At a time when pressure is mounting on tech companies to utilise facial recognition technology with care to avoid its misuse, Google has said it will not offer the controversial technology for now.

Toeing Microsoft’s line which has asked governments across the world to regulate this technology, Google said facial recognition merits careful consideration. 

“Like many technologies with multiple uses, facial recognition merits careful consideration to ensure its use is aligned with our principles and values, and avoids abuse and harmful outcomes,” Kent Walker, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs at Google, said in a blog post on Friday. 

“We continue to work with many organisations to identify and address these challenges, and unlike some other companies, Google Cloud has chosen not to offer general-purpose facial recognition APIs before working through important technology and policy questions,” informed Walker.

Earlier this month, Microsoft President Brad Smith said that given the potential for abuse of the fast advancing facial recognition technology, governments across the world need to start adopting laws to regulate this technology in 2019.

“Unless we act, we risk waking up five years from now to find that facial recognition services have spread in ways that exacerbate societal issues,” warned Smith in a blog post.

“The time for action has arrived,” he said, adding that the industry must also exercise restraint while using this technology.

Microsoft is one of several companies playing a leading role in developing facial recognition technology. 

The company, Smith said, would start adopting new principles to manage the issues surrounding facial recognition technology in the first quarter of 2019.

According to Walker, Google has long been committed to the responsible development of AI. 

“These principles guide our decisions on what types of features to build and research to pursue. As one example, facial recognition technology has benefits in areas like new assistive technologies and tools to help find missing persons, with more promising applications on the horizon,” he added. 

IANS

 In a no-holds-barred assault, the Shiv Sena here on Saturday termed the appointment of new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das as “dangerous” with a potential to unleash ‘financial terror’ in the country.

“The (BJP) government does not like people who speak the truth, but wants only those who ‘nod their head in agreement’. If this is the intention behind Das’ appointment, it signals the beginning of a ‘financial terror’ regime,” warned the Sena, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the Centre and in Maharashtra.

Questioning Das’ credentials for the crucial post, the Sena said while the two previous RBI governors – Raghuram Rajan and Urjit Patel – were world-renowned economists, the current incumbent is only a graduate with no “known” knowledge of economics, and is an IAS officer (bureaucrat) with specialisation in history.

“He is known to applaud all good and bad policies of the Narendra Modi government. In fact, he had blindly supported the devastating demonetisation drive (November 2016), and remained unaffected by the peoples’ miseries then. When doubts were raised on the new pink-coloured Rs 2,000 currency notes, he made a laughable statement that those notes which bleed are genuine,” the Sena said in hard-hitting edits in the party mouthpieces, ‘Saamana’ and ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana.’

It pointed out that the post of governor of the country’s apex bank is “akin to sitting on a throne of nails and wearing a crown of thorns”, and hence Das’ top priority is to “safeguard the independence” of RBI besides convincing global investors of the same.

“Rajan had strongly opposed the demonetisation move and quit. Patel sacrificed his post to protect the RBI’s independence and even prevented the government from raiding its reserves. The current economic chaos witnessed in the country is directly because of flawed policies like note ban and GST implementation, resulting in high inflation and falling Rupee value,” said the Sena.

Though it was within the ambit of the RBI to arrest all these ills, it did not happen in the past four years, as there was massive interference in the apex bank’s affairs.

It was only when these hindrances became unbearable that Rajan and Patel left, while a “tolerant” person like Das has been anointed as RBI Governor, the Sena pointed out.

Citing an example, the Sena said that the RBI has imposed severe lending restrictions on 11 banks, but the government feels if these are eased then these banks could thrive again.

Opposing the government’s view, the RBI’s stance is that industrialists and big borrowers failed to repay their debts and fled the country – actions which hit the economy badly and will continue to do so.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy made serious written allegations against Das in the past, but despite that, he has been catapulted to the top post as RBI Governor, the Sena rued.

“Das enjoys good relations with politicians, but his appointment as RBI head should not lead to any manipulation of the economy and end up as a ‘joke’… Here, he faces crucial questions like inflation and fiscal management. As the RBI Governor, will he be able to rein in the political elements who created the problems in the first place?” the Sena asked in the concluding part of the edits.

IANS

 International regulations limiting sulfur in fuels for ocean-going vessels will increase uncertainty for crude oil and petroleum product price formation in both the short and long term, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.

These rules, set to take effect in January 2020, apply across multiple countries’ jurisdictions to fuels used in the open ocean, Xinhua news agency reported.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the 171-member state United Nations agency that sets standards for shipping, decided to reduce the maximum amount of sulfur content in marine fuels used on the open seas from 3.5 percent to 0.5 percent by 2020. These regulations are intended to reduce sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants from global ship exhaust.

On Friday, EIA said that the upcoming IMO regulations pose a significant challenge for global petroleum refineries, which will have to figure out how to increase the supply of low sulfur products for use in marine applications and minimize the output of high sulfur oils.

EIA said that one approach refineries could pursue is to divert more low sulfur distillate fuel into the bunker fuel market. This means that ocean-going ships would be competing with trucks, heavy equipment, trains and planes for supplies of distillate fuels at a time when global demand for distillate is already high. To respond to extra demand for distillate fuels, refineries can increase the rate they process crude oil or invest and build more refinery capacity to produce distillate fuels. 

Refineries could also process crude oils that are lower in sulfur and yield a greater amount of distillates and lower amounts of residual oils, which currently make up the largest component of marine fuels used by large ocean-going vessels. 

Vessel operators also have several choices to comply with the new sulfur limits. One option is to switch to a lower-sulfur fuel compliant with the new rules. Another option is to utilize scrubbers to remove pollutants from ships’ exhaust, allowing them to continue to use higher-sulfur fuels. Ships have the option to switch to nonpetroleum-based fuels as well. 

The decisions refiners and shippers make in response to the IMO regulations heavily influence one another, adding to uncertainty and complexity, according to EIA. 

When burned, the sulfur in marine fuel produces sulfur dioxide, a precursor to acid rain. The sulfur content of transportation fuels has been declining for many years because of increasingly strict regulations implemented by individual countries or groups of countries.

 (15:42) 

 Video-sharing giant YouTube has removed as many as 7.8 million videos between July and September, in its attempt to address violative content on the video platform.

According to YouTube’s latest “YouTube Community Guidelines Enforcement” report, 81 per cent of these videos were first detected by machines while out of those detected by machines, 74.5 per cent videos had never received a single view.

“When we detect a video that violates our guidelines, we remove the video and apply a strike to the channel. We terminate entire channels if they are dedicated to posting content prohibited by our Community Guidelines or contain a single egregious violation, like child sexual exploitation,” the company said in a statement on Friday.

The company has been using a mix of human reviewers and technology to battle inappropriate content on its platform and in 2017 it started applying more advanced Machine Learning (ML) technology to flag content for review by its teams. 

A majority of attempted abuse comes from bad actors trying to upload spam or adult content and over 90 per cent of the channels and over 80 per cent of the videos that were removed in September were for violating YouTube’s policies on spam or adult content.

“Looking specifically at the most egregious but low-volume areas like violent extremism and child safety, our significant investment in fighting this type of content is having an impact.

“Over 90 per cent of the videos uploaded in September and removed for Violent Extremism or Child Safety had fewer than 10 views,” the company added.

IANS

 Over 1,000 institutions with managed investments worth $8 trillion have committed to phasing out fossil fuels, says a report.

The number of institutions committing to fossil fuel divestment has increased rapidly and spread globally since 2012. 

The report — 1000 Divestment Commitments and Counting — came to light on the margins of the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice.

Parties to the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) were set to adopt a “rulebook” for the Paris Agreement, which will outline the governing framework and mechanisms for full implementation of the 2015 climate pact.

According to the report, the reach and impact of the new global movement is huge with major institutions committing to remove, in whole or in part, nearly $8 trillion in assets from fossil fuel investments.

The momentum was driven by a people-powered grassroots movement, where people across the world were pushing their local institutions to work for a world powered by 100 per cent renewable energy.

The report said that in the financial world, divestment has taken on a momentum of its own as well.

Fund managers and fiduciaries are increasingly becoming aware of the risks of climate breakdown and deciding on their own to divest from morally unsound and financially risky industries.

The recent institution to divest was the Caisse des depots et consignations, which manages France’s public sector pensions, savings and investments worth 173 billion euros ($196 billion).

It had announced that from 2019 it will no longer invest in companies that generate more than 10 per cent of their business from coal.

In November 2012, 350.org Bill McKibben and a handful of young organisers hit the road to build a movement to change the terrifying mathematics of the climate crisis.

The Fossil Free campaign set out a bold, ambitious plan to take down the main culprit for the climate crisis — the fossil fuel industry.

Since 2012, the fossil fuels divestment campaign has grown faster than any previous divestment movement.

To assist developing nations to move away from coal, the World Bank, Canada and Britain on Thursday announced financial, technical and advisory support.

The Canadian government pledged up to $275 million Canadian dollars to fund the Energy Transition and Coal Phase-Out Programme. 

The British government also pledged 20 million pounds to the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme which is administered by the World Bank to help low and middle-income countries implement environmentally sustainable energy solutions.

IANS

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday demanded a discussion on the Rafale deal in the Rajya Sabha as the upper House was adjourned for the day amidst sloganeering and noise.

“I demand that Congress party should immediately start a discussion on Rafale,” Jaitley said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party members were on their feet asking Congress President Rahul Gandhi to apologise.

“Rahul Gandhi maafi maango (apologise),” the ruling party MPs said in a chorus.

This came after the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed petitions demanding court-monitored probe into the Rafael fighter jet deal.

Earlier, as soon as the House met for the day, some members belonging to the DMK and AIADMK trooped to the Chair’s podium, holding placards.

They have been protesting against a proposed dam over the Cauveri river.

Amid the pandemonium, Deputy Chairman Harivansh adjourned the House for 20 minutes.

But as the House was reconvened at 11.30 a.m., the scene was no different. He tried to go ahead with the Zero Hour but nothing could be heard over the din.

The Chair then adjourned the House for the day.

IANS

New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS) India’s annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices eased to 4.64 per cent in November from 5.28 per cent in October, official data showed here on Friday.

IANS

 After declining for nearly two months, petrol prices rose marginally on Thursday across three of the four metro cities in the country.

The increase comes after the prices of the fuel declined over 15 per cent in the last two months from the highs recorded in mid-October.

In Delhi, petrol was priced at Rs 70.29 per litre, up from Rs 70.20 recorded on Wednesday, according to data on the Indian Oil Corp’s website.

The cost of petrol increased by 11 paise and 13 paise in Mumbai and Chennai respectively from Wednesday’s levels, to Rs 75.91 and Rs 72.94 per litre.

However, in Kolkata, petrol price dropped 90 paise to Rs 72.38, from Rs 73.28 recorded on Wednesday.

Prices of diesel were unchanged for the second consecutive day in three out of the four metro cities.

In Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, diesel was sold at unchanged prices of Rs 64.66, Rs 67.66 and Rs 68.26, respectively. Meanwhile, in Kolkata the price of diesel fell by Re 1 to Rs 66.40 per litre.

Diesel prices too have declined nearly 15 per cent from the record high levels reached in mid-October.

The rate hike comes amidst stability in crude oil prices as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia last week decided to reduce supply by 1.2 million barrels per day after the continuous fall in oil prices for around two months.

On Thursday, the Brent crude oil futures were around $60.35 per barrel.

IANS

 Microsoft on Thursday announced that its enterprise social network app Kaizala is now helping over 1,000 government and private businesses in India improve workplace productivity and streamline growth.

The company also said it will expand the reach of Kaizala — launched in India last year and now available in 18 languages across 28 markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and South America — to Office 365 commercial plans worldwide.

“Kaizala, with Cloud scale and enterprise security, is enabling organisations to achieve more by empowering employees, engaging customers and enhancing workplace productivity. We are delighted with the rapid adoption in just over a year,” said Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India.

Developed by the Microsoft Garage team, Kaizala allows people to be connected in a group, create hierarchy-based access to a group and create groups within groups.

Microsoft also announced new features in Kaizala, like “Me Chat” and “Persistent Chat” along with video and voice calling and web app. 

“Kaizala is a chat-based communication and data management tool. It is an enterprise ready, compliant and secure chat app, offering organisations easy and simple way to share data for insightful decision making and gives employees an easy-to-use solution for efficient collaboration and improved productivity,” explained Rajiv Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft.

Backed by Microsoft’s Azure platform, organisations like YES Bank, UPL, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Shopper’s Stop and Eureka Forbes are using the Kaizala app. 

“Microsoft Kaizala serves as an Electronic Medical Record, with no attendant cost, and the patient’s data is shared across the group of treating doctors and nurses,” said Dr Devi Shetty, Founder and Chairman, Narayana Health who is one of the early adopters of Microsoft Kaizala. 

“All group members monitor a patient’s treatment and make interventions in real time,” he added.

The customers are using Kaizala to bridge gap between employees, extended workforce and customers; share information among employees; collect data from the field through polls or surveys; track movement of first line workers; and get real-time analytics on integration with Office 365, said the company. 

Earlier this year, Microsoft enabled digital payments services on Kaizala in India. The UPI payment integration on Microsoft Kaizala works with all the banks that are already participating in UPI.

Microsoft Kaizala is available as a free mobile app on Android, iOS and Windows platforms for individual users.

IANS

 (19:48) 

 Positive global markets along with value buying and hopes of an ease in the monitory policy with the appointment of Shaktikanta Das as the RBI chief pushed the key equity indices 1.8 per cent higher on Wednesday.

Analysts said investors were optimistic over the swift appointment of Das as 
the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank as it might lead to a more liberal monetary policy.

However, caution ahead of the release of industrial production and retail inflation data coupled with higher crude oil prices and outflow of foreign funds arrested the upward movement.

All sectoral indices rose, led by financial and auto counters, with the latter gaining 3 per cent the highest increase on BSE.

“A clear mandate in key states assuaged investor concerns and had a positive impact on volatility,” said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services: “Market rallied and reclaimed the 10,700 mark as swift reaction from government with the appointment of new RBI governor supported the sentiment.

“Bank Nifty outperformed with an expectation of ease in liquidity and relaxation in PCA framework. Global indices rallied on US-China trade hopes and the ripple effect was seen in other EMs as well.”

Index-wise, the S&P BSE Sensex settled higher by 1.79 per cent, or 629.06 points, at 35,779.07 points, from its previous close of 35,150.01 points. It touched an intra-day high of 35,826.58 points and a low of 35,167.47 points.

The NSE Nifty50 advanced 188.45 points or 1.79 per cent to close the session at 10,737.60 points.

The BSE market breadth was positive as the number of advancing stocks was thrice the declining ones. A total of 1,910 stocks advanced while 652 declined.

In the broader market, BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap registered strong gains, advancing 2.53 per cent and 2.46 per cent respectively.

On the currency front, the rupee settled at 72.01 per US dollar, weakened by 85 paise from the Tuesday’s close of 71.86.

“Technically, with the Nifty rallying sharply higher after the bounce back seen in the previous session, the bulls are gaining control. Further upsides are likely once the immediate resistances of 10,747 are taken out,” said HDFC Securities’ Retail Research Head Deepak Jasani.

“Crucial supports to watch for any weakness are at 10,640-10,567.” 

In terms of investment, provisional data from the BSE showed that foreign Institutional Investors (FII’s) sold stocks worth Rs 1,299.43 crore, whereas the Domestic Institutional Investors (DII’s) bought Rs 1,121.29 crore of shares. 

All the 30 stocks on Sensex advanced led by Hero MotoCorp, which gained 7.57 per cent at Rs 3,265.30, while Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports and Tata Motors (DVR) advanced in a range of 4 to 

IANS