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On the hashtag's 10-year anniversary last year, Twitter's co-founder Biz Stone recounted how the hashtag symbol came to be so iconic   The  hashtag (#) turned 10 last year. Last week it turned a year older. In my younger days, the symbol # used to denote the number sign. In Western markets it stood for the pound sign. Word nerds called it the octothorpe. But for the past 11 years since it was first used on Twitter, the '#' is famous as the hashtag. Today the hashtag is not restricted to just Twitter (an average usage of 140 million times a day) but is equally frequently used on Facebook, Instagram and every other social media platform. More importantly, the hashtag today transcends social media, and has started to connote a higher purpose, and has become the unifying symbol for a body of thought (or resistance) … #MeToo for example spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media (as also traditional mass media) to demonstrate the wides...

We are getting ready for it (2019 general elections) and it's true that we are ready already, Haasan said   Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief  Kamal Haasan  on Wednesday said that his party is ready for the 2019 general elections, but are not in a mindset to contest the forthcoming bye-election in Tamil Nadu. "We are getting ready for it (2019 general elections) and it's true that we are ready already," Haasan said at an event here. However, when asked whether his party will contest in the forthcoming bye-election in the state, Kamal replied, "We will teach a lesson to the government to tell them about their duties, but we are not in the mindset to contest it." Two Assembly seats - Thiruvarur and Thiruparankundram constituencies - have fallen vacant after the demise of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M Karunanidhi and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader A K Bose. A date for the bye-election is yet ...

Tollywood actor and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader  Nandamuri Harikrishna succumbed to his injuries after he met with an accident in Telangana's Nalgonda district on Wednesday morning.   Harikrishna was the fourth son of late former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP founder NT Rama Rao and brother-in-law of incumbent state Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Harikrishna had received multiple injuries. He died while undergoing treatment. According to the police, the accident took place at the Anaparthy highway, 100 km away from Hyderabad, when the former's parliamentarian's car turned turtle after the person on the driving seat lost control over the vehicle. In 2014, Harikrishna's son Janakiram also died in an accident near Nalgonda. Harikrishna is survived by his wife, daughter Sushasini and two sons Kalyan Ram and Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, both are Tollywood actors. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao also expressed grief ...

Realme 2 would sport a gradient design, similar to the first-generation device. However, compared to predecessor, it would feature a new format screen, better internals and an improved camera module   Realme, a sub-brand of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo is launching the second iteration of its value-for-money smartphone in India today ( August 28). Named the  Realme 2 Price  , the smartphone would have a gradient design, similar to the first-generation device. However, compared to the predecessor, the upcoming smartphone will feature a new format screen, better internals and an improved camera module, according to a device listing page on the e-commerce platform Flipkart. The Realme 2 would sport a 6.2-inch HD+ resolution screen with a notch, accommodating a front camera, earpiece and sensors. On the back, the phone would get a dual camera module placed horizontally on top left centre, along with an LED flash. The back would also feature a fingerprint...

'Daddy's lil girl'  Priyanka Chopra  celebrated her late father Dr Ashok Chopra's birthday by stepping out for a dinner outing with mom Madhu Chopra.   The 36-year-old took to social media to share a picture, clicked by 'Dhadak' star Janhvi Kapoor, in which the mother-daughter duo can be seen cutting a piece of cake. Earlier in the day, the 'Quantico' star shared a short video clip with photographs of her father on social media and captioned the post: "Dad. You are so missed. Happy birthday. Always and forever." On the work front, Priyanka will next be seen in Hollywood movies 'Cowboy Ninja Viking' and 'Isn't it Romantic'; while in Bollywood, she will play a major role in Shonali Bose's 'The Sky is Pink'. The 'Mary Kom' actor recently made headlines for her engagement with American singer Nick Jonas.

Nayar died at around 12.30 am at a private hospital, his elder son Sudhir Nayar said Veteran  journalist Kuldip Nayar  passed away in New Delhi on Thursday, a member of his family said. He was 95. Nayyar died at around 12.30 am at a private hospital, his elder son Sudhir Nayar said. He is survived by his wife and two sons. Nayar started his career as an Urdu press reporter. He was editor of Delhi edition of English newspaper The Statesman. Nayar had served as High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom (UK). He was also nominated as a member of the Upper House of Parliament in 1997. He was also the author of more than 15 books including, Beyond the Lines, Distant Neighbours: A Tale of the Subcontinent, India after Nehru. His last rites will be performed at Lodhi crematorium. Read Full Story →  Kuldeep Nayyar  

The instant messaging platform had earlier expressed inability in tracing the origin of messages citing privacy of consumers With the government threatening action against  WhatsApp  over spread of fake news, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the American messaging platform, Chris Daniels, flew down to New Delhi to fix things. Daniels, who took over as the boss of WhatsApp in May, on Tuesday told the government it would work out a technological solution to trace the origin of fake messages. The Facebook-owned firm, with more than 200 million active subscribers in India, also committed to complying with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules relating to local storage of financial data by having servers in India. Daniels, a Facebook insider known for running  Internet.org  at the California-based social media firm, has been firefighting with the Indian authorities over fake news soon after he was appointed as the WhatsApp boss. Following an exchange...