By Agence France-Presse
GOOGLE celebrated its 20^th birthday Monday, marking two decades in which it has grown from simply a better way to explore the internet to a search engine so woven into daily life its name has become a verb.
The company was set to mark its 20^th anniversary with an event in San Francisco devoted to the future of online search, promising a few surprise announcements.
STARTING THE ENGINE
Larry Page and Sergey Brin were students at Stanford University — known for its location near Silicon Valley — when they came up with a way to efficiently index and search the internet.
The duo went beyond simply counting the number of times keywords were used, developing software that took into account factors such as relationships between webpages to help determine where they should rank in search results.
Google was launched in September 1998 in a garage rented in the Northern California city of Menlo Park. The name is a play on the mathematical term “googol,” which refers to the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.
Google reportedly ran for a while on computer servers at Stanford, where a version of the search had been tested.
And Silicon Valley legend has it that Brin and Page offered to sell the company early on for a million dollars or so, but no deal came together.
Google later moved its headquarters to Mountain View, where it remains.
In August 2004, Google went public on the stock market with shares priced at $85. Shares in the multi-billion-dollar company are now trading above $1,000.
Its early code of conduct included a now-legendary “don’t be evil” clause. Its stated mission is to make the world’s information available to anyone.
The company hit a revenue mother lode with tools that target online ads based on what users reveal and let marketers pay only if people clicked on links in advertising.
MAPS AND MORE
It has now launched an array of offerings including Maps, Gmail, the Chrome internet browser, and an Android mobile device operating system that is free to smartphone or tablet makers.
Google also makes premium Pixel smartphones to showcase Android, which dominates the market with handsets made by an array of manufacturers.
Meanwhile, it bought the 18-month-old YouTube video sharing platform in 2006 in a deal valued at $1.65 billion — which seemed astronomical at the time but has proven shrewd as entertainment moved online.
The company also began pumping money into an X Lab devoted to technology “moon shots” such as internet-linked glasses, self-driving cars, and using high-altitude balloons to provide internet service in remote locations.
Some of those have evolved into companies, such as the Waymo self-driving car unit. But Google has also seen failures, such as much-maligned Google Glass eyewear.
Elsewhere, the Google+ social network launched to compete with Facebook has seen little meaningful traction.
In October 2015, corporate restructuring saw the creation of parent company Alphabet, making subsidiaries of Google, Waymo, health sciences unit Verily and other properties.
Google is also now a major player in artificial intelligence, its digital assistant infused into smart speakers and more. Its AI rivals include Amazon, Apple and Microsoft.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
Despite efforts to diversify its business, Alphabet — which has over 80,000 employees worldwide — still makes most of its money from online ads. Industry tracker eMarketer forecast that Google and Facebook together will capture 57.7 percent US digital ad revenue this year.
In the second quarter of 2018, Google reported profit of $3.2 billion despite a fine of $5.1 billion (4.34 billion euros) imposed by the European Union.
Google’s rise put it in the crosshairs of regulators, especially in Europe, due to concerns it may be abusing its domination of online search and advertising as well as smartphone operating software.
There have been worries that Alphabet is more interested in making money from people’s data than it is in safeguarding their privacy.
Google has also been accused of siphoning money and readers away from mainstream news organizations by providing stories in online search results, where it can cash in on ads.
It is among the tech companies being called upon to better guard against the spread of misinformation — and has also been a target of US President Donald Trump, who added his voice to a chorus of Republicans who contend conservative viewpoints are downplayed in search results.

By Agence-France Presse
WHILE the US takes aim at China, Canada and Mexico over perceived trade imbalances, Japan has kept a low profile, hoping Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s friendship with golf buddy Donald Trump will keep Tokyo out of the firing line.
But as Abe and Trump prepare to hold talks that will touch on trade frictions, there are signs Japan could be next in the US president’s sights, with the country’s greatest fear being higher tariffs on cars.
WHAT’S TRUMP’S BEEF WITH JAPAN?
Trump has frequently grumbled about a “very high deficit” with Japan, the world’s third-biggest economy.
In comments to the Wall Street Journal, he stressed his good relations with the Japanese, before adding menacingly: “Of course, that will end as soon as I tell them how much they have to pay.”
Last year’s deficit in goods traded with Japan was $68.8 billion, third behind China ($375 billion) and Mexico ($71 billion), and less than a tenth of the total US deficit with the rest of the world ($796 billion).
The deficit amounted to $40 billion in the first eight months of this year, according to official US statistics.
Vehicle and parts exports from the auto sector account for 80 percent of the imbalance and it is the sight of “millions of Japanese cars” on American roads that raises Trump’s hackles, while few US brands are driven in Japan.
That has little to do with tariffs — Japan has no duties on imported cars, unlike the United States which imposes a 2.5 percent levy.
Analysts say with their larger sizes, US vehicles are not well suited to Japan’s roads or the tastes of its consumers.
Critics argue, however, that Japan imposes a raft of non-tariff barriers — including what they say are overly-rigorous safety standards — that make importing difficult.
HOW ARE TALKS GOING?
Initial negotiations between US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi have already taken place without a breakthrough and a second round is expected later Monday.
The two sides have opposing points of view: Tokyo wants to settle trade disputes in a forum like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multi-nation trade pact, whereas Washington wants a bilateral deal.
Tokyo may accept the bilateral approach if Washington holds off on imposing additional tariffs on the Japanese auto sector, according to Kyodo News.
For the moment, hostilities have not broken out in earnest but this could soon change, said IHS Markit economist Harumi Taguchi.
“It is highly likely that Donald Trump will move his focus to Japan once he reaches some settlement or deal regarding US trade tensions with China and NAFTA talks,” said the analyst.
WOULD CAR TARIFFS HURT?
“The Trump administration’s most effective weapon in talks with Japan remains the threat to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on automobile imports on national security grounds,” said Tobias Harris from Teneo Intelligence.
Such a move would have a “considerable” impact on the Japanese economy, he added.
Car giants like Toyota and Nissan sell millions of cars in the United States, many of which are produced elsewhere — for example in Japan, Mexico or Canada.
Taguchi said a 25 percent tariff could cut Japan’s GDP by as much as 0.5 percent.
Manufacturers have already warned they will be unable to absorb the cost and it will be passed onto US consumers — in Toyota’s case, this could cost a buyer as much as $6,000 per car.
Trump will probably demand more Japanese cars made in the US, but the room for manoeuvre is limited.
Japanese companies already produce nearly four million units per year in the US and employ 1.5 million workers there, Taguchi said.
A China-style tit-for-tat tariff battle is also unlikely, as Abe has already said such a move would benefit nobody.
Instead, Japan will probably petition the World Trade Organization, as it threatened to do when the US imposed steel tariffs.
CAN JAPAN ESCAPE?
What Abe should do is promise to increase purchases of “shale gas, military items, and some other items that will not substantially affect domestic production,” Taguchi said.
Japan has already announced the purchase of the costly Aegis Ashore missile defence system, produced by US contractor Lockheed Martin.
However, this is not likely to prove sufficient and Abe will have to use his negotiating skills.
If Japan offered a “satisfactory package of concessions on market access in the near term, particularly one that included agricultural concessions”, it might escape Trump’s wrath, said Harris.
But this is a very sensitive subject in Japan which already has tariffs in place to protect its farmers.

By Agence-France Presse
TECH giants Microsoft, Amazon and Google are joining forces with international organizations to help identify and head off famines in developing nations using data analysis and artificial intelligence, a new initiative unveiled Sunday.
Rather than waiting to respond to a famine after many lives already have been lost, the tech firms “will use the predictive power of data to trigger funding” to take action before it becomes a crisis, the World Bank and United Nations announced in a joint statement.
“The fact that millions of people — many of them children — still suffer from severe malnutrition and famine in the 21^st century is a global tragedy,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement. “We are forming an unprecedented global coalition to say, ‘no more.’”
Last year more than 20 million people faced famine conditions in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, while 124 million people currently live in crisis levels of food insecurity, requiring urgent humanitarian assistance for their survival, the agencies said. Over half of them live in areas affected by conflict.
The Famine Action Mechanism (FAM) will provide early warning signs to identify food crises that could become famines, and trigger pre-arranged funding plans to allow early intervention.
“If we can better predict when and where future famines will occur, we can save lives by responding earlier and more effectively,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement.
Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services and other technology firms are providing expertise to develop a suite of analytical models called “Artemis” that uses AI and machine learning to estimate and forecast worsening food security crises in real-time. These forecasts will help guide and promote decision makers to respond earlier.
“Artificial intelligence and machine learning hold huge promise for forecasting and detecting early signs of food shortages, like crop failures, droughts, natural disasters, and conflicts,” Smith said.
The FAM will initially be rolled out in a small group of vulnerable countries building up to ultimately provide global coverage. On October 13, leaders dedicated to this initiative will gather as part of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bali, Indonesia to discuss further implementation.

By Agence-France Presse
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the world’s biggest health insurance scheme, promising free coverage for half a billion of India’s poorest citizens ahead of national elections next year.
The bottom 40 percent of India’s 1.25 billion people will be covered under the flagship program, dubbed “Modicare”, unveiled in the federal budget earlier this year.
The 100 million lowest-income families will be provided 500,000 rupees ($6,900) — a sizeable sum in India — in annual health insurance to treat serious ailments.
Modi handed medical cards out at the launch in Ranchi, capital of the eastern state of Jharkhand, calling it a historic day for India.
“We want to strengthen the hands of the poor and stand shoulder to shoulder with them in pursuit of good health,” he posted on Twitter.
The scheme is expected to cost the central and 29 state governments $1.6 billion per year in total. Funding will be increased gradually according to demand.
India’s overburdened public health system is plagued by a shortage of facilities and doctors and most people use private clinics and hospitals if they can afford to.
But a private consultation can cost 1,000 rupees ($15), a huge sum for millions living on less than $2 a day.
More than 60 percent of the average family’s spending goes on medicines and healthcare, the government estimates.
Many of the poorest just go without care.
A report published this month by The Lancet medical journal found substandard healthcare was responsible for an estimated 1.6 million deaths a year in India — the highest anywhere in the world.
“A SCAM”
Critics have questioned how the government plans to fund such an enormous safety net, and suggested it was little more than a sop ahead of elections next May.
Modi will be seeking a second term on a platform of pro-poor policies and “Modicare” is a key plank of his pitch to low-income Indians.
“This is going to be another scam. It will benefit only private insurance companies. The citizen of the country will realise later that it is nothing but an election gimmick,” said Sanjay Nirupam from India’s main opposition Congress Party.
But K. K. Aggarwal, a cardiologist and former president of the Indian Medical Association, said “politicking over the scheme should stop”.
“It has been launched, and it is going to be a game changer,” he told AFP.
Some healthcare providers have raised concerns about being left out of pocket, fearing the government has underestimated the cost of certain treatments.
Prathap Reddy, chairman of private hospital chain Apollo Hospitals, said the private sector was “rightly worried” about pricing and reimbursements.
“While we all work together to ensure the success of this scheme, there are areas that need focus and fine tuning,” he said.
Others say it should have included primary day-to-day healthcare instead of just secondary and tertiary care for more serious and long term treatment.
“Modicare does not extend to primary healthcare, which, we believe, is the weakest link in the provision of public health in India,” Rajiv Lall and Vivek Dehejia of the IDFC Institute think-tank said in a column for the Mint newspaper.