Google takes free Wi-Fi to 400 railway stations in India In 2.5 years, Google has installed free Wi-Fi hotspots in 400 Indian railway stations, the company said yesterday, with Dibrugarh in Assam being the latest. The project called ‘RailWire’, which it launched in January’16, is the “largest public Wi-Fi project in the world,” with data speeds apparently faster than even London and San Francisco, it had once said. RailTel is helping Google with the infrastructure. In the first year, 100 stations were brought online The first station to be connected was Mumbai Central. In a year, Google had brought 99 others online, it said, enabling 15,000 people daily to use the internet for the first time. “With over 8mn monthly-unique-users connecting to the network,” this project can help “every growing economy looking to bring connectivity to everyone,” K. Suri, Director, Partnership India, Next Billion Users, Google India, said. Users get 30-minute access to internet for free Users can access data for 30 minutes for free. Till now, each session has consumed 350 MB of data on an average, Google said. Most users are aged 19-34, but support staff has been helping connect first-timers and older people too. More than 50% users access the network multiples times a day, which implies they are pursuing their occupation from stations, Google notes. Google venturing outside railway-stations for the first time in India Based on the success of RailWire, Google has now started installing “Google Stations” outside of railways for the first time in India, in collaboration with engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro In January, 150 such hotspots were deployed in Pune to boost its “Smart City” project. Google is expanding Wi-Fi access to more places under its ‘Next Billion Users’ initiative. railw Meanwhile, the Railways itself is on a drive to equip over 8,000 stations with Wi-Fi by March’19. The focus would be on rural stations. Setting up 1-2 hotspots in a rural station is cheaper than prime urban stations like New Delhi or Howrah. It will also facilitate digital penetration in previously-unconnected regions. A RailTel-DoT partnership has already installed hotspots in 140 rural stations already

Washington: US President Donald Trump will skip scheduled sessions on climate change, clean energy and oceans during the two-day G7 Summit which is slated to begin on Friday in Quebec, Canada, the White House announced.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, announced on Thursday that Trump will leave the resort in Charlevoix (where all the events are taking place) at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday, well before the Summit officially concludes later that day, reports The New York Times.

He will attend an early-morning session on “women’s empowerment”, but he will be gone before any joint statement is issued by the other leaders, Sanders added.

Earlier Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lashed out at Trump for imposing tariffs on their steel and aluminium industries.

“The American President may not mind being isolated, but neither do we mind signing a six country agreement if need be,” Macron tweeted.

“Because these six countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force.”

Also on Thursday, Trudeau said at a news conference that with Macron, “we are going to defend our industries and our workers” and “show the US President that his unacceptable actions are hurting his own citizens”.

Trump responded with his trademark Twitter bluntness a few hours later, The New York Times reported.

“Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the US massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” he tweeted.

“The EU trade surplus with the US is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out… Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

Trump is scheduled to arrive Friday morning for the Summit. He will then attend a gathering that traditionally includes a moment of global camaraderie — the “family photo” that captures Presidents and Prime Ministers smiling for the camera.

The tariffs he imposed last week on Canada, Mexico and the European Union have drawn sharp backlash from allies, whose leaders have described feelings of anger, regret and confusion, reports CNN.

“Patently absurd” is what Liam Fox, the British trade minister, called them. German Chancellor Angela Merkelsaid they were “illegal”, while Trudeau said they were “insulting and totally unacceptable”.

But Trump’s aides have signaled that he was unwilling to rethink the decision.

“There are disagreements. He’s sticking to his guns, and he’s going to talk to them,” said Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, at a briefing on Wednesday.

He described the disputes as a “family quarrel”.