1. Technology
1.
When will ultrafast internet
5G come to your phone?
A surge in mobile-data
demand worldwide has more and more people asking when they will get that speedy
next-generation 5G mobile service. Companies are wondering, too, since 5G has
the potential to revolutionise everything from self-driving cars to robotic
surgery. Mobile providers are racing to patent technologies that will form the
industry standards and build working networks. Yet not all nations are
embracing the push with equal vigor. And concerns about China’s ability to use
5G equipment to spy on other nations may limit its manufacturers’ ability to
profit from the world’s next mobile upgrade.
5G simply stands for
fifth-generation mobile networks or fifth-generation wireless systems. It will
be the successor to 4G, the current top-of-the-line network technology first
introduced commercially in 2009. 5G could end up being 100 times faster than
4G, with speeds that could reach 10 gigabits per second.
South Korea showed off the
world’s first commercial use of 5G at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February.
China started trials in more than a dozen major cities this year. In the U.S.,
Verizon Communications Inc., will offer the first 5G internet and TV service in
five cities — Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, California —
beginning Oct. 1. Verizon will provide the service via portable hot spots
called pucks.
These are not standard 5G
gear, though Verizon says it will switch to standardised equipment when it
becomes available. AT&T Inc., says it will be the first with a standards-based
service; later this year it will test 5G devices in Atlanta, Dallas, Waco,
Texas, and two North Carolina cities, Charlotte and Raleigh.
5G mobile tests also need
special handsets, transmission hardware and software and a system design that
does not interfere with 4G and 3G networks. And governments need to set aside
mobile spectrum space for 5G. The equipment is being built. China’s Huawei
Technologies Co. Ltd., says it has about 50 contracts with wireless carriers to
test its equipment. Nokia and Ericsson AB each have $3.5 billion contracts with
T-Mobile US Inc. Some telecommunication companies are looking to join forces to
provide more money and reach to develop 5G networks.
T-Mobile has promised to
invest $40 billion in a 5G network that will reach 90 percent of the U.S.
population by 2024. But claims are easy to make and trials are easy to pull
off. The real test will be the first field deployment serving large numbers of
customers in a technically challenging urban area. No provider has yet implemented
that kind
of network.
(Source
www.financialexpress.com)
2.
Facebook is hiring human
rights policy director to promote peace and prevent conflict.
In the recent years,
Facebook has faced severe criticism for its failure to take greater
responsibility for the spread of hate speech and fake news on its platform.
Despite knowing the fall outs of the impact of its platform, the company has
failed to take substantial measures to solve the problem and minimise the
damage. But things are changing and in one of the many measures aimed to
improve the present situation, Facebook has decided to hire a Director of Human
Rights Policy to promote peace and build strong communities. “We are looking
for a Director of Human Rights Policy to coordinate our company-wide effort to
address human rights abuses, including by both state and non-state
actors,” the company wrote in a job listing on its page.
The human rights policy
director will hold a critical position at Facebook and will be expected to
perform a number of tasks including- ‘coordinating and advising the company’s
teams working on human rights, conflict prevention, peace-building, and related
projects’; ‘working with Product, Public Policy, Community Operations, and
Security teams to identify and work to disrupt actors that seek to misuse its
platforms and target its users and support those using our platforms to foster
peace-building and enable transitional justice’; ‘working within Facebook’s
Product Policy team to formulate policies that govern user, advertiser, and
developer behavior on its platform’; and ‘representing the company in meetings
with politicians, policymakers, NGOs and civil society groups’ among other
things.
In the recent times,
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been criticised for spreading misinformation which
in turn has led to mob lynchings across the country and death of over a dozen
people. In Myanmar, the social media giant has been accused of ethnic cleansing
of Rohingya Muslims. The company’s role in spreading hate speech against the
Muslim minority in Myanmar had also been cited by the UN investigators.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the company stands accused of playing an
important role in the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who is accused of
covering up at least 12,000 extrajudicial state-sponsored killings since he
assumed the office. The platform has also been used by “keyboard warriors”
in Libya to hunt and kill their enemies.
These are some of many incidents
where Facebook’s platform has been used for violence. At a time when Facebook
is struggling to keep its head above the water and prevent its platform from
being misused, the appointment of a human rights policy director shows is one
of the many steps that the company is taking to fix its platform. More
importantly, it represents a serious effort on part of the company in fixing
everything that is wrong with its platform.
(Source:
www.indiatoday.in)
3.
Can health services handle
the Apple Watch?
When Apple announced two
major new healthcare features this week, it billed them both as terrific
innovations that may well keep us alive. Later this year, Apple Watch will be
able to automatically call emergency services if it detects you have suffered a
fall and are no longer moving. And it will also let you know if you have heart
problems and should perhaps visit your doctor as soon as possible. Other
devices have offered similar functions in the past, albeit in less elegantly
presented gadgets. But with an estimated 50 million Apple Watches out there
already, there are concerns about the pressures it may bring to
already-strained healthcare systems.
The result may be even more
calls to emergency services and, according to one of Britain’s leading
surgeons, a new wave of technology-driven hypochondria. “Medical
professionals will also need to be vigilant to the risk of misdiagnosis and
overtreatment that this proliferation of personalised health information could
bring,” said Richard Kerr, chairman of the Royal College of Surgeons’
commission on the future of surgery.
(Source:
www.bbc.com)
2. World News
4.
Tax haven link to rainforest
destruction and illegal fishing
Some 68% of the investments
tracked in the Amazon came from companies based in countries where no tax is
paid. The analysis shows that of the almost $27bn of foreign capital that was
transferred to key companies involved in beef and soy production in the Amazon
between 2000 and 2011, more than $18bn was transferred from tax haven
jurisdictions. The biggest provider for these activities was the Cayman
Islands. “It is not illegal!” said Victor Galaz, the study’s lead
author, from the Stockholm Resilience Centre. “This is part of the
internal financing of companies, but we need a better assessment of the
environmental consequences of the uses of tax havens both legal and
illegal.” “What we can see in the data, in these sectors there are
subsidiaries placed in tax havens that are providing loans to activities in
Brazil and the Amazon. That you can see.”
When it comes to illegal
fishing, around 70% of known vessels are registered in tax havens. Illegal,
unreported and unregulated fishing is also a major blight on the oceans of the
world but according to this paper, the vast majority of the boats involved are or have been flagged under a tax haven
jurisdiction, in particular Belize and Panama.
There is a bit of a double
whammy going on when it comes to illegal fishing as these tax havens are often
what are known as ‘flag of convenience’ states – meaning essentially that the
governments in these countries do not prosecute if the ships on their register
are involved in illegal activities.
“The global nature of
fisheries value chains, complex ownership structures and limited governance
capacities of many coastal nations, make the sector susceptible to the use of
tax havens,” says co-author Henrik Österblom, also from the Stockholm
Resilience Centre.
While the Paradise Papers
and the Panama Papers exposed how wealthy individuals and companies dodged
personal and corporate taxes, this new study claims to be the first to show
that tax havens have a significant environmental impact as well.
(Source:
www.bbc.com)
5.
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos
gives $2bn to help the homeless
Jeff Bezos, the founder and
chief executive of Amazon, is well on his way to becoming the richest person in
the world, with a net worth of more than $80 billion. What’s less certain is
what he plans to do with his fortune, and how he could reinvent philanthropy.
After
questions from The New York Times about the level of his giving, Mr. Bezos
posted on Twitter a “request for ideas” for philanthropy. “I’m thinking about a
philanthropy strategy that is the opposite of how I mostly spend my time —
working on the long term,” he wrote. “For philanthropy, I find I’m drawn to the
other end of the spectrum: the right now.”
Citing a homeless program
in Seattle, Amazon’s hometown, that the company is working with, he said he was
seeking to help people “at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact,”
adding, “If you have any ideas, just reply to this tweet…”
Mr. Bezos, who owns about
17 percent of Amazon, has enjoyed what could be the most rapid personal-wealth
surge in history. As Amazon’s share price has more than tripled since 2015, its
leader has added more than $50 billion to his net worth, bringing his current
total to nearly $83 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He
is now less than $7 billion shy of taking the title of the world’s richest
person from Bill Gates, who has held the crown for 18 of the past 23 years.
(Source:
nytimes.com)
3. Survey
6.
Indian demi-billionaires to
rise by 70% by 2022
The analysis highlights
that in five years time the number of demi-billionaires in Asia will overtake
those in North America for the first time. As the list of wealthy Indians with
over USD 500 million or more in assets grows, the number of demi-billionaires
is poised to grow by 70 per cent by 2022. According to a report by Knight
Frank, India, which had 200 demi-billionaires in 2017, this number is slated to
increase to 340 in 2022. “Prime residential markets in cities such as
Mumbai and Delhi have remained largely stable in the last five years, which
creates a good entry opportunity for buyers. The increase in number of
demi-billionaires clearly underscores the potential for demand and price growth
going forward,” the report said.
The analysis highlights
that in five years’ time the number of demi-billionaires in Asia will overtake
those in North America for the first time. Wealth data specialists Wealth-X
predict that there will be almost 3,000 people based in Asia who have more than
USD 500 million in assets by 2022.
“Strong global
economic growth, as well as rising asset prices as key drivers behind the
growth in the world’s demi-billionaire population. By 2022, Wealth-X
anticipates that there will be 9,570 demi-billionaires worldwide, up from 6,900
at the end of 2017,” it said.
(Source:
Moneycontrol.com)
7.
More Indians plan to take
time off from work and take vacation in 2018
A survey conducted by Ipos
showed that a majority of Indians polled (83 per cent) said they will be
spending at least one week away from home on vacation in 2018. This is three
points higher than the previous year. “Companies are encouraging employees to
take a break and return rejuvenated,” said Parijat Chakraborty, executive
director, Ipsos Public Affairs.
Some other markets seeing a
significant increase over 2017 in those planning to go on vacation include
Turkey (74 per cent, up nine points), China (62 per cent, up eight points), and
Sweden (72 per cent, up six points). Some other markets experiencing a similar
upsurge compared to the previous year include Australia (53 per cent, up seven
points), France (66 per cent, up five points), and Saudi Arabia (81 per cent,
up five points).
Most Indians plan to use up
their entire entitled vacation days in a year. More Indians plan to use up
their entire quota of leave (72 per cent, up five points), compared to 2017,
the survey said. Those saying no to work emails and messages during vacation
has also seen a significant jump in 2018. More Indians are choosing to unplug
from work emails and messages (54 per cent, up five points), as against 2017.
Indians learning to switch
off from work while on vacation is a welcome change. With support from their
teams, it is becoming easier to disconnect as its business as usual,
otherwise,” Chakraborty added.
(Source:
www.business-standard.com)
