As the demand for video conferencing platform cools off from pandemic highs, Zoom media communication has cut its annual profit and revenue forecasts. There is also stiff competition from Microsoft teams and cisco Webex that is leading to problems.

Zoom revenue growth hits record low

Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to hold virtual conference with political leaders of 160 countries on 100th anniversary of founding of the Chinese Communist Party. Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be part of this interaction as well. Leaders like Sher Bahadur Deuba (Nepali Congress) and Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' (CPN-Maoist) will also participate.

“Over 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from more than 160 countries and over 10,000 representatives of political parties will attend the Summit, which is themed on 'For the People’s Wellbeing: the Responsibility of Political Parties,” said Hu Zhaoming, Spokesperson of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC) in a statement.&nbsp;

Zhaoming said the CPC and World Political Parties Summit would be held on July 6.&nbsp;

China has been holding discussions with leaders and heads of government of neighboring countries and its allies&nbsp;on the occasion of the 100th anniversary.&nbsp;

Spokesperson of the international committee of the party said that the conference will allow the CPC and political parties from around the world to jointly cope with challenges brought by the Covid pandemic.&nbsp;

“The Summit will allow the CPC and political parties from all over the world to strengthen exchange of experience in state governance and administration, jointly cope with challenges brought by the changes unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthen the ability and ideal to seek happiness for the people, promote world peace and development,” the statement added.&nbsp;

Earlier in May, the Nepali political leaders in a virtual meeting with CPC leaders appreciated the Chinese Government for their continuous support to Nepal in fighting the pandemic and stressed on Nepal-China relation.&nbsp;

“Nepal and China are trusted friends and good neighbors. The deep-rooted historical friendly relation goes back to thousands of years. China’s support is highly significant for improving living condition of Nepali people. We greatly value the development and humanitarian support from China,” CPN-Maoist Centre chairperson 'Prachanda' had said during the meeting.&nbsp;

Recently, Nepal decided to procure four million doses of Vero Cell vaccines from China under a non-disclosure agreement signed between the two nations.&nbsp;

Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to hold virtual conference with political leaders of 160 countries on 100th anniversary of founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to hold virtual conference with political leaders of 160 countries on 100th anniversary of founding of the Chinese Communist Party. Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will be part of this interaction as well. Leaders like Sher Bahadur Deuba (Nepali Congress) and Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' (CPN-Maoist) will also participate. “Over 500 leaders of political parties and political organizations from more than 160 countries and over 10,000 representatives of political parties will attend the Summit, which is themed on 'For the People’s Wellbeing: the Responsibility of Political Parties,” said Hu Zhaoming, Spokesperson of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC) in a statement. Zhaoming said the CPC and World Political Parties Summit would be held on July 6. China has been holding discussions with leaders and heads of government of neighboring countries and its allies on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. Spokesperson of the international committee of the party said that the conference will allow the CPC and political parties from around the world to jointly cope with challenges brought by the Covid pandemic. “The Summit will allow the CPC and political parties from all over the world to strengthen exchange of experience in state governance and administration, jointly cope with challenges brought by the changes unseen in a century and the COVID-19 pandemic, strengthen the ability and ideal to seek happiness for the people, promote world peace and development,” the statement added. Earlier in May, the Nepali political leaders in a virtual meeting with CPC leaders appreciated the Chinese Government for their continuous support to Nepal in fighting the pandemic and stressed on Nepal-China relation. “Nepal and China are trusted friends and good neighbors. The deep-rooted historical friendly relation goes back to thousands of years. China’s support is highly significant for improving living condition of Nepali people. We greatly value the development and humanitarian support from China,” CPN-Maoist Centre chairperson 'Prachanda' had said during the meeting. Recently, Nepal decided to procure four million doses of Vero Cell vaccines from China under a non-disclosure agreement signed between the two nations.

Chinese President to hold talks with Nepal PM Oli, other leaders

St. Nicholas is keeping tradition alive and is speaking with children by video conference, as COVID restrictions in Belgium prevent him from seeing them face to face.

St. Nicholas video chats with Belgian children, keeping tradition alive despite COVID

In what seems to be the new normal of life in a COVID world, India's new high commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay presented his credentials to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a ceremony that took place via video-conferencing.&nbsp;

Thanking the Sri Lankan President for the "innovative ceremony", high commissioner Baglay said, "leadership of the country PM Modi has been stressing the use of technology to overcome challenges. Challenges posed by COVID require innovative measures".

Adding, "This presentation through video conference is an innovate way to overcome challenges of our times" and "it shows innovativeness of Indian diplomacy".

India has sent four consignments of essential life-saving medicines and medical material weighing over 25 tonnes to Sri Lanka in the last few weeks as a goodwill gesture. Sri Lankan health professionals have also participated in various online-training programmes on COVID management organised by health institutions in India.

Baglay, who has been the former spokesperson of Indian external affairs ministry said, "As Indian high commissioner in Sri Lanka I will work with all my might to take the relationship of India and Sri Lanka to even greater heights"&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Gopal Baglay has also served as Joint Secretary PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) desk in MEA and was India's deputy envoy to Pakistan from 2011-2014. 
&nbsp; 
It is interesting to know, High commissioner Baglay arrived in Sri Lanka on an airforce plane that came with the consignment given the fact no international or domestic flights are allowed due to pan India lockdown.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Modi had paid a solidarity visit to Sri Lanka during his first overseas tour after assuming the office in his second term last year. It was followed by the first overseas visit by Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to India in November 2019. Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa's first overseas visit was India in February 2020.

In what seems to be the new normal of life in a COVID world, India's new high commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay presented his credentials to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a ceremony that took place via video-conferencing.

In what seems to be the new normal of life in a COVID world, India's new high commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay presented his credentials to Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a ceremony that took place via video-conferencing. Thanking the Sri Lankan President for the "innovative ceremony", high commissioner Baglay said, "leadership of the country PM Modi has been stressing the use of technology to overcome challenges. Challenges posed by COVID require innovative measures". Adding, "This presentation through video conference is an innovate way to overcome challenges of our times" and "it shows innovativeness of Indian diplomacy". India has sent four consignments of essential life-saving medicines and medical material weighing over 25 tonnes to Sri Lanka in the last few weeks as a goodwill gesture. Sri Lankan health professionals have also participated in various online-training programmes on COVID management organised by health institutions in India. Baglay, who has been the former spokesperson of Indian external affairs ministry said, "As Indian high commissioner in Sri Lanka I will work with all my might to take the relationship of India and Sri Lanka to even greater heights" Gopal Baglay has also served as Joint Secretary PAI (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) desk in MEA and was India's deputy envoy to Pakistan from 2011-2014. It is interesting to know, High commissioner Baglay arrived in Sri Lanka on an airforce plane that came with the consignment given the fact no international or domestic flights are allowed due to pan India lockdown. Prime Minister Modi had paid a solidarity visit to Sri Lanka during his first overseas tour after assuming the office in his second term last year. It was followed by the first overseas visit by Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to India in November 2019. Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa's first overseas visit was India in February 2020.

Life in the times of covid: India's envoy to Sri Lanka presents credentials via video conference

Amid a surge in Zoom user base, Facebook on Friday announced the launch of virtual "rooms" where people can video chat and add up to 50 people in the groups.

The coronavirus-driven lockdown of millions of people globally has driven huge growth in the use of platforms like Zoom, Skype or Microsoft's Teams application.

These Messenger Rooms is tailored for socialising with friends and family whether it be birthdays, happy hours, book clubs or parents groups, in contrast with Zoom, developed with business in mind.

"This is designed to be more serendipitous and spontaneous," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told news agency AFP.

The launch comes amid a surge in Zoom use not only for business meetings but family and social gatherings moved online due to the health crisis.

Despite the growing criticism over privacy issues, Zoom' user base grew by another 50% bring the number to 300 million in the last three weeks. While the shares of the US-based company rose 12% to a record high of $168.24 today.

Amid a surge in Zoom user base, Facebook on Friday announced the launch of virtual "rooms" where people can video chat and add up to 50 people in the groups. The coronavirus-driven lockdown of millions of people globally has driven huge growth in the use of platforms like Zoom, Skype or Microsoft's Teams application.

Amid a surge in Zoom user base, Facebook on Friday announced the launch of virtual "rooms" where people can video chat and add up to 50 people in the groups. The coronavirus-driven lockdown of millions of people globally has driven huge growth in the use of platforms like Zoom, Skype or Microsoft's Teams application. These Messenger Rooms is tailored for socialising with friends and family whether it be birthdays, happy hours, book clubs or parents groups, in contrast with Zoom, developed with business in mind. "This is designed to be more serendipitous and spontaneous," Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told news agency AFP. The launch comes amid a surge in Zoom use not only for business meetings but family and social gatherings moved online due to the health crisis. Despite the growing criticism over privacy issues, Zoom' user base grew by another 50% bring the number to 300 million in the last three weeks. While the shares of the US-based company rose 12% to a record high of $168.24 today.

Amid surge in Zoom users, Facebook launches Messenger 'Rooms' for video calls

The video conferencing app, Zoom which has earlier promised end-to-end encryption, offered an apology while admitting that some calls were indeed routed through China.

Security researchers at Citizen Lab in Canada have reported on Friday that some Zoom calls made in North America were routed through China so were the encryption keys used to secure those calls.

Over the past few weeks, Zoom has experienced a massive influx of users on its app and in effort to ramp up the served capacity, it "mistakenly" allowed two of its Chinese data centres to accept calls as a backup in the event of network congestion, the company said in a statement.

The end-to-end encryption is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. Through end-to-end encryption, companies intend to prevent data from being read or secretly modified by any third party.

The app is owned by Chinese businessman, Eric Yuan, and is headquartered in San Jose, California, United States.&nbsp;

The app which shot up to fame this year after coronavirus pandemic forced millions of people to work from home. The app lets users add up to 100 people in their virtual meetings.

This week, Zoom faced a barrage of headlines after concerns were raised over its privacy and security policies and the latest admission by Zoom app proves that the company controls the encryption keys and can, therefore, access the contents of its customers’ calls. &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The video conferencing app, Zoom which has earlier promised end-to-end encryption, offered an apology while admitting that some calls were indeed routed through China.

The video conferencing app, Zoom which has earlier promised end-to-end encryption, offered an apology while admitting that some calls were indeed routed through China. Security researchers at Citizen Lab in Canada have reported on Friday that some Zoom calls made in North America were routed through China so were the encryption keys used to secure those calls. Over the past few weeks, Zoom has experienced a massive influx of users on its app and in effort to ramp up the served capacity, it "mistakenly" allowed two of its Chinese data centres to accept calls as a backup in the event of network congestion, the company said in a statement. The end-to-end encryption is a system of communication where only the communicating users can read the messages. Through end-to-end encryption, companies intend to prevent data from being read or secretly modified by any third party. The app is owned by Chinese businessman, Eric Yuan, and is headquartered in San Jose, California, United States. The app which shot up to fame this year after coronavirus pandemic forced millions of people to work from home. The app lets users add up to 100 people in their virtual meetings. This week, Zoom faced a barrage of headlines after concerns were raised over its privacy and security policies and the latest admission by Zoom app proves that the company controls the encryption keys and can, therefore, access the contents of its customers’ calls.

Some calls were routed through China by mistake, admits Zoom

Following the SAARC template which came to fruition yesterday, G7 countries conducted a video conference today to address the COVID-19 outbreak. During the conference, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) expressed the conviction that ''current challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic need a strongly coordinated international approach, based on science and evidence, consistent with our democratic values, and utilising the strengths of private enterprise''.

G7 follows SAARC's suit, conducts a video conference to chalk out COVID-19 plan

The SAARC video conference on coronavirus outbreak proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, to take place on Sunday at 5 pm. In a tweet, PM Modi said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus.

The SAARC video conference on coronavirus outbreak proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, to take place on Sunday at 5 pm. In a tweet, PM Modi said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus." "We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy," he added. All SAARC countries including Pakistan welcomed the idea and affirmed participation in the meet. Pakistan will be represented by Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister (SAPM) on health Dr Zafar Mirza. In a tweet, spokesperson of Pakistani Foreign Ministry Aisha Farooqui said, "The threat of #COVID-19 requires coordinated efforts at global and regional level. We have communicated that SAPM on Health will be available to participate in the video conference of SAARC member countries on the issue." This has been conveyed to the Indian side through diplomatic channels as well. The measure is also seen as revival SAARC which as a grouping has been defunct since 2016 following a terror attack in Uri, India in which 19 Indian soldiers. The attack was planned by Pakistan based terrorist which led to India boycotting the summit in Islamabad that year. New Delhi was joined by other SAARC countries to boycott the 2016 Islamabad summit and since then India has been focusing on BIMSTEC grouping whose leaders were invited for the oath-taking ceremony of PM Modi after he won the second term in 2019.

SAARC video conference on coronavirus to take place on Sunday 

In a move that can see the revival of SAARC grouping, Indian PM Narendra Modi has called for a joint SAARC strategy to fight coronavirus outbreak.

In a tweet, he said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus"

He suggested, the SAARC countries, "could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy."

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. 
 
We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. 
 
Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1238371182094639104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Adding,"Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet."

Will Pakistani PM Imran Khan join PM Modi and other SAARC leaders for video conference? If he does then it will be the big takeaway from the conference.&nbsp;

Yesterday at Pakistani weekly presser by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, spokesperson on response to a WION question said, "On Coronavirus, as I said before that the Government of Pakistan is monitoring the situation very closely and will take measures required for the citizens within Pakistan and any assistance we can provide to our neighbouring countries.”

Sources in Islamabad have said the suggestion by Indian PM has been noted "positively" &amp; will be discussed at Pakistan's National Security Council.

Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering responded to PM Modi's tweet and said "This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see the immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference."

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference. <a href="https://t.co/2RnokAJQOs">https://t.co/2RnokAJQOs</a>
— PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) <a href="https://twitter.com/PMBhutan/status/1238395565571883009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

SAARC has been lying defunct since 2016 after the Uri attack. The 19th SAARC summit was to happen in Islamabad in 2016 but was boycotted by India along with — Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan after the terror attack by Pakistan based terror groups in India killed 19 Indian soldiers.

In a move that can see the revival of SAARC grouping, Indian PM Narendra Modi has called for a joint SAARC strategy to fight coronavirus outbreak. In a tweet, he said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus" He suggested, the SAARC countries, "could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy.

In a move that can see the revival of SAARC grouping, Indian PM Narendra Modi has called for a joint SAARC strategy to fight coronavirus outbreak. In a tweet, he said, "I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus" He suggested, the SAARC countries, "could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy." I would like to propose that the leadership of SAARC nations chalk out a strong strategy to fight Coronavirus. We could discuss, via video conferencing, ways to keep our citizens healthy. Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 13, 2020 × Adding,"Together, we can set an example to the world, and contribute to a healthier planet." Will Pakistani PM Imran Khan join PM Modi and other SAARC leaders for video conference? If he does then it will be the big takeaway from the conference. Yesterday at Pakistani weekly presser by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, spokesperson on response to a WION question said, "On Coronavirus, as I said before that the Government of Pakistan is monitoring the situation very closely and will take measures required for the citizens within Pakistan and any assistance we can provide to our neighbouring countries.” Sources in Islamabad have said the suggestion by Indian PM has been noted "positively" & will be discussed at Pakistan's National Security Council. Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering responded to PM Modi's tweet and said "This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see the immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference." This is what we call leadership. As members of this region, we must come together in such times. Smaller economies are hit harder, so we must coordinate. With your leadership, I have no doubt we will see immediate and impactful outcome. Looking forward to the video conference. https://t.co/2RnokAJQOs — PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) March 13, 2020 × SAARC has been lying defunct since 2016 after the Uri attack. The 19th SAARC summit was to happen in Islamabad in 2016 but was boycotted by India along with — Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan after the terror attack by Pakistan based terror groups in India killed 19 Indian soldiers.

Coronavirus crisis: PM Modi suggests joint SAARC strategy; proposes video conference