India’s Modi spoofed over doctored photos of Chennai flood visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the butt of online jokes on Friday when it turned out an official photo showing him surveying flood damage in southern India through a helicopter window had been doctored. The picture showed Modi peering through the round window at a dramatic view of flooded city streets in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, after the strongest rains in a century there killed more than 280 people in a month and displaced thousands of residents. Social media lit up with users accusing the official Press Information Bureau (PIB) of faking the scene.

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Modi trip gives Facebook, Google chance to press on Indian expansion

By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip this weekend to Silicon Valley gives Facebook and Google the chance to press him on issues that have bedeviled them in that country, a market they see as vital to their aggressive global expansion. For Facebook and Google, India is a crucial market. With 1.3 billion people, it is the world's second most-populous country – and they are blocked from China, the most populous, making success in India even more critical for their global growth.

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Pandora says has paid $500 million in artist royalties in past year

(Reuters) – Internet radio service Pandora Media Inc said it paid nearly $500 million in artist royalties over the past 12 months, bringing the total to more than $1.5 billion in about 10 years. “It took us nearly nine years to generate the first billion dollars in royalties, and just over a year to increase that total by 50 percent,” Chief Executive Brian McAndrews said in a statement on Wednesday. Pandora gets revenue from advertising and paid subscriptions

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China’s Xiaomi announces telecom carrier service, new flagship handset

Xiaomi Inc, China's leading smartphone maker, announced on Tuesday two prepaid wireless plans to mark its debut as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) competing against China's national carriers. MVNOs, which purchase network capacity from large carriers and resell mobile plans under their own branding, have failed to gain traction in China, where three state-owned giants dominate the telecoms industry.

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