UIDAI: Aadhar Card Authentication Price is Now More Affordable

With the Aadhar card positioned as the only identity card required by Indian citizens, one of the largest challenges in widespread adoption came in the form of pricing. Citizens had to pay a fee of Rs. 20 in order to have their Aadhar cards created. Now, the fee has been slashed to Rs. 3 per request, lessening the financial burden on those who live in rural areas. 

Why have the Aadhar Authentication charges been reduced? 

“We have slashed the rate from ₹20 per authentication to ₹3 and the objective has been to ensure that different agencies, entities should be able to use the power of digital infrastructure which has been created by the state that needs to be used to provide people with ease of living with dignity,” said UIDAI CEO Saurabh Garg at the Global Fintech Fest organized by NPCI-IAMAI.

"I think it gives a cost effective and non-repudiable solution to fintech companies to onboard new customers. That is where the power lies and KYC of the Aadhar provides lifetime and reusable identity which is the power of the Aadhaar system," added Garg.

How does making Aadhar Authentication affordable help?

This news comes at the heels of the launch of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, which aims to bring healthcare services to the poor by providing access to a digital Health ID card. In order to register for the same, citizens of India must prove their identity with the help of their Aadhar cards. Making the card authentication process more affordable will go a long way in encouraging more citizens to register themselves and also be a part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. 

To make gaining access to the Aadhar card much easier, UIDAI had recently announced that people who do have a smartphone registered to their name can download their Aadhar cards directly from the UIDAI website. 

Also Read: Intel Accelerated - 10nm to 18A, RibbonFET, PowerVia and more

Video Source: Aadhaar UIDAI

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After Apples Battle with Fortnite, Microsoft Allows Epic Games on its App Store

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it will allow Epic games, Amazon and other brands to integrate their apps into their marketplace, without having to integrate big-name payment gateways in their apps. This gives third-party developers more room to create apps as per their needs, without relying on gateways like Google Pay. Additionally, Microsoft also announced that it would not take any percentage of the revenue generated by these apps if they are using their own payment gateways.

In response to this, Epic Games Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney tweeted "Microsoft is again leading the industry forward with Windows, now an open platform with an open store,"

What’s the story behind Microsoft’s decision?

Apple had recently removed Fortnite, along with a host of other apps, from their App Store due to their in-app payment processes that bypassed the App Store’s own payment gateway. As a result, the brand has been embroiled in a legal battle with Epic Games over a breach of contract. The app had reportedly launched its own payment gateway as Apple takes a 30% from revenue generated by apps when they use the brand’s payment systems. 

Apple retaliated by banning Fortnite and the appeals process could take several years. This spells extraordinary losses for Epic Games, and other apps banned for similar reasons.

How will Microsoft deal with Epic Games?

In general, Apple’s commissions range between 15-30%, and developers have criticised the steep rates for ages. Similarly, Google is known to take a 20% cut from apps, however, according to a CNBC report, they are now cutting their commission to 3%. 

Microsoft’s announcement, thus, comes as a breath of fresh air for developers struggling to increase revenue while still ensuring that their apps reach a high volume of audiences.

Also Read:  Fortnite May Be Banned From The Apple App Store For A Year: Report

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Stellapps, Airtel Payments Bank partner to help small dairy farmers with digital finance solutions

In a move to help small dairy farmers digitise, Airtel Payments Bank announced on Tuesday that it will partner with Stellapps to facilitate cashless payments. Stellapps offers financial management programs across the dairy value chain and strives to improve financial inclusion for dairy farmers through its mooPay Fintech platform. The brand has been working with dairies to help with direct payments to the bank accounts of dairy farmers. Apart from enabling a cashless economy, this will also bring more farmers into the fold of the financial system. 

How did Stellapps come into being?

Stellapps identified a major challenge in the lives of dairy farmers - the long walk to the ATM to get cash out. The inability to withdraw cash as and when needed contributed to financial challenges in their lives, something that Stellapps wants to eradicate. By partnering with Airtel Payments Bank, Stellapps will ensure that its milk collection centers double up as banking centers. These banking centers will be instrumental in helping farmers open bank accounts, accessing Aadhar-enabled payments, withdrawing cash, pay their bills and more.

The ecosystem has already been piloted in Kanpur and Varanasi (UP) and Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh).

How will Stellapps help dairy farmers in India?

“We are very excited to partner with Airtel Payments Bank as it will strengthen our own service offering, help over one million dairy farmers with their banking needs and drive financial inclusion in the rural economy,” said Rahul Mallick, CEO - Stellapps FinTech and Value Added Services.

“We are delighted to partner with Stellapps to enable cashless payment transfers for the small dairy farmers. Direct payments help farmers to be financially independent. Our unique and extensive distribution network allows us to offer the benefits of formal banking to these farmers. The initial success of this initiative has encouraged us to expand it nationally,” added Ganesh Ananthanarayanan, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Payments Bank.

Also Read: India Moves closer to healing with the new CoWIN KYC-VS API

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WhatsApp will now receive multi-device 20 support along with message reactions

Whatsapp can currently be used on up to four devices, along with one smartphone. This multi-device connectivity is what allows users to sync Whatsapp on their desktops/laptops, while also having the app function in tandem on their smartphone. While the functionality does not extend to iPads, this should be a thing of the past as Wabetainfo has announced that Whatsapp is working on multi-device 2.0. The feature is already available on the Beta versions of the app.

 

What is Whatsapp’s multi device 2.0 update?

The multi-device 2.0 update will allow users to connect to their Whatsapp accounts via different devices, without needing their smartphones to be connected to the same. It will also make Whatsapp available on the iPad.

“Multi-device means that users will have the same functionality that is available on the current public versions of WhatsApp Web, Desktop and Portal, just without the need to have your phone connected. Our multi-device capability immediately makes the experience better for people who use Desktop/Web and Portal. And it also will make it possible to add support for more kinds of devices over time.” said a spokesperson.

What is Whatsapp’s message reaction update?

Apart from offering multi-device connectivity, Whatsapp is also going to introduce message reactions through its new update, according to Wabetainfo. You can long-press on a message and choose from the displayed emojis how you want to react. A report on the same stated that these features are currently available in the Beta versions of the app.

“Reactions aren’t anonymous, so everyone in the conversation will be able to see who reacted to a specific message,” the report stated.

Also Read: Whatsapp Expands into the Business Directory Market with latest offering

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You can now keep your pictures safe with Googles new Locked Folder

Got a ton of pictures you wouldn’t want to share with anyone? Well, here’s some good news. Google will soon roll out its latest feature, Locked Folder, which will be available on the app version of Photos. As the name suggests, the folder will let you save your private pictures and ensure that you don’t have to worry about who can access the same when you’re not around.

How will Google’s Locked Folder feature work?

The Locked Folder feature will require you to enter a passcode or biometric authentication in order to access the content in the folder. While the feature was launched exclusively onPixel smartphones in June, it will soon be available on all Android devices, as long as they operate on Android 6 or higher. The tech giant has not confirmed when the rollout will happen, and has only claimed that it will happen “soon”. 

How do you set up the Locked Folder feature on your smartphone?

In order to set up this feature, you must  go to your Library > Utilities > Locked Folder. Once the folder is created, you must manually move your photos or videos to the folder. When you take a photograph with a Pixel smartphone, the phone automatically asks you whether you want to save the photograph in your Locked Folder. However, as of now, it isn’t clear whether this feature will also be available on Android smartphones.

One of the biggest reasons people are wary of taking or saving sensitive pictures is that such images can be leaked from the Cloud. This had happened to a few celebrities years ago. With that in mind, it’s important to note that anything you save in the Locked Folder will not be uploaded to the Cloud. Your content will, thus, be safe.

Google has been rolling out a few cosmetic updates lately, however, now, we also know that there are a few functional updates on the way. We’ll keep you posted as and when we know more. 

Also Read: Google Search now has dark mode on desktop and here's how to activate it

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Heres how you can download Microsoft Windows 11 update without an official notification

Mircosoft Windows 11 update is finally available and interested users can upgrade their Windows 10 PC/laptop to Windows 11. As per Microsoft, users should not download the Windows 11 update if their PC/laptop does not meet the minimum eligibility requirements. If they do so anyway, their devices will not receive future Windows 11 software and security updates. 

For all the eligible devices, there are two main methods to download the Windows 11 software update. The first method is most suitable if you have a laptop or a pre-built PC.

Windows 11 Update Download (Update and Security) Click on the start button and open the “Settings” menu Once inside, select “Update & Security” and click on the “Windows Update” tab Click on the “Check for updates” button and wait for the system to respond

Your laptop will most likely get the Windows 11 update option if your OEM has sent over an official notification. However, if you can’t see any Windows 11 update download prompt, you can download it update directly from Microsoft’s official website. 

Windows 11 Update Download (Online method) Download and install the “PC Health Check” by clicking here Open the PC health check app click on the “Check Now” button After receiving a go-ahead from the app the next step is to download Windows 11 Open Google Chrome and type in the search box “Windows 11 official download”  A search result titled “ Download Windows 11” will appear, click on it Once the page loads, under the heading “Windows 11 Installation Assistant” click on “Download Now” Open the downloaded installer on your PC It’ll prompt you to Use the PC Health Check app, ignore it and press refresh if you’ve already finished this process. The next step is to accept the license agreement and install Windows 11 by clicking on “Accept and Install”

With these two steps, you’ll get Windows 11 installed on your PC/Laptop in no time. I installed the Windows 11 OS on my Lenovo Legion 5 Pro and the Dell 9520 laptop using the online method. On both laptops, the new Windows 11 OS is running without any major issues. Few Google Chrome extensions in my web browser are not working properly but other than that, the update is free of bugs.

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The Fujifilm GFX50S II Medium Format Mirrorless Camera launched in India at Rs 3,79,999

The Full Frame camera segment has dominated the Indian professional camera market for decades now. But on October 6th, 2021, Fujifilm launched the GFX50S II in India which might pull some of the Full Frame fanatics to it, thanks to a larger than Full Frame (Medium Format) sensor and a price that rivals some of the cameras in the Full-Frame mirrorless segment  (like the Canon EOS R3, Sony Alpha 1, etc). Fujifilm also launched the Fujinon GF35-70mm f/4.5 -5.6 WR lens along with the Fujifilm GFX50S II Body. The price of the GFX50S II is Rs 3,79,999 for the body only and with the Fujinon GF35-70, the total price is Rs 4,49,999.

Fujifilm GFX50S II specifications

The Fujifilm GFX50S II features a whopping 51.4 Megapixel Medium Format sensor.  And as most professionals would already know, having a larger sensor has a ton of benefits. The larger sensor size results in a larger area that receives light per pixel. The end result of which is better low light performance, excellent ISO sensitivity and improved dynamic range. An added benefit is the ability to produce a shallower depth of field when compared to the popular Full Frame cameras. Meaning more creamy bokeh.

Fujifilm is also known for its superb Film Simulations and the GFX50S II features 19 of them. Including one called “Nostalgic Neg” which has been developed specifically for the GFX50S II.

Like most other mirrorless cameras, the GFX50S II comes with a 5-axis in-body image stabilisation mechanism (IBIS) that provides 6.5 stops of stabilisation. Promising better image quality with handheld photography or video. Considering the large sensor in a compact body, this feature is one of the highlights of the camera. Basically, for those who don't know, the GFX 50S II is the smaller, more compact version of the massive professional bodied Fujifilm GFX100.

Handling the processing duties is the X-Processor 4 processing engine that enables improved Auto Focus refresh rate which results in more accurate Face and Eye detection when compared to other Fujifilm Cameras.

Other features include six customisable positions on the Mode dial, a 3.2-inch tilting main LCD monitor with 100% coverage, a 1.8-inch sub LCD monitor on the top panel, a weather-sealed body and the capability to click 200 Megapixel images free of any false colour representation thanks to the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot function.

The Fujifilm GFX50S II will available in two variants. As a Body only version and one with the Fujinon GF35-70 f/4.5-5.6 WR Lens included. It will be available for purchase at all Fujifilm authorised dealers across India.

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