Posts

Controversial US Tech Firm Clearview AI Finds Itself In A Difficult Position Once Again

Image
The controversial facial recognition service provider Clearview AI, which was recently linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, agreed to resolve an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit filed in 2020. The lawsuit accused the firm of violating an Illinois law prohibiting the use of people's biometric data without their consent. In a statement, Nathan Freed Wessler, a deputy director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project said: “By requiring Clearview to comply with Illinois’ pathbreaking biometric privacy law not just in the state, but across the country, this settlement demonstrates that strong privacy laws can provide real protections against abuse.” “Clearview can no longer treat people’s unique biometric identifiers as an unrestricted source of profit. Other companies would be wise to take note, and other states should follow Illinois’ lead in enacting strong biometric privacy laws,” he added. It should be noted that the Biometric Information Privacy

US Pandemic Strategy And The Role Of Anthony Fauci And EX-NIH Director

Image
Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins with Hillary Clinton: Credit Wikimedia Commons  As the Omicron triggers new healthcare threat around the world, in the United States, recently obtained emails through a Freedom of Information Act request—made by the American Institute for Economic Research in the fall of 2020—revealed what is believed to be concerning exchange between Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Francis Collins, MD, former director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The ‘Great Barrington Declaration’, an open letter, was issued in October 2020 and signed by thousands of scientists, including a Nobel Prize winner. It contends that Covid-19 policy should prioritise the protection of the aged and vulnerable while reopening society and schools to the general public. In an email, dated 8 October 2020, Collins wrote addressing Fauci and others that the ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ from the “three fringe epide

ASIGMA And SAI: Indian Army Apps Are All About Facilitating Secure Messaging Within The Service

Image
  Indian Army: Credit Wikimedia Commons   The Indian Army has launched a messaging app called Army Secure IndiGeneous Messaging Application or ASIGMA. The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that the web-based application was built wholly in-house by the officials from the Corps of Signals of the Army. As reported, this newly launched application will be used on the Army's internal network to replace the Army Wide Area Network (AWAN) messaging application, which has been in use for the previous 15 years. The application has been deployed on Army-owned hardware and is designed to provide long-term support and future improvements. According to the statement, the customised messaging application fits all future user requirements and provides an improved user experience. It contains a number of modern features, such as multi-level security, message prioritisation and tracking, a dynamic global address book, and a variety of configurations to match the Army's needs. This future-

World's First Floating City

Image
Floating City: Credid OCEANIX By 2025, the world's first floating city, which will be constructed off the coast of South Korea, is expected to be finished. What makes it more interesting is the fact that the city, simply a cluster of hexagonal platforms resting on top of the water, is claimed to be capable of surviving natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis, and Category 5 hurricanes. The floating settlement, which will be created off the coast of Busan at an estimated cost of $200 million and backed by the United Nations, will be a "flood-proof infrastructure" made up of multiple man-made islands. The floating city will be self-sufficient in terms of food, energy, and water, thanks to a collaboration between the project's designer, OCEANIX, and the UN Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat). It will generate electricity using solar panels on the roofs of buildings and transport residents in futuristic boat pods. Organic farming in aeroponic and aquaponic systems,

Quad Summit High Lights

Image
  The global impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity, technology and climate change were at the forefront of discussions during the historic meeting in Washington, involving leaders of the Quad countries— which includes India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and his counterparts Scott Morrison from Australia and Yoshihide Suga from Japan have gathered in Washington for the Quad summit at the White House, at the invitation of President Joe Biden. The Quad leaders have proposed bold efforts to strengthen the bonds and enhance practical cooperation on issues faced by all four countries in this 21st century. The leaders vowed to ensure a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, in the backdrop of China's increased military manoeuvring in the region. They also agreed that the strategically important region must be "inclusive and resilient". According to PIB, a senior “Quad infrastructure coordination group” will meet

Not Chip Shortage, India's Tata Motors Is Concerned About Another Issue

Image
  Some of the biggest names in the auto industry have already had to modify their car production targets due to the global chip shortage and many are making plans to cope with the situation as the semiconductor crisis threatens to worsen in the coming months. But according to a report, one of the top automotive manufacturing companies in India, Tata Motors is more concerned about something else than the chip issue. The company, which is India’s third-largest carmaker, is more worried about the rising cost of raw materials. As reported by Bloomberg Quint, PB Balaji, who is the chief financial officer at Tata Motors Group, said: “It [raw material cost] is becoming very, very painful. Prices right now are moving so fast that we are not able to process it.” According to Balaji, vehicle costs have increased by 14 per cent in the last year across all categories due to engine upgrades to meet lower emission standards (BS-VI or Bharat Stage VI), while another 6-7 per cent increase in price

China's Baihetan Hydropower Project

Image
  Image Courtesy: @ChinaMissionVie/ Twitter China's Baihetan hydropower facility—claimed to be the largest hydropower station under constructionin the world—on Yangtze river's upstream branch began generating electricity for the first time on 28 June. According to the state media, after a three-day trial, the project’s first two 1-gigawatt (GW) turbines will begin functioning and when completed in July 2022, it will have 16 such units, making the plant’s total generation capacity second only to the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province. Baihetan dam, located on the border between the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, was built by the China Three Gorges Corporation. It is part of a series of dams on the Jinsha River, which is the Yangtze's upstream branch. Despite the fact that the corporation claimed it was one of China's largest and most difficult engineering projects, with a dam height of 289 metres (948 feet), construction took only four years. As per the