Don't miss out on these top 5 fiction reads before 2019 ends!

Agencies
November 30, 2019

New Delhi, Nov 28: Be it a holiday or just any other regular day, books can be the best companion one can have and no matter whether you admire gripping page-turners or literary novels, there's something for everyone. Yes, yes, for you too!

With 2019 being a bumper year for novels, a number of new releases by new and established authors hit the book stands, some of which will leave you inspired while others will give you the right mix of emotions.

As 2019 is nearing an end, here are five amazing reads that you shouldn't miss out reading on:

1. A Marketplace for Murder by Debleena Majumdar
Is killing a human the only kind of murder? What about the murder of a dream? Or, the murder of identity? This who and whydunit crime thriller explores the three questions through the unravelling a web of lies, murder and deceit that threaten to bring crime very close home for Leena, a business journalist.

The alternating first-person voice of the unknown killer and the third-person narrative takes the story across the modern-day Bangalore and a strange discovery at an archaeological expedition with characters you would have seen around you.

2. The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S Laskar
Written in an episodic style full of segments and snapshots, this literary work dips into and dissects what it means to be a person of colour, particularly a woman (and writer) of colour in contemporary America.

The book may be small, but it's sure to make a lasting impression on anyone who reads it.

3. Ib's Endless Search for Satisfaction by Roshan Ali
This is a portrait of a young man in our present-day urban country. The eponymous protagonist, who shares a house with his schizophrenic father, is pushed to the peripheries before long.

What follows is a long-winded search--lit with dark humour, lined with angst and anxiety, and unfolding in an inimitable style.

4. The Body Myth by Rheea Mukherjee
A 'modern' marriage, mental illness, love, myths and a menage a trois (the couple, Sara and Rahil, and their new friend, Mira) make up this debut (originally published in the US by Unnamed Press).

The book leaves pre-conceived notions and expectations of relationships--and reading--outside its own plotline, and questions if togetherness can be toxic and what 'conventional' love looks like.

5. A People's History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramaniam
The author, activist and educator's debut novel for adults is a celebration of five girls (Deepa, Banu, Padma, Rukshana and Joy) on the cusp of adulthood.

Set in a tight-knit slum community, the book talks of survival despite the threat of demolishment. Despite all odds, these girls and their mothers form a bond to fight the bulldozers sent to bury their lives and homes. 

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Agencies
July 9,2020

Twitter has hinted that it is planning a paid subscription platform that can be reused by other teams in the future.

The news that the micro-blogging platform is building a subscription platform with a team codenamed "Gryphon" resulted in Twitter stock rising over 8% on Wednesday.

Twitter revealed its plan via a job listing that seeks a full-stack senior software engineer in New York to join "Gryphon".

Interestingly, Twitter "edited" the job listing once the news broke, removing the part about "Gryphon" and any mention of their internal team or their subscription feature. The listing said the company is looking for an Android engineer to "work on a bevy of backend engineering teams to build components that allow for experimentation to deliver the best experience possible to all of our users".

Later, Twitter users noticed that the company restored the earlier job listing that mentioned the upcoming subscription platform and "Gryphon".

A spokesperson for Twitter told CNN on Wednesday that it's only a job posting, not a product announcement.

This is not the first time Twitter has thought of a paid product. 

In 2017, it sent out a survey to users and a preview of what a premium offering of its TweetDeck app might look like, including breaking news alerts and more analytics, according to The Verge.

"We're conducting this survey to assess the interest in a new, more enhanced version of Tweetdeck. We regularly conduct user research to gather feedback about people's Twitter experience and to better inform our product investment decisions, and we're exploring several ways to make TweetDeck even more valuable for professionals," a Twitter spokesperson had said at that time.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued notice to some Bollywood celebrities named in a complaint against the promoter of a company for allegedly blackmailing and sexually assaulting a number of girls on the pretext of giving them a career in modelling.

Taking cognizance of the complaint filed by social activist Yogita Bhayana of People Against Rape in India (PARI), the NCW scheduled a virtual hearing presided by its chairperson on August 6.

The complaint against Sunny Verma, promoter of a company named IMG Ventures with its headquarter in Chandigarh, alleged that he has been blackmailing and sexually assaulting a number of girls on the pretext of giving them career in modelling.

PARI's Yogita Bhayana wrote a complaint letter to NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma.

"Through his company, he (Sunny Verma) invites the girls on the pretext of organising a Miss Asia contest with a claim that the contest will launch them as models. To make it look genuine, his company has also been taking an entry fee of Rs 2,950. Once the girls apply, they are alluded by the female accomplices of Sunny Verma to submit their nude pictures in order to get the better ranking in the contest," the complaint letter said on July 31.

It alleged that Verma, after receiving the pictures and sometimes even before, used to get in touch with the girls and ask for completely nude pictures and videos.

The complaint letter said that Verma also used to allude as well as threaten the girls to submit to his sexual desires if they were interested in modelling as a career or wish to win the contest.

"Once he established a physical relationship with the girls, he used to blackmail them for regular sexual favours. Many girls from across the country have suffered a sexual and mental assault from Sunny and his accomplices," said the complaint citing several letters, texts and audio clips from several girls as proof of this modus operandi of Sunny Verma and his company.

The complaint also said that Sunny Verma has been previously also arrested on charges of sexual assault.

"We would demand that NCW should investigate the case to its depth and get the guilty punished so that any other person should not dare to exploit these kinds of innocent girls on any pretext. It will be a message to people like Sunny Verma and all associated Bollywood stars. Looking forward to strict action from NCW against sexual offenders like Sunny Verma & others," the complaint said.

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Agencies
May 14,2020

Social media platform WhatsApp assured the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it will not roll out its payment services without complying with all payment regulations and norms in the country.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and Hrishikesh Roy took up the matter through video conferencing. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the social media platform, said "WhatsApp Inc makes a statement on behalf of his client that they will not go ahead with the payments' scheme without complying with all the regulations in force."

The statement was made during the hearing of a petition seeking a ban on payment through WhatsApp, as it does not conform to the data localization norms. The top court took the assurance made by WhatsApp on record.

WhatsApp made the statement during the hearing of a plea seeking a ban on its payment service, for not being in line with data localization norms.

In 2018, WhatsApp was granted a beta licence to launch its payment service, but a dedicated and separate app is yet to be launched. A petition was moved in the apex court that WhatsApp's existing model for its payments service should be declared inconsistent with the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) Scheme, as a separate dedicated app has not been offered by the company.

The petitioner NGO, Good Governance Chambers, argued that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must change its model on the lines of the UPI payment scheme, and its operations may be suspended until these conditions are met.

The apex court today asked the Centre, Facebook and WhatsApp to file their replies within three weeks and it will take up the matter thereafter. The court noted that the government may process the applications filed by WhatsApp in accordance with the law and there is no stay on the same. Facebook was represented by senior advocate Arvind Datar.

The petitioner argued that lapses have been found in relation to WhatsApp's claims of having a secure and safe technological interface for securing sensitive user data.

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