types of content on grounds such as defamation. When we receive complaints regarding content on our platforms, we assess them carefully,” it added.

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The content removal was done under several categories, including copyright (60,387), trademark (535), circumvention (131), court order (56) and graphic sexual content (5).

Google explained that a single complaint may specify multiple items that potentially relate to the same or different pieces of content, and each unique URL in a specific complaint is considered an individual “item” that is removed.

For user complaints, the “removal actions” number represents the number of items where a piece of content was removed or restricted during the one-month reporting period as a result of a specific complaint, while for automated detection, the “removal actions” number represents the number of instances where Google removed content or prevented the bad actor from accessing the Google service as a result of automated detection processes.

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Google said in addition to reports from users, the company invests heavily in fighting harmful content online and use technology to detect and remove it from its platforms.

“This includes using automated detection processes for some of our products to prevent the dissemination of harmful content such as child sexual abuse material and violent extremist content.

We balance privacy and user protection to: quickly remove content that violates our Community Guidelines and content policies; restrict content (e.g., age-restrict content that may not be appropriate for all audiences); or leave the content live when it doesn’t violate our guidelines or policies,” it added.

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Google said automated detection enables it to act more quickly and accurately to enforce its guidelines and policies. These removal actions may result in removing the content or terminating a bad actor’s access to the Google service, it added.

Under the IT rules, large digital platforms – with over 5 million users – have to publish periodic compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken thereon.

The report needs to also include the number of specific communication links or parts of the information that the intermediary has removed or disabled access to in pursuance of any proactive monitoring conducted by using automated tools.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty surge in last session of year; Hindalco, Tata Motors lead gains

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Indian equity benchmark indices closed higher on the last day of 2021, however, Omicron concerns kept investors on the backfoot globally. The 30-scrip Sensex closed at 58,253, as it rose 460 points and the Nifty50 index surged 150 points to end at 17,354.

The broader markets supported the rally as both mid-caps and small-caps rallied 1.3 percent higher. The market breadth favours the advances, as 26 stocks advanced and 4 declined.

Among sectoral gauges, a strong rally was seen in Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, PSU Bank, Realty, and Consumer Durables stocks rose over 1 percent. Nifty Metal index rallied over 2 percent.

Among the 50 stocks on Nifty, Shree Cement, Hindalco, Titan, Tata Motors, UltraCement, Kotak Mahindra Bank led the gains, as each scrip rose over 2 to 5 percent. Leading the losses were NTPC, Cipla, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra, and Coal India.

Markets this year

Sensex and Nifty end the fourth consecutive year with gains and all the sectoral indices closed in the green this year.

Sensex rose over 22 percent this year and Nifty rose over 24 percent. Nifty Bank rose 14 percent this year after posting losses in 2020. Meanwhile, the midcap index surged 45 percent. The Nifty Metal index rallied over 70 percent higher and Nifty IT surged over 60 percent.

Nifty PSU Bank also rose over 45 percent and Nifty PSE rose nearly 40 percent. Nifty Media index climbed 35 percent higher and the auto index surged 20 percent. Nifty Pharma and FMCG index also surged over 10 percent this year.

Top Nifty gainers and losers

The top gainer and loser this year was an auto stock. Tata Motors rallied over 160 percent this year and Hindalco rose nearly 100 percent. Tech stocks like Wipro and Tech Mahindra surged over 85 percent each. Bajaj Finserv and Grasim climbed over 85 and 75 percent, respectively. Steel stocks like Tata Steel and JSW Steel surged over 70 percent over the year. SBI also surged nearly 70 percent and Titan surged over 60 percent.

Hero MotoCorp declined over 20 percent in 2021 and Kotak Mahindra Bank declined over 10 percent. Dr Reddy’s was down 6 percent and Bajaj Auto slipped over 5 percent during the year. HDFC Life slipped 5 percent and Maruti declined over 3 percent. Hindustan Unilever declined 1.5 percent and IndusInd Bank settled 1 percent lower.

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Global markets

Globally, stock markets dipped Friday in thin trading but were set to see in the New Year with double-digit gains for 2021 while oil prices hovered near $80 a barrel following their biggest annual rise since 2009.

With several markets in Asia and Europe closed on Friday, trading volumes were very thin and most markets directionless. Britain’s FTSE 100, an underperformer throughout 2021, fell 0.35 percent.

On Wall Street, futures pointed to a flat open after stocks attempted pullback overnight in spot trading.

A growing number of countries are reporting record daily cases of COVID-19 because of Omicron variant, New Year celebrations will be scaled back and dampened by ongoing uncertainty about the spread of the virus.

Commodity prices have enjoyed a very strong year too, with supply often falling short of a jump in demand as economies reopened. On the last day of the year, oil benchmarks declined with brent crude at $79.72 and US oil at $76.75. But both the indices are up over 50 percent this year, spurred by the global economic recovery and OPEC+ restraint.

Crytocurrency prices rose on the last day of the year, after falling for three straight day and recovering losses. Bitcoin rose 3 percent to $48,000-level and the number two coin Ether gained a similar amount to $3,805.

With inputs from Reuters

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ola Electric says dispatched e-scooters to all buyers, to open next purchase window ‘very soon’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ola Electric has dispatched its electric scooters to all who have purchased and it will be opening the next purchase window very soon, Ola chairman and group executive officer Bhavish Aggarwal said on Friday.

The company, which had in August this year forayed into the green mobility space with the launch of its electric scooters, S1 and S1 Pro priced at Rs 99,999 and Rs 1,29,999, respectively, had postponed delivery timelines for its much-anticipated products citing the global semiconductor shortage issue.

The company, after opening bookings at Rs 499, had initially planned to start deliveries in October but was later pushed to November and then again to the second half of December.

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“Update on December deliveries: We’ve dispatched vehicles to all who purchased. Some in transit, most already at delivery centres near you getting through RTO registration process,” Aggarwal said in a tweet.

He further said, “The registration process took longer than we anticipated as a fully digital process is new for all.”

While thanking all RTOs (Regional Transport Offices) for working with the company holidays to scale up this new digital process, Aggarwal said, “Lots of learnings for us on varied RTO systems, regulations across states. Will be faster with registration in future! Also, stay tuned for next purchase window, opening very soon!!”

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Aggarwal did not disclose the details of the number of units sold. However, in September, when Ola Electric opened the online purchase process Aggarwal had declared that it sold scooters worth over Rs 600 crore on the first day of the sale.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

ATM cash withdrawal charges to rise from tomorrow: Key things to know

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bank customers will have to pay more for their ATM transactions from January 1 i.e. tomorrow once the free monthly limit gets exhausted. Lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have updated their website regarding these increased charges.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted banks to increase charges for cash and non-cash ATM transactions beyond the free monthly permissible limit.

Here are key things to know about ATM new charges:

• According to the RBI notification, customers will have to pay Rs 1 more than what they were paying earlier to withdraw money. As a result, cash withdrawal fee through debit card or credit card of any public or private sector bank will now cost Rs 21 per transaction from the existing Rs 20.
• Over and above this amount, there is also a tax under the goods and services tax (GST) regime.
• The hiked charges will be applicable once the free monthly limit gets exhausted. This will come into effect from the new year.
• The customers will, however, be allowed five free transactions, including financial and non-financial ones on a monthly basis from their own bank ATMs and they will be able to conduct three free transactions from ATMs of other banks in metro cities and five in case of non-metro cities.
• Banks would be able to levy charges on customers within this ceiling, once they exhaust the free transaction limit.
• To compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and given the general escalation in costs, they are allowed to increase the customer charges to Rs 21 per transaction, RBI had said in a statement.
• These revisions in charges have been done after a comprehensive revision of the recommendations of the committee.

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3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow