Facebook plans its own currency ‘Libra’ for 2 billion-plus users in 2020
San Francisco: Amid intense calls to break it down as the company has grown too big, Facebook on Tuesday announced its own digital wallet subsidiary called "Calibra" for its global cryptocurrency "Libra" which would be powered by Blockchain technology.
The new digital wallet for Libra will be available in Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app in 2020, the company said in a statement.
Facebook currently generates 99 per cent of its revenue from advertisements and its own digital currency would help it reach billions of its users across products, creating another stable revenue stream.
"Today we're sharing plans for Calibra, a newly-formed Facebook subsidiary whose goal is to provide financial services that will let people access and participate in the Libra network," said Facebook.
From the beginning, Calibra will let users send Libra to almost anyone with a smartphone, as easily and instantly as they send a text message and at low to no cost.
"In time, we hope to offer additional services for people and businesses, like paying bills with the push of a button, buying a cup of coffee with the scan of a code or riding your local public transit without needing to carry cash or a metro pass," said the social media giant which is facing intense scrutiny over users' privacy violations.
Facebook said Calibra will have strong protections in place to keep your money and your information safe.
"We'll be using all the same verification and anti-fraud processes that banks and credit cards use, and we'll have automated systems that will proactively monitor activity to detect and prevent fraudulent behaviourm" explained the company.
It said it would also offer dedicated live support to help if a user loses the phone or password — and if someone fraudulently gains access to the account and the user loses some Libra as a result, Facebook would offer a "refund".
Aside from limited cases, Calibra will not share account information or financial data with Facebook or any third party without customer consent, claimed the company.
"This means Calibra customers' account information and financial data will not be used to improve ad targeting on the Facebook family of products.
"The limited cases where this data may be shared reflect our need to keep people safe, comply with the law and provide basic functionality to the people who use Calibra. Calibra will use Facebook data to comply with the law, secure customers' accounts, mitigate risk and prevent criminal activity," the company explained.
Facebook said it is still early in the process of developing Calibra and would consult experts to make the product safe and private.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
