Nasheman News : The Lucknow and New Delhi residences of retired IAS officer Net Ram, a close aide of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, were raided by the Income Tax department on Tuesday, officials said.

IT officials said the raids were unleashed for suspected tax evasion running into several crores of rupees. More than a dozen locations were searched in all.

Considered close to the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, the 1979-batch IAS officer was part of a group of powerful bureaucrats who ran the show when Mayawati was the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. 

He was Principal Secretary (Home) in 2007-12 and later rose to became Mayawati’s Principal Secretary. Post retirement, he advised Mayawati and was reportedly contemplating the Lok Sabha polls on BSP ticket.

[Nasheman news] San Francisco Complying to users and platform security concerns, Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp is banning accounts of users who have been using modified versions of the app like WhatsApp Plus and GB WhatsApp.

These altered versions of the messaging app are developed by third-parties where the company cannot validate their security practices. These unofficial apps violate the Terms of Service clause of the official app. 

“If you received an in-app message stating your account is ‘Temporarily banned’ this means that you’re likely using an unsupported version of WhatsApp instead of the official app,” the company wrote in a post on Monday. 

The accounts have not been banned permanently, although users have been adviced to back their chats up before making the switch. 

“You must download the official app to continue using WhatsApp,” the post noted.

[Nasheman news] San Francisco Apple’s first Augmented Reality (AR)-based product could go into mass production by the second quarter of 2020, famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes.

“The analyst says that the AR glasses will essentially act as a display only with the actual computing, rendering, internet connectivity and location services coming from the iPhone in the user’s pocket. It is assumed that the pairing will work wirelessly,” 9To5Mac reported on Friday. 

Earlier in March, media had reported that the iPhone-maker published an update titled, “Systems, methods and graphical user interfaces for interacting with Augmented and Virtual Reality environments” as part of an existing patent filed in August 2018.

The patent hints at Apple’s plans of developing an AR-based headset that would work alongside an iPhone to enable users experience an environment where computer images are overlaid on the real world.

The patent suggests that the headset would wirelessly communicate with a separate device powered by a custom Apple processing brain. The company also wishes to add a “touch-sensitive surface” as a way to interact with that environment. 

“Apple is clearly betting big on it being a hit. If manufacturing is indeed ramping up at the end of 2019, a 2020 public product launch is seemingly on the cards,” the report added.

[Nasheman news] San Francisco Apple’s first Augmented Reality (AR)-based product could go into mass production by the second quarter of 2020, famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes.

“The analyst says that the AR glasses will essentially act as a display only with the actual computing, rendering, internet connectivity and location services coming from the iPhone in the user’s pocket. It is assumed that the pairing will work wirelessly,” 9To5Mac reported on Friday. 

Earlier in March, media had reported that the iPhone-maker published an update titled, “Systems, methods and graphical user interfaces for interacting with Augmented and Virtual Reality environments” as part of an existing patent filed in August 2018.

The patent hints at Apple’s plans of developing an AR-based headset that would work alongside an iPhone to enable users experience an environment where computer images are overlaid on the real world.

The patent suggests that the headset would wirelessly communicate with a separate device powered by a custom Apple processing brain. The company also wishes to add a “touch-sensitive surface” as a way to interact with that environment. 

“Apple is clearly betting big on it being a hit. If manufacturing is indeed ramping up at the end of 2019, a 2020 public product launch is seemingly on the cards,” the report added.

The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement capping months of negotiations on price and various other aspects of the deal.

India Thursday sealed a USD 3 billion deal with Russia for leasing of a nuclear-powered attack submarine for the Indian Navy for a period of 10 years, military sources said.

The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement capping months of negotiations on price and various other aspects of the deal.

Under the pact, Russia will have to deliver the Akula class submarine, to be known as Chakra III, to the Indian Navy by 2025.

It will be the third Russian submarine to be leased to the Indian Navy.

A spokesperson in the Defence Ministry refused to comment when asked about the deal.

India has been significantly bolstering its naval prowess in the backdrop of China’s attempts to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean region.

India Navy has taken two more submarines from Russia on lease.

The first Russian nuclear-powered submarine — christened INS Chakra — was taken in 1988 under a three year lease. A second INS Chakra was taken on lease in 2012 for a period of 10 years.

The lease of Chakra II will expire in 2022 and India is looking at extending the lease, sources said.

The deal for the Chakra III came days after Indo-Russian joint production facility to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles for the Indian Army was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

In October, India signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Russia to procure a batch of S-400 air defence missile system.

Agencies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with visually impaired children during the release of new series of visually impaired friendly circulation coins, in New Delhi, on March 7, 2019. Also seen Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union MoS Finance P. Radhakrishnan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday released a new series of coins for the visually impaired.

The coins of denominations Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 have been designed by the National Institute of Design and have features that help the visually impaired to distinguish them easily.

The PM released the coins at a special ceremony at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, in the presence of visually impaired children who were specially invited.

Expressing happiness in hosting them, the PM thanked the children for giving him an opportunity to interact with them.

The PM said that the Union Government is guided by the vision of reaching the last mile and the last person. He said the new series of coins have been designed and released keeping that vision in mind.

Various new features have been incorporated in the new series of circulation coins to make it more easy for the visually impaired to use them.

During the interaction with the Prime Minister, the children thanked the government for introducing the new series of coins.

The coins are characterized by the increasing size and weight from lower to higher denominations. The newly included coin of Rs 20 will be a 12-sided coin with no serrations. The rest of the denominations would be of round shape.

At the event, the PM underlined the various initiatives taken by the Union Government for the welfare of the Divyang community. He said that the Union Government aims make every initiative Divyang-friendly.

The coins have been minted by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan were also present at the event.

Agencies

Nasheman News : In a move to curb carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the burden on conventional energy resources, a 1.11 MWp solar plant was installed at the Sanjay Gandhi Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) here on Wednesday.

The solar plant will help reducing 1,440 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is equivalent to planting 33,855 full grown trees, besides saving Rs 60 lakh per year, a statement said. 

It is expected to generate 15,29,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per annum, it added. 

Installed by the private sector CleanMax Solar, the project was inaugurated by the Uttar Pradesh Minister of Technical and Medical Education Ashutosh Tandon.

The SGPGI will source around 5-10 per cent of their power requirement through solar energy.

The project was part of the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) 500 MW program to generate solar power through rooftop plants set up on government buildings. 

Under the program, CleanMax Solar was awarded 19.5 MW of capacity across six states, of which 4.5 MW is in Uttar Pradesh.

Nasheman News : In a move to boost industrial development in the state, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) incentives notified under the Industrial and Business Development Policy 2017.

The amendment enables industrial units to choose between net GST incentives or incentivised State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on intra state sale, a government statement said.

It gives units — which have filed their common application form on the Invest Punjab Business First portal between October 17, 2017 and October 17, 2018 (both days inclusive) — the one-time option to opt for either Net GST incentives or incentivised SGST on intra-state sales.

The option can be availed within 90 days from the date of the notification.

The incentivised SGST to be considered for reimbursement would mean that the eligible unit will be entitled to get reimbursement of SGST amount paid through cash ledger against the output liability of SGST on sale of eligible products.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. 

BluSnap2 Aptener Mechatronics has added the highly anticipated & all new product to their BluArmor range of motorcycle gear, the BluSnap2. The Bengaluru based start up had launched the world’s 1^st ever wearable cooler for existing full face helmets in the year 2018 & has now upgraded to the 2^nd generation with added features & an all new design.

BluSnap2 is made in India & retails at Rs 2299/- including taxes & shipping.    BluSnap2 attaches to your existing full face helmet & is lighter & smaller than its predecessor. The new design offers a modular grill with unique color hues available as add ons. The industry standard chin mount is quick & easy to install & offers excellent high speed stability. The product comes with extensions for best fit with your helmet.

 BluSnap2 is aimed at offering more rider comfort than ever before. It’s more compact & powerful at the same time. To put it into perspective, BluSnap2 offers 25% better airflow thanks to improved flow dynamics & the new vent design. The dust levels are on the rise in most cities & BluSnap2 is very effective in these conditions. Cool air flowing into the helmet allows the riders to keep the visor down reducing the exposure to dust. On top of that, BluSnap2’s removable filter traps the residual dust particles. The result is a cool & dust free ride. BluSnap2 features an improved water management system, all that the user needs to do is dunk the removable filter in water for 10 seconds. A fan blows air through this replaceable anti bacterial filter, cooling the air as it flows into the helmet.  As a result, the temperature inside the helmet is up to 15 degrees cooler than the ambient. Riders can also bid farewell to expensive anti fogging visor add ons using BluSnap2’s quick de fog option. The whole system is powered by a rechargeable battery that offers 10h of run time on a full charge. 

BluArmor is partnering with Vega Auto, one of India’s leading helmet manufacturers to offer BluSnap2 through its large retail distribution network. The product is expected to be available at a number of helmet retail outlets soon.

2 wheeler riders today do not enjoy the same level of commuting comfort as their 4 wheeled counterparts. Features like climate control, defogging, connectivity, 360 degree vision that someone driving a 4 wheeler takes for granted today is not available for the 2 wheeler rider. BluArmor aims to address this gap by using its pioneering wearable cooling technology as the center piece of a series of bike accessories that will dramatically alter how commuting on 2 wheels is perceived. Over the past year, BluArmor has successfully launched best in class hardware & software products targeted at rider comfort & established a strong distribution chain in the domestic & international market. True to their motto of “Build in India, Made for the World”, BluSnap has now been successfully sold in over 10 countries spread over 4 continents.

 BluArmor recently announced its Series A round of funding with investments from Inventus Capital Partners & Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund.

Nasheman News :Transport fuel rates continued to increase on Sunday in tandem with global crude prices, which have been rising following the implementation of output cuts by oil producers from January 1.

State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) increased petrol prices by 13 paise per litre and diesel prices by 14-15 paise across the four metros, as per data from the Indian Oil Corporation.

Petrol price in Delhi was increased to Rs 72.07 per litre on Sunday, while in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai the fuel cost was Rs 77.70, Rs 74.16 and Rs 74.84, respectively.

Similarly, the price of diesel in the national capital went up to Rs 67.41 per litre. In Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, diesel sold at Rs 69.20, Rs 70.62 and Rs 71.24 a litre, respectively.

Petrol and diesel prices have increased by more than Rs 4 per litre as the crude rates have been rising from January onwards after a prolonged period of fall. 

As petroleum products fall outside the ambit of the goods and services tax (GST) and prices vary due to local taxes. 

As per the dynamic pricing mechanism, domestic fuel prices depend upon international fuel rates on a 15-day average and the value of the rupee.