Farmers blame Siddaramaiah govt for diluting price norms

TNN
November 20, 2018

Bengaluru, Nov 20: Protesting farmers, who are demanding Rs 200 more per tonne of sugarcane over and above the fair and remunerative price(FRP) announced by the Centre in July, blame the previous Siddaramaiah government for their problems.

The Siddaramaiah government, bowed to pressure from the sugar lobby to forego its power to fix the sugarcane state advisory price (SAP), compromising the interest of cane growers, they say.

Politicians own around 40% of the major sugar mills in the state and dominate the sugar lobby in Karnataka. The Karnataka Sugarcane (Purchase and Supply Control) Act, 2013, enacted by the BJP government headed by Jagadish Shettar after a decadelong struggle by farmers, vested with the state government the power to fix the sugarcane price each year. It also gives the government the power to seize or take over mills that fail to pay the SAP.

The government calculated the SAP by taking into account the revenue of sugar mills, including from byproducts like bagasse and molasses. The farmers were happy because the SAP was usually higher than the fair and remunerative price (FRP) fixed every year by the central Commission for Agricultural Price and Costs. The Siddaramaiah government implemented the act by fixing SAP for two years despite a stiff opposition from sugar mill owners. Some mill owners refused to pay the SAP but gave in after a favourable court order for the farmers and the government. This led mill owners to get the government to amend the act.

“Since the SAP has legal backing, the mills decided do away with the provision completely,” said Subhash Shirabur, a former member of Karnataka Sugarcane Control Board and a cane grower from Bagalkot. “Unfortunately, the government readily agreed. Now we have to beg the mills for the right price.”

In place of SAP, the government brought in a revenue-sharing formula in which the farmers and the mill owners divide profits at a ratio of 70:30.

“As per the amendment, the sugar mills have to pay the FRP within 15 days of cane supply and wait till the end of the season to share the profit,” said Muttappa Komar, Bagalkot zilla panchayat vice-president. “But in the four years since the amendment came into force, the farmers have not received any money apart from the FRP.” Former CM Jagadish Shettar says issues like pending dues and irregular payment have cropped up again because the government has no control over the mills. “Re-enacting the SAP law is the only solution to this problem,” he said. “The government should seriously consider this.”

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Agencies
January 12,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 12: A recent study has claimed that people end up wasting almost an entire day when they take a vacation.

This can happen while standing in a queue or searching for places to visit, people do not keep a count of the time they have actually utilised during the trip. As a result, they end up doing much lesser activities than they originally had planned.

According to a recent report in Fox News, the study has also shared the fact that people try to justify time waste with planning and scheduling activities whereas the truth is that these things can be done well ahead to save time during the trip.

The average time waste according to the study commissioned by Sykes Holiday Cottages also said the people taking a seven days' trip waste a minimum of 17-and-a-half hours to figure out various factors.

But there are other causes involved as well. When one visits any crowded location, the real-time spent to enjoy the location is lesser than the time spent on reaching and trying to get involved. For instance, if one visits an amusement park, the activities take lesser time than the preparatory and other phases.

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Agencies
January 7,2020

Washington, Jan 7: Facebook will ban deepfake videos ahead of the US elections but the new policy will still allow heavily edited clips so long as they are parody or satire, the social media giant said Tuesday.

Deepfake videos are hyper-realistic doctored clips made using artificial intelligence or programs that have been designed to accurately fake real human movements.

In a blog published following a Washington Post report, Facebook said it would begin removing clips that were edited--beyond for clarity and quality--in ways that "aren't apparent to an average person" and could mislead people.

Clips would be removed if they were "the product of artificial intelligence or machine learning that merges, replaces or superimposes content onto a video, making it appear to be authentic," the statement from Facebook vice-president Monika Bickert said.

However, the statement added: "This policy does not extend to content that is parody or satire, or video that has been edited solely to omit or change the order of words."

US media noted the new guidelines would not cover videos such as the 2019 viral clip -- which was not a deepfake -- of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that appeared to show her slurring her words.

Facebook also gave no indication on the number of people assigned to identify and take down the offending videos, but said videos failing to meet its usual guidelines would be removed, and those flagged clips would be reviewed by teams of third-party fact-checkers -- among them AFP.

The news agency has been paid by the social media giant to fact-check posts across 30 countries and 10 languages as part of a program starting in December 2016, and including more than 60 organisations.

Content labeled "false" is not always removed from newsfeeds but is downgraded so fewer people see it -- alongside a warning explaining why the post is misleading.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Consumer watchdog Which? has claimed that more than one billion Android phones and tablets are vulnerable to hackers as they no longer supported by security updates.

According to the research report, the most at-risk phones are any that run Android 4 or older and those smartphones running Android 7.0 which can not be updated are also at risk.

Based on data from Google analysed by Which?, two in five android device users around the world are no longer receiving the important updates. Currently, those devices are unlikely to have issues, but the lack of security leaves them open to attack.

"It is very concerning that expensive Android devices have such a short shelf life before they lose security support, leaving millions of users at risk of serious consequences if they fall victim to hackers," Kate Bevan editor Which? said in a statement.

"Google and phone manufacturers need to be upfront about security updates with clear information about how long they will last and what customers should do when they run out. The government must also push ahead with planned legislation to ensure manufacturers are far more transparent about security updates for smart devices and their impact on consumers," Kate added.

Android phone released around 2012 or earlier, including popular models like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Sony Xperia S, are particularly at risk to hackers.

Which? has made suggestions to Android users on what to consider if they have an older phone that may be at risk.

Any Android device which is more than two years old, check whether it can be updated to a newer version of the operating system. If it is on an earlier version than Android 7.0 Nougat, try to update via Settings> System>Advanced System update.

In case a user is not able tto update the phone, the device could be at risk of being hacked if it is running a version of Android 4 or lower.

A user also need to be careful about downloading apps outside the Google Play store and should also install a mobile anti-virus via an app.

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