Madrid, July 24 : Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday expanded its Android One line-up by launching Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite devices here that will come to India on August 8.

Mi A2 sports 12MP+20MP rear AI dual camera and 20MP front camera. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chip with the powerful Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence Engine (AIE), the company said in a statement.

The smaller Mi A2 Lite has 12MP+5MP rear AI dual camera and 4,000mAh battery.

"Mi A2 is coming to India on 8th August," tweeted Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi, and Managing Director, Xiaomi India.

As Android One devices, both the units will have unlimited high-quality photo storage with Google Photos.

"Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite are two devices that will take our win-win partnership with Google to new heights, following the success of Mi A1 last year," said Wang Xiang, Senior Vice President, Xiaomi.

Mi A2 comes in three variants -- 4GB+32GB, 4GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB. Mi A2 Lite will be available in 3GB+32GB and 4GB+64GB. The devices will be rolled out gradually in 40 markets around the world.

"Our Android One series has now developed an excellent reputation and allowed us to win over the hearts of many more users in our global expansion journey," Xiang added.

Mi A2 features 5.99-inch 18:9 Full Screen Display, protected by a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

"We're thrilled to expand our Android One partnership this year to introduce two great new devices -- Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite. We can't wait for consumers around the world to see and experience them," added Jamie Rosenberg, Google's Vice President of Android and Google Play Business.

A useful feature on Mi A2 is that users can manually select the 20MP or 12MP rear camera according to environment lighting.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu has given her approval for the registration of an FIR against AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain in an alleged scam of Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools, sources said.

In 2022, the Delhi government's vigilance directorate recommended a probe into the alleged scam and submitted a report to the chief secretary.

The President has given her approval for registering the FIR against Sisodia and Jain in connection with the alleged scam during their tenures as ministers in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the sources said.

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in a report dated February 17, 2020, highlighted "glaring irregularities" in the construction of classrooms in Delhi government schools by the Public Works Department (PWD).

The President's approval came under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act that pertains to "enquiry or inquiry or investigation of offences relatable to recommendations made or decision taken by public servant in discharge of official functions or duties".

Reacting to the development, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of carrying out a witch-hunt against its political rivals.

The BJP has no interest or intention to fulfil the promises it made to the people of Delhi. Its only agenda is to carry out a witch-hunt against its political rivals to stifle the voice of people, the former minister said in a statement.

The BJP-led central government has already decided to prosecute every political adversary of the party and grant approvals to move the case forward but it should wait for the judicial process to begin, he said.

In July 2019, BJP leader Harish Khurana and then AAP rebel MLA Kapil Mishra, now a minister in the Delhi government, lodged a police complaint about the alleged scam.

According to a report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government, the complainants alleged that there was a scam worth over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of classrooms and school buildings in Delhi. The work was done at a highly inflated cost by the Delhi government.

The alleged scam involves the construction of around 12,748 classrooms.

The ACB report said the total expenditure incurred for constructing the classrooms and school buildings was around Rs 2,892.65 crore. They were allegedly constructed at the rate of Rs 8,800 per square feet, whereas it was common knowledge that the average construction cost (even for a builder of flats) was around Rs 1,500 per square feet.

The total cost for constructing a classroom and school building, according to the tender awarded, was allegedly around Rs 24.86 lakh per room, whereas such rooms are easily constructed in Delhi at around Rs 5 lakh per room, it said.

The prices were increased almost five times to defraud the taxpayer by siphoning off money from the public exchequer in the garb of construction cost, the report said.

Even for a 5-star hotel, top ultra-luxury quality construction is around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500 per square feet, it said.

The complainants submitted a copy of documents in which information received under the RTI Act in respect of the construction of 18 classrooms in the Govt Girls Senior Secondary School, Nathupura, Burari (school ID:-1207111) revealed that they were constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, the ACB report said.