The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced significant consumer-focused changes on Monday with the release of the Telecom Consumers Protection (Twelfth Amendment) Regulations, 2024. Among the key updates is the directive for telecom operators to introduce tariff plans exclusively offering SMS and voice call benefits. This initiative aims to cater to the needs of approximately 150 million 2G users and those who use a second SIM solely for calls and messaging, enabling them to pay only for the services they actually use. ALSO READ | This New Instagram Feature Will Help You See Missed Story Highlights — Check Details Currently, many 2G users are compelled to purchase bundled plans that include data benefits, which are often unnecessary for their needs. This policy change could impact service providers like Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi), which still offer 2G services, unlike Reliance Jio, which operates solely on 4G and 5G networks. Other Instructions By TRAI Meanwhile, telecom operators have been focusing on bundled plans that combine voice, data, SMS, and even OTT services to increase their Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). The new regulations challenge this approach by advocating for simpler, more cost-effective options for consumers. TRAI noted that these changes were introduced following extensive consumer surveys and feedback from various stakeholders. The amendments are designed to ensure users get better value for their money while addressing the diverse needs of telecom subscribers. Another significant update in the regulations is the extension of validity for Special Tariff Vouchers (STVs). Operators are now required to offer STVs with a validity period of up to 365 days, compared to the current limit of 90 days. These vouchers are typically more affordable than standard plans and offer a range of tailored benefits, making them an attractive option for cost-conscious users. Additionally, TRAI has directed telecom companies to introduce top-up vouchers in multiple denominations, starting at a minimum of Rs 10. This move is expected to provide more flexibility and affordability for consumers, particularly those with limited budgets.Jonah Goldberg Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there's one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that's wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the "sixties" didn't really start until the decade was almost over). But politically, the 21st century neatly began in 2000, when the election ended in a tie and the color coding of electoral maps became enshrined as a kind of permanent tribal color war of "red vs. blue." Elite understanding of politics has been stuck in this framework ever since. Politicians and voters have leaned into this alleged political reality, making it seem all the more real in the process. I loathe the phrase "perception is reality," but in politics it has the reifying power of self-fulfilling prophecy. People are also reading... Like rival noble families in medieval Europe, elites have been vying for power and dominance on the arrogant assumption that their subjects share their concern for who rules rather than what the rulers can deliver. Gobble up these 14 political cartoons about Thanksgiving Political cartoonists from across country draw up something special for the holiday In 2018, the group More in Common published a massive report on the "hidden tribes" of American politics. The wealthiest and whitest groups were "devoted conservatives" (6%) and "progressive activists" (8%). These tribes dominate the media, the parties and higher education, and they dictate the competing narratives of red vs. blue, particularly on cable news and social media. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans resided in, or were adjacent to, the "exhausted majority." These people, however, "have no narrative," as David Brooks wrote at the time. "They have no coherent philosophic worldview to organize their thinking and compel action." Lacking a narrative might seem like a very postmodern problem, but in a postmodern elite culture, postmodern problems are real problems. It's worth noting that red vs. blue America didn't emerge ex nihilo. The 1990s were a time when the economy and government seemed to be working, at home and abroad. As a result, elites leaned into the narcissism of small differences to gain political and cultural advantage. They remain obsessed with competing, often apocalyptic, narratives. That leaves out most Americans. The gladiatorial combatants of cable news, editorial pages and academia, and their superfan spectators, can afford these fights. Members of the exhausted majority are more interested in mere competence. I think that's the hidden unity elites are missing. This is why we keep throwing incumbent parties out of power: They get elected promising competence but get derailed -- or seduced -- by fan service to, or trolling of, the elites who dominate the national conversation. There's a difference between competence and expertise. One of the most profound political changes in recent years has been the separation of notions of credentialed expertise from real-world competence. This isn't a new theme in American life, but the pandemic and the lurch toward identity politics amplified distrust of experts in unprecedented ways. This is a particular problem for the left because it is far more invested in credentialism than the right. Indeed, some progressives are suddenly realizing they invested too much in the authority of experts and too little in the ability of experts to provide what people want from government, such as affordable housing, decent education and low crime. The New York Times' Ezra Klein says he's tired of defending the authority of government institutions. Rather, "I want them to work." One of the reasons progressives find Trump so offensive is his absolute inability to speak the language of expertise -- which is full of coded elite shibboleths. But Trump veritably shouts the language of competence. I don't mean he is actually competent at governing. But he is effectively blunt about calling leaders, experts and elites -- of both parties -- stupid, ineffective, weak and incompetent. He lost in 2020 because voters didn't believe he was actually good at governing. He won in 2024 because the exhausted majority concluded the Biden administration was bad at it. Nostalgia for the low-inflation pre-pandemic economy was enough to convince voters that Trumpian drama is the tolerable price to pay for a good economy. About 3 out of 4 Americans who experienced "severe hardship" because of inflation voted for Trump. The genius of Trump's most effective ad -- "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" -- was that it was simultaneously culture-war red meat and an argument that Harris was more concerned about boutique elite concerns than everyday ones. If Trump can actually deliver competent government, he could make the Republican Party the majority party for a generation. For myriad reasons, that's an if so big it's visible from space. But the opportunity is there -- and has been there all along. Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch: thedispatch.com . Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!
Here comes the heat: Parts of NZ to hit 30C this weekhas implemented substantial digital initiatives to streamline pension verification and welfare benefit distribution. The system and (DBT) program produce measurable outcomes regarding efficiency and fraud reduction. The programs build on India’s better push for digital identity verification, which began with establishing the (UIDAI) and its biometric-based national ID system. The digital life certificate system permits pensioners to submit their life certificates using facial recognition technology on Android smartphones. Throughout November 2024, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare implemented Campaign 3.0, expanding the initiative’s reach to 800 cities and towns across all districts. This implementation follows the successful deployment of facial recognition for pension verification in other countries, exemplifying a growing global trend of installing biometric technology for social security management. The that in the Finance Ministry Year Review 2024, the Indian Finance Ministry stressed how the DBT system, integrated with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), contributes to the Digital India initiative. This IT-based infrastructure enables digital payments and receipts for ministries and departments across the federal and state governments, resulting in increased transparency and accountability. The PFMS is a key player that enables real-time tracking of fund disbursements, from release to credit to beneficiaries’ bank accounts. This technique significantly streamlines trust in timely cash transfers, especially for centrally funded and sector-specific initiatives. The system ensures that only genuine beneficiaries have access to welfare payments by implementing Aadhaar-linked biometric authentication, hence eliminating ghost accounts and fraudulent claims. Finance Minister stated through her social media on X that more than $450 billion has been transferred through DBT in the last eight years. She ascribed this achievement to the elimination of middlemen, which resulted in savings of nearly $40 billion from possible pilferage. This achievement emphasizes the importance of integrating biometrics and Aadhaar-enabled digital identity into India’s . The DBT project demonstrates India’s commitment to promoting financial inclusion and improving governance through . Beneficiaries of numerous schemes, such as subsidies, pensions, and scholarships, receive payments directly to their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. This decreases delays and assures that funds reach their intended recipients without intermediaries. The Finance Minister of India further defined this project as a superb lesson in efficient governance, highlighting the importance of accounting for every rupee properly. With the integration of biometric technologies and digital identities, India’s digital public infrastructure establishes a global standard for transparency and effective fund administration, increasing trust in government services. India highlights how a strong digital public infrastructure can adjust lives, encourage accountability, and provide fair access to welfare services by utilizing biometrics and Aadhaar. Moreover, states like Karnataka are using the , which is supported by Aadhaar biometric authentication, to innovate public distribution systems, such as cash transfers in place of food rations. The linking of ration cards to Aadhaar is also being pushed in places such as West Bengal to streamline access to food assistance and reduce leakages. | | | | | | |
Magnetic Octupoles Revolutionize High-Speed, Energy-Saving MemoryBy CHRIS MEGERIAN and COLLEEN LONG WASHINGTON (AP) — In the two weeks since Donald Trump won the presidency, he’s tried to demonstrate his dominance by naming loyalists for top administration positions, even though many lack expertise and some face sexual misconduct accusations. It often seems like he’s daring Congress to oppose his decisions. But on Thursday, Trump’s attempt to act with impunity showed a crack as Matt Gaetz , his choice for attorney general, withdrew from consideration. Trump had named Gaetz, a Florida congressman, to be the country’s top law enforcement official even though he was widely disliked by his colleagues, has little legal experience and was accused of having sex with an underage girl, an allegation he denied. After being plagued by investigations during his first presidency, Trump wanted a devoted ally in charge of the Justice Department during his second. However, it was never obvious that Gaetz could win enough support from lawmakers to get confirmed as attorney general. Trump chose for a replacement Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who defended him during his first impeachment trial and supported his false claims of voter fraud. Now the question is whether Gaetz was uniquely unpalatable, or if Trump’s other picks might exceed his party’s willingness to overlook concerns that would have sunk nominees in a prior political era. The next test will likely be Pete Hegseth, who Trump wants to lead the Pentagon despite an allegation of sexual assault that he’s denied. So far, Republicans are rallying around Hegseth , an Army veteran and former Fox News host. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the controversy over Gaetz would have little bearing on Trump’s other choices. He said they would be considered “one at a time.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, suggested otherwise, claiming “the dominoes are falling.” “The drip drip of evidence and truth is going to eventually doom some others,” he said. Trump’s election victory was a sign that there may not be many red lines left in American politics. He won the presidential race despite authoritarian, racist and misogynist rhetoric, not to mention years of lies about election fraud and his role in sparking the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was also criminally convicted of falsifying business records to pay hush money, and he was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case. Empowered by voters who looked past his misconduct and saw him as a powerful agent of change, Trump has shown no deference to Washington norms while working to fill his second administration . The transition team hasn’t pursued federal background checks for Trump’s personnel choices. While some of his selections have extensive experience in the areas they’ve been chosen to lead, others are personal friends and Fox News personalities who have impressed and flattered Trump over the years. Several have faced allegations involving sexual misconduct . Related Articles Hegseth is facing the most scrutiny after Gaetz. Once Trump announced Hegseth as his nominee for Pentagon chief, allegations emerged that he sexually assaulted a woman in California in 2017. The woman said he took her phone, blocked the door to the hotel room and refused to let her leave, according to a police report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing, the report said. However, he paid the woman a confidential settlement in 2023. Hegseth’s lawyer said the payment was made to head off the threat of a baseless lawsuit. Trump’s choice for secretary of health and human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has faced allegations of misconduct too. A woman who babysat for him and his second wife told Vanity Fair magazine that Kennedy groped her in the late 1990s, when she was 23. Kennedy did not deny the allegation and texted an apology to the woman after the article was published. That isn’t the only hurdle for Kennedy; he’s spent years spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines, raising fears about making him a top health official in the new administration. Linda McMahon, chosen by Trump to be education secretary, is fighting a lawsuit connected to her former company, World Wrestling Entertainment. She’s accused of knowingly enabling sexual exploitation of children by an employee as early as the 1980s, and she denies the allegations. Tulsi Gabbard is another person who could face a difficult confirmation battle, but for very different reasons. The former Democratic representative from Hawaii has been a vocal Trump ally, and he chose her to be national intelligence director. But there’s grave concern by lawmakers and national security officials over Gabbard’s history of echoing Russian propaganda. Critics said she would endanger relationships with U.S. allies. Gaetz was investigated by federal law enforcement for sex trafficking, but the case was closed without charges and Republicans have blocked the release of a related report from the House Ethics Committee. However, some allegations leaked out, including that Gaetz paid women for sex. One of the women testified to the committee that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl, according to a lawyer for the woman. As Gaetz met with senators this week, it became clear that he would face stubborn resistance from lawmakers who were concerned about his behavior and believed he was unqualified to run the Justice Department. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction,” Gaetz wrote on social media when announcing his withdrawal. Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, said he believed there were four to six members of the caucus who would have voted against Gaetz, likely dooming his nomination, and “the math got too hard.” He said some of the issues and allegations around Gaetz were “maybe beyond the pale.” “I think there were just too many things, it was like a leaky dike, and you know, it broke,” Braun said. Trump thanked Gaetz in a post on Truth Social, his social media website, without addressing the substance of the allegations against him. “He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Groves and Lisa Macaro contributed from Washington. Jill Colvin in New York and Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also contributed.
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Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon (CNN) — Like tens of thousands of Lebanon’s displaced, Hussein Mallah headed to the southern suburbs of Beirut at the break of dawn on Wednesday. The truce between Hezbollah and Israel had just begun, ending a two-month war. Mallah says he took to repairing his home and businesses “almost immediately.” Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
A VR headset could make a great gift for the gamer in your life, and now you can pick up one of our favorites at a killer price. Sony’s PlayStation VR2 is on sale for $350 right now in a bundle that includes the critically-acclaimed spin-off Horizon Call of the Mountain . That’s $200 off the bundle’s regular price and one of the best Black Friday deals on VR headsets we found this year. We enjoyed this headset and gave it high marks in our official review . The OLED displays are excellent, so the graphics are on point. The headset’s fit is comfortable and it includes built-in haptics for increased immersion. Haptics for your head? That’s a pretty novel concept. Sony PlayStation VR2 Call of the Mountain Bundle $349 $550 Save $201 This is a record low price for the headset and comes with a game. $349 at Amazon The headset also includes eye tracking technology and ships with two dedicated controllers, one for each hand. The company’s Sense controllers are eerily similar to Meta Quest controllers, with a large tracking ring, analog sticks, face buttons, triggers and grip buttons. As for Horizon Call of the Mountain , it’s a new entry in the beloved Horizon franchise, only in VR. There’s a whole lot of climbing, as indicated by the title, but also a refined bow and arrow mechanic that feels just right in virtual space. We hesitated to recommend this headset to everyone at its original price of $550, but it’s a no-brainer at $350. This deal is also available through Sony , if Amazon isn’t your bag. So what’s the catch? There’s only one. This isn’t a standalone headset. It requires a PS5 to work, though Sony did recently release an adapter that lets it connect to a PC . Interested in the headset but don't have a PS5 yet? Luckily the PS5 Slim is also on sale right now for $75 off. It's Black Friday deals drop the console to $375 for the digital-only model and $425 for the disc-based version . Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.How major US stock indexes fared Tuesday, 12/24/2024
Over the last decade or so, quantum computing has become the talk of computer town. Their potential to solve complex problems much faster than classical computers is an intriguing proposition that could benefit, if not transform, several industries. The working of a quantum computer is based on the principles of quantum mechanics, an area of physics that deals with the smallest particles in the universe. Physicist Richard Feynman proposed the idea of developing a computer to simulate quantum systems in 1982. He discussed the idea of a universal computer that could simulate all physics — both quantum and classical. Researchers realised classical computers, the computers of today, would struggle with the complexity of quantum systems and thus the idea of a quantum computer was born. Since then, scientists have made significant progress in quantum computing. Basics of quantum computing Classical computers work on the principles of classical physics. Their fundamental computing unit is the bit: each bit represents one piece of information with two possible values, 0 or 1. It is possible to represent all types of information as a combination of 0s and 1s using the binary system. Quantum computers rely on quantum bits or qubits to perform computations. Unlike classical bits, qubits can exist in the states 0, 1 or in a state that’s partly 0 and partly 1. In this context, state refers to all the possible values the qubit can have. The ability of qubits to be in two states is known as superposition. Superposition is one of two fundamental principles that animate quantum computers. Imagine a spinning coin. While the coin is spinning, it can be both heads or tails, and it isn’t until the coin collapses that you can see which it is. A qubit is like a spinning coin that holds both values simultaneously. When a qubit is measured , it collapses to one of the values, 0 or 1. This means while a classical bit holds one unit of information, a qubit can hold two. Because of this quantum computers can perform multiple computations simultaneously, with the measurement revealing one of the possible outcomes of the computations. The second fundamental principle upon which quantum computers are based is called entanglement. This phenomenon allows qubits to be intrinsically linked no matter how far apart they physically are. Albert Einstein famously called it “spooky action at a distance”. So measuring the state of one of the qubits could immediately yield information about the state of the other. Say you have a pair of gloves. Each glove is put in a separate box and sent to different locations, and we don’t know which box has which. But once a box is opened to reveal the left glove, we instantly know the other box has the right glove. The instantaneous correlation between qubits allows shared information to be processed simultaneously, speeding up computations that would take far longer with classical computers. Superposition and entanglement can’t be described by classical theories of physics. They are exclusive to quantum mechanics — and central to the potential that quantum computers have to offer. Significant milestones Quantum computers are technologically superior but this doesn’t automatically mean they will be better than classical computers at different tasks. Over the years, experts have developed and honed specific tasks that prove quantum computers are capable of greater feats, and also show how. In 1994, Bell Labs computer scientist Peter Shor created the famous Shor’s algorithm. The algorithm could factorise (or find the factors of) large numbers in moments rather than the millions of years required by classical computers. This has major implications for data security. Current methods to secure data involve locking the data and hiding the key to unlock it in the solution of a difficult mathematical problem. Large-number factorisation is one such problem and classical computers require enormous amounts of resources to solve it. But using Shor’s algorithm, a quantum computer could quickly solve the problem and open the locks. The state of quantum computing came a long way in the next 25 years. In 2019, for example, IBM unveiled the world’s first circuit-based commercial quantum computer Q System One. Circuit-based designs are believed to be the most versatile for general quantum-computing applications. Q System One uses quantum circuits composed of quantum gates that manipulate qubits, analogous to how classical computers use logic gates. In the same year, researchers at Google reported in a paper in Nature that their 53-qubit ‘Sycamore’ processor had achieved quantum supremacy. A quantum computer achieves quantum supremacy when it can solve a problem that would take classical computers an unreasonable amount of time. The paper claimed Sycamore completed a task in 200 seconds that would take a supercomputer 10,000 years. Earlier this month, in fact, Google unveiled a quantum chip called Willow, purportedly the world’s first quantum processor in which error-corrected qubits improve as they scale. Quantum states are easily prone to errors due to interactions with the environment. Quantum computers need error correction to hold information long enough to perform useful calculations with them. Willow, Google has said, can finish a standard test in five minutes whereas the same calculation would take today’s best supercomputers 10 trillion trillion years. Present limitations The advancements are flying thick and fast but there are still many significant challenges to overcome before quantum computers can become (relatively) common. The chief concern is that building quantum computers remains expensive and complex. Keeping many qubits stable is also difficult because of error rates and decoherence (when a qubit loses superposition because of noise from its surroundings). The problems for which we really need quantum computers — like discovering new drugs or cracking mysteries in astronomy — also require millions of qubits. All said, their potential to be useful is clear. This is why India launched the National Quantum Mission in 2023. The government has set aside ₹6,000 crore for the mission to be spent over eight years, among other things to develop quantum computers. Tejasri Gururaj is a freelance science writer and journalist with a master’s degree in physics Published - December 24, 2024 10:49 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Text and Context / The Hindu Explains / science and technology2 Canadians arrested for failed murder plot in Northern California
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