GIST

27/08/2021

The Western Railways has commissioned 470 video cameras that feature a real-time facial recognition technology from Russia.

The facial recognition system is developed by a Moscow-based biometrics technology company called NTech.

The system is installed in as many as 30 railway stations across Gujrat and Maharashtra, including the city of Mumbai.

In a statement the CEO of NTech, Andrei Telenkov said, "The camera system will be used on the busiest section of the network and will ensure simultaneous recognition of up to 50 people in a single frame."

The video analytics system won't just be used to identify criminals but also to shape strategy by counting the number of people on the network at any time.

19/08/2021

In a ground-breaking decision, the Supreme Court (SC) of India said that women can take the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam while rebuking the Army for 'gender discrimination'.

Based on the Supreme Court's decision, the entrance for NDA has been rescheduled to November 14th. This decision will allow more women to serve in the Indian Armed Forces.

Calling it a 'mindset problem that needs to change,' the court said that it hopes the Army initiates the changes instead of being forced to make them due to an order from the judiciary.

The bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Hrishikesh Rao also spoke about women being denied opportunities despite earlier verdicts by the Court on similar matters.

15/08/2021

Over 15 million Indians from the country and across the world submitted videos of them singing the national anthem ahead of the 75th Independence Day on Sunday.

In the run-up to the celebration of "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav", the Ministry of Culture had invited people to sing the national anthem and upload the video on a government website.

A statement from the Press Information Bureau says over 15 million entries were achieved in just twenty-one days.

"Eminent artists, well-known scholars, top leaders, senior officers, brave soldiers, famous sportsmen to farmers, labourers, people with special needs, everyone came together and sang the National Anthem in one voice," the government said.

Individuals or groups could participate and get a certificate. A compilation of the uploaded videos is to be shown live on Sunday.

14/08/2021

Learning from the mismanagement in the second wave, the Health Ministry has approved the release of Rs 7,200 crore to help prepare for a possible third wave of infections in India.

The government will focus on stocking up medicines, improving health infrastructure, and creating a buffer stock of oxygen, right down to the district level.

The details: The Health Ministry is expected to authorize 1,755 PSA (Pressure swing adsorption) oxygen plants by the end of August.

Taking into account additional setups of such oxygen plants by PSU's (Public sector undertakings), 2,200 plants are hopeful to be functioning shortly. 335 plants have already been authorized and 500 more are at an advanced stage.

As directed by the guidelines of the emergency response package, the ministry is targeting a 10,000-kilolitre of oxygen tank availability at the district level.

Further, it also plans to install 961 Liquid Medical oxygen storage tanks, for Medical Gas Pipeline System.

14/08/2021

The vehicle scrappage policy will help eliminate the vehicles that are unfit and are polluting the environment.

The scrapping infrastructure will be distributed across the country in the form of automated testing Stations and Registered vehicle Scrapping facilities.

Every private vehicle would go under a Fitness test when the vehicle turns 20, and 15 for commercial vehicles.

On failure to conduct a test, the registration of the vehicle will be automatically cancelled.

The owner will get a certificate on scrapping their vehicle which can be used to get a 5-6% rebate while purchasing a new private vehicle and up to 15% tax rebate while purchasing commercial vehicles.

A road-tax rebate of 25% and the registration fee waiver can be availed by the owners of a scrap certificate.

13/08/2021

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Covid-19 booster shots for people with weak immune systems.

The FDA has said that people with organ transplants, rheumatologic conditions, patients on cancer treatments, HIV, and similarly immunocompromised individuals who need extra protection from the Covid-19 virus can get a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

13/08/2021

The Athletics Federation of India announced that it will conduct an all-India javelin throw contest every year on Aug 7 to honor Neeraj Chopra winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

12/08/2021

Hackers behind one of the biggest cryptocurrency thefts have returned $260 million out of $613 million in digital coins they stole, blockchain-based platform Poly Network said. "The remainings are $269 million on Ethereum, $84 million on Polygon," it tweeted. Poly Network had earlier urged hackers to "establish communication and return" the assets.

12/08/2021

The EOS-03 Earth observation satellite was designed to be a "state-of-the-art" tool for ISRO to study our planet, and was expected to last at least 10 years working to provide near real-time images of India, track natural disasters and other short-term events and collect data to assist agriculture and forestry by monitoring crop health.

The launch failure breaks a streak of 14 successful launches for ISRO. The last failure was that of the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) in 2017, which was the first failed Indian satellite launch in 20 years for the PSLV, per Space.com.

ISRO planned to launch at least four more missions by the end of 2021; however, all the launches will be put on hold as ISRO investigates the cause of today's failure.

12/08/2021

Candian startup Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) and SpaceX are developing a satellite that will make it possible for companies to advertise their products via space.

Called a CubeSat, one side of the satellite will have a pixelated display screen where businesses, advertisers, artists, etc. can place advertisements, logos, and art. The display screen can look like artboards such as Reddit Place and Satoshi's Place.

CubeSat will be released into space via the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A selfie-stick attached to the side of the CubeSat will film the display screen and livestream the footage to YouTube or Twitch, per HypeBeast.

There are five kinds of tokens one will have to buy to claim, locate, and design a pixel on the display screen. Beta and Rhoe for locating their pixels, Gamma and Kappa to determine the brightness and colour of their pixel, and XI to set the duration of the advert.

10/08/2020

How To Search Job After COVID Crisis?

The job market is difficult to navigate, more so now, as the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throws up new challenges. Here is what you can do to better your resume for the work world after COVID-19.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/b3azCYm1UHk

The job market is difficult to navigate, more so now, as the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic throws up new challenges. Here is what you can do to better y...

10/08/2020

A Step Towards "Atmanirbharta": Boycott China?

With the rising tension between India and China, Indians are boycotting Chinese products. But it is interesting that this is not the first time we have seen such sentiments. Let's see why it is so difficult to avoid Chinese products and how we can achieve "Atmanirbharta".

Watch here: https://youtu.be/ArwQNKO_d_A

With the rising tension between India and China, Indians are boycotting Chinese products. But it is interesting that this is not the first time we have seen ...

14/06/2020

Worried if you might get the coronavirus? Let’s see why you don’t need to stress about it.

This video shows you how you can cover your COVID-19 costs and what options you have.

14/06/2020