Twitter Rolls Out New Verification Application Process Shaped By Public Feedback

Twitter has relaunched its verification application, and has rolled out a new process for application and for reviewing verification requests. This rollout is a step towards giving more transparency, credibility and clarity to verification on the service.

The blue badge is how people distinguish the authenticity of accounts that are of high public interest. It gives people on Twitter more context about who they’re having conversations with, thus enabling more informed conversations. To this end, Twitter has been working to bring clarity to the verification process with a policy shaped by public feedback.

With the revised application process, Twitter is also introducing some new guidelines for verified accounts to encourage healthy conversations for the betterment of the Twitter community overall. They follow the philosophy to lead by example, Tweet others how they want to be Tweeted, and serve the public conversation authentically, respectfully and with consideration. Verified accounts that repeatedly violate the Twitter Rules are subject to have the blue badge removed. In fact, Twitter has already started automatically removing the verified badge from accounts that no longer meet the updated criteria for verification.

Who’s eligible?

To qualify for verification, you must fit the criteria of one of the six categories listed below.:

Government

Companies, brands and organizations

News organizations and journalists

Entertainment

Sports and gaming

Activists, organizers, and other influential individuals

In addition to the category-specific eligibility criteria outlined in the verification policy, an account must also be complete - with a profile name, a profile image, a confirmed email address, and a phone number - to be considered for verification. Moreover,  the account must also be active within the last six months and have a record of adherence to the Twitter Rules.

How can one apply to get verified?

Over the next few weeks, everyone on Twitter will start to see the new verification application directly in the Account Settings tab directly in the app. In India, the application will also be available in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Kannada.

Here’s what the application flow will look like:

After receiving an application, Twitter will respond with an email within a month, either confirming verification or informing if  the application didn’t meet the new verification criteria. 

Once an application is approved, the blue badge will automatically appear on a verified profile. People can reapply for verification after 30 days from receiving Twitter’s decision to their initial application.

Karnataka CM, B. S. Yediyurappa Received Cheque, Oxygen Concentrators, Essential Medical Equipment's From TVS Motor

TVS Motor Company, along with Sundaram-Clayton Limited, through their social arm, Srinivasan Services Trust, contributed Rs. 1 crore towards Chief Minister’s Relief Fund - COVID-19.  Additionally, 300 oxygen concentrators, essential medical supplies and equipments worth of Rs. 3 crores were also donated to the Government of Karnataka. Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri. B. S. Yediyurappa received the cheque, oxygen concentrators, essential medical supplies and equipments from Mr. V. R. Karunakara Reddy, Vice President - Corporate Relations, TVS Motor Company and Mr. Sethuraman,  Associate Vice President, TVS Motor Company.

DBT Beneficiaries Can Withdraw PM KisanYojana Funds From Fino Banking Points

Fino Payments Bank’s merchant points across the country are geared up to help India’s farming community amid the pandemic by providing access to cash to the beneficiaries of government’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, the PM KisanYojana.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced the benefit transfer of over ₹19000 crores directly into the accounts of more than 9.5 crore beneficiary farmer families. Each farmer beneficiary receives₹2,000 in his or her bank account.

The beneficiaries of the DBT scheme having account in any bank can visit the nearest Fino point to withdraw cash or do any other banking transaction. Fino points are the neighbourhood small merchants such as kirana, medical stores, dairy shops and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) outlets equipped with micro ATM and Aadhaar enabled payment system (AePS) devices.

To find the nearest Fino point, people can click on the URL https://fino.latlong.in/ or can scan the QR code.

“Always available banking services are the need of the hour,” says Shailesh Pandey, CSO, Fino Payments Bank. “With restrictions on movement, Fino’s Hamesha available neighbourhood outlets are open for extended hours providing convenience to people during these tough times. Beneficiaries can walk-in into the points at any time or avail doorstep services to withdraw cash or send money to their family. Most importantly cash is always available at our points, including at BPCL outlets. Our objective is to provide access to convenient banking to the farming community in this hour of need.”

The PM KisanYojana provides financial benefit of ₹6000 per year to the eligible farmer families, payable in three equal 4-monthly instalments of ₹2,000 each. The 14th May payment is the first instalment for FY21-22.

During lockdown in 2020, Fino’s merchant network facilitated neighbourhood and door step banking to people in urban and rural areas. The Fino merchant being familiar in the locality was called by people for any cash requirement at any time of the day. The service provided great comfort to senior citizens, women and pensioners.

Majority of the withdrawals were done by DBT beneficiaries of schemes such as social security pension, PMJDY, PM KisanYojana etc.

At Fino points, people can also open a new account and also avail cash deposit, money transfer, utility bill and loan EMI payment services, and buy health, life and motor insurance. All in the neighborhood and completely paperless - Hamesha!

Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative Enhances Position As World’s Largest Vulnerability Disclosure Player

* Independent Omdia study finds ZDI reported 60.5% of appraised bugs in 2020 

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, today announced its Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) accounted for 60.5% of the vulnerabilities disclosed in a new Omdia study. The ZDI maintains its position as the world’s largest vendor-agnostic bug bounty program for the 13th consecutive year. The ZDI had the most disclosures across all severity levels, with 77% of their disclosures being critical or high severity rating. 

The analyst firm’s independent report, Quantifying the Public Vulnerability Market: 2021 Edition, offers a comprehensive comparative analysis of 11 of the world’s most prolific security research and vulnerability disclosure organizations. Click here to read the full report: https://resources.trendmicro.com/rs/945-CXD-062/images/Omdia_Vulnerability-Project-Whitepaper.pdf. 

“As recent events around Microsoft Exchange Server have highlighted yet again, vulnerabilities remain at the heart of the challenge for those fighting on the frontline against threat actors,” said Brian Gorenc, senior director of vulnerability research for Trend Micro. “That’s why we remain committed to incentivizing researchers to find and responsibly disclose bugs. This benefits users everywhere, and especially Trend Micro TippingPoint customers who were protected for 81 days on average before the release of a vendor patch in 2020.”

Omdia appraised 1,365 unique, verified vulnerabilities disclosed in 2020 claimed by the 11 vendors. Of these, ZDI disclosed 825 bugs, three times more than the next vendor, which disclosed 242. The ZDI increased its market coverage by 8.2% from the previous year, strengthening its position as industry leader even further. 

The report also recognized the ZDI Research Rewards program, which, similar to frequent flyer miles from an airline, enables researchers to earn increased rewards and bonuses by continuing to work with the ZDI. 

“The number of vulnerabilities discovered by all independent researchers totaled less than half of those offered by Trend Micro,” said Tanner Johnson, principal analyst for Omdia. “The ZDI focuses on vulnerabilities in a broad range of services, with a great deal of its effort directed toward vulnerabilities in networking and PDF software, which are critical to enterprise security.” 

Founded in 2005, Trend Micro’s ZDI pioneered the development of the responsible disclosure market for vulnerabilities, which leverages bug bounty rewards to incentivize researchers. The program has reported more than 7,500 flaws to affected vendors to date. Over 10,000 researchers globally have now been paid more than $25 million in bounties. 

ROHM’s ‘Environmental Vision 2050’: Aiming To Achieve Zero Carbon And Zero Emissions By 2050

* ROHM’s ‘Environmental Vision 2050’ contributes to achieving a sustainable society by 2050

In addition to pursuing zero carbon and zero emissions (zero CO2 emissions) based on the three themes of ‘climate change’, ‘resource recycling’, and ‘coexistence with nature’, ROHM will promote business activities in harmony with the natural cycle to protect biodiversity.

ROHM’s corporate objective is: ‘Quality is our top priority at all times’. Since our company’s foundation, we have been actively contributing to society and the progress of our culture through a consistent supply, under all circumstances, of high quality products in large volumes to the global market.

The role of semiconductors – ROHM’s main products – is becoming increasingly important to achieving a decarbonized society. In particular, improving the efficiency of motors and power supplies, which are said to account for the most of the world’s electricity consumption, has become our major mission.

Against this backdrop, our management vision for 2020 is: ‘Focus on power and analog products to solve social challenges by delivering greater energy savings and miniaturization in customer products.’ In order to further contribute to society, we will clarify the direction we should take while raising awareness among all group employees. 

In addition to contributing through these products, it is important to reduce the environmental impact of business activities in general, including the production process. ROHM accomplishes this vision by working to establish an eco-friendly business structure by using 100% renewable energy at both its main domestic offices (Kyoto Station Building, Shin-Yokohama Station Building) and in the primary production process for SiC wafer manufacturing from this fiscal year.

ROHM is committed to continuing to promote technological innovation in power and analog products, which are key devices for improving efficiency, based on our corporate objectives and management vision. At the same time, we are actively involved in a variety of environmental conservation activities and environmental investments. The core aims: Slowing down the climate change, applying resource recycling and acting in coexistence with nature – in accordance with our newly established environmental vision to achieve a sustainable society.

ThoughtWorks Report Reveals Key Success Factors In Digital Transformations

 

* Business executives and senior technology leaders indicate that a change-embracing culture and selecting the right transformation partners are critical to enterprise modernization

ThoughtWorks, a global technology company, commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate how companies are designing, building and maintaining new customer-facing technology. The findings of the in-depth survey of 400+ digital transformation and modernization decision makers at organizations who have had successful transformation initiatives across China, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States are included in the study entitled, ”The Secrets of Successful Digital Transformation.”

The survey results show successful organizations approach modernization in a multi-faceted way, with investments in modern digital technologies making up merely one aspect of success. Key findings of the survey include:

The right talent is hard to come by regardless of how successful firms are with their enterprise modernization efforts. Successful firms recruit, invest and retain knowledgeable staff (71%) and work with trusted partners (76%) to compensate for whatever skill and culture gaps that may exist within their organization.

The majority of decision-makers (81%) agree that utilizing a trusted partner’s skills and expertise is as or more important for success than the technology solution they provided.

Modernization efforts are not one-and-done initiatives. Decision-makers realize continuous improvement (81%) and dedicated budget (71%) are critical factors of success.

The primary transformational journey enterprises are undertaking today is the move to a more digital and innovative organization that can both react and adapt to business needs quickly. As the challenges of the pandemic have heightened the demand to achieve the right mix of technology, talent and processes to accelerate this journey, the study offers actionable insights to driving transformations that deliver strong business value.

“As the survey results found, the business benefits of transformation efforts are many-fold. Successful organizations gain increased agility and productivity while shortening time to market and significantly increasing customer satisfaction,” said Mike Mason, global head of technology, ThoughtWorks. “Interestingly, having the right people, skills mix and collaboration techniques are actually more important than specific technology choices such as which cloud provider to use in a modernization effort.”

Join @thoughtworks on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 11:00 am EDT for a webinar featuring Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst, Jeffrey Hammond. 

About ThoughtWorks

We are a software consultancy and community of passionate purpose-led individuals, 8,000+ people strong across 48 offices in 17 countries. Over our 25+ year history, we have helped our clients solve complex business problems where technology is the differentiator. When the only constant is change, we prepare you for the unpredictable.

Vardhman Health Specialities India Is Now Part Of The Aknamed Group

* The combined entity will be a boon in transforming and building India’s largest Healthcare Supply chain platform

* The transaction enables Aknamed to further promote excellence in delivery of healthcare essentials, with an enhanced pan-India footprint with leadership in therapeutic areas such as oncology, immunotherapy and virology

* Boosted by additional investment by existing investor of Aknamed- Lightrock, part of LGT Group (a global private banking and asset management firm with over $250B assets under management), accelerating the successful completion of the transaction

* This is the 3rd addition to the Aknamed Group in last 12 months, scaling its business to ~$200M in annualized revenues

* Aknamed aims to widen its footprint to 35 locations with the ability to serve over 500 cities and towns by end of 2021

Aknamed (Akna Medical Pvt. Ltd.), India’s largest tech-enabled hospital-focused supply chain platform announced the successful transaction with Vardhman Health Specialties (Vardhman), one of the largest specialty products provider to hospitals with expertise in therapeutic areas such as oncology, immunotherapy and virology. The integrated organization with the strong proficiency in hospital focused distribution, will work towards transforming and building India’s largest healthcare supply chain platform.

The transaction marks the 3rd addition to the Aknamed Group in last 12 months, scaling the business to $200M in annualized revenues. Over the next 2 years, Aknamed is aiming to invest significant additional capital to fuel the group’s organic and inorganic growth plans, while continuing to invest in people, technology and infrastructure. In fact, by the end of the current year, Aknamed will be present in 35 locations with the ability to serve over 500 cities and towns. 

Mr. Naresh Chowhan, CEO of Vardhman spelling out the motivation for the transaction, remarked “We are extremely pleased in partnering with Aknamed. This partnership underlines the growing importance of consolidation in the pharma supply chain industry in India. It opens up significantly larger opportunities, apart from the synergies derived from the combined businesses of Vardhman and Aknamed. The improved value proposition for our clients and stakeholders will allow us to serve them better. The combination propels us to an unequivocal leadership position to tap the large growth potential of the Indian market.”  

Commenting on the completion of the deal, Mr. Saurabh Pandey, Founder and CEO, Aknamed, said, “We are delighted to welcome Vardhman as part of the Aknamed Group. The vision of Aknamed has always been on delivering excellence in customer service, transparent business processes and practices with all stakeholders and developing exceptional technology based supply chain processes in niche and therapeutic areas. Our vision and goal have resonated very well with the Vardhman team as their business has been built on the similar values over the years. The focus is now to provide a top-notch supply chain service to the hospitals across country.”

Sharing his views on the completion of the transaction, Mahadevan (Mahad) Narayanamoni, Co-Founder & Chairman, Aknamed, said, “I am excited about the combination of Aknamed and Vardhman as it will solve a significant number of procurement challenges, and will broaden the horizon of healthcare supply chain in India. We also thank the continued support and guidance from our financial partners, Lightrock from LGT Group. We remain strongly committed in our endeavour to make a meaningful contribution to the digital health aspirations of hospitals in the country.”

Deloitte Corporate Finance were the exclusive financial advisors to Vardhman on the transaction.

ABOUT VARDHMAN

Vardhman Health Specialities (Vardhman), led by Jayantilal Chowhan (Founder & Chairman), Naresh Chowhan (Co-Founder & CEO) and Kalpesh Chowhan (Director), pioneered the distribution of specialty pharmaceutical products across India which are primarily used in therapies such as Oncology, Nephrology, Hepatology, Virology, Cardiology and Neurology, among others. It’s innovative business models and high-quality service orientation, has enabled Vardhman to grown at an industry-leading pace to become a pan-India leader in specialty pharmaceutical distribution with 18 branches serving over 1,200 hospitals and specialty clinics all across India. With two decades of experience in Healthcare and Pharma industry, Vardhman diversified into providing in-depth Healthcare and pharmaceutical solutions. The company has invested into pharma 4.0 initiatives in creating digital healthcare platforms. The company has long standing partnerships with world-leading pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Abbott, Astellas, BMS, Cipla, DRL, Eli Lilly, Glenmark, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi amongst others. It continues to leverage best-in-class logistics capabilities & network to serve over 1,500 international and national pharmaceutical brands across India. It is clearly the ‘preferred choice’ for speciality pharmaceutical distribution serving many reputed pan-India hospital network such as HCG, Manipal, American Oncology, Fortis, TATA Memorial, and Reliance Hospitals.

ABOUT AKNAMED:

Aknamed (Akna Medical Pvt. Ltd.) is India’s largest hospital-focused supply chain platform, enabling hospitals to simplify, optimise and monitor procurement and consumption using a cloud-based technology platform, national infrastructure and a comprehensive product basket. Founded by a team of people with decades of healthcare industry experience, led by Mahadevan (Mahad) Narayanamoni (Chairman) and Saurabh Pandey (CEO), Aknamed has built an organisation focused on delivering excellence in customer service, transparent business processes and practices with all stakeholders and developing deep capabilities in supply chain processes, technology and niche therapeutic areas. Aknamed aims to use scale, data and technology to transform the procurement function of the hospital into a strategic function, enabling the procurement and SCM teams at hospitals drive operational efficiency and profitability. The company partners with hospitals to optimise their procurement costs by using technology and scale and in turn with partners with manufacturers (OEMs) to take their products to hospitals most efficiently across the country. Aknamed currently has direct physical presence in 16 locations across the country and is in the process of expanding to over 30 locations in the coming months. The Company has the largest product portfolio in the country from a hospital consumption perspective, comprising over 10,000 products across surgical and generic / specialty pharmaceuticals including vaccines and other cold-chain products.