Under fierce criticism from Trump & his supporters, Sunder Pichai to testify before US House Judiciary Committee today
After the series of controversies surrounding Facebook, it is now time for Google to face the music. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is set to appear at the House Judiciary committee today, which will examine cases against the firm on several fronts including political bias, data security and domination of internet search.
Pichai released a statement on Monday asserting that Google steers clear of “political bias,” . While adding that privacy and security are essential parts of Google’s mission. and it is committed to working with the US government. “to keep our country safe and secure”.
He also defended the company against concerns that it was going against American values by dropping out of the bidding for a key Pentagon cloud computing project and also not renewing a Pentagon contract for analyzing drone videos with the use of artificial intelligence.
This has been juxtaposed with a planned Google project with the Chinese government to develop a censored search engine. Pichai commented, “Even as we expand into new markets we never forget our American roots.”
Donald Trump and his supporters have alleged that Google has a political bias and is against conservative opinion.
Trump had said in August on Twitter, “Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media… In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent.” In September, Google’s parent company Alphabet had declined to send either Pichai or Larry Page to testify at a Senate intelligence committee hearing. US Senators had put an empty chair marked Google and severely criticised it for its absence.
Qualcomm gets Apple iPhones banned, is China playing an underhanded game?
Qualcomm has succeeded in getting a Chinese court to enforce a ban on the sale of several older Apple iPhone models. The chipmaker has accused Apple of violating two of its patents in these phones, and is part of a larger global patent dispute between the two.
The case was filed in late 2017, and the specific patents in dispute pertain to resizing of photos and managing apps on a touch screen. Apple has however countered that the phones are still on sale in China and it has put in a request for reconsideration in the court.
Its spokesperson has commented, “Qualcomm’s effort to ban our products is another desperate move by a company whose illegal practices are under investigation by regulators around the world.”
The preliminary ruling impacts iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. Three new models launched in September are not under this particular case.
The case is significant for Apple as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan account for its third largest market, taking one-fifth of Apple’s US$ 265.6 billion in sales in the previous fiscal year.
Experts comment that nationalism could be playing play a role in legal decisions in a case like this, especially when US and China are engaged in a bitter trade dispute.
Although both Apple and Qualcomm are American, the latter supplies chips to leading Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus and Apple is a formidable competitor against Huawei for the premium smartphone market.
Fearing insolvency, RCom files plea against DoT for contempt of court
Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications has filed a petition for contempt of court against the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for not clearing its spectrum sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) within the stipulated period of seven days after receiving corporate guarantees.
The imbroglio pertains to Rs 2,947.6 crore of spectrum-related dues owed by Reliance Communications to DoT that are pending since several months.On November 30, the Supreme Court had approved the sale, but asked Reliance Communications to provide a corporate guarantee of Rs 1,400 crore to DoT, and also directed the latter to approve the spectrum sale to Jio within seven days of receipt of the guarantee. The guarantee was furnished by RCom on December 3.
Burdened by a total debt of around Rs 46,000 crore, RCom is undertaking a Rs 18,000 crore asset demonetization plan, which includes the sale of switching nodes, fibre, telecom towers and spectrum to Jio and real estate to Canada’s Brookfield. It has already sold off the nodes and fibre for Rs 5,000 crore.
If RCom fails to repay its lenders, it could soon be pulled into insolvency resolution proceedings. A DoT official has stated on condition of anonymity that they are doing due diligence on the guarantees and will give the approval soon.
Fish curry effect? Nissan first MNC to invest in Kerala after 7 years
Global automobile giant Nissan Motor Co., Ltd has launched its first global hub for development of futuristic driverless cars and electric vehicles in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Monday.
This is the first investment by an MNC in Kerala in seven years, with the last investment being made by Oracle. Kerala has proved a laggard among states in the competition to attract investments. And the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPM engaged in intense lobbying. In fact, chief minister Mr Pinarayi Vijayan even invited the top brass of Nissan to his home and served them home-made fish curry to give a personal touch.
Even Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram had helped in an appreciable bipartisan effort by talking about the states advanced socio-economic indicators during one of the meetings. Better days could finally be around the corner for Kerala, as more investments are coming in.
US-based Taurus Investment Holdings is planning a US$ 200 million project in collaboration with Embassy Group and Asset Homes to create IT space and social infrastructure in Technopark at Thiruvananthapuram.
Fujitsu, Tech Mahindra and Microsoft are also planning to invest in the state. Vijayan said, “Nissan coming to Thiruvananthapuram marks the beginning of a new era for Kerala IT. We will do our best to ensure Kerala proves to be Nissan’s second home after Japan.”
PE & VC investments during January-November 2018 surpass previous record
Consulting firm EY has announced that private equity and venture capital investments in India during January to November, 2018 had reached US$ 27 billion. This is better than the previous record of US$ 26.1 billion achieved during the same period in 2017.
Consulting firm EY has announced that private equity and venture capital investments in India during January to November, 2018 had reached US$ 27 billion. This is better than the previous record of US$ 26.1 billion achieved during the same period in 2017.
However, activity in November was relatively tepid, with total investments at US$ 1.6 billion, 33% lower yoy and 49% . Below the levels in October 2018. Large deals were comparatively fewer with just 5 deals worth over US$ 100 million aggregating to US$ 950 million during the month. According to EY’s Private Equity Monthly Deal Tracker.
The largest deal for the month was Mapletree Investment’s acquisition of SP Infocity IT Park, Chennai for $353 million.
The period of January-November witnessed acquisitions aggregating to US$ 7.4 billion across 37 deals, more than the combined value in the past two years. Startup investments also grew by 17% yoy to reach US$ 4.1 billion. Vivek Soni, partner and national leader (private equity services), EY confirmed. “As we had forecasted at the start of the year, 2018 has emerged as the best year for PE-VC investments. With $27 billion till date, and we still have one more month to go.”
