Tech
TikTok ban: Five things you need to know about the viral app

TikTok, a new social networking app, has taken by India by storm. The 15-second video sharing network is also quite popular in smaller towns of the country. TikTok, however, has come under scanner over misuse of the platform and is now facing ban in India.
Madras High Court on Wednesday asked the central government to ban TikTok, saying the app is “encouraging pornography”. Following the ban request, TikTok responded by saying that the company will review the court order and “take appropriate action.”
If you haven’t heard about TikTok yet, here are five things you need to know about the new viral application.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a social networking platform where users can upload 15 second videos. Users can add music clips and sounds to their videos, and even act out dialogues from popular movies and TV shows. TikTok also offers editing tools like merge, cut, trim, duplicate.
Merger with musical.ly
Before TikTok there was musical.ly, another product from the same parent company, ByteDance. While musical.ly was more popular in countries like India, TikTok’s dominance was present in its own turf. ByteDance merged musical.ly with TikTok making it one platform. Musical.ly’s 100 million monthly active users were automatically moved to TikTok.
1 billion downloads
According to Sensor Tower’s report, TikTok recently achieved a feat of having 1 billion downloads collectively on Android and iOS. In 2018, TikTok was one of the most downloaded apps globally making it close to the biggest social media platform, Facebook. In comparison, TikTok was downloaded 663 million times, just little bit shy of Facebook’s 711 million downloads.
TikTok in India
India users account for around 25% of the total downloads, and the app’s user base is estimated around 250 million, according to an ANI?report. TikTok has a widespread presence across India with the app immensely popular in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
Not the first ban
India isn’t the first country seeking a ban on TikTok. In fact, authorities in Indonesia went ahead and banned TikTok last July. Reasons for the TikTok ban were “pornography, inappropriate content and blasphemy,” according to a Reuters report. TikTok also faced criticism in the US where the app was accused of exposing young girls to inappropriate comments.
News
Govt blocks several social media handles circulating fake, inciting content

In the midst of the enormous lockdown on contemptuous posts, sources said that the hostile substance actioned related to the counterfeit video of a cupboard instructions, an enlivened phony video showing viciousness against the Prime Minister, and disparaging posts focusing on Hindu ladies transferred via web-based media handles.
The public authority has hindered a few web-based media handles that were coursing “counterfeit and affecting” content on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, Minister of State for IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Saturday.
Proprietors of these records are being recognized for activity under the law, he added.
“Taskforce on Safe and Trusted Internet at @GoI_MeitY at work. Handles that attempted to push counterfeit/inducing content on twitter, youtube, fb, insta have been impeded,” Chandrasekhar Tweeted on Saturday.
The pastor said proprietors of such records are being distinguished for activity under the law, and declared that stages will be investigated on their due steadiness.
On Friday evening, the pastor had reacted to a tweet that encouraged him to make a move against the “makers of an exceptionally fierce video that includes the PM”, which “has been in the public area since December 2020”.
Tech
PhonePe will now charge upto Rs 2 per transaction for mobile recharges

Walmart-owned digital payments app PhonePe will now charge processing fees for every transaction. This means that you will no longer be able to transfer money or recharge your phone without shelling out a little extra money for every transaction. The company has said that it would charge fees in the range of Re 1 to Rs 2 per transaction for mobile recharges for value above Rs 50. PhonePe is the first payments’ app to have started charging for UPI-based transactions
“On recharges, we are running a very small-scale experiment where a few users are paying for mobile recharges. Recharges below Rs 50 are not charged, recharges between Rs 50 and Rs 100 are charged Re 1 and above Rs 100 are charged Rs 2. Essentially, as a part of the experiment, a majority of users are either not paying anything or paying Re 1,” a PhonePe spokesperson told PTI.
PhonePe s charging processing fees for UPI-based transactions for value above Rs 50. If you don’t spend upto Rs 50, you will not be charged any amount by the digital app. Like other payments apps, PhonePe will also begin charging processing fees for payments made through credit cards. PhonePe is one of the most popular, widely-used payments app in India along with Paytm and Google Pay. It has recorded over 165-crore UPI transactions on its platform in September, clocking over 40 per cent share among the app segment, the PTI report stated.
“We are not the only player or payment platform charging a fee. Charging a small fee on bill payments is now a standard industry practice and is done by other biller websites and payment platforms also. We charge a processing fee (called a convenience fee on other platforms) on payments with credit cards only,” the spokesperson added.
For the unversed, just like Paytm and Google Pay, PhonePe can be used to transfer money with BHIM UPI, manage multiple bank accounts, check account balance, save beneficiaries across multiple bank accounts like SBI, HDFC, ICICI & 140+ banks. Recharge prepaid mobile numbers like Jio, Vodafone, Idea, Airtel etc, recharge DTH like Tata Sky, Airtel Direct, Sun Direct, Videocon etc, pay various bills and more. You can also buy or renew insurance policies using PhonePe.
Source : IndiaToday
Tech
Bitcoin crosses $59,000 after sharp rally, Ether up nearly 5%
Cryptocurrency prices were mixed on Friday with Bitcoin and Ether witnessing gains while Stellar and Dogecoin were trading weaker. Check the latest cryptocurrency prices and trends.
Cryptocurrency prices were mixed on Friday with Bitcoin and Ether witnessing gains while Stellar and Dogecoin were trading weaker.
Bitcoin hit a six-month high on October 15, as it rose nearly 3 per cent and was trading at $59,694.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency is approaching April’s record high of $64,895.
The most popular altcoin, Ether, was trading at $3,827 or more than 5 per cent higher.
The global cryptocurrency market cap is $2.43 trillion, a 1.93 per cent increase in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $102.5 billion, a decline of 11.63 per cent.
Here are the latest prices and trends of popular cryptocurrencies:
Cryptocurrency | Price (US Dollar) | 24-hour change | Market cap | Volume (24 Hours) |
Bitcoin | 59,694.90 | 3.44% | $1.12 trillion | $1.56 billion |
Ether | 3,827.94 | 5.51% | $449.38 billion | $1.28 billion |
Dogecoin | 0.232463 | -1.44% | $30.58 billion | $1.22 billion |
Litecoin | 183.76 | 2.37% | $12.63 billion | $118.28 million |
XRP | 1.14 | 0.57% | $114.17 billion | $4.77 billion |
Cardano | 2.19 | 0.67% | $71.17 billion | $190.15 million |
DISCLAIMER: The cryptocurrency prices have been updated as of 12:30 pm and will change as the day progresses. The list is intended to give a rough idea about popular cryptocurrency trends and will be updated daily.
Source : IndiaToday
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