Facebook Helps People To Fight Misinformation Related To COVID-19

Now more than ever we are working to connect people to accurate sources, and tackle misinformation — especially about COVID-19. We have made significant investments to remove accounts and content that violate our Community Standards or Ad Policies; reduce the distribution of misinformation and false news, and inform people by giving them more context on the posts they see — so people can decide what to read, trust, and share.

During the pandemic, we’ve removed more than 12 million pieces of harmful misinformation on COVID-19 globally from Facebook and Instagram, including falsehoods about approved vaccines. Facebook has put warning labels on over 167 million posts marked as false by third-party fact checkers. When people see warning labels, about 95% of the time they do not go on to view the original content.

We endeavor to give people the tools to make qualified decisions about the information they see online. To support this effort, over the coming weeks we will be rolling out a new campaign in India to educate and inform people about how to detect misinformation related to COVID-19 and encourage them to check the information they receive against an authentic source such as www.mygov.in/covid-19/.  

We have developed 6 easy tips to fight COVID-19 misinformation. These tips will show up on Facebook through a series of creative adverts, and link out to a dedicated microsite, www.fightcovidmisinfo.com/india/. Through the website and the adverts, we will encourage people to 

Get the whole story, not just the headline. 

Look out for a trusted source 

Share  facts, not rumours 

Get the full context from credible sources 

Inform friends and family if they are sharing inaccurate information 

Pause before you share 

The campaign and the website will be rolled out in English and 9 Indian languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali.

Continuing our endeavour to provide accurate and reliable information and resources on COVID-19, Facebook has also initiated a campaign in association with some of the leading doctors of the country. The campaign includes a series of 12 videos where Doctors address the most commonly asked questions on COVID-19. The video series - #DoctorKiSuno - will premiere on https://www.facebook.com/FacebookIndia  and will cover key topics like COVID-19 in children, Diabetes and COVID-19, the mental health impacts of Covid-19 among others.  

Through this COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, we’ll continue working with partners and the community to ensure we’re effectively tackling misinformation. We will give them the resources they need to help spot and challenge the content they are seeing online, and to share accurate information with their friends and family over social media.

Tenable Research Finds Scammers Made Over $10 Million With Fake Cryptocurrency Giveaway Scams

* Scam campaigns around Elon Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live compromised dozens of verified Youtube and Twitter accounts

Satnam Narang, Staff Research Engineer at Tenable, the Cyber Exposure company, found dozens of compromised social media accounts that peddled fake cryptocurrency scams in the lead up to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Light. Narang estimates that scammers netted over $10 million (USD) between May 7-9. Narang’s analysis revealed that scammers stole over $9.4 million in Dogecoin, $609,000 Bitcoin and at least $423,000 Ethereum.

Popular YouTube account Wave Music Bhojpuri, a channel with 18.9 million subscribers, was hijacked during the scam campaign. Other compromised YouTube channels were also observed in the United States, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan to promote phoney cryptocurrency giveaways.

The largest single grossing Dogecoin address used in these campaigns was a YouTube Live video linked to dogecoin-snl[.]com. One particular compromised YouTube channel operated by a scammer rotated multiple domains and wallet addresses to scam $1.6 million dollars in Dogecoin. The videos on this channel comprised nearly 2,000,000 viewers across several live streams.

Commenting on the success of these scam campaigns, Narang said that there’s an urgent need for heightened cybersecurity measures within social media organisations.

“The onus is on social media sites, such as Twitter and YouTube, to close down these campaigns. Proactive steps to monitor for changes of verified Twitter and YouTube channels, particularly those with a large number of subscribers, would help stop these scams in their tracks,” said Narang. “Social media organisations should enforce two-factor authentication on verified accounts with large numbers of followers or subscribers. Social media platforms need to scrutinise such accounts because verified badges are invaluable, not just to notable figures, but also the people who rely on them to identify fact from fiction. Scammers are eroding that trust. Enforcing more stringent policies for these Twitter accounts and YouTube channels won’t stop the cryptocurrency scams from persisting, but they can help stem the tide.”

You can find the full blog available here. If you’re interested in more detail on the report findings, Satnam Narang is available for further comment.

About Tenable

Tenable® is the Cyber Exposure company. Over 30,000 organizations around the globe rely on Tenable to understand and reduce cyber risk. As the creator of Nessus®, Tenable extended its expertise in vulnerabilities to deliver the world’s first platform to see and secure any digital asset on any computing platform. Tenable customers include more than 50 percent of the Fortune 500, more than 30 percent of the Global 2000 and large government agencies.

Timely Initiative Has Launched Five Sophisticated Buses To Provide Free Oxygen For Covid-19 Patients

Sattva Group, one of India’s leading Real Estate companies, in association with Greenwood High International School, (the educational entity of the group) and Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, Bengaluru – has come up with a timely initiative to launch Five sophisticated buses which will provide free oxygen to people waiting to get a bed outside city hospitals.  Each bus has been redesigned to accommodate 12 patients at any given time.

This initiative was inaugurated by Mr. R Ashoka, Hon’ble Minister for Revenue, Government of Karnataka in his constituency.

With this tie-up with Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in Padmanabhanagar, patients can have some respite in their time of dire need. Each patient will have to provide his or her doctor prescription or RTPCR report and a copy of his or her Aadhar card, to avail the free oxygen facility.

"We plan to see how this initiative goes for the next ten days and then we will scale up to 10 buses thereafter" says Dr.Satish Kumar Jain of Maharaja Agrasen Hospital. Each patient will be able to use the oxygen for 2 hours and will also be given a free nasal canula for the oxygen flow to be connected to the flow meter and regulator.

Mr. Bijay Agarwal, Managing Director of Sattva and Chairman of Greenwood High School was quoted as saying - "When Dr Satish Jain approached me with this idea, I was immediately keen to be a part of this very noble initiative. I sincerely thank the Hon’ble Revenue Minister Mr. R Ashoka who has supported us wholeheartedly in this cause. He has braved the pandemic to be there for us today”.

Citizens who wish to avail this facility can call the Hospital’s Admin at: 09620304864.

About Salarpuria Sattva Group:

With 3 decades of expertise, the Salarpuria Sattva Group has grown into one of the most trusted builders in the country today. Headquartered in Bengaluru, India, it also a well-known name in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Coimbatore and Goa. The Group will soon be expanding its presence in Mumbai. With 56 million sq.ft spaces completed, 34 million sq.ft under construction and 32 million sq.ft in the planning stage, the Group is one of the premium builders in India today. The Group’s cutting-edge upcoming projects in Hyderabad include: Knowledge City, Knowledge Capital, Knowledge Park and Image Towers (Innovation in Animation, Multimedia, Gaming, and Entertainment), a PPP based model with the Telangana State Government. By further expanding into various verticals such as co-working, co-living, education, hotels, facilities management and warehousing, the Group today stands tall as a frontrunner, shaping India’s growth story. The Group’s unwavering adherence to quality has given it the “trusted” tag among builders in the country, renowned for its “A Stable” CRISIL rating.

Growing Businesses 76 Percent More Likely To Be Run By A Tech-Savvy Leader

* Businesses that discuss technology frequently, and are run by a tech-proficient leadership team, are significantly more likely to be growing, according to a new report

* The leaders of growing businesses are 76% more likely to keep fully up-to-date with the latest technology trends than decision makers of businesses that are not predicting growth

* Monthly discussions about tech matters are significantly more likely in boardrooms of growing businesses than non-growing businesses

Half of growing businesses’ board rooms discuss digital transformation, customer experience and data strategy on a monthly basis

Growing businesses are led by leaders that know about – and regularly discuss – technology, according to new findings from ThoughtWorks, Inc., a global software consultancy, in a new report out today, ‘Tech proficiency: The new imperative for business growth, leadership and agility.’

Surveying 969 CEOs, CTOs and CIOs across 12 different countries, the new study assessed the level of digital proficiency, capability and confidence among companies, and the bearing this had on plans to adapt and grow at a critical time.

The research revealed that among businesses that anticipated growth in 2021, three-quarters (74%) were led by leaders that kept fully up-to-date with the latest technology developments, compared with 42% of leaders of companies that were not growing.

Meanwhile, leaders of non-growing businesses were more than twice as likely to rely on the tech expertise of others instead (55% vs. 25%).

The leaders of growing businesses were also significantly more likely to say their management team’s knowledge of new technology developments was ‘good’ in relation to key areas of business technology.

In particular, their digital proficiency was superior in areas including digital transformation (47% of growing businesses vs. 37% of non-growing businesses), cloud computing (39% vs. 29%), data strategy (44% vs. 32%), and software platforms (34% vs. 26%).

The big discussion

Growing businesses were also more likely to discuss tech issues at board level on a regular basis. Among growing businesses, over half (52%) had board level discussions around digital transformation at least on a monthly basis. This fell to 40% amongst non-growing businesses.

Meanwhile, half of growing businesses discussed customer-centric digital experiences at least monthly, (vs. 36% of non-growing businesses), while 49% discussed issues around enterprise modernization (vs. 34%).

Businesses that admitted being held back by their tech capabilities were four times less likely to have board-level discussions about digital transformation and operations each month than businesses that described themselves as technologically advanced, were half as likely to discuss customer experience and were 30% less likely to discuss enterprise modernisation.

Among those respondents who did not regularly discuss tech issues at board-level, the reasons included: not understanding the problems (39%), not knowing how to implement or manage them (33%), or a feeling that they were not a priority (50%).

Sameer Soman, managing director for ThoughtWorks in India commented:“Technology isn’t just about hardware or software products that can be plugged in to solve a problem. It is about the culture of an organization - and that culture starts at the top. Today’s CEO needs to be as well versed in data strategy, platform capability and engineering excellence, as they are about sales, marketing and accounts. These will all have an influence on future business performance.”

The research surveyed over 969 C-Suite decision makers, comprising of CEOs, CIOs and CTOs across 12 countries, all markets where ThoughtWorks has a significant market presence and can provide market commentary (USA, UK, Germany, China, Australia, India, Brazil, Singapore, Italy, Romania, Finland and Netherlands) and across seven sectors. The research was carried out online by Maru/Blue in February 2021.

Talent Demand Index Shed 4% Y-o-Y And 16% M-o-M In Apr’21; Construction, Petrochemicals Increased 22% Y-o-Y

The COVID-19 resurgence in Apr’21 has derailed the business growth - and M-o-M talent demand consequently - but the Y-o-Y stats show an encouraging story. The talent demand trend for Apr’20 - when first COVID-19 wave hit India – v/s Apr’ 21- when the country is braving a far more infectious wave - shows a double-digit growth in heavy duty sectors; and Constructions and Petrochemicals saw 22% Y-o-Y growth in talent demand, reported TimesJobs RecruiteX.

RecruiteX is a monthly recruitment index that records the demand and supply of talent at India Inc. The Y-o-Y analysis showed that all high volume sectors as BFSI, IT/Telecom and Automobiles saw growth. Most sectors were revving up their operations to resume full operations in Apr’21, however the widespread infection has cut this growth story short.     

India Inc.’s talent demand suffered a setback in Apr’21 owing to the sudden surge in the COVID-19 infection. India Inc. shed 4% Y-o-Y and 16% M-o-M talent demand in Apr’21, with all the top 10 industrial sectors noting a double-digit drop in the Mar’21 v/s Apr’21 comparison, reported TimesJobs RecruiteX.       

A further study of talent demand in Apr’21 found that Retail and Projects/Infrastructure industries shed most talent demand (28% each) in M-o-M analysis. Talent demand shrunk least in the IT/Telecom (10%), Healthcare (12%) and Automobiles (12%) sectors in Mar’21 v/s Apr’21 comparison.

A similar story was seen in the functional-area’s M-o-M study too. The IT/Telecom and Doctors /Medical Professionals profiles recorded (9%) dip each in the M-o-M review. Rest all functional areas shed talent demand in double-digit, with Marketing & Advertising noting the steepest fall of 30%.

Location-wise, except Vadodara, all other cities shed talent demand with Mumbai noting the steepest decline of 18% in the monthly analysis. Vadodara saw a 9% rise on Apr’21 v/s Mar’21 study.

Elaborating on the findings of RecruiteX Apr’21 edition, Sanjay Goyal, Business Head TimesJobs and TechGig said, “Most sectors in India were opening up for operations in Apr’21 but the COVID-19 surge threw everything out of gear. However, the Y-o-Y talent demand trends show that only three sectors (i.e. FMCG, Pharmaceuticals and Retail) noted a decline while all other sectors had an encouraging yearly growth with Construction/Cement and Petrochemicals sectors growing by 22% each. The M-o-M stats are of course in the red because of the COVID-19 resurgence.”

“Jack Ma’s observation that ‘2020 is the year of staying alive and not a time to dream or plan’ seems more apt for 2021. I urge everyone to be accommodative, understating and empathetic to their peers, juniors, managers. We can overcome this crisis, together,” he added.

Sector-wise Y-o-Y talent demand analysis:

·         Construction/Cement: 22%

·         Petrochemicals/ Oil and Gas: 22%

·         CRM/Call Centres/BPO: 16%

·         Projects/Infrastructure/Power/Energy: 15%

·         BFSI: 11%

Sector-wise M-o-M talent demand analysis: 

·         IT/Telecom: (-10%)

·         Healthcare/ Biotechnology/ Pharmaceuticals: (-12%)

·         Automobiles/Auto Component: (-12%)

·         BFSI: (-14%)

·         Manufacturing & Engineering: (-18%)

City-wise M-o-M talent demand analysis:

·         Vadodara: (9%)

·         Ahmedabad: (-3%)

·         Delhi NCR: (-8%)

·         Indore: (-11%)

·         Pune: (-11%)

Functional area-wise M-o-M talent demand analysis:

·         Doctors/Nurses/Medical Professional: (-9%)

·         IT/Telecom: (-9%)

·         Banks/Insurance/Financial Services: (-12%)

·         Sales/Business Development: (-14%)

·         Quality/Process Control: (-15%)

Work experience-wise M-o-M talent demand analysis:

·         2-5 years of work experience: (-9%)

·         5-10 years of work experience: (-15%)

·         Freshers, less than 2 years: (-20%)

·         10-20 years: (-21%)

·         20+ years of experience: (-29%)

About RecruiteX:

RecruiteX is the recruitment index for India. It is an analysis identifying the hiring activity and trends in India Inc. Based on tactful extraction and examination of jobs posted and applied for in a month at TimesJobs, it details ‘recruitment’ as a process backed by hiring sentiments of a recruiter and aspirations of the job seekers alike.

India's Fastest Growing Social Audio App Fireside Takes Internet By Storm, Crosses 100k Downloads

​* Being touted as the next revolution in social audio apps, fireside aims to bring back intimacy and emotions in the way Indian converse online. 

* fireside comes with a promise of protecting intimacy and privacy of shared voice conversations​.

Setting a record within just a week of announcing its beta version, India’s  fastest growing audio-based social media app fireside has​successfully ​crossed the milestone ​of over 100k downloads. The success story of the first-of-its kind app is propelled by its founders’ vision of bringing back intimacy and emotions in social media conversations​, completely revolutionizing the way Indians talk online.

Conceptualised and founded by Sumit Ghosh,Aditya Kothari and Ashwat Venkateshan, fireside along with its user-centricity,​also ​comes with a promise of protecting privacy of shared voice conversations.

“The early success of firesides cements our vision of creating a space for audio-​based conversations to instil emotions, intimacy and a sense of belonging among social media users. In today’s time when isolation has become a​reality, fireside gives a huge ​​support by creating a virtual room to bridge emotional ​and communication​gaps. The features have been conceptualised​ and curated especially​ to give space to voices, support ideas, allow debates, simplify learning and nurture creativity. We are buoyed by the initial response and believe that fireside’s popularity will continue to grow in ​near future,” ​​said  Sumit Ghosh, CEO fireside.

Being touted as the next revolution in online audio conversations, fireside creates a common virtual room for like-minded people to come together for long and meaningful chats. The nature of sessions can range over a myriad of topics including politics, music, fashion, cinema, leisure banters among friends and many others.

Re-envisioning the concept of social discovery during these volatile times, fireside makes SOS calls convenient through its latest user-friendly audio features and amplifies urgent messages in social circles or groups by saving time and making connection easier. The​one-of-its-kind platform comes with a facility to have open and closed rooms and the scale and significance of a particular discussion can vary as per the users’ needs like discussions, debates, educational talks, helplines, post-match sports reviews, quizzes, study, among others.

Users can club their niche interests and chat about anything to stay up to date. They can also listen and learn as a member of the audience during audio sessions. From workshops to debates, from fan fiction to candid confessions, this platform aims to be an outlet for whoever wishes to speak and to listen. The pandemic has also made people realise the significance of quick and constant engagement to amplify urgent messages and fireside suits the needs perfectly.​  ​

As the country is going through stressing times due to second wave of coronavirus, fireside has also enabled a virtual space which dispenses information on Covid, and amplifies SOS requests. To support this, a 24X7 Covid helpline rooms on fireside​ are active ​ where folks can drop in and relay their requests and questions.

Blue Dart Forms Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium To Operate Experimental Unmanned Aircraft System For Delivery Of Vaccines

* An intelligent smart drone delivery solution to tackle challenges in last-mile vaccine delivery  

Blue Dart, India’s leading express logistics service provider and part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group (DPDHL) formed Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium with the mission of revolutionizing the delivery of vaccines and emergency medical supplies to the remotest parts of India with Drones. Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium is part of the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project in collaboration with the Government of Telangana, World Economic Forum, Niti Aayog and Healthnet Global. 

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted the project with necessary exemptions and rights to fly drone flights on an experimental basis in Telangana. The aim is to assess an alternate logistics route in providing safe, accurate and reliable pickup and delivery of health care items (medicines, covid-19 vaccines, units of blood, diagnostic specimens and other lifesaving equipment) from distribution centre to specific location and back. 

Blue Dart is committed to improving the supply chain infrastructure and is fighting hard to combat the pandemic. Blue Dart Med-Express Drone flights will deploy an immersive delivery model to optimize the current healthcare logistics within Telangana. The model will enable deliveries from district medical stores and blood banks to Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs), Blood Storage Units & further from PHCs/CHCs to Central Diagnostic laboratories.  

Proud to be able to help the country in its fight against the pandemic Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart says, “It’s been over a year and our battle against COVID-19 continues to unfold new challenges that need solutions in real-time. The pandemic has taught each one of us the importance of logistics and the need for a tech-led supply chain infrastructure. As an organization Blue Dart has always been surrounded with the technology of the future. It is this ability that has helped us to not only withstand the pandemic but thrive with growth. While we reach out to over 35,000 locations across the country, the current situation calls for a much deeper penetration of vaccines.” 

Commenting on Blue Dart’s experiment with Drone flights for Beyond Visual Line of Sight delivery of vaccines Ketan Kulkarni, CMO & Head – Business Development, Blue Dart says, “The consortium aims at enabling safer, efficient and cost-effective Drone delivery flights. With efficient systems in place, it can help reduce the current logistics cost, making the healthcare logistics faster and efficient. We are delighted to be granted the rights to commence operations and this is definitely the need of the hour. Mankind is witnessing the worst time and Blue Dart is committed to giving back to the society in which it operates and will always be ready to take one step forward.” 

Smt. Rama Devi Lanka, Director of Emerging Technologies and Officer on Special Duty (OSD), ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, says, “The project would generate real and actionable insights to drive future adoption policies and integration with the existing healthcare supply chain. With covid-19 pandemic wrecking existing supply chains, adopting such disruptive technologies is the need of the hour.” 

Sri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, says, “Telangana is one of the most proactive states looking to adopt emerging technologies, and the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project using drones is in line with the same principles. This project is one of the first such programs in the country where multiple drones would fly BVLOS to establish their value proposition for the healthcare supply chain. The vision is to ensure healthcare equity for rural areas.” 

Blue Dart has been consistent in its support to the nation in the fight against the pandemic. As the Trade Facilitator of the Nation, Blue Dart ensured that life doesn’t come to a standstill by safeguarding and ensuring the delivery of critical shipments across the country. In keeping with its commitment to its philosophy, Blue Darters have been working tirelessly to guarantee the continuity of the mission-critical supply chain since the time the country has been gripped by the pandemic. Blue Dart has continuously worked with the medical equipment and pharmaceuticals sector to maintain the supply chain and deliver critical shipment and essential supplies including Covid vaccine samples, temperature-controlled movement of COVID-19 testing kits, ventilators, PPE, testing kits, reagents, enzymes, respirators, surgical masks, goggles and gloves amongst other critical material. The company’s six Boeing 757 freighters ensure the ease in ramping up operations swiftly to handle large scale shipments. 

About Blue Dart: 

Blue Dart Express Ltd., South Asia's premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution company, offers secure and reliable delivery of consignments to over 35,000 locations in India. As part of Deutsche Post DHL Group’s DHL eCommerce Solutions division, Blue Dart accesses the largest and most comprehensive express and logistics network worldwide, covering over 220 countries & territories, and offers an entire spectrum of distribution services including air express, freight forwarding, supply chain solutions, customs clearance etc. 

The Blue Dart team drives market leadership through its motivated people, dedicated air and ground capacity, cutting-edge technology, wide range of innovative, vertical specific products and value-added services to deliver unmatched standards of service quality to its customers. Blue Dart's market leadership is further validated by its position as the nation’s most innovative and awarded express logistics company for exhibiting reliability, superior brand experience and sustainability which include recognition as one of ‘India's Best Companies to Work For’ by The Great Place to Work® Institute, India, ranked amongst ‘Best Multinational Workplaces in Asia’ by The Great Place to Work® Institute, Asia, voted a ‘Superbrand’ and ‘Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brand’, listed as one of Fortune 500’s ‘India's Largest Corporations’ and Forbes ‘India's Super 50 Companies’ to name a few. 

Under the DPDHL group motto of “Connecting People, Improving Lives”, we focus our corporate responsibility under three pillars - GoTeach (Championing education), GoGreen (Protecting the environment) and GoHelp (Structures engagement with communities & Disaster management response).