Telangana to step up pressure on Centre for paddy procurement

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Telangana to step up pressure on Centre for paddy procurement

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to intensify the protest demanding the Centre to procure entire paddy from the state during Yasangi (Rabi) season.

The Chief Minister said that the Union Government is procuring 100 percent of paddy from Punjab, and agitation programs will continue to demand the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to procure 100 percent of paddy from Telangana.

He said that it is a life and death issue for the farmers of Telangana and TRS is gearing up for intensive struggle this time over the procurement of paddy.

The Chief Minister has convened a meeting of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Legislature on March 21 to chalk out the strategy in this regard.

He has directed all MLAs, MLCs, Party State Executive Committee Members, District Presidents, ZP Chairpersons, Presidents of DCCBs, DCMS, and District Presidents of Raithu Bandhu Samithis to attend the meeting.

KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, said that the meeting will chalk out a plan to hold dharnas, agitations, and protests demanding the Union Government to buy yasangi paddy in the state.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister and delegation of ministers will leave for Delhi on the same day to meet the Union Ministers and even the Prime Minister to demand to buy of paddy.

The TRS MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will stage protests in line with the agitation in Telangana.

Katrina celebrates first Holi with Kaushals, shares wholesome pics

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Katrina celebrates first Holi with Kaushals, shares wholesome pics

Actress Katrina Kaif shared the pictures from her first Holi with her husband Vicky Kaushal and her in-laws recently.

Taking to her Instagram, the actress shared two pictures, where she can be in the company of Vicky’s father and acclaimed action director Sham Kaushal, his mother Veena Kaushal, and brother Sunny.

Everyone is seen smiling with gulal on their faces. In the second picture, Veena is seen touching Katrina’s cheek, as they posed for the camera. This year’s Holi is Vicky and Katrina’s first since their wedding. In the photos, Katrina is seen posing with Vicky’s parents and his brother Sunny Kaushal.

Vicky and Katrina got married in December in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. The very intimate wedding ceremony was attended only by their closest friends and family members. After the ceremony, they headed to the Maldives for a honeymoon and returned to Mumbai in just a few days. The couple also rented an apartment in the Juhu area of Mumbai after their marriage in December.

Snapchat’s new feature lets creators build AR experiences for landmarks

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Snapchat’s new feature lets creators build AR experiences for landmarks

Popular social media app Snapchat is launching a new feature called “Custom Landmarkers” that lets creators build unique AR experiences for local places they care about.

The company said the feature, which is accessible in its Lens Studio, can be used to create landmarkers for things like statues and storefronts in creators’ local communities.

The new feature is rolling out after first being teased at Snap’s Lens Fest event back in December. The new custom landmarkers are discoverable through physical Snapcodes displayed at the landmark or on a Lens creator’s profile, reports TechCrunch.

Snapchat said the launch is part of its efforts to continuously advance its AR platform and enable its community of 250,000 Lens creators to build new experiences that enhance the way users learn and explore.

“In 2019, we started with templates of 30 beloved sites around the world which creators could build upon called Landmarkers,” the company said in a statement.

“But there’s an infinite number of places for our AR creator community to build anchored, location-based Lenses. Today, we’re launching Custom Landmarkers in Lens Studio, letting creators anchor Lenses to local places they care about to tell richer stories about their communities through AR,” it added.

Lens Creators who are part of Snap’s Lens Network received early access to the custom landmarkers and have already launched AR experiences in their communities.

The company said that as it continues to evolve its AR platform, it wants to ensure that the experiences built by creators support the wellbeing of its users.

To achieve this, Snapchat moderates AR content on its platform. It noted that its moderation teams approve all Lenses before they’re publicly accessible.

Karishma Kotak to make a cameo in Shaad Ali’s upcoming ‘Mister Mummy’

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Karishma Kotak to make a cameo in Shaad Ali’s upcoming ‘Mister Mummy’

‘Bigg Boss 6’ fame Karishma Kotak is all set to be part of director Shaad Ali’s project ‘Mister Mummy’.

She is making a guest appearance. It is rumored that the film features power couple Genelia D”Souza and Riteish Deshmukh.

Karishma says about playing this role: “It’s great to be shooting in the UK itself and I’m glad it worked out to do this guest appearance/cameo along with my hosting the cricket leagues in it. It is great fun to work alongside the happy couple Genelia and Riteish and I wish to do it more often in the future.”

“When it came to doing this with Shaad Ali, I was glad that it fell right with my hosting schedules. Although I cannot reveal much about my character, I am in my happy place now with multiple offers pouring in and I really hope I make all the right decisions,” adds the actress who appeared in several films and reality shows.

The movie backed by the Deshmukhs’ production Company, Mumbai Film Company is scheduled to release by November this year. It is surely going to be a fun laughter-filled experience judging by the poster which portrays Riteish as pregnant.

Australian watchdog sues Meta over scam celebrity crypto ads on FB

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Australian watchdog sues Meta over scam celebrity crypto ads on FB

The Australian consumer watchdog has filed a lawsuit against Meta, the owner of Facebook, saying that the social network allegedly engaged in false, misleading, or deceptive conduct by publishing scam advertisements featuring prominent Australian public figures.

The ACCC alleged that Meta aided and abetted or was knowingly concerned in false or misleading conduct and representations by the advertisers.

“The essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform,” the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Rod Sims said in a statement late on Friday.

The ads, which promoted investment in cryptocurrency or money-making schemes, were likely to mislead Facebook users into believing the advertised schemes were associated with well-known people featured in the ads, such as businessman Dick Smith, TV presenter David Koch, and former NSW Premier Mike Baird.

The schemes were in fact scams and the people featured in the ads had never approved or endorsed them.

The ads contained links that took Facebook users to a fake media article that included quotes attributed to the public figure featured in the ad endorsing a cryptocurrency or money-making scheme, said the ACCC.

Users were then invited to sign up and were subsequently contacted by scammers who used high-pressure tactics, such as repeated phone calls, to convince users to deposit funds into the fake schemes.

“It is a key part of Meta’s business to enable advertisers to target users who are most likely to click on the link in an ad to visit the ad’s landing page, using Facebook algorithms. Those visits to landing pages from ads generate substantial revenue for Facebook, Sims added.

It is alleged that Meta was aware that the celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads were being displayed on Facebook but did not take sufficient steps to address the issue.

The celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads were still being displayed on Facebook even after public figures around the world had complained that their names and images had been used in similar ads without their consent.

“Meta should have been doing more to detect and then remove false or misleading ads on Facebook, to prevent consumers from falling victim to ruthless scammers,” said Sims.

Meta was yet to react to the lawsuit.

Sims said that Meta failed to take sufficient steps to stop fake ads featuring public figures, even after those public figures reported to Meta that their name and image were being featured in celebrity endorsement cryptocurrency scam ads.

“In one shocking instance, we are aware of a consumer who lost more than $650,000 due to one of these scams being falsely advertised as an investment opportunity on Facebook. This is disgraceful,” Sims informed.

Scamwatch figures show that in 2021, consumers reported losses of $99 million to cryptocurrency investment scams.

Women’s World Cup: Lanning leads the way as Australia beat India, enter semis

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Women’s World Cup: Lanning leads the way as Australia beat India, enter semis

Captain Meg Lanning led from the front as Australia entered the semifinals of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with a six-wicket win over India at Eden Park on Saturday.

After Mithali Raj, Yastika Bhatia, and Harmanpreet Kaur slammed the fifties to help India post a competitive 277/7 in 50 overs, Australia chased down the total with three balls to spare and also the highest successful chase in the history of the tournament.

Lanning led the controlled chase with 97 off 107 balls, laced with 13 boundaries in an innings where she collected runs and pierced gaps through the point region for fun.

But it was the opening partnership of 121 between Alyssa Healy (72) and Rachael Haynes (43) which set the tone for Australia’s unbeaten run in the showpiece event apart from young pacer Darcie Brown taking 3/30 in eight overs.

Australia began by picking nine boundaries in power-play, six of which were hammered by Alyssa Healy while three belonged to Rachael Haynes.

Healy took charge of the chase from the word go, hitting boundaries against pacers Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh effortlessly via drives, flick, late steer, and pull. Haynes, on the other hand, swept and sliced Rajeshwari Gayakwad for boundaries before signing off from power-play with a pull-off Pooja Vastrakar.

Healy then reached her 14th ODI fifty in 49 balls. The desperation was such from India to get a breakthrough that they emptied their quota of DRS reviews within the first 17 overs of defending 277. Healy swept Gayakwad twice for boundaries but in an attempt to reverse-sweep off Sneh Rana, the right-handed batter picked out short third man, falling for 72 as the 121-run opening partnership came to an end.

In the next over, Haynes departed at 43, giving a faint outer edge to keeper Richa Ghosh on a hook off Vastrakar. But captain Meg Lanning kept the scoreboard ticking with her creamy drives and punches while placing the cuts elegantly through the square region on the off-side.

Lanning looked assured in sweeping Rana and then punished a wayward Meghna with a slash past backward point followed by a pull-over fine leg to reach her fifty in 56 balls. Ellyse Perry dug in her heels before getting her first boundary with a drive-through mid-on off a full toss from Jhulan Goswami. The duo was sharing a stand of 102 off 120 balls when rain interrupted play, with Australia needing 53 runs in 54 balls.

Post resumption, Perry fell to Vastrakar as she smashed a full toss straight to cover. But Lanning continued to place her shots well by swivelling Vastrakar over backward square leg and then drove her square through backward point. Lanning again brought out her favourite square drive against Goswami to enter the 90s.

But Lanning fell three short of her 15th ODI century, slicing straight to point off Meghna. With eight needed off the final over, Mooney elegantly lofted Goswami over mid-wicket for four and then took two runs via drive through deep cover, followed by a four down the ground to maintain their clean slate in the tournament.

Earlier, skipper Mithali Raj and number three Yastika Bhatia’s 130-run stand built the platform before an unbeaten 57 off 47 balls from Harmanpreet and 28-ball 34 from Vastrakar took India to 277/7 as 77 runs came off the last 10 overs. Australia wasn’t the best on the field nor with the ball as they conceded 29 extras, including 24 wides.

India didn’t have a great start in power-play, losing Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma to Brown in the first six overs. While Mandhana drove away from the body and nicked to slip, Verma’s slash was snapped by Beth Mooney diving full length for a one-handed stunner at gully.

Mithali and Yastika joined forces to stabilize India’s innings, helped by Australia’s leaking runs. A total of 16 runs from the 12th over of Ellyse Perry got Mithali and Yastika to settle down without taking any further risk.

Mithali, under pressure due to a lean run in the tournament, was a busy customer at the crease, getting her singles and making use of pace to get boundaries through the square region in the off-side. She looked delighted with the cover drive and used her feet well to slam a six down the ground.

Yastika, more aggressive than the two, struck delightful boundaries and ensured the scoreboard was ticking.

The duo reached their respective fifties in 77 balls to set the platform for a big total. But Yastika fell in the 32nd over, picking out a deep backward point off Brown. Six overs later, Mithali didn’t get the required elevation on slog-sweep and holed out to deep mid-wicket off leg-spinner Alana King.

With Richa Ghosh stumped off Alana King and Sneh Rana bowled by Jess Jonassen, India was in trouble at 213/6 with almost eight overs left. But Harmanpreet and Pooja produced the big hits to put up a crucial stand of 64 off just 47 balls.

Harmanpreet had luck on her side as Mooney dropped her catch at 34. Harmanpreet swept and bisected her way to reach fifty while Pooja shined with a cameo of 34 to give India a good total to defend, which wasn’t enough to stop Lanning and Co’s winning juggernaut.

Brief Scores:

India 277/7 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 68, Yastika Bhatia 59; Darcie Brown 3/30, Alana King 2/52) lost to Australia 280/4 in 49.3 overs (Meg Lanning 97, Alyssa Healy 72; Pooja Vastrakar 2/43, Sneh Rana 1/56) by six wickets.

Twitter tests new clipping tool for Spaces with select iOS hosts

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Twitter tests new clipping tool for Spaces with select iOS hosts

Micro-blogging site Twitter has announced that it has started testing a new clipping tool for Spaces.

Select hosts on iOS are now able to clip 30 seconds of audio from recorded Spaces to share them with others on Twitter, reports TechCrunch.

All iOS users can now see and listen to the clips on their timelines, while Android and web users will get access soon.

The company said it also plans to roll out the clipping functionality to all users in the future, not just hosts.

“There is no limit to the number of audio clips that can be created, and they will live on the platform for 30 days,” a Twitter spokesperson was quoted as saying in an email.

“Currently, everyone on iOS can see and listen to Spaces clips on their Timeline, and soon people on Android and Twitter.com will receive access too. We will be monitoring feedback and plan to expand Spaces clipping functionality to everyone on Twitter in the near future,” the spokesperson added.

Hosts will be able to create audio clips from recorded spaces that can be shared via a tweet that will also link back to the whole recording.

The new tool is a way for hosts to boost interest in their Spaces while also highlighting specific parts of a broadcast without having to share an entire recording.

Clubhouse, the social audio app, that prompted the launch of Twitter Spaces, rolled out its clipping feature last September.

The feature allows live listeners in public rooms to snip the most recent 30 seconds of audio and share it anywhere.

These can be shared on other social media platforms.

K’taka CM Bommai bats for inclusion of Bhagavd Gita in syllabus

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K’taka CM Bommai bats for inclusion of Bhagavd Gita in syllabus

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that the Bhagavad Gita should form a part of the school syllabus.

The matter has been discussed in Gujarat only on Friday. “Our education minister has been discussing the inclusion of the Bhagavad Gita in the syllabus. After getting information from the education department in this regard, a decision will be taken on it,” he explained.

Asked whether Bhagavad Gita would teach moral lessons, he retorted that if not for Bhagavad Gita, which other scripture can teach morals to children.

In this competitive age, children need moral education said CM Bommai and asked not to create unnecessary confusion in this regard.

If Bhagavad Gita is made part of the syllabus, it will help children with intelligence, he maintained.

On Friday, Education Minister B.C. Nagesh stated that a decision on mandating the teachings of Bhagavad Gita to school children will be taken after consulting Chief Minister Bommai.

Minister Nagesh stated that the demand is growing for the inclusion of moral science into the syllabus of children as it has a good impact. In Gujarat, they are planning to implement it in three phases.

Former Union Minister for External Affairs S.M. Krishna used to say that he reads Bhagavad Gita every day for strength. In this country, all tall leaders, elders who have thought about the nation have talked highly about Bhagavad Gita, Minister Nagesh stated.

Mahatma Gandhi in his autobiography has written that his mother’s teachings on Ramayana and Mahabharath during his childhood helped him evolve as a truthful person. He also said that Satya Harishchandra’s enactment also influenced him to be truthful, Minister Nagesh explained.

Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani stated that Bhagavad Gita has human values and children need to learn about those values. The government of Gujarat has taken a decision to add Bhagavad Gita in the syllabus and a decision should be taken in Karnataka also to introduce Bhagavad Gita to children, he said.

However, D.K. Shivakumar, State Congress President has stated that there are lessons on Ramayan, Bhagavad Gita, and other religious holy books in the syllabus. There is no necessity to glorify anything now, he opined.

Microsoft likely to remove direct Twitter sharing feature from Xbox consoles

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Microsoft likely to remove direct Twitter sharing feature from Xbox consoles

Tech giant Microsoft is likely to remove the feature for Xbox users to upload gameplay clips straight from their consoles to Twitter.

In an update to Xbox insider builds, Microsoft added Twitter and other social media icons to the “mobile sharing” option for Game DVR, essentially confirming that they have no plans to bring back direct Twitter sharing for Xbox game clips, reports Windows Central.

Users can now only upload clips to their phone, and then share them to Twitter from their device, needlessly adding extra steps and removing a feature Xbox has had for years.

Microsoft often removes features citing “low usage” from its users as an excuse. But for those “few” who do use those features, it comes as a bit of a kick in the teeth, the report said.

It could be that Microsoft has to pay Twitter a fee for API access and does not think it is worth it anymore or it could be that Microsoft is gearing up to replace the system with something else that will allow you to share from your Xbox directly to Twitter. However, all of this is just speculation as of now.

Anderson not happy with England exclusion, keen to return ‘later in the summer’

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Anderson not happy with England exclusion, keen to return ‘later in the summer’

England’s pace bowling stalwart Jimmy Anderson has not been able to come to terms with his omission from the Test squad for the three-match series against the West Indies currently underway in the Caribbean, and hopes to return to the side “later in the summer”.

Both Anderson and pace bowling partner Stuart Broad were surprisingly excluded for the West Indies tour following England’s 4-0 thrashing in the Ashes series in Australia, although the two stalwarts bowled well and were therefore puzzling omissions.

The 39-year-old Anderson and 35-year-old Broad were replaced by Chris Woakes and Craig Overton as interim England cricket chief Andrew Strauss said he was looking at “exciting new bowling potential”.

Speaking on boxing promoter Eddie Hearn’s ‘No Passion No Point’ podcast, Anderson said that he will turn out for county side Lancashire in the interim but will continue aiming for England’s return.

“As long as I feel I can compete at the top level, then I want to do that. When that isn’t the case, then I’ll have to make a decision on what I do. Whether I play for England this year or not, it’s a great opportunity to go back to Lancashire and play for them.

“I’ve had a central contract for 15 years or so now so I’ve not played a huge amount for them. So, actually giving something back to them would be nice and trying to help them win a championship title,” Anderson said in the podcast, reports dailymail.co.uk.

Anderson is the highest wicket-taking pacer in Test history and the third-highest overall.

“I don’t want to look too far ahead still, I’m thinking about the start of the season in April and at the minute I’ve got the hunger and passion to play for Lancashire, and hopefully that will take me on to England later in the summer,” added Anderson.

Economic indicators’ data expected to be mixed on geopolitical disruptions

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Economic indicators’ data expected to be mixed on geopolitical disruptions

The key high-frequency economic indicators for March 2022 are expected to paint a mixed picture of the economy’s health.

The high-frequency indicators include passenger vehicle and motorcycle production, the output of Coal India, non-oil merchandise exports, ports cargo traffic, rail freight, GST e-way bills, finished steel consumption, and non-food bank credit of scheduled commercial banks, amongst others

Accordingly, a low base related to the onset of the second wave of last year may partly counteract disruption caused by geopolitical factors for some sectors over the next few weeks.

“Early data for March 2022 is mixed,” rating agency ICRA said.

As per the agency, while the year-on-year (YoY) growth in electricity demand has eased to 3.7 percent on March 1-15, 2022 from 4.5 percent in February 2022, the sales of petrol and diesel of state refiners have witnessed robust sequential growth in the first half of March 2022.

Besides, vehicle registrations stood at 0.83 million during March 1-17, 2022, equivalent to 50 percent and 60 percent, respectively, of the year-ago and prior month levels.

“However, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the resultant surge in key commodity prices, as well as the supply chain implications of the renewed lockdowns in China, do not augur well for the performance of inbound or outbound cargo shipments at ports and sectors such as automobiles, which are partly dependent on key raw materials provided by either of these nations, in the absence of any other alternatives.”

In last month’s data, the agency said that despite the lifting of state-wise restrictions after the rapid abatement of the third wave of Covid-19 in India, the YoY performance of nine of the 16 high-frequency indicators worsened in February 2022, relative to January 2022.

However, eight of the 14 non-financial sectors exceeded their pre-Covid volumes in February 2022, in line with the previous month.

Moreover, the daily average generation of GST e-way bills scaled a new peak in February 2022, indicating a healthy rebound in economic activity.

“With the modest uptick in the YoY growth of electricity demand, amidst a dip in the YoY performance of CIL, we expect the IIP growth to remain sub-2 percent in February 2022.”

“In month-on-month (MoM) terms, as many as nine of the 14 non-financial indicators reported a decline in February 2022, partly attributed to the fewer days in February 2022, compared to the previous month.”

KTR-led Telangana delegation leaves for US to attract investment

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KTR-led Telangana delegation leaves for US to attract investment

A delegation of Telangana government led by minister for information technology and industries K.T. Rama Rao had left for the United States to attract global firms for investments in the state.

The Telangana delegation left for the US on Saturday morning from Hyderabad. It will be visiting US cities, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Boston, and New York.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, has a packed agenda for this week-long trip and will be meeting the top management executives of several world-renowned companies in the US. He will explain to them the progressive policies of the state and the benefits of investing in industry-friendly Telangana.

“On my way to the United States for a work trip after 5 years. Lots of exciting meetings lined up on the west coast and east coast over the course of next week. Looking forward to some hectic activity & travel,” KTR tweeted.

Telangana IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Director Electronics Sujai Karampuri, Director Life Sciences Shakti Nagappan, Director Food Processing Akhil Gawar, Director Promotions Vijay Rangineni, Chief Relations Officer Amarnath Reddy were among the officials who were accompanying the minister.

After removal of Article 370, democracy reached grassroots in J&K: Shah

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After removal of Article 370, democracy reached grassroots in J&K: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that it was this land (Jammu) where Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Pandit Prem Nath Dogra fought for total integration of J&K with the rest of the country.

“Our leader, Syama Prasad Mukherjee gave the supreme sacrifice to ensure that the country has only ‘Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan’ (One Prime Minister, one flag, and one Constitution).

Under Article 370, J&K’s elected head of government was called ‘Wazir-e-Azam’ (Prime Minister), the state had its own flag and a separate constitution.

Shah started his speech by bowing to Mata Vaishno Devi and by offering tributes to those who laid down their lives in the service of the country. He praised the services of that CRPF personnel who have earned awards by fighting for peace and unity in the country.

“Since 2014 after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister, a lot has taken place in J&K. Democracy was brought to the grassroots level. Every village here has elected Panch and Sarpanch who have been empowered to work for the development at the village level.

“After removal of Article 370, women and weaker sections like the tribals have been ensured their rightful place. Rs 33,000 crore investment target had been made on the ground and for thus I congratulate Lt governor, Manoj Sinha.

“J&K has broken all records in road expansion whether these are highways, large or small roads in villages. Seven new medical colleges, 2 AIIMS have been established.

“Corruption is also being tackled effectively.

“Whenever the CRPF is called in to handle a difficult situation, people heave a sigh of relief knowing fully well that things would immediately be brought under control”, he said.

“This day in 1950, Sardar Patel, country’s home minister presented colors to this force.

“On October 21, 1959, when China attacked us at hot Springs, some CRPF jawans fought valiantly and stopped the aggressor. It is for this reason that police commemoration day is observed in every state on October 21.

“As the country’s Home Minister, I thank the jawans of the CRPF for ensuring that the people live peacefully in the country.

“Whenever elections are held in the country, the largest deployment of CRPF is made to ensure peaceful elections. CRPF rapid action force (RAF) has ensured to control riots in the shortest period of time. Before the RAF came into existence, these riots took a longer time to control.

“RAF has also trained local police forces to handle riots more professionally and the two have worked together since then.

“The Prime Minister has set a target of 5 trillion dollar economy and for this, the CRPF has a greater role to play by ensuring peace and tranquility”, Shah said.

He said recently orders have been passed that the CAPFs parades are held in different parts of the country so that these organizations get to interact and form a closer bond with the local people.

Before his address, Shah took a salute at the 83rd CRPF Raising Day parade at the Maulana Azad Stadium here. This is the first time that the Raising Day parade of the CRPF is being held anywhere outside the organization’s headquarters.

Smartly turned out contingents of various wings of the force marched before the podium, where Shah wearing a typical Dogra turban, took salute.

A large number of people including Dr. Jitendra Singh (MoS), PMO, Lt governor, Manoj Sinha, Chief Justice of J&K and Ladakh high court Justice Pankaj Mithal, Union Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla, director, IB, Arvind Kumar, J&K chief secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta, Kuldeep Singh, DG, CRPF, Dilbag Singh, DGP, J&K, Pankaj Kumar Singh DG, BSF, and other senior civil and police officers attended the function.

In addition, a large number of school children and other civilians also attended the function.

Meta locks out people who failed to activate Facebook Protect

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Meta locks out people who failed to activate Facebook Protect

Facebook is locking out people who did not activate the ‘Facebook Protect’ program and the users complain that that company sent a mysterious, spam-like email which they ignored for security reasons.

Several Facebook users took to Twitter, complaining about the spam-like notification in an email titled “Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect”, which they did not open due to privacy concerns.

“I got locked out from Facebook indefinitely today because I didn’t respond to emails from FB (that looked like a scam) about its new Facebook Protect system, which I was required to enable by today. So far, the text and security key options don’t work, many reports,” one affected user tweeted late on Friday.

The Facebook email told the users that they were required to turn on the Facebook Protect feature by a certain date, or they would be locked out of their account.

According to the social network, Facebook Protect is a “security program for groups of people that are more likely to be targeted by malicious hackers, such as human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials”.

The first deadline was March 17 and now, several people are being locked out of their Facebook accounts. Some can’t even get in even if they turned the feature on.

“Dear @FacebookApp: Your new Facebook Protect, which I didn’t ask for, keeps texting me an identical two-factor verification code, which continues to not work. I’m now effectively locked out of my account. This is heightened security? Guess I’ll spend more time on Twittera,” another user said in a tweet.

Some other users complained that they couldn’t get through the activation process even before the deadline and so are effectively locked out of their accounts.

“This Facebook protects thing is so annoying because it’s not letting me turn it on and I need Facebook for work so I’m really hoping Facebook fixes the stupid code,” one affected user posted.

The company was yet to comment on sending spam-like notifications on Facebook Protect.

TDP’s Twitter account hacked

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TDP’s Twitter account hacked

The Twitter account of Andhra Pradesh’s main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was hacked on Saturday.

TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh, son of TDP president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, said in a tweet: “Kindly note that our official party account @jaitdp has been hacked by nefarious elements. We are working with Twitter India to restore the account.”

The account was apparently hacked in the early hours of Saturday and the hackers posted a tweet from SpaceX.

In response to this, dozens of messages were posted by the TDP’s Twitter handle like “awesome”, “love this”, and “great job”.

The development comes amid the ongoing row over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the previous TDP government had purchased spyware from Pegasus.

Reacting to the allegation, Nara Lokesh revealed that the TDP government had rejected the offer of Pegasus to sell its spyware to the state.

Lokesh, who was Minister for Information Technology in the TDP cabinet, clarified that the former state government did not purchase any spyware.

“She was misinformed. If we had resorted to such things, Jagan Mohan Reddy would not have come to power in 2019,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has demanded a probe into the allegation.

RBI expected to prioritise growth during April meet

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RBI expected to prioritise growth during April meet

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to prioritize growth over inflationary fears in its April 2022 policy meet.

Notably, the consumer price index (CPI) inflation print has remained at an elevated level due to higher-than-expected vegetable prices in February.

Moreover, inflation is expected to remain at elevated levels due to higher crude oil prices in subsequent months owing to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

“Nevertheless, we still expect the RBI to prioritize growth in its April 2022 monetary policy meet as we believe growth is still a bigger concern currently rather than inflation,” said Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

“We expect inflation in the range of 5.2-5.4 percent YoY in FY22.”

Earlier this month, CPI inflation came in at an eight-month high of 6.1 percent YoY in February 2022.

Besides, food inflation came in at a 15-month high of 5.8 percent YoY in February 2022 versus 5.4 percent YoY a month ago.

“Within food, vegetables primarily caused the spike in inflation as excluding vegetables, CPI came in at 6.1 percent YoY similar to the level seen in January 2022.”

“Other items such as cereals and products, meat and fish, spices, and sugar and confectionary that constitute 17 percent weight in CPI index also contributed to higher inflation.”

On the contrary, fuel and power inflation came in at a 10-month low of 8.7 percent YoY in February 2022.

Furthermore, core inflation stood at 6.2 percent YoY for the fifth consecutive month in February 2022.

“All three components of core inflation remained broadly flat with no major movement.”

“Slightly higher inflation in housing and clothing and footwear was offset by marginally low inflation in miscellaneous items.”

Ex-UK PM backs ‘Nuremberg-style’ trial for Putin

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Ex-UK PM backs ‘Nuremberg-style’ trial for Putin

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that he backs a “Nuremberg-style” trial for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, the media reported on Saturday.

Brown is among 140 academics, lawyers, and politicians, including Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dymtro Kuleba and another former British Prime Minister John Major, who have signed a petition calling for the setting up of a new legal system based on the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals after the Second World War, the BBC reported.

The petition has already been backed by 740,000 people so far.

Writing in an article for the Daily Mail published late Friday, Brown said creating a new tribunal would close off this “loophole” in international law “that Putin could use to dodge justice”.

“We must move with speed, to assure the people of Ukraine that we are committed to action and not just warm words – and we must make Putin’s collaborators aware that the noose is tightening. If they do not distance themselves from Putin, they face prosecution and prison.

“From Britain – which rightly prides itself on democracy and the rule of law – the message must go out. At Nuremberg, we held the Nazi war criminals to account. Eight decades on, we must ensure there will be a day of reckoning for Putin,” he added.

Brown’s remark comes as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently investigating Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

But, The Hague-based court cannot pursue the crime of aggression without a referral from the UN Security Council, which Russia could veto, said the BBC report.

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have accused Putin of carrying out war crimes.

Earlier this week, Biden called his Russian counterpart a “war criminal”, triggering the Kremlin to denounce the branding saying that it was an “unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric”.

World goes directionless as Google Maps suffers outage

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World goes directionless as Google Maps suffers outage

Google Maps suffered a massive outage as a result of which several users were unable to get the directions on the maps for a long period of time.

While the website loaded, as usual, the actual maps disappeared, leaving a blank world.

The outage started late on Friday, the website outage detector platform Down Detector reported.

Users received text directions, reviews, and recommendations but could not view directions on the maps.

According to posts on Google Maps Platform Status Dashboard, the problem was with the directions and several other Maps-related application programming interfaces (APIs).

The users experienced Service Outage for a long time. However, the services were restored on Saturday morning.

Google later responded: “Multiple Geo Enterprise services experiencing high rates of error. Mitigation work is currently underway by our engineering team.”

The company said that “Maps API Services are starting to return to normal”.

While 48 percent of Maps users had problems with the app, 47 percent reported problems with the Google Maps website.

“Everyone on the road is trying to find the fastest route now. Since #GoogleMaps is down,” posted a Twitter user.

“Google Maps is down for the first time in my life,” another user said.

Delhi: Teen killed, 4 injured as car rams into auto-rickshaw

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Delhi: Teen killed, 4 injured as car rams into auto-rickshaw

A 13-year-old boy was killed while his father, mother, and brother were injured after a speeding car at Delhi’s Banda Singh Bahadur flyover hit the auto-rickshaw in which they were traveling.

The deceased was identified as Karan Bhatt (13) while the injured were Janak Janadhan Bhatt (45), Geeta Bhatt, Karthik Bhatt (18), and auto driver Wakar Alam (25).

Deputy Commissioner of Police Esha Pandey told in an interview that the accident took place at Banda Singh Bahadur flyover between 8.30-8.45 p.m. after which a PCR call was received at the Sunlight Colony police station.

“On inquiry, it came to notice that an unidentified driver of Tata Nexon Car was driving his vehicle in a rash and negligent manner. After hitting the ill-fate auto, the offending vehicle also hit Swift Dzire Taxi,” the DCP said.

The accused driver fled from the spot amid pandemonium.

“All the injured people were shifted to AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment where the 13-year-old Karan was declared brought dead by the doctors,” the senior official informed.

It was officially learned that the condition of the injured woman is still critical and she is currently on a ventilator while all the injured, including the auto-driver, are admitted and receiving treatment.

DCP Pandey further said that they have identified the owner of the offending vehicle and a team has been sent to verify the address. “Necessary proceedings have been initiated as per law,” she added.

The impact of the accident was so high that the auto-rickshaw was completely destroyed. The mangled remains of the ill-fate vehicle bear witness to it. Soon after the accident, the traffic came to a halt on the flyover which led to severe congestion on the road.

Women’s World Cup: Mithali, Yastika, Harmanpreet hit fifties as India post 277/7 v Australia

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Women’s World Cup: Mithali, Yastika, Harmanpreet hit fifties as India post 277/7 v Australia

Mithali Raj, Yastika Bhatia, and Harmanpreet Kaur slammed the fifties as India posted a competitive 277/7 against Australia in a crucial league match of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup at Eden Park on Saturday.

On a fresh pitch at a quirky venue with short square and straight boundaries, India lost their opening pair early but Mithali (68) and Yastika (59), followed by Harmanpreet (57 not out) and Pooja Vastrakar (34) ensured that the side posted a total which will be good enough to challenge Australia’s deep batting order.

India didn’t have a great start in power-play, losing Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma to pacer Darcie Brown in the first six overs. While Mandhana drove away from the body and nicked to slip, Verma’s slash was snapped by Beth Mooney diving full length for a one-handed stunner at gully.

Mithali Raj and Yastika Bhatia joined forces to put up a record partnership of 130 for the third wicket, as Australia started to leak extras consistently. A total of 16 runs from the 12th over of Ellyse Perry got Mithali and Yastika to settle down without taking any further risk.

Mithali, under pressure due to a lean run, was a busy customer at the crease, getting her singles and making use of pace to get boundaries through the square region in the off-side. She looked delighted with the cover drive and used her feet well to slam a six down the ground.

Yastika, more aggressive than the two, struck delightful boundaries and ensured the scoreboard was ticking as Australia was pushed to the backfoot.

The duo reached their respective fifties in 77 balls to set the platform for a big total for India. But Yastika fell in the 32nd over, picking out a deep backward point off Brown. Six overs later, Mithali didn’t get the required elevation on slog-sweep and holed out to deep mid-wicket off leg-spinner Alana King.

With Richa Ghosh and Sneh Rana falling in quick succession, India was in trouble at 213/6 with almost eight overs left. But Harmanpreet and Pooja produced the big hits to put up a crucial stand of 64 off just 47 balls, taking advantage of Australia’s sloppy day on the field.

Harmanpreet had luck on her side as Mooney dropped her catch at 34. Harmanpreet swept and bisected her way to reach fifty while Pooja shined with a cameo of 34 to give India the apt finishing flourish they needed.

Brief Scores: India 277/7 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 68, Yastika Bhatia 59; Darcie Brown 3/30, Alana King 2/52) vs Australia.

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