Delhi Police uses facial recognition to secure Red Fort

Agencies
August 15, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 15: The Delhi Police is using cameras equipped with facial recognition software for the first time to secure the Red Fort, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the national flag on the 73rd Independence Day, officials said on Wednesday.

A multi-layered security arrangement, involving SWAT commandos and NSG snipers, is being put in place for the national capital in view of the Centre scrapping the constitutional provisions that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status and tensions with Pakistan.

Army, paramilitary forces and 20,000 Delhi Police personnel have also been deployed.

To identify suspects around the historic Red Fort, the police is using cameras with facial recognition technology and has deployed anti-drone detection systems to secure the skies.

Around 500 CCTV cameras have been installed around the venue, where ministers, bureaucrats, foreign dignitaries and common people will gather to hear the prime minister.

The roads leading to the Red Fort are under surveillance and police personnel are taking help of trained sniffer dogs to check vehicles in north and central districts of Delhi.

To ensure public convenience during mobility, optimal staff deployment and proper signage installation had been planned. Special squads on motorcycles are deployed.

Security protocols have also been devised for the "At Home" function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

At both these places, visitors will have to pass through several door-framed metal detectors and they will be frisked with hand-held metal detectors.

Baggages canners have already been placed at all entry points at the Red Fort venue.

Special "spotters" are keeping an eye on parking areas and kite catchers will ensure a distraction-free event on Thursday.

"We have made an extensive security arrangement for those coming to the Red Fort. Drills have been rehearsed," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Nupur Prasad.

Special control rooms will monitor alerts and coordinate with security agencies, Prasad added.

Officials said Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) units and specially-equipped Parakram vans are being stationed at crucial junctions. Police personnel are regularly conducting anti-sabotage drills and making enquiries at hotels for possible suspects lodging there.

Police have prohibited aerial activities, including paragliding, hot-air balloons and quadcopters, until August 15 around the Red Fort.

Any person violating the order will be liable for a criminal prosecution, they said.

The Delhi Metro has not announced any change in its services on August 15, but there will be restrictions on entry and exit at some stations on the Violet Line.

Parking areas, however, have been closed until 2 pm on August 15.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: The new National Education Policy (NEP) approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday is set to usher in a slew of changes with the vision of creating an education system that contributes directly to transforming the country, providing high-quality education to all, and making India a global knowledge superpower.

The draft of the NEP by a panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Kasturirangan and submitted to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal when he took charge last year. The new NEP replaces the one formulated in 1986.

Some of the key highlights of the New Education Policy are:-

The policy aims to enable an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, scientific temper, creativity, spirit of service, and 21st century capabilities across a range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, among others.

It identified the major problems facing the higher education system in the country and suggested changes such as moving towards multidisciplinary universities and colleges, with more institutions across India that offer medium of instruction in local/Indian languages, a more multidisciplinary undergraduate education, among others. 

The governance of such institutions by independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy has also been suggested.

Under the suggestions for institutional restructuring and consolidation, it has suggested that by 2040, all higher education institutions (HEIs) shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students, and by 2030 each or near every district in the country there will be at least one HEI.

The aim will be to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in HEIs including vocational education from 26.3 per cent (2018) to 50 per cent by 2035.

Single-stream HEIs will be phased out over time, and all will move towards becoming vibrant multidisciplinary institutions or parts of vibrant multidisciplinary HEI clusters.

It also pushes for more holistic and multidisciplinary education to be provided to the students.

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News Network
March 9,2020

Mumbai, Mar 9: India's Yes Bank will not be merged with State Bank of India, which is set to infuse funds in the beleaguered lender, the newly appointed administrator leading the rescue plan said in a television interview on Monday.

"There is absolutely no question of a merger," Prashant Kumar, the administrator, told the CNBC TV18 channel.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday took control of Yes Bank, after the lender - which is laden with bad debts - failed to raise the capital it needs to stay above mandated regulatory requirements.

Placing Yes Bank under a 30-day moratorium, the central bank imposed limits on withdrawals to protect depositors and said it would work on a revival plan. The move spooked depositors, who rushed to withdraw funds from the bank.

Kumar, a former finance chief at SBI, assured depositors their money was safe and that the moratorium on Yes Bank might be lifted much before the deadline on April 3 and normal banking operations might resume as early as Friday.

He also mentioned that the withdrawal limit of Yes Bank may be removed by March 15, 2020.

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar said on Saturday the state-run bank would need to invest up to 24.5 billion rupees ($331 million) to buy a 49% stake in Yes Bank as part of the initial phase of the rescue deal, adding that the survival of troubled lender was a "must".

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News Network
April 7,2020

New Delhi, Apr 6: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Monday complimented his counterparts in other states for voluntarily accepting a 30 per cent cut in their salaries and allowances in the fight against coronavirus.

Talking to the news agency over the phone, Khan referred to the announcement in this regard made by the Centre on Monday and said he had already written to President Ram Nath Kovind, asking him to reduce his salary and allowances by 30 per cent.

"It is everyone's duty to do this when the country is fighting the pandemic. Even if it is more than 30 per cent of the salary cut, we have to accept it, he said.

The country is fighting an invisible enemy and it is everybody's duty to contribute to meet the challenge, the governor said.

Khan appreciated the LDF government in Kerala and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for taking "proactive" measures in containing spread of coronavirus.

"The government is keeping me informed about the measures taken by it and I on my part give them suggestions and ideas to tackle the menace," he said.

In Kerala, "We have a capable and competent government and over 80 per cent of patients in the state are those Indians who returned from abroad or foreigners. The community spread cases are very less, he said.

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