ISRO aims to launch Chandrayaan-2 by April

Agencies
March 11, 2018

Chennai, Mar 11; The ISRO today said it is aiming for an April launch of the Chandrayaan-2 satellite to the moon, this time it plans to send a rover to explore the lunar surface.

If the April launch of the Chandrayaan-2, the country's second mission to the Moon, is not possible, then the ISRO will aim for a launch by October.

"We are aiming for the launch of Chandrayaan-2 in April. In case we are unable to do so, then we will try for a launch by October," Indian Space Research Organisation chairman K Sivan told reporters here.

The Chandrayaan-2 satellite would comprise an orbiter, lander and six-wheeled rover which would move around the landing site and instruments on it would send back data that would be useful in analysing the lunar soil.

After reaching the lunar orbit, the Lander housing the rover will separate from the orbiter. After a controlled descent, the lander will soft land on the lunar surface at a specified site and deploy the rover.

Sivan said scientists were also gearing up for the launch of communication satellite GSAT-6 on-board GSLV-F08, scheduled later this month.

"Our immediate plan is a GSLV flight. We are planning to launch it by the end of this month. After that we plan to launch navigation satellite IRNSS-1I," he said.

The GSAT-6A is a communication satellite which will provide a platform for developing technologies. It would be useful in satellite-based mobile communication applications.

The IRNSS-1I is the eighth satellite to join the NavIC Navigation satellite constellation, which would be sent to a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit on-board PSLV as the previous IRNSS-1H launched on August 31, 2017, had become an "unsuccessful" mission.

On asking, Sivan said the ISRO was working on developing a mobile application for the benefit of fishermen.

"We are working on the app (application). It will inform fishermen where large quantities of fish are available. It will also give them messages about the conditions of the sea. It is in production mode (currently)," he said.

In January, the ISRO successfully launched PSLV-C40 carrying Cartosat-2 Series satellite from the spaceport of Sriharikota about 110 km from here.

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News Network
March 18,2020

San Francisco, Mar 18: Facebook said a bug in its anti-spam system temporarily blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus. Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Tuesday that the company was working on a fix for the problem.

Users complained that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak were blocked by the company's automated system.

Later on Tuesday, Rosen tweeted that Facebook had restored all the incorrectly deleted posts, which also covered topics beyond the coronavirus.

Rosen said the problems were unrelated to any changes in Facebook's content-moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to questions on the status of Facebook's content moderators, many of whom do not work directly for the company and are not always able to work from home.

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Agencies
June 17,2020

In a bid to help tackle rise in domestic violence during the social distancing times in India, Twitter on Wednesday launched a dedicated search prompt to serve information and updates from authoritative sources around domestic violence.

Twitter has partnered with the Ministry of Women and Child Development the National Commission for Women in India to expand its efforts towards women.

The search prompt will be available on iOS, Android and on mobile.twitter.com in India, in both English and Hindi languages, the company said in a statement.

Data shows that since the outbreak of Covid-19, violence against women and girls has intensified in India and across the globe.

"We recognise collaboration with the public, government and NGOs is key to combating the complex issue of domestic violence. Accessing reliable information through this search prompt could be a survivor's first step towards seeking help against abuse and violence," said Mahima Kaul, Director, Public Policy, India and South Asia, Twitter.

Every time someone searches for certain keywords associated with the issue of domestic violence, a prompt will direct them to the relevant information and sources of help available on Twitter.

This is an expansion of Twitter's #ThereIsHelp prompt, which was specifically put in place for the public to find clear, credible information on critical issues.

The feature will be reviewed at regular intervals by the Twitter team to ensure that all related keywords generate the proactive search prompt, said the company.

Violence against women and girls across Asia Pacific is pervasive but at the same time widely under reported.

"In fact, in many countries in our region, the number is even greater, with as many as 2 out of 3 women in some countries reporting experiences of violence," added Melissa Alvarado, UN Women Asia Pacific Regional Manager on Ending Violence against Women.

Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, the NCW, said: "With social distancing norms in place, several women are unable to contact their regular support systems. This initiative by Twitter will provide big support to the survivors, who would otherwise be easily isolated without access to relevant information and help".

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Agencies
July 13,2020

New Delhi, Jul 13: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has blocked Bharti Airtel's Platinum and Vodafone Idea's RedX premium plans that offer faster data speeds and priority services to customers as both the plans were violating net neutrality norms.

The telecom watchdog has asked Bharti Airtel to explain within seven days how such a similar plan being launched does not violate the rules of net neutrality.

Vodafone Idea's RedX plan has been in the market since November 2019. They made some modifications in May 2020 and the Bharti Airtel was soon going to launch a similar plan.

According to TRAI, the higher speed for premium customers discriminate against others and violates net neutrality.

Responding to TRAI's move, Airtel spokesperson said: "We are passionate about delivering the best network and service experience to all our customers. This is why we have a relentless obsession to eliminate faults and have been consistently recognised by international agencies as the best network in terms of speed, latency and video experience."

"At the same time, we want to keep raising the bar for our post-paid customers in terms of service and responsiveness. This is an ongoing effort at our end," the spokesperson said.

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