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1. Microsoft to work with Telangana for startup push: Satya Nadella<br>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday said his company is interested in working with the Telangana government through Microsoft Ventures Accelerators to give a push to the startup ecosystem. He further said the company is interested in the field of last mile technological connectivity to rural areas of India along with local entrepreneurs. Addressing a gathering at T-Hub, a technological incubator promoted by the Telangana Government, Nadella advised the startup community to learn from the failures. "We are here to be a part of your success, with our accelerators where we aim to work with T-Hub. But most of all, I'm here to be inspired by your dreams," Nadella said according to a press release issued by the Government. (Image Source: PTI)</br>
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2. Mark Zuckerberg makes renewed pitch for Free Basics service<br> Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Monday made renewed pitch for its controversial Free Basics Internet service in yet another marketing blitz saying it protects net neutrality. Facebook's proposed Free Basics plan allows customers to avail of services like education, health care and employment listings through apps specially designed for this platform on their phones without a data plan but does not allow access to many services such as YouTube, Gmail, Google or Twitter. Zuckerberg appeared on a video to personally promote Free Basics and also wrote a personal appeal in one of the leading newspapers. While Free Basics allows users to access a small number of Web services without charge, it has been criticised by some for alleged violation of the principle of net neutrality, a concept that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. (Image Source: Express Photo)</br>
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3. Odd-even: Twitter to support transport<br> The Delhi government has tied up with Twitter to bring real-time information on public transport to commuters on the social media during the 15 days the odd-even scheme is implemented. Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai said that Twitter will help commuters find information about bus routes, Metro, autorickshaws during the road-rationing experinment that begins from January 1. For instance, if a person gets off a Metro train in unknown area, he or she can search for bus or Metro routes with the help of the micro-blogging site, the Minister said. "Twitter users can get details of public transport available in particular areas by tweeting #pollutionfreeDelhi followed by the departure and destination point. "Twitter will instantly send users real time public transport updates pertaining to the area," Raheel Khursheed, Director (News, Politics, Govt) of Twitter India. (Image Source: Reuters)</br>
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4. Odd-even: Metro decides on 70 additional trips daily<br> Delhi Metro trains will make 70 additional trips during the odd-even trial period, taking the number of daily trips to 3,192, that will lead to a marginal increase in the frequency of its services to tackle an expected rush of passengers. These have been distributed over Red, Blue, Yellow and Orange (Airport Express) lines with 12, 11, 17 and 30 additional trips respectively. According to data provided by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the total number of trips undertaken in November stood at 3,122. (Image Source: Reuters)</br>
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Telecommunications tower company Bharti Infratel on Tuesday reported a 71% year-on-year jump in its first-quarter net profit, boosted by expansion of networks by the top three operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and Idea Cellular, as they added more sites to reduce instances of call drops, and offer high-margin 3G/4G data services.
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6. MTNL to offer free roaming from Jan 1: Prasad<br>State-run MTNL, which offers services in Delhi and Mumbai, will offer free roaming from January 1, allowing its customers to receive calls at no extra cost while travelling across the country. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday announced the free roaming facility by MTNL from next year during an event to celebrate good governance day here. BSNL already has free roaming scheme in place. At present, MTNL customers have to pay roaming charges for incoming calls when they go outside of Delhi and Mumbai. MTNL Chairman and Managing Director N K Yadav said the company is even trying to implement the scheme before January 1 and is checking the technical details. (Image Source: Reuters)</br>
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7. Reliance Foundation to impart financial literacy to women in slums<br> Reliance Foundation has launched an initiative to provide financial education to over five lakh women living in slums. The programme was kicked-off on Monday to mark the 83rd birth anniversary of late Dhirubhai Ambani, the patriarch of the Ambani family, Reliance Foundation said in a statement. The programme, in joint collaboration with Crisil, aims to empower the women towards making informed financial decisions and get them to inculcate a savings habit. Crisil and Reliance Foundation carried out an extensive study across slums in Mumbai which showed that these women from marginalised sections of the society are usually kept out of financial decision-making process by men, the statement said.</br>
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8. Taj Mahal, Statue of Liberty welcome Eiffel Tower on Twitter!<br>The world-renowned Taj Mahal and the Statue of Liberty have welcomed the 126-year-old Eiffel Tower on Twitter, as the world's most visited monument joined the micro-blogging site last week. "Parisian since 1889, now I am sparkling on Twitter!" said one of the first tweets, in both English and French, on the official account of the Eiffel Tower. "Welcome @LaTourEiffel," tweeted the Taj Mahal, one of the world's wonders, built in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. "Thanks a lot @TajMahal," Eiffel Tower tweeted back. The 1,063 feet-high tower nicknamed La Grande Dame by its creator Gustave Eiffel attracts more than seven million visitors from across the globe each year. (Image Source: Twitter)</br>
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9. Ola to allow private car pooling on its app in Delhi-NCR<br> Cab aggregator Ola today launched a 'CarPool' feature, which will allow residents in Delhi-NCR to pool rides using their private cars through Ola's app. To be available free of cost, CarPool will help citizens comply with the state's first of its kind experiment to implement the odd-even formula for private cars starting January 1, 2016, Ola said in a statement. The move by the Delhi government is aimed at curbing road congestion and pollution in a significant manner. "Users in Delhi will be able to take advantage of Ola's route matching algorithms to pool rides in their car with fellow passengers looking to travel on the same route. The 'Friend List' feature on Ola app allows users to create a custom list by adding friends with their mobile phone numbers," Ola said. (Image Source: Reuters)</br>
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10. RGIA becomes first airport to offer e-boarding facility<br>GMR group-run Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) on Monday became the first airport in the country to offer e-boarding facility to domestic fliers. The seamless facility, inaugurated by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, covers all the boarding processes right from entry into the terminal building of the airport to boarding the aircraft, a release said today. Fliers, however, would have flexibility to follow the traditional process of showing a photo-ID to gain entry into the airport in case the Aadhaar number is not available.</br>
