Google launches ‘The Anywhere School’ with over 50 new features

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Google launches ‘The Anywhere School’ with over 50 new features

As millions of students navigate learning from home, Google has announced a new initiative called The Anywhere School, bringing over 50 new features across Meet, Classroom, G Suite, and other products to hundreds of thousands of viewers in more than 250 countries around the world.

In September, the video-calling app Google Meet will have a larger tiled view of up to 49 people and an integrated Jamboard whiteboard for collaboration.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday that it will also release new controls so moderators can choose to always join first, end meetings for all participants, disable in-meeting chat, and much more.

In October, Google will launch custom and blurred backgrounds in Meet to provide some extra privacy.

“Breakout rooms and attendance tracking will also be launching for all Google Enterprise for Education customers, allowing for more engaged classes and insights on participation,” said Avni Shah, VP of Education at Google.

Later this year, the company would roll out hand-raising for all customers and Q&A and polling for G Suite Enterprise for Education customers.

“Plus, we’ll launch a new temporary recordings feature which will be available to all Education customers for free (premium recordings will still be part of G Suite Enterprise for Education),” Shah informed.

With more teachers around the world using the free “Google Classroom” web service for schools more than ever before, the company said a new “to-do widget on the Classes page” will help students see what’s coming up, what’s missing, and what’s been graded.

Teachers can now share a link to invite students to their class, which makes joining a class much easier.

The classroom will soon be available in 10 additional languages, for 54 languages in total.

With “G Suite Enterprise for Education”, educators will be able to see matches for potential plagiarism not only against webpages but between student submissions at their school.

Google has introduced a new product for non-Classroom users called Assignments, an application for the learning management system (LMS) that gives educators a faster, simpler way to distribute, analyze, and grade student work.

“This time-saving application helps educators automatically create and distribute personalized copies of classwork to each student’s Google Drive folder, quickly provide feedback, and keep grading consistent and transparent with originality reports,” explained Shah.

Google recently launched “SmartCompose” and “AutoCorrect in Docs” for educators and students to help them compose high-quality content faster by cutting back on repetitive writing while reducing the chance of spelling and grammatical errors.

By the end of this month, admins will be able to disable both “SmartCompose” and “AutoCorrect” if they choose.

“Soon we’re also launching citations so students can format and manage their sources directly in Docs,” said Google.

Google has also created the “Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians”, which helps parents better understand the technology that their kids use in the classroom.

Facebook removes 22.5mn hate speech content, 1.5bn fake accounts in Q2

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Facebook removes 22.5mn hate speech content, 1.5bn fake accounts in Q2

Facebook on Tuesday said that it purged 22.5 million pieces of hate speech content in the second quarter (April-June) this year, increased from 9.6 million pieces of content in Q1, and its proactive detection rate for hate speech increased 6 points from 89 percent to 95 percent.

When it comes to fake accounts, Facebook said it removed 1,5 billion such accounts in Q2, down from 1.7 billion accounts in Q1.

The reason for the decline the social network gave was that when it blocks more attempts, there are fewer fake accounts for it to disable, “which has led to a general decline in accounts actioned since Q1 2019”.

“We estimate that fake accounts represented approximately 5 percent of our worldwide monthly active users (MAU) on Facebook during Q2,” Guy Rosen, VP Integrity at Facebook, said in a blog post detailing the sixth edition of ‘Community Standards Enforcement Report’.

On Instagram, the proactive detection rate for hate speech increased 39 points from 45 percent to 84 percent in the June quarter, said Facebook.

It resulted in action on 3.3 million pieces of hate speech content in Q2, up from 808,900 in Q1.

“These increases (on Instagram) were driven by expanding our proactive detection technologies in English and Spanish,” Rosen said.

Another area where Facebook claimed it saw improvements was content related to terrorism.

“On Facebook, the amount of content we took action on increased from 6.3 million in Q1 to 8.7 million in Q2,” Rosen informed.

“We saw increases in the amount of content we took action on connected to organized hate on Instagram and bullying and harassment on both Facebook and Instagram”.

Facebook said that since it prioritized removing harmful content over measuring certain efforts during this time, it was unable to calculate the prevalence of violent and graphic content, and adult nudity and sexual activity.

“We want people to be confident that the numbers we report around harmful content are accurate, so we will undergo an independent, third-party audit, starting in 2021, to validate the numbers we publish in our Community Standards Enforcement Report,” Rosen said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook sent its content reviewers home in March and relied more heavily on the technology to review content.

The company said it has since brought many reviewers back online from home and, where it is safe, a smaller number into the office.

The company admitted that the number of appeals against the removal of accounts etc was much lower in Q2 “because we couldn’t always offer them”.

“We let people know about this and if they felt we made a mistake, we still gave people the option to tell us they disagreed with our decision”.

UPSRTC to sell reusable masks to passengers

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UPSRTC to sell reusable masks to passengers

The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), in view of the increasing number of Coronavirus cases, has initiated the selling of reusable protective face masks at its major bus stands across the state.

UPSRTC Managing Director Raj Shekhar said: “The masks will be available at COVID help desks and inquiry counters at 100 prominent bus stations of the corporation. The move is aimed at ensuring that passengers traveling in roadways buses strictly adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines and wear masks for their safety as well as that of the co-passengers.”

Shekhar said that the staff deployed in the roadways’ buses have been directed to sensitize passengers on the importance of face masks while in public to combat the spread of the virus that has so far infected nearly 1,32,000 people in the state.

“The masks, which are made of washable quality fabric, are available at a cost of Rs 6 per piece. The roadways passengers will be informed about the newly-introduced service through announcements at the bus stations,” the official said.

According to sources with the UPSRTC headquarters, around 10,000 masks have been sold in the past 24 hours. There is a high demand for masks since most passengers tend to ‘forget’ to wear masks when they travel.

Besides face masks, the UPSRTC is taking various measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 by making regular announcements at bus stations for the passengers to follow the safety guidelines, displaying ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ on LED TVs installed at the high-end bus stations, ensuring fumigation at bus stations, a sprinkling of disinfectants in waiting lounges, sanitization of buses, among others.

SSR’s flatmate Pithani at ED for 2nd day

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SSR’s flatmate Pithani at ED for 2nd day

Siddharth Pithani, who was late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s flatmate, on Tuesday once again deposed before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to record his statement in a money-laundering probe.

Pisani, an IT professional, who was in Sushant’s flat on June 14, when the actor was found dead, was questioned by the financial probe agency officials on Monday for over five hours.

An ED official requesting anonymity said that Pithani was asked about the financial details of Sushant and if he had used or borrowed money from the late actor. He was also questioned about the investments made by Sushant in the companies in which the late actor was a director along with his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty.

The ED officials also wanted to know from Pithani about Rhea’s relationship with the late actor and his family members. The ED is also zeroing in on Innsaei Ventures, which Sushant launched with Varun Mathur in 2018. The ED wants to know about the kind of investment Sushant made in the firm.

The ED could also ask Pithani if Rhea used Sushant’s credit cards and other financial transactions for her expenses and if she used the bodyguards and his other staff.

The ED has to date questioned six people in its probe in the case. It will also record the statement of Sushant’s sister Mitu Singh for the first time in the case later in the day.

Earlier in the day, Shruti Modi, Sushant, and Rhea’s ex-manager also deposed before the ED for questioning in the case. She was also questioned on Friday and Monday by the ED.

The ED and the CBI are probing the death of the late actor, who was found hanging in his Bandra flat in Mumbai on June 14 on the complaint of Singh filed at the Rajeev Nagar police station in Patna on July 25.

Sushant and his family hail from Purnea district in Bihar. Both agencies have taken over the probe on the basis of the Bihar Police FIR.

The CBI on Monday visited the Faridabad home of the late actor’s brother-in-law, O.P. Singh, who is a top police officer in Haryana. They recorded the statement of Sushant’s father and sister in connection with the case.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources, the family members have claimed that Sushant’s death was not suicide but a murder. However, the CBI officials remained tight-lipped on the development.

The ED had on July 31 registered a case on the basis of a Bihar Police FIR on his father’s complaint that Rs 15 crore was withdrawn or transferred from his son’s Kotak Mahindra Bank account. The ED registered the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Rhea and her family members, among others.

Sushant’s father has accused Rhea of taking money from his son and also threatening to disclose his medical reports to the media. The late actor’s family has also accused her of keeping him away from them.

The case was transferred to the CBI from the state police on August 7.

Fawad Alam should get a chance in 2nd Test, says Wasim Akram

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Fawad Alam should get a chance in 2nd Test, says Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels middle-order batsman Fawad Alam should be included in the playing XI for the second Test against England starting Thursday.

The hosts won the first Test in dramatic style in Manchester to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The last two matches will now be played at the Ageas Bowl and Akram stated ball won’t turn as much at the venue so the visitors will have to include an extra batsman.

“In the next match, you won’t find a turning wicket,” Akram told Samaa TV. “You will play with one spinner and you will have to play with an extra batsman.

“You need a middle-order batsman and Fawad Alam is the one. He is also a left-hander, so the team can have a left-right combination.

“He has an average of 56 in first-class cricket, has a hundred on Test debut, so you will have to give him a chance. So if I was the captain, I would include him in the middle order,” he added.

26-year-old Alam has so far played three Tests and scored 250 runs, including one century. He is, however, a mainstay in the ODIs, having played 38 matches and scoring 996 runs in the process.

Meanwhile, former great Rashid Latif has urged the team management to include Haider Ali in the playing XI for the crucial game.

“Haider Ali is missing from this team. His time to play is now and if he doesn’t play, you will waste one year of his career,” Latif said on his YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind’.

“We are waiting for Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq to retire before including Haider Ali but by then it will be too late,” he added.

Galaxy Note20 pre-booking notifications hit 5 lakh in India: Samsung

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Galaxy Note20 pre-booking notifications hit 5 lakh in India: Samsung

Samsung on Tuesday said that the pre-booking notifications for its ‘Make in India Galaxy Note20 smartphone crossed more than 5 Lakh this year, which is more than double the figure the company achieved last year with Galaxy Note10.

The South Korean major last week opened pre-booking for its Galaxy Note20 series in India, The 6.7-inch Galaxy Note20 (8GB+256GB) was launched at the original price of Rs 77,999 while the 6.9-inch Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (12GB+256GB) is available for Rs 104,999 in the country.

“We are very excited as the latest series has received an overall good response from the audience and the pre-booking notifications of the devices were double than that of Galaxy Note10 last year,” Aditya Babbar, Director, Mobile Business, Samsung India, told IANS.

Samsung on Monday unveiled a mystic blue color edition of the newly-launched Galaxy Note20 in India. The smartphone that comes in mystic bronze, mystic green, and now mystic blue will be available for Rs 64,999 with the exciting voucher and credit/debit card offers.

“The new Note 20 series is made for millennials. It is for someone who is ‘life maximizer’ and uses a wide range of apps and does most of the tasks on the smartphone rather than on PC,” Babbar said.

Customers pre-booking Galaxy Note20 will be eligible for benefits worth Rs 7,000 that can be redeemed on Samsung Shop app on a set of products, including Galaxy Buds+, Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Watches and Galaxy Tabs, among others.

In addition, when paying with HDFC Bank Credit and Debit Cards, consumers will be eligible for cashback up to Rs 6000 on the purchase of Galaxy Note20.

With bank cashback and Samsung Shop benefits, the Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G will cost Rs 85,999 in the country.

According to Babbar, there are five major qualities of Galaxy Note20 that makes it stand out in the crowd.

“The 120Hz refresh rate, AMOLED display, amazing camera, work like a computer, powerful battery, S Pen, and 8K video support are the 5 major features in Galaxy Note20,” he said.

With the S Pen, one can use it as a remote control. The powerful battery will help you stay connected for a long time.

“We are also giving Microsoft subscription for one year at a subsidized rate in India along with YouTube Premium for four months to make our users remain connected,” Babbar added.

The smartphone features a 6.7-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) Infinity-O Super AMOLED+ flat display with a 60Hz refresh rate and 20:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, there is an octa-core Exynos 990 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ SoC — depending on the market.

The phone also has 8GB RAM and comes with up to 256GB of onboard storage that isn’t expandable via micro-SD card.

Bengaluru Zoo to gift lions to safari

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Bengaluru Zoo to gift lions to safari

The Bengaluru Zoo will gift three lions and a lioness. A pair to the Gadag zoo, and two lions to a Shimoga safari, both within the state limits under animal exchange program earmarking the just celebrated World Lion Day, an official said on Tuesday.

“Bengaluru Bannerghatta Biological Park has decided to gift two male lions — Dharma and Arjuna to lion and tiger safari Tyavarekoppa in Shimoga, which is 320 km northwest of Bengaluru,” said Executive Director Vanashree Vipin Singh.

It will also gift a lion and a lioness — Nakula and Nirupama to Gadag Zoo which is located 391 km northwest of the city.

According to Singh, the gifts were meant to celebrate the World Lion Day that was celebrated on Monday.

A proposal recommending the exchange is being submitted to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) in New Delhi for approval.

The biological park has four units — a zoo, safari, butterfly park, and a rescue center sprawling over 732 hectares of land and accommodates 2,279 animals. The zoo is nestled in the forests of Champakadhama Hills inside the Bannerghatta National Park.

B’desh CJ orders resumption of in-person HC hearings

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B’desh CJ orders resumption of in-person HC hearings

Bangladesh Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has ordered the resumption of in-person hearings at the High Court from Wednesday after case proceedings in the e-justice system continued for three months amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He formed 18 regular High Court benches along with 35 virtual ones for the hearings, according to notices issued by the Supreme Court’s Deputy Registrar Mohammad Aktaruzzaman Bhuiyan on Monday.

The regular benches include 13 division benches and five single-judge ones while the virtual benches will have 24 division ones and 11 single-judge benches, bdnews24 reported.

The authorities must ensure that everyone follows the instructions issued by the High Court on the safety of people on the court premises and inside the courtrooms.

It comes six days after the lower courts returned to normal proceedings.

The three months of e-justice system followed a suspension for another month amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Supreme Court went on a general holiday after the government announced a 66-day lockdown in late March after the first coronavirus cases were detected in Bangladesh.

The country’s judiciary entered a new era with the launch of e-justice as the lower courts began hearing cases remotely on May 11 following the Chief Justice’s directives, said the bdnews24 report.

Lawyers filed pleas online for hearings in courts remotely via video conferencing and other digital means.

The lawyers demanded reopening of the courts as the types of cases for the virtual hearing were limited, and there were certain issues related to the use of ICT, new to many of the senior advocates.

The courts, however, continued virtually even after the general holiday of offices and workplaces ended on May 30.

The Supreme Court Bar Association also demanded the reopening of the top court last month.

Vrindavan temple sealed as 22 persons test corona positive

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Vrindavan temple sealed as 22 persons test corona positive

A day ahead of the Janmashtami festival, an ISKON temple in Vrindavan was sealed on Tuesday after 22 persons, including its priests, tested positive for coronavirus, officials said.

According to the health officials, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple was sealed after test reports of these persons came in on Tuesday morning.

A majority of main temples in Vrindavan have been shut for devotees due to the pandemic.

Vrindavan’s Chandrovodaya temple has reportedly planned a virtual tour of the city for the devotees to coincide with the Janamashtami to mark Lord Krishna’s birth.

The main temples included in the virtual tour of the Vrindavan Dham are Vaishno Devi temple, Chandroday temple, Prem Mandir, ISKCON temple, Krishna-Balaram tree, Kaliya Dah Ghat, Madan Mohan temple, Banke Bihari temple, Radha Damodar Dev Ji temple, Nidhivan temple, Radha Gopinath temple, Chir Ghat, and the Yamuna river flowing in the holy city.

Janmashtami will be celebrated on Tuesday and Wednesday across India.

8 more COVID deaths, 1,896 new cases in Telangana

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8 more COVID deaths, 1,896 new cases in Telangana

Telangana reported 1,896 new COVID cases on Tuesday, taking the state’s tally to 82,647, even as eight more fatalities pushed the state’s death toll to 645.

Active cases in Telangana now total 22,628, including 15,554 in-home or institutional isolation. More than 84 percent of those put in home isolation are asymptomatic.

While the number of new cases in Greater Hyderabad continues to decline, there has been a big spike in the daily count in several districts.

The state capital saw 338 new cases during the last 24 hours ending 8 pm on Monday. It had reported 389 of the 1,256 new cases the previous day.

Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri bordering Greater Hyderabad reported 147 and 119 cases respectively. Sangareddy, another district that shares borders with the state capital, reported 49 new infections.

The steep hike in several districts continued to be a concern for health authorities. Karimnagar, for instance, saw 121 new cases followed by Warangal Urban (95), Jogulamba Gadwal (85), Kamareddy (71), Peddapalli (66), Khammam (65), Siddipet (64), and Bhadradri Kothagudem (60).

According to the media bulletin released by the Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, the new cases were reported from all 33 districts.

The coronavirus fatality rate in the state stands at 0.78 percent as against a national average of 2 percent. Officials said 53.87 percent of the deceased had comorbidities.

A total of 39 testing laboratories and 323 rapid antigen testing centers conducted 18,035 tests as against the state’s target of 5,600 as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark of 140 tests per million per day.

Test results of 959 samples are awaited. The state has so far conducted 6,42,875 tests.

Officials said 1,788 more corona patients recovered from COVID-19 during the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative recoveries to 59,374.

The state’s recovery rate at 71.84 percent is higher than the national average of 69.33 percent.

Official data shows that 65.9 percent of positive cases were in the age group of 21-50. Those above 51 accounted for 24.4 percent of the cases. A little over 10 percent were aged below 20.

Officials said 65.10 percent of those who tested corona positive were males and the remaining females.

According to the media bulletin, out of 20,396 beds in government-run hospitals, 17,767 beds were vacant.

While 112 private hospitals treating COVID-19 patients have a total of 7,657 beds, 3,212 of them were vacant.

Svetlana Kuznetsova pulls out of US Open due to COVID-19

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Svetlana Kuznetsova pulls out of US Open due to COVID-19

World No.32 Svetlana Kuznetsova has become the latest female tennis star to pull out of this year’s US Open due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The US Open is currently scheduled to be held behind closed doors from August 31 with the Cincinnati Open being held at the Flushing Meadows before that from August 22. However, due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country, tennis stars have been apprehensive about participating in the tournament.

Kuznetsova, a 2004 US Open winner, took to social media to announce her decision to not take part in the event.

“I feel very sad, because I have been (waiting) for these tournaments so much, but the pandemic changes all plans,” Kuznetsova wrote in an Instagram post.

World No.1 Ashleigh Barty was one of the first to withdraw and she was followed by a lot of tennis players around the world who opted against taking part in the tournament.

Last week, No.5 Elina Svitolina and No.7 Kiki Bertens also decided against traveling to New York this year.

Svitolina took to social media to announce her decision and her Twitter post read: “Considering all the aspects, I have decided not to play the US Open 2020. I want to thank the USTA, organizers, and the WTA for giving the players a chance to play and the fans a chance to watch this great event.

“I understand and respect all the efforts they are putting to make it happen in a safe environment, but I still don’t feel comfortable to travel to the US without putting my team and myself at high risk,” she added.

Bertens, too, announced her decision on social media via a long post on Instagram last week.

“After long consideration, I have decided not to go to the States for Cincinnati and US Open. The situation around COVID-19 is worrying and the heath of everyone and control over this virus is a priority,” Bertens wrote.

“Our prime minister indicated yesterday that we should be quarantined for 14 days after coming back from the States. Of course, we respect this as a team and this would disturb our preparation for my beloved clay-court tournaments in Rome and Paris.

“I hope the situation will soon take a positive turn and wish everyone good health,” she added.

Confidence of Indian workforce steadily rising: LinkedIn survey

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Confidence of Indian workforce steadily rising: LinkedIn survey

As restrictions in lockdown slowly lift, the confidence of the Indian workforce, be it towards finances or individual confidence, is steadily rising, a LinkedIn survey said on Tuesday.

The composite score in the latest LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index went up to over 53 – from over 50 in the fortnight of June 15-28, said the report.

The findings are based on survey responses of over 5,500 professionals in India during the weeks of June 1- July 26.

The results showed that nearly one in three professionals is anticipating their personal savings to increase, while two in five expect their personal spending to stay the same in the next six months.

Small business employees are witnessing a lift in their overall individual confidence levels — up from +49 to +58 since June 15-28 — as well as confidence towards finances — up from +35 to +51.

However, this optimism fades when it comes to job security, as the report showed that employees in small and medium-sized businesses are less confident about holding on to their jobs than workers in large enterprises with 10,000 or more employees.

With low cash reserves and on-off lockdowns across several cities, business sustenance for SMBs continues to be a challenging affair.

Findings from the survey underscored a pronounced difference in how professionals from different industries feel about returning to the physical workplace.

The results showed that 46 percent of professionals from recreation and travel, and 39 percent of professionals from the consumer goods industry will return to work as soon as they are allowed to.

However, 50 percent of software & IT employees said they will continue working remotely for now.

This could be due to the fact they have transitioned to working remotely in a smooth manner, among other reasons.

Joining them in their cautious approach, professionals from transportation & logistics, and media & communications were seen wary about returning to the physical workplace.

Risk of exposure, poor sanitation, and lack of workplace policies worry most professionals who are reluctant to return to the physical workplace, showed the survey.

AI can improve CT screening for COVID-19 diagnosis

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AI can improve CT screening for COVID-19 diagnosis

Researchers are developing a new technique using Artificial Intelligence (AI) that would improve CT screening to more quickly identify patients infected with COVID-19.

The new technique will reduce the burden on the radiologists tasked with screening each image, according to a research team from the University of Notre Dame in the US.

Testing challenges have led to an influx of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 requiring CT scans which have revealed visual signs of the disease, including ground-glass opacities, a condition that consists of abnormal lesions, presenting as a haziness on images of the lungs.

“Most patients with coronavirus show signs of COVID-related pneumonia on a chest CT but with a large number of suspected cases, radiologists are working overtime to screen them all,” said study lead author Yiyu Shi from the Notre Dame.

“We have shown that we can use deep learning — a field of AI — to identify those signs, drastically speeding up the screening process and reducing the burden on radiologists,” Yiyu added.

The research team is working to identify the visual features of coronavirus-related pneumonia through the analysis of 3D data from CT scans.

The team is working to combine the analysis software with off-the-shelf hardware for a light-weight mobile device that can be easily and immediately integrated into clinics around the country.

The challenge, Shi said, is that 3D CT scans are so large, it’s nearly impossible to detect specific features and extract them efficiently and accurately on plug-and-play mobile devices.

“We’re developing a novel method inspired by Independent Component Analysis, using a statistical architecture to break each image into smaller segments, which will allow deep neural networks to target COVID-related features within large 3D images,” Shi wrote.

The research team is collaborating with radiologists at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital in China and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, where a large number of CT images from COVID-19 pneumonia are being made available.

The team hopes to have development completed by the end of the year.

Majority of parents oppose reopening schools

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Majority of parents oppose reopening schools

Only 33 percent of parents support the reopening of schools from September 1, according to a survey by LocalCircles.

Risk and unknowns of Covid-19, and hard to implement social distancing norms in schools pose risk to seniors in the family are among the top reasons why parents don’t want schools starting from September 1.

Many schools started online sessions for the children to ensure that learning does not stop. As per the latest media reports, the central government is now considering opening schools from September 1 as part of its final unlocking measures starting with Classes 10-12 and Classes 6-9 with a 15-day gap.

As a reaction to the media reports, many parents raised the issue of schools restarting on September 1, and subsequently, LocalCircles decided to conduct a survey to get the collective parent pulse on how they feel about reopening of schools in less than a month.

The survey received over 25,000 responses from parents and grandparents in different parts of India.

With a total number of Covid-19 cases at 2.2 million and a daily caseload of approximately 65,000, India now has the highest number of daily cases in the world.

The infection is spreading so fast in the country that it took only 20 days for the number of infected to increase from 1 million to 2 million and as per the WHO guidelines, children fall in the high-risk category.

Children if infected can be carriers of the virus and spread it to other members of the family with grandparents being the most vulnerable as many families in India have a joint family structure.

Parents were asked if they approve of the reported Government plan of restarting schools from September 1 for Classes 10-12 and for Classes 6-10 after 15 days. In response, 58 percent said ‘no’ while only 33 percent answered ‘yes’.

With the majority of the parents opposing the reopening of schools from September 1, parents were also asked for the reason as to why they are opposed to schools in India starting from September 1, 2020.

In response, 13 percent said they cannot afford to take chances with children given the risk and unknowns related to Covid-19, while 1 percent said there is a serious risk with seniors in the family in case a child in the family gets infected. A 9 percent said social distancing will not be possible in schools, 5 percent said the Coronavirus spread will increase even faster if schools were reopened, and 2 percent said they believe online education is a good substitute given the situation.

47 percent said all of the above were valid reasons for them as 23 percent said they are not opposed to the opening of schools from September 1.

As schools in America begin reopening, dozens of students and school staff have started testing positive for Covid-19, while hundreds have been ordered home quarantine.

In early May, Israel became the first country to restart schools and within a few days, hundreds of students and teachers got infected. Kenya has decided to cancel the entire school year to protect the kids from the infection.

Like the earlier Unlock guidelines, the states may be given the authority to decide if they want to reopen schools in different districts, depending on the prevailing caseload. Whatever decision is taken, the majority of parents are against the restarting of schools.

The issue with children in villages and schools is that they do not have an online education facility. Parents strongly feel that the Government via radio, television, and financial support should enable online classes in such schools.

The idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds being deployed via a centralized mission into online school education was also discussed. Some parents even suggested these funds being utilized to furnish low-cost computing devices in schools. A combination of such enablement along with a channel for each class on television and radio can play a role in educating children while schools stay shut.

To the majority of the parents, while it is important that children don’t fall behind on their education, it is critical that their health doesn’t take a hit, especially at a time when the long-term impact of COVID-19 is still unknown.

Indians taking to writing and reading in lockdown

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Indians taking to writing and reading in lockdown

With a deeply-engaged community of close to 3 million users in India, who spend more than 37 minutes daily reading, writing, and engaging on an average on the platform, global user-generated stories platform Wattpad says it registered a significant increase in user activity during the lockdown, worldwide and in India.

“Lockdown was a critical time for everyone across the country. People were suddenly isolated and were not able to continue with their normal lives. Perhaps not surprisingly, as more people were stuck at home and in quarantine, one global trend we saw early this year was more people turning to storytelling as a way to connect and cope with the situation. Users who were previously readers turned to write as a way to express themselves. A related thing we heard from writers was that people are finding solace in the community of readers and writers around their stories. Writers tell us that being able to connect with fans and other writers have been a positive experience for them right now,” Devashish Sharma, India Country Manager at Wattpad told IANSlife in an interview.

Earlier this spring, the platform saw a global increase in sign-ups from pre-COVID levels, with a more than 50 percent increase in April over early March. Some regions were much higher, likely due to the people being quarantined and social distancing starting at different dates around the world.

From January through April, the number of new stories written on Wattpad grew a whopping 151 percent. In the same period, the number of new writers increased by 125 percent. Writer activity overall increased by 200 percent from January through April.

“In India, these growth trends meant a 50 percent increase in reading time, a 30 percent increase in new stories, and a 60 percent increase in writers,” Sharma shared.

Wattpad, which came into existence in 2006, house stories that went to become some of the biggest recent hits in TV and film: Hulu’s “Light as a Feather”, Netflix’s “The Kissing Booth”, and then hit “After”. As per Sharma, today, they have 50 TV and film projects in development around the world, and to date, nearly 1,000 Wattpad stories have been published as books or adapted for TV and film.

The website and app made its way to India in 2015 to cater to a vast audience of story-lovers and storytellers in this country who shared a love for literature and books. “India is one of the global leaders in producing incredible stories and IP. We want to unlock even more of the amazing stories that are waiting to be told by Indian writers. Organic growth for Wattpad in India has been possible partly because of the high penetration of smartphones and mobile web apps in India,” said Sharma.

Asked about user data and activity, the country head revealed that Wattpadders in India have shared more than 4 million uploads in English, Hindi, and nine other Indian languages (including Malayalam, Tamil, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Assamese, Marathi, and Oriya).

As for the demographics, 90 percent of their users are GenZ and Millennials (between the age group of 15 and 30), 65 percent are female users and 45 percent are from the non-metro cities.

While Wattpad is home to multiple genres, data suggests that Indians love reading sci-fi, and romance that touches on forbidden-love and arranged marriages to name a few. We are also seeing a growing readership for several new-age genres like thrillers and the paranormal.

“With users spending an average of 37 minutes daily reading, writing, and engaging with Wattpad stories, we know that Indian users get hooked on stories and can’t put them down. Users binge on chapters because they can’t wait to know what happens next. What is truly unique about Wattpad is the social nature of the experience, readers can engage in conversations with each other, connect with the author directly, and discuss what they love about a story. For readers, the experience can be very similar to a book club, where passionate book lovers spend their time reading and discussing stories.

“For writers, this creates an incredible connection to their fans. They can hear what readers love about a story, or learn where a story could be improved. Owing to such readership dynamics, we are now seeing established, best-selling writers like Neil D’Silva choosing Wattpad to release his new book on Wattpad to connect directly with his readers. A few days since launch and the book is already a hit, and in just one day, his new story accumulated nearly 10,000 reads!”

What are the future collaborations and plans for Wattpad in India?

“Our vision for India is to continually build a platform that provides writers with an opportunity to tell stories, make money, and be seen and heard in India and around the world. We want to make TV shows and films from Indian writers, and with the largest catalog of IP on the planet, the next international TV or film sensation could be on Wattpad right now.

“We also want to work with Indian brands, to help them understand and tap into the power of social storytelling and long-form content. We’re living in an age when people want more genuine engagement from brands. Gen Z wants to see that brands understand their perspective, which is why our massive and diverse audience stands out.”

Sharma concludes: “Not only is Wattpad a great platform to discover great stories, but it is also a true community of literature enthusiasts, who connect over stories to share thoughts, opinions, and ideas. To add to this, many upcoming writers here in India have chosen us to be their to-go platform to publish or launch their literary works.”

Covid patient dies awaiting treatment by Kolkata pvt hospital

TB Team
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Covid patient dies awaiting treatment by Kolkata pvt hospital

A 60-year-old female coronavirus patient died in an ambulance outside a private hospital in Kolkata while allegedly awaiting admission as her family failed to deposit in time Rs 3 lakh demanded by the staff.

The incident took place at Desun Hospital on the EM Bypass here on Monday night. The patient had been brought from East Midnapore’s Taluk. The deceased’s husband had died of Covid-19 three days ago.

Her family said that when they took the patient to the hospital they were asked to deposit Rs 3 lakh. They said they immediately deposited Rs 80,000 and asked for an hour to arrange the remaining amount. But, they alleged, the hospital authorities categorically told them that doctors would not be able to start treatment unless the full payment was made.

Later, they arranged Rs 2 lakh more and deposited the amount in a bank account, but the patient had died by then in the ambulance. Despite repeated attempts, hospital authorities refused to issue any media statements on the issue.

“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has clearly given instructions to all private medical facilities not to delay treatment in such emergencies. This is absolutely uncalled for,” Indian Medical Association (IMA) President and Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Shantanu Sen said.

Sen also urged the bereaved family to approach the state medical regulatory commission with a formal complaint about necessary action against the hospital authorities.

In another incident of alleged medical negligence in adjoining Howrah district’s Jaiswal hospital, coronavirus positive patient Moumita Ghosh was denied proper care. Ghosh was admitted to the hospital for the past seven days but suddenly developed a respiratory problem and asked for oxygen support. She went live on social media to seek help.

Later, West Bengal Minister Laxmi Ratan Shukla responded to her video appeal and made arrangements to ensure an oxygen cylinder for the patient.

On a positive note, Kolkata Police Constables Bhaskar Bera and Pappu Kumar Sinha stepped forward to help a corona positive patient by donating plasma for her therapy at a private hospital in the city on Monday.

Eng vs Pak: Latif bats for Haider Ali’s inclusion in 2nd Test

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Eng vs Pak: Latif bats for Haider Ali’s inclusion in 2nd Test

Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif feels 19-year-old batsman Haider Ali should be included in the team for the second Test against England starting Thursday at the Ageas Bowl.

England won the first Test in dramatic style in Manchester to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and the visitors will have to bring their A-game in Southampton to have any chance of leveling the series.

Latif feels Haider is ready to make his Test debut in the tough English conditions and therefore should get a chance to showcase his skills in the crucial game.

“Haider Ali is missing from this team. His time to play is now and if he doesn’t play, you will waste one year of his career,” Latif said on his YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind’.

“We are waiting for Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq to retire before including Haider Ali but by then it will be too late.

Latif further said that Haider is more than just a T20 big-hitter and the time is right to integrate him into the team in the longest format.

“Now that we have seen his performance in PSL, we will only look to play him in white-ball formats. I think he will play in T20Is against England but I believe it will be better to establish him as a Test player first,” Latif said.

“I firmly believe that Haider will become an excellent Test player and will eventually go on to cement his place in all formats.”

Haider has so far played seven first-class matches and scored 645 runs at an average of 49.6. He is, however, yet to make his international debut in any format for Pakistan.

Odisha’s Covid cases cross 48k mark

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Odisha’s Covid cases cross 48k mark

The Covid-19 tally in Odisha reached 48,796 with 1,341 new positive cases reported in the last 24 hours, said the health department on Tuesday.

The state also reported 10 more deaths due to coronavirus as the death toll rose to 296.

While Ganjam and Khordha districts reported three deaths each while one death each was reported from Sundargarh, Puri, Balasore, and Rayagada districts.

Of the new positive cases, 818 were detected in quarantine while 523 were local contacts.

Corona hotspot Ganjam district reported the highest 227 cases followed by Khordha (218), Sundargarh (91), Bhadrak (83), Cuttack (76), and Rayagada (75).

While active cases in the state rose to 15,427, Coronavirus recoveries stood at 33,020.

Low harvest makes Himachal apple business fruitful!

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Low harvest makes Himachal apple business fruitful!

Less than the optimum yield coupled with labor pangs amid the coronavirus pandemic and fungal attack — for the second consecutive year — in Himachal Pradesh this season turn out to be a blessing in disguise for apple cultivators who say the fruit’s prices have remained at a sweet high in northern India.

“Apple prices are significantly high owing to its short supply. The prices remained almost 25 to 30 percent higher than last year’s, depending upon the quality,” Vinod Kumar, a prominent apple grower from Dadesh village in Kotgarh tehsil in upper Shimla, told IANS.

He said for the first time most of the growers are marketing the apples by packaging them in small boxes of 10 kg. Earlier, a box normally contains 22 kg of fruit.

“In the last season, a box of 22 kg was sold from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600. This time we packed the apples in 10 kg boxes and each box fetched around Rs 1,100,” Kumar added.

Trade insiders say this time the apples are largely undersized owing to weather fluctuations and bear jet back spots owing to the scab disease.

The hill state is one of India’s major apple-producing regions, with more than 90 percent of the produce going to the domestic market. Apples alone constitute 89 percent of the state’s fruit economy of Rs 4,000 crore.

As per estimates of the state Horticulture Department, the state is likely to produce 30 million boxes of apples this season — approximately five-six lakh tonnes — and this is 25-30 percent less than last year’s record harvest.

The production is expected more in the high altitude areas, Horticulture Secretary Amitabh Awasthi said.

A total of 8,70,310 apple boxes have been sent to different markets of the country till August 8.

Experts at the Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni say incidents of scab disease have been reported from some areas of Kullu, Mandi and Shimla districts.

Trader Naresh Chauhan at the apple market in Dhalli near here said a 20 kg box of top quality Royal Delicious fetches between Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,300 in Delhi’s Azadpur market, against Rs 1,500 per box last year.

This season, he said, only a few farmers opted to sell the apples in the state. A large consignment went to the wholesale market in Delhi where they got handsome prices.

“Earlier, a number of traders from Gujarat and Maharashtra used to purchase apples directly from the farmers from their orchards. This time they are missing owing to coronavirus and the farmers are taking their crop mostly to Delhi,” he said.

Officials of the Horticulture Department said the harvesting of the crop from mid-hills of Shimla, Kullu and Mandi districts is at its peak. After that, the harvesting will be on in the high-altitude areas where the impact of the scab is higher.

Apple expert S.P. Bhardwaj, a former Joint Director at the Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, told IANS the apple crop largely remained undersized owing to the deficit and erratic monsoon rains. This will result in an overall decline in the total yield.

“Shimla’s nearby apple growing areas of Kufri and Fagu saw 27 percent less than normal rainfall from June 15 onwards. During this period the crop requires rains and high moisture. In large areas in Shimla, the deficiency of rainfall goes up to 35-40 percent,” he said.

In some areas the scab disease, caused by the fungus Venturia inaequalis, makes the fruit impaired, tasteless, and undersize. Also, it damages the fruit with jet back spots.

According to Bhardwaj, poor crop management is mainly responsible for the spread of the disease.

Shimla district alone accounts for 80 percent of the total apple production.

The apple harvesting season in the state is from July to October, depending upon the plant variety.

Over the years, the apple production in the state has been erratic, say experts.

The reason is a prolonged winter spell and lack of adequate rainfall when the apple crop was ripening between May and June.

According to Economic Survey 2019-20, a total of 6.64 lakh tonnes of apples were marketed in the state till December 2019 against 3.68 lakh tonnes in 2018-19.

TikTok announces first recipients of its $1bn Creator Fund

TB Team
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TikTok announces first recipients of its $1bn Creator Fund

Amid an uncertain future due to measures taken by the Donald Trump administration, TikTok has named the first 19 recipients of its $1 billion TikTok Creator Fund in the US.

First announced last month, this fund will reach hundreds of thousands of creators, starting with $200 million and growing to $1 billion in the US over the next three years, and more than double that globally, TikTok said.

The 19 creators named by TikTok on Monday include David Dobrik, Brittany Tomlinson, Cheyenne Jaz Wise, Justice Alexander, Michael Le, Marissa Ren, and Ross Smith.

The other selected accounts include those of Matt Broussard, Alex Stemplewski, Avani Gregg, Jess Andrade, Darryl Jones, Yumna Jawad, Chance Moore, and Kate Hudson, Fayez, Matt Grecia, Isabella Avila, Spencer Polanco Knight, and Anthony Youn.

“Each of these creators has shown what it means to be your authentic self, bring joy and inspiration to people, and creatively connect with an audience,” Vanessa Pappas, General Manager, TikTok US, wrote in a blog post.

TikTok said it launched the Creator Fund to further support creators of all sizes and backgrounds through earnings that reward the passion and dedication they put into “inspiring, uplifting, and entertaining the TikTok community”.

“There are so many more creators that make TikTok the platform that it is today and we encourage all of our eligible creators to apply to the Creator Fund when the application process opens in-app mid-August,” Pappas said.

To be eligible, users must meet the minimum eligibility requirements, including being 18 years or older, meet a baseline of 10,000 followers, have accrued at least 10,000 video views in the last 30 days, and post original content in line with its Community Guidelines.

TikTok is facing an uncertain future in the US as President Trump earlier this month issued an executive order that prohibits transactions with the company’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, by any entity in the US within 45.

The order came after Microsoft revealed an intention to close a deal to purchase TikTok’s US business by around September 15 � a deadline set by Trump.

TikTok has threatened legal action challenging Trump’s executive order.

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