"There's one in Kansas that's built in a missile silo that used to have a nuclear weapon in it, and now has a 15-story inverted condominium. I've been calling it a geoscraper. I don't know what else to call it. It's an inverted skyscraper."
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During a tense interview, Navarro challenged CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker: "Show me that episode, then you'll have some credence in terms of attacking the Trump administration for not being prepared." "60 Minutes" responded to that challenge and brought the receipts.
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With thousands of followers, Shanghai live-streamer Nai Nai was a girlfriend to many, until she met Chinese internet legend Jiang Bo. Little did she know the price she would pay for her feelings
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Royal Philips N.V. agreed in September to sell 10,000 ventilators to the US for $3,280 each. It did not deliver. But the Dutch company just announced a new deal with the government. This time, it's charging roughly $15,000 each.
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The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were the first held outside Europe. Which sounds great until you remember that it was 1904, and the direct center of this vast country wasn't the easiest place to get to. In fact, St. Louis was so remote that most countries didn't bother to make the trip.
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Healthcare workers working in the COVID-19 unit of a hospital in Massachusetts had a pleasant surprise waiting for them at Fenway Park, the Red Sox ballpark.
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TikTok has been full of wholesome dad content for quite some time now. Like this dad, who quit beer and snacks and replaced his habits with tons of fruit.
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Looking out my living-room window, I see terror saunter down vacant streets, reclaiming a city that had forgotten how to fear. I wonder how long the feeling will linger.
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In this week's "LastWeekTonight" episode, Oliver digs deep into what Congress and companies should do for workers during this critical time, instead of paying lip service.
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Scientists feared Apollo 11 crew members could've brought back deadly pathogens from the moon and were immediately put inside a mobile quarantine facility.
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Even in the best of times, theater is the most fragile of the popular arts. Theater requires us sitting in the seats in order to be complete. It's an unequal love affair: we want theater but theater needs us. And in this pandemic, it is simply gone.
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Researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute captured footage of a 150-foot long siphonophore off the western coast of Australia. Their R/V Falkor, a oceanographic research vessel, was exploring deep sea canyons, when it discovered the unusually large underwater creature.
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As US federal agencies prepare to help families survive the coronavirus disaster, Hurricane Harvey's lower-income survivors offer a warning of what can go terribly wrong.
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Experts inside and outside the government identified the threat early on and sought to raise alarms even as President Trump was moving slowly. Read some of what they had to say among themselves at critical moments.
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Eurovision 2020 has been cancelled, but one London-based artist has come up with an alternative — Coronavision.
Richard DeDomenici, who works out of Arts Admin's Toynbee Studios in Whitechapel, has launched his own online version of the international music contest, and is looking for entrants.
He's asking for people to write and record their own original (not published elsewhere) song on any topic, of up to two minutes in length, and submit it to him. Along with a panel of judges, he'll then select the finalists, to broadcasted live on what would have been Eurovision night (16 May).
You can apply to enter as any country, but you're more likely to be picked if you have a particular link to that country.
I find Starship Titanic such a sad thing. It was Douglas Adams’s last work of fiction, and it was a truly terrible one. This masterful creator, the man who brought us The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy in all its forms, spent what would turn out to be his last few years working on a fundamentally broken videogame. Not for lack of ambition, certainly. In fact, almost entirely because of ambition. Starship Titanic was never going to work. It would have been a miracle if it had. Adams wouldn’t have approved of a miracle.
Renowned children’s TV presenter Mister Rogers once said, “when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would tell me to look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” The red-cardigan-rocking moral compass of a nation offered this small succour in the face of tragedy: that whenever disaster struck you would also find the irrepressible compassion of humanity not far behind.
That generous spirit is a little harder to spot in Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories, a bizarre soap opera in which you careen about a disaster-struck city pawning bento boxes and first aid kits, grifting injured strangers out of their last thousand yen and generally acting like a roving sex pest, combing the rubble for downed hotties. Had Mrs Rogers witnessed this kind of aberrant behaviour, she’d have guided her son towards a successful career in the prison sector. (more…)
Maybe I imagined it, but there seems to have been a bit of a thing about games noticing the economy in the past little while. Whether it’s bigger, open world games adding it in as an optional cash earner on the side, or smaller indies like Night Call calling upon you to balance not starving or losing your job with solving a murder. But my favourite example of what I’m deciding to describe as a craze is Neo Cab.
Things are looking bleak right now, y’all. Between global pandemics, environmental and economic collapse, and just about everything happening with politics, it’s often hard to look on the bright side – let alone start planning for a better tomorrow. But Utopias: Navigating Without Coordinates, released today, is trying its hardest to do just that. A collectivist work from collectivist artists, Utopias wants to explore what it means for games to be “utopian”, by way of alien house-parties, anti-bullets and bird emancipation.
For weeks, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord‘s biggest threat hasn’t been some rival army, amassing its forces. No, it’s been the nature of the game itself – crashing and crumbling and splintering apart, bringing feudal campaigns to a frustratingly abrupt close. This weekend, developers TaleWorlds decided to strengthen Bannerlord’s defences against this existential threat with two new test
Screenshot Saturday Sundays! It might be a weekend for eggs, sun, and supernatural resurrection, but that’s not stopped those dang game developers from pushing more fabulous visuals for us to peruse. This week: Unconventional driving, a crowded kitchen, the terrifying vastness of open wilderness, and spiders.
WNU Editor: I have been following U.S. politics for decades. And I still cannot understand why many in Washington want to go the extra mile for Iran, even when the government of that country openly calls for the destruction of the U.S..
The corrupt, criminal regime wasted 40 days blocking information while it crushed domestic dissent and ensured COVID-19 would become a global pandemic.
There is authoritative and compelling evidence — including a study from the University of Southampton — that if interventions in China had been conducted three weeks earlier, transmission of COVID-19 could have been reduced by 95 percent.
For 40 days, President Xi Jinping's CPC concealed, destroyed, falsified, and fabricated information about the rampant spread of COVID-19 through its state-sanctioned massive surveillance and suppression of data; its misrepresentation of information; its silencing and criminalizing of its dissent; and its disappearance of its whistleblowers.
In late December 2019, Dr. Ai Fen, director of the Emergency Department at the Central Hospital of Wuhan — "The Whistle-Giver" — disseminated information about COVID-19 to several doctors, one of whom was Dr. Li Wenliang, and eight of whom were later arrested. Dr. Ai has recently disappeared.
WNU Editor: It was more to the end of December that Chinese doctors in Wuhan first raised the alarm, not mid-December as Dr. Fauci claims. But it is true that about 40 days were lost that could have been used to prevent Covid-19 to become the global pandemic that it became. And to make it worse .... mislead international researchers that the virus could not be transmitted between humans until February.
Rough ride on the Argus! The seas don't look all that unsettled but that can be deceiving. The ship is a movie star as it was used in the Zombie thriller World War Z. Not one I would watch if you have a lot of anxiety about the current outbreak nightmare! https://t.co/uzBqgxEtK1
Pope Francis reads his "Urbi et Orbi" ("To the City and the World") message in St. Peter's Basilica with no public participation on Easter Sunday at the Vatican, April 12, 2020. Vatican Media/Handout via REUTERS
Hong Kong (CNN)As the novel coronavirus pandemic shuts down businesses globally and sends countries into lockdown, the disruptions are threatening to cut off supply chains and increase food insecurity.
"Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now," the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report released late last month. "But a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more."
The issue, however, is not food scarcity -- at least, not yet. Rather, it's the world's drastic measures in response to the virus.
WNU Editor: It is already threatened with supply chain disruptions. Bottom line. Expect higher prices. For poor countries, this is always a recipe for unrest.
* The special envoy to the World Health Organization doesn't expect the coronavirus to disappear entirely until a vaccine is developed. * "We think it's going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come until we can all have a vaccine to protect us," Dr. David Nabarro, a representative for the WHO, told NBC's "Meet the Press." * The U.S. has reported at least 530,000 coronavirus cases with at least 20,608 deaths. There are over 1.7 million cases globally with at least 109,000 deaths.
The special envoy to the World Health Organization doesn't expect the coronavirus to disappear entirely until a vaccine is developed.
"We think it's going to be a virus that stalks the human race for quite a long time to come until we can all have a vaccine to protect us," Dr. David Nabarro, a representative for the WHO, told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Nabarro was asked what the United States should expect in the fall from the coronavirus as countries around the world continue to struggle with overcoming the pandemic.
"There will be small outbreaks that will emerge sporadically and they will break through our defenses," he added.
Last week, when we looked at the latest shape of the Coronavirus curve, we said that even as US cases continue to soar, "the light at the end of the tunnel is now visible" and indeed as JPMorgan's MW Kim writes in his latest Covid-19 update note published late last week, the global infection growth is showing early signs of slowing (53% W/W vs. 95% W/W two weeks ago), according to Johns Hopkins data, according to which the number of global confirmed cases is set to surpass 2 million in the coming days.
The Chinese government appears to be censoring research on the origins of the COVID-19 epidemic by requiring scientists to run their studies by the Ministry of Science and Technology, a since-deleted page on a university website shows.
According to a cached version of that page from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan that Newsweek reviewed, requirements were updated so that scientists would need to have their study approved by China's Ministry of Science and Technology before publication:
"1. Academic papers on the traceability of the new coronavirus must be reviewed by the academic committee of the school before publication, focusing on the authenticity of the paper and whether it is suitable for publication. After the review is passed, the school reports to the Ministry of Science and Technology, which can only be published after the review by the Ministry of Science and Technology."
* Liaoning, accompanied by two destroyers, two frigates and a combat support ship spotted by Japan as it passes through the Miyako Strait on Saturday evening * Carrier is the only ship of its kind still operational in the region after USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Ronald Reagan are forced to dock after crew are hit by Covid-19
Taiwan scrambled warships on Saturday night to monitor the movements of a mainland Chinese carrier strike group after it was spotted by Japan heading towards the western Pacific.
The fleet, led by China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was seen passing through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa, and then turning south, the Japanese Ministry of Defence said.
Although the precise location or heading of the group was unknown, the Taiwanese navy scrambled ships from the northeastern port of Suao to monitor the situation, the island's defence ministry said.
The Miyako Strait is about 330km (205 miles) due east of the northernmost tip of Taiwan.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reinstated his sister as an alternate member of the Politburo, the ruling party's top policymaking body, at its meeting Saturday, the North's state media said Sunday.
The Worker's Party meeting also addressed countermeasures to COVID-19, other personnel reshuffles and organizational matters, according to the Korea Central News Agency.
A joint resolution was adopted to take "more thorough state measures to protect life and safety of our people from the great worldwide epidemic disease."
Then he shot out at high speed, losing his helmet that had not been fastened round his chin properly, before landing in a field close to the German border. The plane is marked here 'Avion' in the subsequent incident report
* He panicked during the flight near Saint-Dizier airforce base in northern France * The man landed using his parachute and ended up in a field with minor injuries * The French Airforce and the Defence Ministry are called to review procedures
A pensioner who was given a surprise flight in a £70million fighter jet as a retirement present was flung out at 2500ft after grabbing the ejector seat handle to 'steady himself'.
The astonishing drama is outlined in a newly released report by French aviation investigators who have stern words for their country's Airforce and government throughout.
At times, it reads like a dark comedy film script, as it describes how the unidentified 64-year-old panicked and screamed with fear during his first flight in the Rafale-B which took off from Saint-Dizier airforce base, in north-west France last March.
Then he shot out at high speed, losing his helmet that had not been fastened round his chin properly, before landing in a field close to the German border.
I started wearing disposable gloves and a mask in early March. Almost everyone was looking at me as if I was some kind of a freak. Today, I don't wear a mask when I go out and people are looking at me as if I am an idiot.
Most of the time it makes perfect sense to do what the crowd is doing. In investing this is called trend following. It is one of the most profitable investment strategies. If you had bought the S&P 500 Index in 2009 AFTER the index increased 20% from its recent bottom and didn't sell until the S&P 500 Index declined 20%, you would have returned around 230% in 11 years.
WNU Editor: This is definitely one of the best explanations (in laymen terms) that I have read so far on the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus and where this pandemic is going from here, and it confirms what people who I respect and who are very knowledgeable about this outbreak have been telling me in the past few days. Needless to say this is my must read post for today. Here is one key point that explains why COVID-19 was able to elude our virus fighters ....
.... read a lot of academic articles and used incomplete data reported by other countries to estimate the parameters of this new coronavirus. We encountered deadlier viruses like SARS, MERS, and Ebola over the last 20 years, but they fizzled out. So, I especially tried to figure how COVID-19 managed to elude our virus fighters. The answer was asymptomatic transmission.
This explains why many governments around the world did a 180 in March on their approach towards combating this pandemic. Once this asymptomatic transmission component of the Covid-19 virus was understood, the World Health Organization and other infectious disease organizations declared a pandemic (March 11), resulting in lock-downs and quarantine measures that are still in force today. It is hard to believe that this understanding of the disease is only a few weeks old. It feels like we have been going through this for a months. But it has become a game changer on how to confront Covid-19, and we should be grateful that most governments took the initiative to institute the necessary measures as quickly as they did. I shudder to think what would be facing if these measures were delayed for a week or two in places like Canada and the U.S..
Needless to say the current media narrative is saying a different story. That U.S., Canadian, and other Western governments knew months ago what the true nature of this pandemic was, and they failed to impose the necessary measures to stop this disease. These claims unfortunately ignore what the science and consensus was saying in January and February, and the fact that everyone was unaware of the asymptomatic transmission capability of this highly infectious disease until only recently. The exception is China, who was aware of the asymptomatic transmission component of the Covid-19 virus in February but choose not to share this information initially. This is one more reason why the Chinese government must be held accountable for what they have done to the world.
On a more positive note ....
.... There are more than 100 different companies working on a COVID-19 vaccine right now. It is very likely that at least one of those companies will succeed within a year.
These are probably the darkest days of this pandemic and I am certain you will be able to see what I am seeing right now in a couple of weeks.
We did well and saved millions of American lives. This is the most resilient virus we've come across over the last 100 years, but the American people proved to be more resilient than the coronavirus.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods, the world's biggest pork processor, said on Sunday it will shut a U.S. plant indefinitely due to a rash of coronavirus cases among employees and warned the country was moving "perilously close to the edge" in supplies for grocers.
Slaughterhouse shutdowns are disrupting the U.S. food supply chain, crimping availability of meat at retail stores and leaving farmers without outlets for their livestock.
Smithfield extended the closure of its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant after initially saying it would idle temporarily for cleaning. The facility is one of the nation's largest pork processing facilities, representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to the company.
WNU Editor: These disruptions will continue for the foreseeable future .... Coronavirus outbreaks plague meatpacking plants (Axios). Translation. Expect higher prices. But the biggest impact will not be on the U.S., Canada, or the First World. The real impact will be felt in the developing world.
More News On Concerns That The U.S. Food Supply Chain Will Continue To Be Disrupted During The Pandemic
* The head of US Air Force Global Strike Command wants the Air Force's bombers to be able to carry more weapons even as the bomber fleet undergoes retirements and cuts. * There are opportunities to keep some aircraft, such as the B-1B Lancer, relevant by "increasing our long-range strike," Gen. Timothy Ray said Thursday.
With planned cuts and retirements coming to the US Air Force's bomber inventory, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command wants to make the remaining aircraft even more lethal in the future.
The Air Force plans to have a total of 165 to 175 bombers in its inventory once the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber comes online.
Gen. Timothy Ray has advocated for a larger fleet — roughly 220 — but until the B-21 Raider enters service in the latter part of the 2020s or early 2030s, he wants to make sure the current bomber fleets have the capability to carry a bigger variety of loads.
There are opportunities to keep some airframes, such as the B-1B Lancer, relevant by "increasing our long-range strike," Ray said during a phone call hosted by the Defense Writers Group.
Trial witnesses describe a raucous workplace culture among officers at the intelligence agency.
Inside a secret government building west of Washington, D.C. — past the armed guards, through the turnstiles and coded locks, into a vaulted office with the highest security clearance — sat the Central Intelligence Agency's team of elite programmers.
They had the weighty mission of creating the hacking tools used by the C.I.A. to spy on foreign governments and terrorists. If that job description conjures Hollywood images of serious officers in dark suits huddling over clandestine operations, a different picture emerged during a federal trial in Manhattan this month.
The work culture described by C.I.A. officers on the witness stand more closely resembled comedies like "The Office" or "Silicon Valley" than spy thrillers like "Jack Ryan."
From their cubicles, the programmers sent prank emails, taunted colleagues about their physical appearance and shot each other with Nerf guns and rubber bands, according to trial testimony.
WNU Editor: If this New York Times story is even half right, it reminds me of the following Ray Bradbury quote .... "the gargoyles have taken over the cathedral".
MI6 and MI5 expect Beijing to be more assertive and want government to consider tighter control of strategic industries
Britain's intelligence community believes the UK needs to reassess its relationship with China after the coronavirus crisis subsides and consider if tighter controls are needed over high-tech and other strategic industries.
They reckon China will become more assertive in defending its one-party model as having successfully tackled the pandemic and that Boris Johnson and other ministers will have to take a "realistic view" and consider how the UK responds.
Issues being aired are whether the UK wants to restrict takeovers of key companies in high-tech areas such as digital communications and artificial intelligence, and whether it should reduce Chinese students' access to research at universities and elsewhere.
WNU Editor: I for one would not be surprised if all western intelligence agencies are doing a rethink on China right now. And they are not waiting for the end of this pandemic to do this rethink.
The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done. This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States. I would like to thank and congratulate President Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. I just spoke to them from the Oval Office. Great deal for all!
* OPEC and its oil producing allies on Sunday finalized a historic agreement to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day, which is the single largest output cut in history. * The group, known as OPEC+, initially proposed cutting production by 10 million barrels per day on Thursday, but Mexico opposed the amount it was being asked to cut, holding up the final deal. * Under OPEC+'s new agreement, Mexico will cut 100,000 barrels per day, instead of the 400,000 barrels per day it had initially been asked to cut. * On Friday President Donald Trump said the U.S. would cut production in an effort to get Mexico "over the barrel."
OPEC and its oil producing allies on Sunday finalized a historic agreement to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day, following multiple days of discussions and back-and-forth between the world's largest energy producers. The cut is the single largest output cut in history.
Sunday's emergency meeting — the second in four days — came as oil-producing nations scrambled to reach an agreement in an effort to prop up falling prices as the coronavirus outbreak continues to hammer demand. The agreement also ends a price war that broke out between Saudi Arabia and Russia at the beginning of March, which further pressured oil prices as each sought to gain market share.
WNU Editor: This agreement is going to have zero impact in the end. Cutting production by 9.7 million barrels per day in a world where up to 36 millions of barrel of oil is being produced when there is no market for it will only postpone the inevitable. A massive crash in oil prices when every storage facility has finally been filled up with oil, which is now projected to happen at the end of May .... U.S. Oil Storage To Hit Its Limit By Mid-May (OilPrice.com).
More News On OPEC+ Nations Including Mexico Reaching An Agreement On Oil Production Cuts
For the rest of this year, the Navy is doubling down on its boosters, conducting a series of static fire tests to collect data before another test firing. "We've been crawling, now we're starting to walk where we're going to get the booster design done -- we're going to static test this year -- and then we will start to truly, truly run," Wolfe said.
WASHINGTON: The Navy plans to test its developmental hypersonic missile from a submarine by the mid-2020s, and is pushing the burgeoning program through a series of static tests this year to demonstrate technologies as it gears up to equipping its Virginia-class submarines with the weapon.
"Our goal is to have an early capability in the mid '20s," Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director of the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs said. "We're trying to take a methodical approach to this, as we work through this to make sure we get it right."
* Boeing recently secured a $1.5 billion order from the US Navy for additional P-8 Poseidon aerial patrol aircraft. * First delivered to the Navy in 2012, the P-8 is a multi-role aircraft based on the Boeing 737 passenger jet capable of surveillance and anti-submarine warfare. * Its onboard armament can include torpedoes, harpoons, and cruise missiles allowing it to engage in warfare when required.
Boeing just landed a massive $1.5 billion order for 18 aircraft from the US Navy for an aerial patrol plane capable of sinking ships, the P-8 Poseidon.
Though it performs and functions more like a naval ship than a commercial jet, Boeing's P-8 Poseidon is actually the military variant of the manufacturer's popular 737-800 Next Generation aircraft.
Instead of flying passengers or cargo, a task routinely performed by the civilian 737, the P-8 has warfighting capabilities through its deployable onboard armament of weapons that can sink ships and submarines, in addition to its advanced onboard surveillance set up to track maritime and ground-based activity.
WNU Editor: This $1.5 billion production contract for 18 P-8A Poseidon aircraft includes 8 for the US Navy, six for the South Korean Navy and four for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Experience the F-22 Raptor's extreme agility like never before.
We have gotten short glimpses of the F-22 Raptor's jaw-dropping air show demonstration from inside the cockpit before, but now we get to see every one of its heart-pounding setpiece maneuvers from this unique perspective.
With a new pilot, Major Joshua "Cabo" Gunderson, at its helm for the 2020 season, the F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team was set for a big year on the air show circuit—that is before the COVID-19 nightmare struck the globe. With air shows canceled for months out, the team is still practicing, but there are no crowds to share the F-22's incredible capabilities with.
President Trump on Friday described the decision on when and how to reopen the country as the most difficult one he's had to make in his life, underscoring the careful line he is walking between concerns about the economy and public health during the coronavirus outbreak.
"I don't know that I've had a bigger decision. But I'm going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds, but the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason," Trump told reporters at a White House press briefing.
"And we're going to make a decision, and hopefully it's going to be the right decision," he continued. "I will say this. I want to get it open as soon as we can."
WNU Editor: This will definitely be the biggest decision in his life. Opening too soon may result in thousands of more deaths. Delaying the economy will also be catastrophe, potentially throwing millions out of work permanently, with all of the human costs and suffering that it will produce.
More News On President Trump Saying The Decision To Reopen Country Is The 'Biggest Of My Life'
China's economy is forecast to be almost 10 per cent down compared to the previous three months. Shanghai stocks slid on Friday with bleak factory gate data then bounced back
* China's economy forecast to be down 10%, compared to previous three months * The economic crash is the worst in China for the last 60 years, experts have said * It also emerged China's auto sales sank 48.4 per cent in March from a year ago * Analysts have warned the UK economy could shrink by up to 15 to 25 per cent
China's economy is predicted to suffer its worse crash for 60 years with a shrink of nearly 10 per cent due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Compared to the previous three months, China's economy is forecast to be almost 10 per cent down and could see a 6 per cent drop on last year.
Financial data released this week shows analysts expect China's first-quarter GDP to suffer due to the economic shutdown caused by the pandemic, which began in Wuhan and was first reported at the end of December.
A global slowdown has also led to a collapse in the oil price, exacerbated by a row between Opec and Russia.
A deal was agreed on Friday to cut supply by a record 10 million barrels a day, but it remains to be seen if this will lift the price.
* Prime Minister was discharged from St Thomas's Hospital this afternoon after a week of NHS treatment * No 10 said he would head to Chequers but he made a surprise visit to Downing Street with Carrie at his side * In his message to the nation, the PM said there was 'no question' the NHS had saved his life from the virus * He later put out a video message on social media thanking the public for their 'sacrifice' in staying at home * Britain's coronavirus death toll surged past 10,000 today, marking a grim milestone in the country's epidemic
Boris Johnson thanked the NHS for saving his live and the public for their own 'sacrifice' today as he was reunited with pregnant fiancée Carrie Symonds following his discharge from hospital.
Following a week at St Thomas's Hospital with coronavirus - including three nights in intensive care - he stopped on his way to recuperate at Chequers to record a message to the nation in Downing Street.
The couple - and their dog Dilyn - were seen together in the back of an official government car and in scenes which may raise some eyebrows neither they nor the driver or bodyguard were wearing masks.
The PM could be seen with his head down in the back of the car as it drew up this afternoon.
WNU Editor: Here is a Happy Easter to the readers of WNU. On a side note. Blogging will return in a few hours. Busy on Skype and FaceTime right now with friends and family.
FRENCH PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron is under huge pressure after a shock poll this morning showed 3 in 4 French people think the country's president has "lied about the crisis".
CHINESE authorities fear a new virus outbreak after a three-year-old girl contracted the N9N2 strain of avian influenza, as the country emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.
RUSSIA has significantly ramped up its war capabilities with a huge upgrade to its military arsenal, according to terrifying updates from the country's state-run media.
THE deadly Ebola virus which claimed the lives of more than 10,000 people across Africa between 2014-2016 has re-emerged on the continent killing two individuals, sparking new fears of an outbreak of the disease.
NATIONS around the globe were yesterday continuing to see surges in coronavirus cases. As America's total number of deaths topped 20,000, countries previously relatively untouched, such as Russia, along with huge swathes of Africa and South America, are reporting big jumps in infections and deaths.
The findings of a Chinese coronavirus scientist known as Bat Woman have been covered up by the authorities, it was claimed last night. She is believed to have quickly identified the genetic make-up of the virus that has infected millions.
CHINA has been accused of covering up its coronavirus death toll, with suggestions the true number could be 40 times higher than official figures. Citizens in Wuhan, where the outbreak began in December, believe the real figure could be about 120,000 fatalities, instead of the reported 3,339.
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is facing a huge backlash over proposals to use a controversial people tracking app to increase testing and limit the spread of coronavirus, which has already claimed the lives of more than 14,000 people in France.
The US has more confirmed cases and deaths than anywhere else across the globe. The US now has more than half a million confirmed cases nationwide. At the time of writing, official figures show the US has 559,409 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and a death toll of 22,071.
Corruption results in inefficiencies in the operations of emerging economies and prevents such economies from reaching the maximum level of development.
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Task 2: For school children, their teachers have more influence on their intelligence and social development than their parents. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Essay Plan:
• Introduction: (1) refer to the task question (2) my opinion – teachers have more influence on intelligence, parents have more influence on social development
• Paragraph 2: (1) teachers are trained to impart knowledge to children and stimulate their intelligence – example – dedicated teachers who inspire youngsters (2) parents may play a supporting role
• Paragraph 3: parents have more influence than teachers on the social development of their children. (1) parents spend more time with their children than children spend in school (2) parents can be role models for their children in a wide range of social situations – give examples
• Conclusion: re-state opinion given in the introduction, paraphrasing some words.
It is true that school children are at an impressionable age, and two strong influences on their intelligence and social development are teachers and parents. While I accept that teachers may have more influence on the intelligence of their pupils, I would argue that parents probably exert a greater influence on the social development of their children.
In terms of encouraging the intellectual development and stimulating the intelligence of school children, I believe that teachers play the major role. While not all teachers are capable of inspiring their students, they are trained to impart their knowledge of their subject areas in challenging and imaginative ways. For example, some students owe their lifelong love of a subject to dedicated teachers who taught this discipline in secondary school. Of course, at home parents may also reinforce this passion by
encouraging study habits during the formative years of their children. Such support is vital for academic achievement.
From the perspective of social development, I think that parents are mainly responsible for guiding their children. Firstly, they spend far more time with their children than any individual teacher is able to do. They can therefore monitor the activities of children outside school hours, at weekends and during holidays. Secondly, parents are able to provide role models in a whole range of situations. These might include showing respect towards elders, choice of friends, or proper behaviour in public when eating out in restaurants.
In conclusion, although teachers probably have a greater effect in stimulating the intelligence of school children, parental influences on the development of children are stronger in social situations.
266 words
Vocabulary:
• impressionable [adjective]:
Meaning: easily influenced or affected by somebody or something Example: Advertising is often targeted at impressionable age groups, such as children and adolescents.
• to exert influence on [expression]:
Meaning: to use one's power to affect somebody or something
Example: Rock music exerted a strong influence on me when I was a teenager.
• to impart their knowledge [expression]:
Meaning: to pass knowledge to other people
Example: Good teachers are inspired to impart their knowledge of their subject to their students.
• dedicated [adjective]:
Meaning: working very hard at something, because it is important to you Example: John is a very dedicated student, so he deserves to be successful.
• discipline [noun]:
Meaning: a subject that people study or are taught
Example: The school has excellent teachers in various scientific disciplines, such as physics and chemistry.
• to reinforce [verb]:
Meaning: to make a feeling or an idea stronger
Example: In order to reinforce her understanding of mathematics, Ann is taking a course at night school.
• formative years [expression];
Meaning: having an important and lasting influence on the development of something or of somebody's character
Example: Parents should supervise their children closely during the formative years of their adolescence.
• to monitor [verb]:
Meaning: to watch and check something over a period of time
Example: As a security guard, his job is to monitor who comes into the building.
• elders [noun]:
Meaning: people of greater age, experience or authority
Example: When we were children, our parents taught US to respect our elders,
because they were older and wiser than US.
• to eat out [phrasal verb]
Meaning: to have a meal in a restaurant, not at home
Example: Last night, Caroline and I ate out at a Chinese restaurant.
• parental [adjective]:
Meaning: connected with a parent or parents
Example: They don't want to have children, because they think that they are too young to accept parental responsibilities.
By Akhil GuptaWith the Covid-19 nationwide lockdown causing severe constraints and hardships on businesses and livelihoods, among other requests made to the citizenry, GoI has also asked businesses not to terminate the services of employees during this crisis. Most SMEs can comply with this request for, say, a month, but to expect them to sustain 'unemployed employment' beyond that would not only be unfair, but also practically impossible. India can only overcome this financial crisis and dodge economic devastation if all four stakeholders —employer, employee or contract worker, government(s) and vendor —make some sacrifices and share the financial burden. For the duration of business lockdown, as well as the next two months (the time by which one could hope some 'normalcy' returning), the payables to the employees and contract workers could be dealt in the following manner:* Recipients could forgo part of their incomes: For employees with CTC up to Rs 25,000 a month, a possible 20% cut; CTC of Rs 25,000-50,000, 25%; while those with CTC over Rs 50,000 a month need not be eligible for relief provided by GoI, and their salary-cut could be mutually agreed with the employer. Other recipients, for instance, a proprietor renting out accommodation, could take a 1/3rd cut.*Contribution by government: Half of the balance payable after a salary/rent reduction could be reimbursed by the government as credit against statutory dues payable by the employer, e.g., goods and services tax (GST), income-tax (I-T), professional tax, provident fund (PF), employees' state insurance (ESI). If that does not cover the total amount, the amount could be provided in cash to the employer.* Employer: Employers could pay net payable (after salary reduction) to employees and other recipients. Effectively, the employer ends up paying a third to 40% of the amounts normally payable to such recipients. At end of two months after the lifting of lockdown, employers could resume normal payments without any deduction.Vendor payments: For employers whose revenues have either stopped or have reduced significantly — say, by more than 50% of the average last six months' revenue — due to lockdown, the payables to their vendors could be made in four equal monthly instalments of all outstanding amounts as on the date of lockdown (till March 25), and new payables post-date of lockdown (from March 25) till two months after the lockdown is lifted.Unless government makes all concerned share the burden, no advisory or directive will practically work. Without doubt, this government subsidy will result in an increase in fiscal deficit. However, in extraordinary times like these, there is no alternative but for government — both central and states — to focus on the survival of the citizenry and put fiscal deficit concerns on the backburner. Also, if the government is ready to bear the same amount of burden it expects businesses to bear — and is seen to bear it — its appeal to businesses to fight this battle together will bear much more credibility.(The writer is chairman, Bharti Infratel)
The banking industry is split in the middle in offering moratorium on payments to the Non – Banking Finance Companies with one group extending the regulator blessed facility, while the other dragging its feet on whether to do so or not, said industry participants.Some private and foreign banks have come forward to give forbearance on repayments till May 31, but the state-run banks haven't moved so far, and even those which did so are rowing back on the granted moratorium, said people who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal.Banks' hesitation appears to be following the State Bank of India's decision not to grant or keep the NBFC segment out of the moratorium, said the bankers.Some private and foreign lenders including Kotak, IndusInd, ICICI, Standard Chartered are said to have granted moratorium to select shadow banks. Those non-government lenders mostly extended moratorium for principal replacement. Those lenders didn't immediately reply to ET's mailed queries. "We continue to support our clients during these unprecedented times," said a spokesperson from Standard Chartered Bank``We have received moratorium on principal repayments from select private sector and foreign banks," said the chief of an NBFC who did not want to be identified. "We are now paying only the interest on credit we availed from them."The Reserve Bank of India on March 27 declared that banks can grant moratorium on payments falling between March 1, and May 31, as the economy grounded to a halt due to the lockdown to counter Coronavirus. While the regulator did not specifically mention any segment, it left to the banks' discretion on which borrower to grant moratorium.While it is clear that any borrower with difficulties could avail of moratorium facility, State Bank of India has specifically barred NBFCs from the benefits.Rating company Crisil said many companies are staring at defaults in the absence of a moratorium to NBFCs. It estimates about Rs. 1.75 lakh crores of debt maturing by June."We and many other banks think that NBFCs should be given a moratorium since a majority of their funding is linked to banks and it is not fair on them when their customers are not paying back,'' said a CEO of state-run bank who did not want to be identified.``However, since SBI has not agreed nobody has gone ahead. SBI with 25% of the market is a large influence on the system and we need clarity from them. RBI norms are very clear and hence they will not issue any clarification. It all depends on what call SBI takes."Driven by the confusion, NBFCs as an industry, has sought regulatory intervention so that banks provide them the relief. So are the banks."We have written to the RBI seeking clarity on this particular set of borrowers. Otherwise customers have to send an email, letter or SMS asking to stop their debit mandates for these months," said an executive director of a public sector bank.Some banks are suggesting that NBFCs could use the bonds route to repay. They say they are eager to lend the money banks are raising through the Targeted Long Term Repo Operations (TLTRO). Under this facility the RBI would provide up to Rs. 1 lakh crores to banks at the repo rate of 4.4 percent which banks have to mandatorily on lend. Of this half of it has to be invested in primary bond issues.But at the same time, some of the NBFCs are comfortable with liquidity that could see them through this crisis even if there is no moratorium."We are good to go for three months," said Sanjaya Gupta, managing director at PNB Housing Finance, while about 45% of its retail borrowers and 70% developers are seeking to defer their installment payment following RBI's move.
NEW DELHI: Three out of five companies looked at both hiring freeze and postponed candidate onboarding as a likelihood while 15% of companies considered potential layoffs in a survey on the impact of Covid-19 and the resultant lockdown, on corporate India hiring. Professional services firm Aon carried out the survey 'Impact of Covid-19 on Talent Acquisition' a week into the lockdown. The survey had responses from 195 companies across sectors including information technology, manufacturing, education, banking, consulting, pharma, insurance, consumer goods and durables, and retail. A week into the lockdown, 4 out of 5 organisations were already planning a reduction in hiring numbers with overall talent acquisition budgets coming down. Graduate hiring will witness a marginally lower impact as a result of lower cost and complexity. The highest impact will be seen in the middle to senior levels. Among sectors, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) and manufacturing are likely to see the maximum impact on hiring, according to the survey. Among sectors that are considering possible layoffs and hiring freeze early on, travel and tourism, construction and building materials, and BPO are likely to be hit the most, according to the survey."Even as we witness an overall economic slowdown, resilient organisations with agile processes are staying the course with their business strategies. We are seeing industries like information technology, e-commerce and logistics staying neutral to positive about hiring and growth. A key reason for this is their investment and efforts in building and adopting virtual business processes and technologies," said Tarandeep Singh, CEO, APAC and the Middle East, Aon Assessment Solutions.Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, productivity and workforce planning are primary challenges for companies -- 4 in 5 organisations see maintaining productivity as their top challenge. Given large scale economic disruption and supply chain shocks, manufacturing is facing difficulties in workforce planning; 3 out of 4 retail companies are struggling with hiring in the supply chain due to lockdown and migrations, the survey showed.
New Delhi: The government is set to launch a portal that will guide users of hydroxychloroquine — one of the drugs being tried for treating Covid-19 patients — to the nearest pharmacy that has it in stock, people in the know told ET. The move will likely ease the worries of thousands of Indians who have been prescribed the drug for certain ailments — including malaria and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus — but are facing difficulty in getting it after India lifted a ban on its export last week.India's drug pricing regulator, National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA), has asked all druggists and chemists in the country to start putting in details on the portal, which is likely to be named Covid-med. To start with, details of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin will be put in and later it may be expanded to other medicines. "Those who need hydroxychloroquine will find it easier to know the available stock and where is it available at the click of the mouse," said a senior official who is aware of the development. The data on availability will be updated every day, the official said, adding that the information will be available district-wise. 75114442"The objective is to make sure that the drug is available to those who need it. The IT platform will monitor availability of the drug at all distribution channels i.e. C&F agents, depot, distributors, wholesalers and retailers," said another official.Joint drug controller S Eswara Reddy has sent out a notice to all drug sale licence holders to register on the platform.NPPA chairperson Shubhra Singh told ET that India has "enough stock of API and manufacturing capacity of HCQ formulation to meet country's requirement as well as export demands." A team led by India's drug pricing regulator is reviewing the available stocks on a daily basis and will cater to export demands only after satisfying domestic consumption, Singh said.
Mumbai | Bengaluru: The exodus of cab drivers from Indian metropolises in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic will trigger a massive default in vehicle loans, according to industry executives who have sought concessions from lenders so as to stave off large-scale writeoffs.With nearly 60% of drivers engaged by app-based ride-hailing companies being migrants, the segment represents a huge risk for lenders who have provided loans to nearly 80% of the cabbies executives told ET."Most drivers don't think it is lucrative enough to come back. Given the seasonality and the current pandemic, I see at least 30-40% of the drivers not coming back," said Neeraj Gupta, CEO of ride-sharing company Meru.Gupta expects the business to revive only by July or August. "Drivers tend to take up alternative professions when in their villages and towns," he said. There are about 1.1 million cabs across the ride-hailing, B2B and tourist taxi segments, which collectively amount to almost ₹30,000 crore in borrowing, according to Gupta.An executive for ride-hailing giant Ola pegged the number of drivers that could default on loans at 30% of the total base. 75114448Banks Preparing to Extend Moratoriums"It's going to create a big problem for banks if they don't offer more relaxations. We're working on it," the Ola executive said, on the condition of anonymity.Even as ride-hailing companies have begun negotiating on behalf of the drivers with banks, lenders have begun preparing to extend moratoriums till as late as December, while some are even preparing for the eventuality of seizing assets and redeploying them at lower rates to avoid writeoffs, industry executives told ET.Cab aggregators, meanwhile, have set up funds to ensure a basic amount of earning for drivers through the lockdown period as well as medical insurance in case drivers or their families contract the virus. Uber has put together a ?25-crore relief package for drivers with the aim to raise another ?25 crore, a company representative said.Ola, too, is raising a Rs 50-crore fund to provide drivers with cash to meet daily expenses, the company announced in a blog a few days ago. Ola did not reply to ET's queries on this report.DRIVERS MOSTLY MIGRANTSIndia's cab driver community comprises mostly migrants, who typically return to their hometowns during the harvest season from April to June. However, this year due to the uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic, a huge number of drivers is scouting for alternative careers."There will be a new set of drivers who will come in as the previous contract will be closed and new ones renegotiated, implying financiers will have to bear some losses. The vehicles will be repriced and offered to the new drivers for longer periods and lower EMIs," said Ramesh Iyer, MD of Mahindra Finance.Experts feel that only the promise of good earnings will induce drivers to return.
New Delhi: The government is set to launch a portal that will guide users of hydroxychloroquine — one of the drugs being tried for treating Covid-19 patients — to the nearest pharmacy that has it in stock, people in the know told ET. The move will likely ease the worries of thousands of Indians who have been prescribed the drug for certain ailments — including malaria and autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus — but are facing difficulty in getting it after India lifted a ban on its export last week.India's drug pricing regulator, National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA), has asked all druggists and chemists in the country to start putting in details on the portal, which is likely to be named Covid-med. To start with, details of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin will be put in and later it may be expanded to other medicines. "Those who need hydroxychloroquine will find it easier to know the available stock and where is it available at the click of the mouse," said a senior official who is aware of the development. The data on availability will be updated every day, the official said, adding that the information will be available district-wise. 75114442"The objective is to make sure that the drug is available to those who need it. The IT platform will monitor availability of the drug at all distribution channels i.e. C&F agents, depot, distributors, wholesalers and retailers," said another official.Joint drug controller S Eswara Reddy has sent out a notice to all drug sale licence holders to register on the platform.NPPA chairperson Shubhra Singh told ET that India has "enough stock of API and manufacturing capacity of HCQ formulation to meet country's requirement as well as export demands." A team led by India's drug pricing regulator is reviewing the available stocks on a daily basis and will cater to export demands only after satisfying domestic consumption, Singh said.
The domestic stock market ended the holiday-shortened week on a strong note on Thursday. NSE Nifty opened positive and traded in a capped range in the morning trade. While not showing any signs of weakness, the index held on the gains and ended the day 363.15 points or 4.15 per cent at 9,111.90.The headline index has traded on the anticipated lines, as it pulled back from the extremely oversold levels on the higher time frame charts. This technical pullback is likely to get extended. However, the behaviour of Nifty against the 9,050 level will be key over the coming sessions.The coming week will be a truncated one with Tuesday being a trading holiday for Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.Monday's session is likely to see a stable start with a modest positive opening. The 9,165 and 9,240 levels will act as immediate resistance, while support may come in at 9,050 and 8,910.75107960The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart was at 47.65 and marked a fresh 14-period high, which is bullish. The indicator remained neutral and did now show any divergence against the price.The daily MACD was bullish and it traded above its signal line. No significant formations were observed on the candles.As per pattern analysis of the daily chart, Nifty is trying hard to form a base in the 7,800-8,000 zone for the near term. After making a low near 7,600, the index made a higher low near 8,000. If the 50-stock pack manages to stay above 9,050, it will put a temporary bottom in place for the near term.We would recommend traders to exercise caution at higher levels on Monday. Profit must be protected with each upmove as some precautionary correction at higher levels cannot be ruled out as Tuesday is again a trading holiday. While staying selective, a cautious and stock-specific approach is advised for the day.(Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, is a Consulting Technical Analyst and founder of Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services, Vadodara. He can be reached at milan.vaishnav@equityresearch.asia)
By Javier Blas, Salma El Wardany and Grant SmithThe world's top oil producers pulled off a historic deal to cut global petroleum output by nearly a 10th, putting an end to the devastating price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.After a week-long marathon of bilateral calls and four days of video conferences with government ministers from around the world -- including the OPEC+ alliance and the Group of 20 nations -- an agreement finally emerged to tackle the impact of the global pandemic on demand.The talks almost fell apart because of resistance from Mexico, but came back from the brink after a weekend of urgent diplomacy, including the personal intervention of President Donald Trump, who helped broker the solution."Unprecedented measures for unprecedented times,"said Ed Morse, a veteran oil watcher who is head of commodities research at Citigroup. "Unprecedented in historical discussions of production cuts, the U.S. played a critical role in brokering between Saudi Arabia and Russia for the new OPEC+ accord."The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done. This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States.… https://t.co/EqYkBxU3AV— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 1586720403000OPEC+ will cut 9.7 million barrels a day -- just below the initial proposal of 10 million. The U.S., Brazil and Canada will contribute another 3.7 million barrels on paper as their production declines. OPEC officials were still waiting to hear more from Group of 20 members -- though it's not clear if those numbers will represent real cuts or just production idled because of market forces."We have demonstrated that OPEC+ is up and alive," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Bloomberg News in an interview minutes after the deal was done. "I'm more than happy with the deal."75113639The deal caps a tumultuous month when Brent crude, the global benchmark, plunged to its lowest in nearly two decades, falling toward $20 a barrel. Earlier this year, it traded above $70 a barrel. OPEC+ ministers had to race onto a video conference call on Easter Sunday, less than four hours before the oil market reopened, to close the deal.With the virus paralyzing air and ground travel, demand for gasoline, jet-fuel and diesel is collapsing. That threatened the future of the U.S. shale industry, the stability of oil-dependent states and squeezed the flow of petrodollars through an ailing global economy.Mexico won a diplomatic victory as it will only cut 100,000 barrels -- less than its pro-rated share, having blocked the deal since the plan was first revealed on Thursday.But the biggest winner appears to be Trump, who refused to actively cut American oil production and personally brokered the deal over phone calls with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia."Perhaps what's most remarkable about Saudi Arabia and Russia delivering one of the largest supply cuts ever is that the person who brought them back together and pressured hardest to cut was historically OPEC's harshest critic, President Trump," said Jason Bordoff, a former White House official during the Obama administration and now at Columbia University.Trump became the first American president to push for higher oil prices in more than 30 years, reversing his personal opposition to the cartel."I hated OPEC. You want to know the truth? I hated it. Because it was a fix," Trump told reporters at the White House last week. "But somewhere along the line that broke down and went the opposite way."The production restraints are set to last for about two years, though not at the same level as the initial two months. Copying the model adopted by central banks to taper off their bond buying, OPEC will also reduce the size of the cuts over time. After June, the 10 million barrel cut will be tapered to 7.6 million a day until the end of the year, and then to 5.6 million through 2021 until April 2022.The production deal doesn't take effect until May 1, leaving OPEC+ countries, which have significantly increased production over the last month, able to continue flooding the market for nearly another three weeks.Under the deal, Saudi Arabia will cut its production just a fraction under 8.5 million barrels a day -- its lowest level since 2011. The OPEC+ deal measures the Saudi cut from a baseline of 11 million barrels a day, the same as Russia. But in reality the kingdom's production will decline from a much higher level. In April, Saudi Arabia boosted output to a record 12.3 million barrels a day as part of its war with Russia for market share."We want to regain the stability of the oil market," Prince Abdulaziz said.The question now for the oil market is whether the cuts will be enough to throw a floor under prices as demand for energy craters. After the outline of the deal was announced on Thursday, oil prices in New York fell more than 9% as traders thought the cuts weren't large enough.With countries around the world extending their lockdowns, the death toll mounting in New York, and unemployment exploding in America, the oil market is now far more worried about consumption than supply. OPEC itself acknowledged the challenge, with its chief warning ministers demand fundamentals were "horrifying." In an internal presentation seen by Bloomberg News, OPEC told ministers it expected global oil demand to plunge 20 million barrels a day in April."Demand is down by more than double the 9.7 million barrels-a-day cut agreed," said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. "And with the issue with Mexico taking so long to sort, the credibility of the group has taken a hit".
Bengaluru: Even as the government pushes for aggressive adoption of its contact-tracing app, Aarogya Setu, privacy-focused groups such as the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) are raising alarm over its compliance with the globally-held privacy standards, while also recommending privacy prescriptions for these technology-based interventions.In a detailed report and analysis on contact tracing apps, which ET has accessed and reviewed, the New Delhi-based IFF raised concerns about information collection, purpose limitation, data storage, institutional divergence, and transparency and audibility. These concerns come amid affirmative claims by certain sections of the government and technology volunteer groups that the app was designed with a "privacy-by-design" approach.For instance, the report observed that the app's privacy policy "does not specify which departments or ministry or officials will be the ones accessing that data", with "a lack of specificity adding to concerns of overreach". Sidharth Deb, the IFF's parliamentary and policy counsel, also the author of the report told ET, "In Singapore, for instance, the ministry of health has access to data of its contact-tracing app and decision-making powers, besides clearly stating its purpose of concentration towards disease control and spread. In India's case, the disclosed purpose for the app is vague enough for the government to repurpose it or expand its scope." Currently, there is no legal framework that governs the Aarogya Setu app, beyond the privacy policy and the terms of use.Deb added, "The involvement of the health ministry is minimal or negligible, besides it being steered by other departments and institutions in the government. Even in the case of the Apple-Google announcement of its joint partnership, there is an intent to work with public health authorities who are steering the effort. Therefore, it certainly seems like there is a degree of institutional divergence when compared with international examples."However, government sources said that the medical and health-related aspects of the app are "strictly in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," while Meity largely focuses on the data aspect as the nodal department.Purpose limitation has become a key point of concern among civil society activists — that the app could be used beyond the purpose it was created for and evolve into a "permanent architecture" without clarity and limits. "It becomes problematic when there is collating of data on the central server, and once that gets entangled with other databases. We don't know how long this pandemic will last, but once it is over, the data must be deleted," added Deb, while alluding to the Singapore app, which "clearly specifies that it will not be used to enforce lockdowns and other such purposes." There have been suggestions from certain sections of the government that the data must be deleted immediately once this pandemic is over.The report also raised concerns about Aarogya Setu's use of location data via GPS trails (in addition to Bluetooth), which it adds, deviates from "privacy-focused global standards", which are restricted to Bluetooth-based technology, which can match devices by not revealing the exact location. Such technologies have been in use, in the case of the TraceTogether app (Singapore), and the framework suggested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "GPS trails are not reliable in indoor settings — in mass-transit situations like the metro etc. Bluetooth is preferred from a privacy-respecting perspective," added Deb.Besides, the report added that there are also risks of misidentification (or a false-positive) if the device is switched or is shared between people. The report highlights how algorithm-based predictive models to determine if an individual has tested positive for deviates from how contact tracing usually works and has a material impact on people's civil liberties.There are also concerns of information collection, far beyond ones collected by the Singapore and the MIT app. While the government has repeatedly insisted that all the data collected by the app would reside within the device locally, it equally says that in certain conditions (exceptions) the information could be uploaded to a cloud server.
Area sealed as Vijayapura city reports six COVID-19 cases Just when the district was about to complete the first phase of the lockdown period in two days, Vijayapura city recorded six COVID-19 positive cases
Digital drop: More needs to be done to make digital payments pervasive The Covid-19 lockdown may have affected digital payments, but the government could use the crisis to boost these.
Techsplained @FE: Over the cloud Now, companies like IBM are talking about cognitive clouds that can change the nature of computing. Data analysis was always a feature of cloud computing; now, the game is artificial intelligence and blockchain.
