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UP STF nabs 4 over ration distribution fraud in Gautam Buddh Nagar

Four persons, allegedly manipulating the electronic public distribution system (PDS) for subsidised ration to the poor in Gautam Buddh Nagar, were nabbed by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) Monday, according to officials. The Noida unit of the STF, along with officials of the local police's Cyber Cell, nabbed the four accused, including a ration dealer, from Surajpur area of the district, they said. The state government uses the PDS to distribute ration to the poor via fair price shops. The ration dealers in the shops use the ePOS (point of sale) machine, which is linked to the Aadhaar of the beneficiaries. Recently, it had emerged that some dealers had attached around 200 Aadhaar numbers to the ePOS machine and distributed the ration to unauthorised accounts and the administration had ordered a probe into the matter. "We had received inputs from the Lucknow headquarters of the STF about the large scale pilferage in ration distribution by manipulation of Aadhaar and ...

CIBMS would help plug the gaps along the IB in J-K: BSF

The Border Security Force (BSF) Monday said the comprehensive integrated border management system (CIBMS) would be effective in plugging the gaps along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir to stop infiltration of terrorists from across the border. The new technology has the capability to detect any type of movement, whether on the ground, water or below the ground, and help in better management of border security, BSF Additional Director General A K Sharma told reporters here. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the pilot project of the CIBMS, which the centre plans to implement along the 2600-km IB from Jammu and Kashmir to Assam. Sharma said inclement weather conditions would have no impact on the new system. "Whether it is a fog, floods or storm, when it becomes humanly difficult to detect movement, this system will help the BSF personnel to maintain vigil even during such situations," he said. "Two pilot projects covering five-km each along the IB in Jammu

CBI writes to Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, GSR in data breach case

The CBI has written to UK-based Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research (GSR) and US-based Facebook, seeking information in connection with its probe into allegedly illegally obtaining social networking site data of Indians, sources said on Monday.

Infosys invests $1.5-million more in US firm TidalScale

Software major Infosys on Monday said it invested an additional $1.5 million (Rs 10.9 crore) in the US-based TidalScale, doubling it to $3 million in the software services firm.

ISRO to launch 18 missions in next six months

With the continuing success of PSLV missions, ISRO has decided to take it up a notch and plans to launch 18 missions in the next six months, virtually one every two weeks. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Sunday night successfully launched NovaSAR and S1-4 earth observation satellites of the UK-based Surrey Satellite Technologies Ltd. "We are going to have 18 missions in the next six months, virtually one launch every two weeks," ISRO chairman K Sivan said in a press release. According to senior scientists, some of the planned launches include GSAT-11, Chandrayaan-2 moon mission and GSLV-MkIII-D2 missions. GSAT-11 is a multi-beam communication satellite, which is expected to be launched from French Guiana. Chandrayaan-2 is the second mission to the moon in which ISRO will launch the lander carrying a six-wheel rover. ISRO had successfully launched Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008 which orbited the moon at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, ...

CBI writes to Facebook, Cambridge Analytica over data theft

The CBI has written to Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research in connection with the illegal personal data harvesting of Indians from the social networking platform, sources said on Monday. In the letters sent to the companies, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought the details of data collection exercise adapted by them, they said. After reference from the Centre, the investigative agency had initiated a preliminary enquiry against Cambridge Analytica and Global Science Research last month over the alleged data theft. It is alleged that Cambridge Analytica received data from Global Science Research which employed "illegal means" of personal data harvesting of Indians using Facebook, they said. Facebook has over 20 crore users in India. A preliminary enquiry is the first step to decide whether the allegations deserve a full-blown investigation through an FIR or not, they said. Data mining and analysis firm Cambridge Analytica earlier faced allegations .

Micron Technology keen to enter Hyderabad in big way

The Telangana government Monday announced that US-based semiconductor-maker Micron Technology is keen on setting up shop here and would be investing over Rs 300 crore and generating direct employment for 1,000 people. An official press release said the company would take on lease 1.8 lakh sq ft in an SEZ here, thereby making the presence of the firm largest in the country. Micron already has presence in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, China and Malaysia, the release said. Senior officials of the company met Telangana Minister for IT and Industries K T Rama Rao and Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, it said. Micron would also be working with the flagship programme of the government - TASK (Telangana Academy for Skills and Knowledge) for recruiting young engineers and this would be facilitated by the government, the release said. Also, Micron would be connecting to T-Hub and and T-Works on the innovation front, it said.

Garmin launches multi-sport watch in India

Smart wearables maker Garmin India on Monday launched a multi-sport watch "Fenix 5X Plus" for Rs 79,990 in India.

Tata Communications launches cyber security lab

Tata Communications on Monday said it has set up a specialised cyber security lab at the Sastra Deemed University in Tamil Nadu.

AI robots can develop prejudice on their own

Artificially intelligent (AI) machines can easily learn racism and sexism from each other, say scientists who found that showing prejudice towards others does not require a high level of cognitive ability. Scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US and Cardiff University in the UK showed that groups of autonomous machines could demonstrate prejudice by simply identifying, copying and learning this behaviour from one another. It may seem that prejudice is a human-specific phenomenon that requires human cognition to form an opinion of, or to stereotype, a certain person or group. Though some types of computer algorithms have already exhibited prejudice, such as racism and sexism, based on learning from public records and other data generated by humans, this new work demonstrates the possibility of AI evolving prejudicial groups on their own. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, are based on computer simulations of how similarly prejudiced

Apple responds to movies disappearing from iTunes library

Apple has responded to a tweet by a user who complained about the disappearance of purchased movies from the iTunes library.

IIT-incubated PuREnergy to commercially launch lithium

Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad incubated startup PuREnergy said it has developed "affordable" lithium batteries and is commercially launching them during the Renewable Energy Expo 2018 that begins at Greater Noida tomorrow. "While the current models of lithium batteries in the market are expensive, PuREnergy plans to make them available at economical prices due to their strong design capabilities and in-house product development, it said in a statement. Founded in 2016 by Dr Nishanth Dongari, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, PuREnergy has designed and assembled lithium batteries with wide applications in fields from agriculture to aerospace, it said. Dongari said, "We are also in close discussion with a few defence laboratories for our battery applications in tanks, missiles, and communication equipment. They need to work under harsh environmental conditions, reduce the weight by four times compared to ...

Martian dust storm clearing over Opportunity rover: NASA

A global dust storm that enshrouded Mars -- halting operations for NASA's Opportunity rover -- continues to abate, raising scientists' hopes to hear back from the 15-year-old, solar-powered probe. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the US believe that the rover will soon receive enough sunlight to automatically initiate recovery procedures, if it is not damaged. To prepare, the Opportunity mission team has developed a two-step plan to provide the highest probability of successfully communicating with the rover and bringing it back online. "The Sun is breaking through the haze over Perseverance Valley, and soon there will be enough sunlight present that Opportunity should be able to recharge its batteries," said John Callas, Opportunity project manager at JPL. When the tau level -- a measure of the amount of particulate matter in the Martian sky -- dips below 1.5, researchers will attempt to communicate with the rover by sending it commands via the antennas of ...

Microsoft likely to launch Surface Laptop 2 in black variant

Microsoft is set to host its annual Surface event on October 10, 2018 where it is expected to showcase its line of new Surface products including the refreshed Surface Laptop, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio personal computers.Ahead of the annual event, MySmartPrice has obtained images of the upcoming Microsoft Surface Laptop 2. Interestingly, the device features an all black colour, supposedly replacing the Graphite Gold variant.The laptop will feature the same design and ports as the predecessor, albeit with an upgraded 8th Gen Intel Core series CPUs and faster memory. Reports indicate that the black colour will also be made available for the Surface Pro.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 allegedly catches fire in a woman's purse

In an incident reminiscent of the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 allegedly caught fire inside a woman's purse after getting extremely hot.A New York real estate agent Diane Chung said in her lawsuit that she was using the phablet on September 3, 2018 when it suddenly became extremely hot. She stopped using it and placed it inside her purse but soon heard a whistling and screeching sound only to notice a thick smoke coming out of her purse, Cnet reported.Samsung is investigating the matter. The incident comes into light a month after Samsung's mobile chief DJ Koh said that the battery in the Galaxy Note 9 is safer than ever and users shouldn't worry about the batteries anymore.Two years ago, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 units were globally recalled soon after their release owing to a battery malfunction that resulted in fires or explosions causing a much deeper reputational damage to the South Korean giant.

OnePlus developing its own Smart TV

Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus announced on Monday that the company is developing a Smart TV called "OnePlus TV" under its Founder and CEO Pete Lau.

New iPhones evoke a Ferrari dream among Indian smartphone users (Tech Trend)

As Apple refreshed its luxury iPhone line-up last week, Manu Jain who is Vice President, Xiaomi Global and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, tweeted: "Choose wisely -- MI (Xiaomi) or EMI".

Rajnath in J&K to inaugurate 'smart' border fence, to visit IB

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday to inaugurate two pilot projects of "smart" border fencing built under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) programme.

Tata Communications: Now sole Indian on the Formula 1 grid

The split second decisions that reigning world champions Mercedes take during a race are a result of real time data provided by Tata Communications, Formula 1's connectivity partner since 2012 and now the only Indian presence in the paddock. The Pune-based provider of telecommunications solutions and services is also proud of its association with Mercedes since 2013. Under the new owners, Formula 1 has embarked on an intense digital journey in times when more people are live streaming race content than watching it on television. "Tata Communications will play a critical role as we enable a new vision at Formula 1," sport's CEO Chase Carey had said after taking charge. While the Formula 1 teams and drivers get all the attention, working tirelessly behind the scenes during every race is Tata's talented team on track and as well personnel back at its UK base. Come to think of it, the listed company, formerly known as VSNL, is the only major Indian presence in the sport after the ...

Rajnath leaves for J&K to inaugurate 'smart' border fence

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday left for Jammu and Kashmir to inaugurate two pilot projects of "smart" border fencing built under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) programme.