I. Technology
22. The long journey into holographic
transportation
Who can forget Princess
Leia’s hologram asking for Obi-Wan Kenobi’s help in the movie Star Wars?
That was perhaps the best-known hologram of the many used in the Star Wars
franchise movies, but the power and promise of holographic technology have been
depicted in science fiction stories for years.
The starship Voyager’s
chief medical officer in Star Trek: Voyager was a hologram and
holographic characters and ships are featured in several episodes in the Star
Trek: The Next Generation series.
Holographic transportation
is ‘an extension of mixed reality, a new use case if you will,’ Rob Enderle,
principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. ‘It’s more a
variant on telepresence.’
Aexa Aerospace, which
provides custom software and hologram development for mixed and virtual reality
devices for aerospace, medical and other industries, is one of several
companies working on holographic transportation. The company demonstrated a
holographic interaction between CEO Fernando De La Peña Llaca, in his Houston,
Texas, office and company software architect Nathan Ream in his Huntsville,
Alabama, office.
Ream’s hologram was
imported into De La Peña Llaca’s office, then Ream pointed to various objects
and read from a magazine in the CEO’s office in real time when asked. The two
also played Tic-Tac-Toe. Ream won. However, an attempt to shake hands failed.
Aexa Aerospace has
demonstrated the prototype to a potential client in a United States government
department, Ream said. It’s targeting a first release for late summer and that
‘could be working at the client’s facility before the end of 2020.’
Microsoft researchers
coined the name ‘holoportation’ for holographic transportation. The company
trademarked the term in 2018. Still, holographic transportation ‘is not
offering anything that augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality and
cross reality doesn’t,’ Michael Hoffman, a founding partner at Object Theory,
told TechNewsWorld. Hoffman was a principal lead on the Microsoft HoloLens
team.
(Source:
www.technewsworld.com – 14th August, 2020)
23. Trump tells TikTok to find US owner
within 90 days, or close its business
US
President Donald Trump issued a new executive order extending the timeline for
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell its US business or wrap up its American
operations. According to the earlier executive order, ByteDance was given a
45-day deadline that was to end on 20th September, 2020. With the
new executive order, ByteDance has got slight relief since it now has time
until 12th November to work out a sale deal.
In the
order issued on 14th August, Trump wrote, ‘There is credible
evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance… might take action that
threatens to impair the national security of the United States.’ The US
government has highlighted the issue that TikTok may share data and information
about Americans with the Chinese government. The company has denied that it has
ever done so.
Earlier,
TikTok was banned by the Indian government, citing national security and user
privacy concerns. The latest US order also requires ByteDance to destroy all
TikTok data from American users and destroy any data from TikTok’s predecessor
app Musical.ly, which was acquired by ByteDance in 2017. Further, ByteDance
must report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States once
all the data has been erased. TikTok, the short video creating and sharing
platform, has over 80 million users in the United States.
(Source:
www.indiatoday.in – 15th August, 2020)
24. New work order:
Notebook sales hit an all-time high, courtesy work-from-home amid Covid
The lockdown and work from
home (WFH) saw demand for notebooks hit an all-time high, with even companies
placing large-scale orders for employees to ensure business continuity.
Notebook sales saw a whopping 105.5% y-o-y growth during the April-June period.
As
per analysts, Q2FY2020 has had some bright moments for the domestic PC market
as decline in desktops and workstations was to an extent arrested by the huge
demand for laptops. Traditionally, January-March sees an increase in demand, but
due to Covid the pent up demand shifted to Q2. Besides, WFH further perked up
the market for notebooks.
According to IDC, most IT
services, global enterprises and consulting companies placed large orders for
notebook PCs. This led to an all-time high of enterprise notebook purchases
with shipments growing by 105.5% y-o-y in Q2FY2020. Small and medium businesses
(SMBs) also increased their procurement of notebooks with relatively moderate
growth of 12.1% on an annual basis.
‘Demand for notebooks
exceeded expectations with most of the vendors exiting the quarter with minimum
inventory. Despite supply and logistics challenges in the first half of the
quarter, companies executed most of the large orders in Q2. Besides, many
companies shifted their employees to notebooks for the first time; this change
is surely going to alter their procurement strategy in the long term with a mix
of in-office and remote workforce becoming a reality for many organisations,’
said IDC India market analyst (PC devices) Bharath Shenoy.
With
most of India under lockdown, IT companies such as TCS, HCL, Infosys and Wipro
have all announced arrangements for employees to work from home for the foreseeable future. The pandemic forced most IT
companies in India to forego their strict office-based working policies
in favour of adopting new hybrid working arrangements to ensure business
continuity during the lockdown.
(Source:
www.financialexpress.com – 16th August, 2020)
II. Sports News
25. M.S. Dhoni announces
retirement from international cricket
M.S. Dhoni, the former
Captain of the Indian cricket team, has announced his retirement from
international cricket, bringing down the curtains on a near 16-year-long
storied career of one of the country’s greatest limited-overs cricketers. Dhoni
retires as India’s most successful captain in limited-over internationals,
having won three ICC trophies – the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 50-over World Cup
in 2011 and the 2013 ICC Champions
Trophy – the only Captain to do so.
Dhoni, 39, made the
confirmation through a video on Instagram, its caption reading: ‘Thanks –
Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as
Retired.’
The announcement means
that Dhoni’s last India game would remain the semi-final of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in which India lost to New Zealand by 18 runs. It was his
350th ODI, in which he scored 50 off 72 balls before being run-out
by a bullet throw from Martin Guptill in the deep. Incidentally, Dhoni was
run-out in his first ODI as well.
Having retired from Test
cricket in December of 2014 with 4,876 runs from 90 matches, Dhoni carried on
playing ODIs and T20Is. With 10,733 runs, Dhoni is fifth in the list of India’s
all-time run-scorers in ODIs behind Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav
Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. His overall Indian numbers are staggering: 538
matches, 17,266 runs, 16 centuries, 108 fifties, 359 sixes, 829 dismissals.
Dhoni’s future was a hot
topic of speculation since his sabbatical from cricket following India’s World
Cup exit. Ever since the defeat to New Zealand, Dhoni did not play any form of
cricket in the last one year, hinting he might have played his last in India
colours. Dhoni, however, would be turning up in the IPL where he will captain
the Chennai Super Kings in the tournament’s 13th season, to be
played in the UAE.
(Source:
www.hindustantimes.com – 16th August, 2020)
III. World News
26. Citi wired $900
million in ‘clerical error’, they won’t hand cash back
Even for Citigroup Inc.,
it was big money. Loan operations staff at the New York bank wired $900
million, seemingly on behalf of Revlon Inc., to lenders of the troubled
cosmetics giant controlled by billionaire Ron Perelman.
It was a mistake for the
ages – a ‘clerical error,’ as Citigroup told lenders – that’s now plunged the
bank into a battle between the Perelman empire and a corps of sharp-edged
investment funds that have become its impatient creditors.
One financier involved
likened the surprise payment to finding a fortune on the sidewalk. And, as of a
week later, several hedge funds who claim Revlon was in default on the loan
were showing no signs that they’ll be giving Citigroup its money back.
The wayward transfer of
nearly a billion dollars appears to be one of the biggest screw-ups on Wall
Street in ages and it’s set tongues wagging in financial markets. The question
everyone is asking: how could this happen? A spokeswoman for Citi declined to
comment. A representative for Revlon said in an emailed statement that Revlon
itself didn’t pay down the loan, or any portion of it.
‘It’s
a billion-dollar clerical error,’ said Michael Stanton, a former restructuring
and bankruptcy adviser. ‘This is probably knocking around some very big rooms
at Citibank.’
(Source: www.ndtv.com – 17th
August, 2020)
27. Pakistan’s blasphemy
law a weapon of revenge used against minorities
Radical Islamists of
Pakistan found a new ‘hero’ recently. His name is Khalid Khan, who shot dead
Tahir Naseem, an American citizen accused of blasphemy, in a Peshawar courtroom
on 29th July.
Even though Khalid Khan
surrendered before the police, thousands rallied in his support and his photos
were shared widely on social media. Before he was taken to the court, he was
welcomed with hugs and kisses.
Naseem was charged with
blasphemy in 2018 after he declared himself Islam’s prophet.
The killing has ignited a
debate on the dangerous blasphemy law and Pakistani society’s mindset in
general. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws (PPC section 295 and subsections, section
298 and subsections) state that ‘derogatory’ remarks on the Prophet Muhammad,
insulting any religion, disturbing a religious assembly and trespassing on
burial grounds can cause lifetime imprisonment or sentence to death.
Till now, no blasphemy
convict has been executed by Pakistan but allegations of blasphemy are enough
to cause riots and killing of accused by vigilante groups. According to Al
Jazeera, 77 people have been killed since 1990 over accusations of
blasphemy. In Pakistan, as per data released by the National Commission for
Justice and Peace, a total of 776 Muslims, 505 Ahmadis, 229 Christians and 30
Hindus have been accused under the various clauses of the blasphemy law from
1987 to 2018. Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus constitute less than 4% of the
general population of Pakistan, but they account for around 50% of blasphemy
accused.
It isn’t that a politician
has never tried to change these laws or bring reforms. But those who did faced
the wrath of the religious zealot section of the country. In 2011, Punjab
Governor Salman Taseer was killed by his own guard after he defended a Christian
woman, Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy. She was acquitted in 2018.
Rights groups and critics
say Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are often used against religious minorities.
Often the laws are used as a weapon of revenge. Therefore, there’s an urgent
need to replace these laws.
It is important that
murderers like Khalid Khan be given maximum punishment by the judiciary to set
an example that the guilty will not be spared. If Pakistan wants to prove
itself as a haven for religious freedom, then it must ban these regressive
laws.
It’s also imperative that
global powers raise this issue on international platforms to create pressure on
the internal politics of the country. A proposal to put sanctions or
interrogation at international level may force them to think on this again.
Progressive countries of the world should give refuge to the acquitted.
(Source:
www.outlookindia.com – 13th August, 2020)
IV. Spiritual
28. Is being a Hindu
acceptable but having faith in Hindutva ‘dangerous’? Quite the contrary
Is being a Hindu
acceptable while faith in Hindutva is not? Is it even dangerous? Many Hindus
seem wary to be associated with Hindutva in spite of the fact that Hindutva
simply means Hindu-ness or being Hindu. They tend to accept the view which
mainstream media has peddled for long: ‘Hindutva is intolerant and stands for
the communal agenda of an extreme right Hindu party that wants to force uniform
Hinduism on this vast country which is fully against the true Hindu ethos.’
‘Hindutva is indicative
more of the way of life of the Indian people… Considering Hindutva as hostile,
inimical, or intolerant of other faiths, or as communal, proceeds from an
improper appreciation of its true meaning.’
From personal experience,
I also came to the conclusion that Hindutva is not communal and dangerous.
For many years I lived in
‘spiritual India’ without having any idea how important the terms ‘secular’ and
‘communal’ were. The people I met valued India’s great Vedic heritage. They
gave me tips, which texts to read, which Sants to meet, which mantras
to learn, etc., and I wrote about it for German magazines. I thought that all
Indians are proud of their ancestors, who had stunningly deep insights into
what is true and who left a huge legacy of precious texts unparalleled in the
world.
However, when I settled in
a ‘normal’ environment away from ashrams and connected with the
English-speaking middle class, I was shocked that several of my new friends
with Hindu names were ridiculing Hinduism without knowing anything about it.
They had not even read the Bhagavad Gita but claimed that Hinduism was
the most depraved of all religions and responsible for the ills India is
facing. The caste system and the Manusmriti were quoted as proof.
My new acquaintances had
expected me to join them in denouncing ‘violent’ Hinduism which I could not do
as I knew too much, not only from reading but also from doing sadhana.
They declared that I had read the wrong books and asked me to read the right books,
which would give me the ‘correct’ understanding. They obviously didn’t doubt
that their own view was correct.
My neighbour, a
self-declared communist, introduced me occasionally to his friends as ‘the
local RSS pracharak’. It was half in jest, but more than half intended
to be demeaning. My reaction at that time: ‘If RSS is in tune with my views,
then it must be good.’
Standing up for Hindu Dharma
indicted me as belonging to the ‘Hindutva brigade’ that is shunned by political
correctness. My fault was that I said that Hindu Dharma is the best
option for any society.
Of course, my stand is not
communal or dangerous. Hindu Dharma is indeed not only inclusive but
also most beneficial for the individual and for society and needs to gain
strength. And yes, politicians, too, need to base their lives on Hindu Dharma
if they want to be efficient in serving society. Propagating blind belief
has no place in politics, but following Dharma is in the interest of
all.
Humanity needs to win over
the madness that ‘the Supreme Being’ loves only those human beings who believe
in a certain book and condemns all others to eternal hellfire. But how to make
them see sense?
Even some staunch
‘secular’ Indians occasionally declare themselves as Hindus. It’s a good sign,
but they usually get something wrong: They believe that being Hindu means that
everything goes – believe in a god or not, be vegetarian or not, go to temples
or not. It even seems to imply: be truthful or not. They portray Hindu Dharma
as having no fundamentals.
Being Hindu means to know
and value the profound insights of the Rishis and follow their
recommendations in one’s life. These insights may not be obvious to the senses,
like the claim that everything, including nature, is permeated by the one
consciousness (Brahman), but it can be realised as true; similarly, as
it is not obvious that the earth goes around the sun, but it can be proven.
Being a Hindu does not require blind belief.
Being Hindu also means
having the welfare of all at heart including animals and nature, because each
part is intimately connected with the Whole.
Being
Hindu means following one’s conscience and using one’s intelligence well. It
means diving into oneself, trying to connect with one’s Essence. It means
trusting one’s own Self, Atman, and doing the right thing at the right
time.
Being Hindu means being
wise – not deluded or gullible or foolish. This wisdom about the truth of this
universe and about how to live life in the best possible way was discovered and
preserved in India. Yet its tenets are universal and valid for all humanity.
Isn’t it time for our
interconnected world to realise this and benefit?
(Source: OpIndia.com – 6th
August, 2020); Author: Maria Wirth from Germany and living in India for 38
years)
V. Markets
29. Tencent loses nearly
$34 billion since the PUBG Mobile ban in India — its second-largest valuation
dip this year
Chinese technology company
Tencent loses $34 billion in two days since Indian mobile app ban took away the
largest set of users from its iconic game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
(PUBG)Tencent
- The company behind the
Chinese app PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, Tencent, is trading in
the red for a second straight day after the Indian government banned the battle
royale game.
- Its market value has
plummeted by nearly $34 billion over the last two days with Tencent’s share
price falling by 2% yesterday and is over 3% in the red so far today.
- The company said that
they will engage with the Indian authorities to ensure the continued availability
of their apps in India.
The Chinese technology
mammoth Tencent has lost nearly $34 billion (HK$ 261.05) of its market value
over the last two days after news of its signature battle royale game
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile being banned by the Indian
government. This is the second biggest dip in Tencent’s valuation since
Bloomberg reported that the company lost $66 billion last month when the US
President Donald Trump banned WeChat.
India makes up one-fourth
of PUBG’s user base
Tencent first set its eyes
on India in 2017 when it pumped in $700 million into India’s most valuable
Internet at the time – Flipkart – and another $1.1 billion into the cab-hailing
service Ola. Already leading in China, the technology behemoth was looking at India’s
market to provide the growth it needed to keep up valuations.
One year down the line,
after a soft launch in China, it released PUBG to the rest of the world. Come
2020, gamers in India account for nearly a quarter of its downloads – ahead of
even China, according to data by Sensor Tower.
(Source: Business Insider,
4th September, 2020)
VI. Psychology
30. Kids today are
lacking these psychological nutrients
When
it comes to the rules and restrictions placed on children, author and Stanford
Graduate School of Business lecturer Nir Eyal argues that they have a lot in
common with another restricted population in society: prisoners. These
restrictions have contributed to a generation that overuses and is distracted
by technology.
Self-determination
theory, a popular theory of human motivation, says that we all need three
things for psychological well-being: competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
When we are denied these psychological nutrients, the needs displacement
hypothesis says that we look for them elsewhere. For kids today, that means
more video games and screen time.
In
order to raise indistractable kids, Eyal says we must first address
issues of overscheduling, de-emphasise standardised tests as indicators of
competency, and provide them with ample free time so that they can be properly
socialised in the real world and not look to technology to fill those voids.
(Source: Big Think, 30th April,
2020)
You could try to pound your head against the wall and
think of original ideas or
you can cheat by reading them in books.
—
@patrickc
In life, loss is inevitable. Everyone knows this, yet
in the core of most people it remains deeply denied – ‘This should not happen
to me.’ It is for this reason that loss is the most difficult challenge one has
to face as a human being
—
Dayananda Saraswati
