Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail services have been extended today for the IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings. The match will be played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad. As many fans are expected to attend the match, Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities have decided to increase the frequency of trains.
To ensure that fans reach the stadium on time, the authorities have decided to increase the number of trains running two hours before the match.
After the match, the last train will depart from Stadium station at 12.30 am.
It is important to note that beyond the scheduled hours, entry will be allowed at Stadium station only. At other stations, only exits will be available.
The Hyderabad Metro Rail has become an important mode of transportation for fans attending matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. With its fast and reliable services, it has made it easy for fans to reach the stadium on time.
Bengaluru: Fourteen flights were diverted and six departures were delayed on Tuesday evening due to a heavy downpour and bad weather in Devanahalli on the city outskirts where the Kempegowda International Airport is located, airport authorities said.
Strong crosswinds and heavy rain with thunder and lightning impacted flight operations from 4.05 PM to 4.51 PM, an airport official said.
“Overall 14 flights were diverted. 12 were diverted to Chennai, one to Coimbatore and one to Hyderabad. Airline wise count – seven Indigo Flights, three Vistara, two Akasa Airlines and one each of Go Air and Air India. Six departures were delayed,” the official told PTI.
The official added that the normal operations have resumed.
“Flights diverted to Chennai are being refueled and will return to Bengaluru shortly,” she said
According to the Met department, the KIA in Devanahalli received 45.2 mm rainfall on Tuesday evening.
Due to the heavy downpour, traffic was thrown out of gear and normal life was paralysed in Devanahalli.
On the other hand, there was no rainfall in the central region of the city.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Ukrainian investigators are searching the home of Metropolitan Pavel Lebed, an Orthodox Church leader, who they accuse of justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and inciting inter-religious hatred.
Ukraine’s security service (SBU) confirmed on Saturday that Pavel, who runs Ukraine’s most important monastery, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, is suspected of violating the country’s criminal code.
Pavel “in his public speeches repeatedly insulted the religious feelings of Ukrainians, humiliated the views of believers of other denominations and tried to form hostile sentiments towards them,” said the SBU, which also published what it alleges are phone intercepts from Pavel’s sermons. He also “made statements that justified or denied the actions of the aggressor country,” according to the service.
“Today, the enemy is trying to use the church environment to promote its propaganda and split Ukrainian society,” the SBU’s head Vasyl Malyuk said.
Pavel’s branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was previously under control of Moscow clergy, but declared its independence in May last year.
But Kyiv argues that the church needs to be closed down due to its pre-war ties to Moscow and has been trying to evict Pavel and his fellow worshippers from his monastery.
Pavel has denied the allegations, arguing that Kyiv has no legal grounds for the eviction, according to the BBC. During a court hearing on Saturday, he said he has “never been on the side of aggression,” describing his current status as “house arrest.”
The SBU has arrested dozens of clerics, accusing them of collaboration with Russia. Last year, the service raided the Lavra monastery and other buildings belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The church denies that there is evidence to support the charges.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Russian law enforcement on Monday detained a young woman suspected of bombing a St. Petersburg cafe, in which a pro-Kremlin military blogger was killed and dozens injured on Sunday, according to media reports.
In a video from the interior ministry published by state news agency TASS, a woman presented as Darya Trepova can be heard saying she “brought a statuette” inside the cafe, which “later exploded.”
She said she had been arrested for “being present at the place” where the bombing occurred.
POLITICO was not able to independently verify whether Trepova’s statement was made under duress.
Trepova was reportedly detained for several days last year for taking part in a protest against the war in Ukraine on the day Russia’s full-scale invasion started.
Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by the St. Petersburg cafe blast, which also injured 25 people according to Reuters.
Tatarsky — whose real name was Maxim Fomin — was part of a group of high-profile influencers filing reports on the Ukraine war. He had more than half a million followers on Telegram.
According to AP, Tatarsky utilized “ardent pro-war rhetoric” in favor of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russia’s top investigative body announced Monday it had opened a probe into the bombing, which it labeled a “high-profile murder.”
The state-controlled Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee called the bombing a “terrorist act” and accused Ukraine’s special service of planning the attack.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, tweeted that Russia had “returned to the Soviet classics: isolation … espionage … political repression.”
This is the second time a pro-Kremlin media figure has been killed on Russian soil since the invasion began.
Last August, Darya Dugina — who was under U.S. sanctions for spreading misinformation about the war — was killed in a car bombing.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Jaipur: Medical services were affected in parts of Rajasthan on Wednesday after government doctors and faculty members in medical colleges went on a one-day strike in solidarity with private doctors agitating against the Right to Health Bill.
However, several government doctors attended to patients in OPDs at places like Bharatpur, Alwar and Udaipur.
Emergency services and ICUs were exempted from the strike.
A health department official said in the evening that there was no significant impact of the boycott because the OPDs were handled through alternative arrangements.
There was not much impact of the boycott in Sawai Mansingh (SMS) hospitals, the largest state-run hospitals in Rajasthan. Services remained unaffected in Dausa, the hometown of state Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena.
In Rajasthan, private doctors are demanding withdrawal of the Bill passed in the state assembly last Tuesday. According to the Bill, every resident of the state will have the right to emergency treatment and care “without prepayment” at any “public health institution, health care establishment and designated health care centres”.
Iqbal Khan, joint secretary, health department, had on Tuesday issued an order to medical college principals directing them to ensure that medical services in OPD, IPD, ICU, emergency and maternity wards were not affected and to take disciplinary action against the doctors going on leave without approval.
Meena said the strike was “unfair” and “unjustified” and that the doors of the government were always open for any negotiation.
Taking a tough stand, the state government warned of disciplinary action against the government doctors for going on leave without approval. As a result, some of the doctors returned to work after boycotting work for two hours in Alwar, Bharatpur, Udaipur and Dungarpur.
Amid the protest, Bundi collector Ravindra Goswami, who is also an MBBS doctor, attended to a few patients at the district hospital.
The management of OPD in SMS hospital was handled by additional principal, additional superintendent and other doctors engaged in administrative work.
New Delhi: Global IT services firm Accenture, which has a large presence in India, on Thursday announced to lay off nearly 19,000 employees amid the challenging global macro-economic conditions and slow revenue growth.
Delivering its quarterly results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, the company also reduced its annual revenue growth and profit forecasts.
“We are also taking steps to lower our costs in fiscal year 2024 and beyond while continuing to invest in our business and our people to capture the significant growth opportunities ahead,” Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO, Accenture, said in a statement.
The company said its revenues were $15.8 billion, an increase of 5 percent in US dollars. The new bookings were at $22.1 billion, a 13 percent increase.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2023, Accenture initiated actions to streamline operations, transform non-billable corporate functions and consolidate office space to reduce costs.
The company recorded $244 million in business optimization costs during the second quarter and expects to record total costs of approximately $1.5 billion through fiscal 2024.
“Accenture estimates $1.2 billion for severance and $300 million for consolidation of office space, with approximately $800 million expected in fiscal 2023 and $700 million in fiscal 2024,” said the company.
PARIS — In a typically French move, France’s top lawmakers are refusing to side with the United States and single out China’s TikTok.
This week, top members of France’s National Assembly strongly encouraged fellow MPs to “limit” their use of social media apps and messaging services, according to a damning internal email seen by POLITICO. The recommendation does include Chinese-owned TikTok — at the heart of a storm on both sides of the Atlantic — but also features American platforms such as Snap and Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram, alongside Telegram, founded by Russian-born brothers, and Signal.
“Given the particular risks to which the exercise of their mandate exposes MPs using these applications, we wish to appeal to your extreme vigilance and recommend that you limit their use,” wrote Marie Guévenoux and Eric Woerth from Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party and Eric Ciotti from conservative Les Républicains.
France’s narrative of putting Chinese and American companies in the same basket is in stark contrast to moves by other European countries, including the Dutch government, which decided to target apps from countries that wage an “offensive cyber program” against the Netherlands, such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
But refusing to pick sides and follow the United States’ geopolitical lead is a long political tradition in France, which is often accused of anti-American bias. During the Cold War, French President Charles de Gaulle tried to position his country as an alternative between the U.S.’s capitalism and the Soviet Union’s communism.
“France has not mourned the loss of its power and is trying to resurrect the so-called third way, also carried by [European commissioner] Thierry Breton,” said Asma Mhalla, a tech geopolitics lecturer at Columbia University and Sciences Po. “This will serve as a political argument to put French sovereignty and French tech back on the table,” she added, arguing that the next step will likely be to promote French apps instead.
And indeed, the top lawmakers’ letter encourages members of parliament to use French software WIMI for project management and collaborative work.
Their main issue with foreign social media apps is that Chinese and American laws are extraterritorial. The personal data gathered via the platforms — including contacts, photos, videos, and both professional and personal documents — could be used by foreign intelligence services, they argued in their email.
During Macron’s tenure, France has fought tooth and nail against the U.S. Cloud Act, a piece of legislation that allows American authorities to seize data stored on American servers even if they’re located abroad. Paris has even come up with a specific set of rules for cloud services to try and shield European data from Washington’s extraterritorial reach.
In China, an intelligence law also requires domestic technology companies to hand over data to state authorities on subjects anywhere in the world.
“The U.S. are well aware that all their arguments used against TikTok — namely that Chinese law is extraterritorial — awkwardly echo what the Europeans have been reproaching them for some time,” said Mathilde Velliet, a researcher in tech geopolitics at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).
“On the other hand,” she added, “the U.S. also believes they cannot be put on the same footing as China, because they’re a European ally with a different political and security relationship, and because it’s a democracy.”
Washington and EU capitals including Paris and Brussels also engage in dialogue on data security issues and cyber espionage, which is not the case with Beijing.
In the National Assembly’s corridors, however, the top lawmakers’ decision to call out foreign platforms from both the U.S. and China was very much welcome. “It’s all starting to look like a third way, which would be European sovereignty,” said Philippe Latombe, an MP from Macron’s allied party Modem. “And that’s good news.”
Océane Herrero contributed reporting.
This article has been updated.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Western governments are ticked off with TikTok. The Chinese-owned app loved by teenagers around the world is facing allegations of facilitating espionage, failing to protect personal data, and even of corrupting young minds.
Governments in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and across Europe have moved to ban the use of TikTok on officials’ phones in recent months. If hawks get their way, the app could face further restrictions. The White House has demanded that ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, sell the app or face an outright ban in the U.S.
But do the allegations stack up? Security officials have given few details about why they are moving against TikTok. That may be due to sensitivity around matters of national security, or it may simply indicate that there’s not much substance behind the bluster.
TikTok’s Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew will be questioned in the U.S. Congress on Thursday and can expect politicians from all sides of the spectrum to probe him on TikTok’s dangers. Here are some of the themes they may pick up on:
1. Chinese access to TikTok data
Perhaps the most pressing concern is around the Chinese government’s potential access to troves of data from TikTok’s millions of users.
Western security officials have warned that ByteDance could be subject to China’s national security legislation, particularly the 2017 National Security Law that requires Chinese companies to “support, assist and cooperate” with national intelligence efforts. This law is a blank check for Chinese spy agencies, they say.
TikTok’s user data could also be accessed by the company’s hundreds of Chinese engineers and operations staff, any one of whom could be working for the state, Western officials say. In December 2022, some ByteDance employees in China and the U.S. targeted journalists at Western media outlets using the app (and were later fired).
EU institutions banned their staff from having TikTok on their work phones last month. An internal email sent to staff of the European Data Protection Supervisor, seen by POLITICO, said the move aimed “to reduce the exposure of the Commission from cyberattacks because this application is collecting so much data on mobile devices that could be used to stage an attack on the Commission.”
And the Irish Data Protection Commission, TikTok’s lead privacy regulator in the EU, is set to decide in the next few months if the company unlawfully transferred European users’ data to China.
Skeptics of the security argument say that the Chinese government could simply buy troves of user data from little-regulated brokers. American social media companies like Twitter have had their own problems preserving users’ data from the prying eyes of foreign governments, they note.
TikTok says it has never given data to the Chinese government and would decline if asked to do so. Strictly speaking, ByteDance is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, which TikTok argues would shield it from legal obligations to assist Chinese agencies. ByteDance is owned 20 percent by its founders and Chinese investors, 60 percent by global investors, and 20 percent by employees.
There’s little hope to completely stop European data from going to China | Alex Plavevski/EPA
The company has unveiled two separate plans to safeguard data. In the U.S., Project Texas is a $1.5 billion plan to build a wall between the U.S. subsidiary and its Chinese owners. The €1.2 billion European version, named Project Clover, would move most of TikTok’s European data onto servers in Europe.
Nevertheless, TikTok’s chief European lobbyist Theo Bertram also said in March that it would be “practically extremely difficult” to completely stop European data from going to China.
2. A way in for Chinese spies
If Chinese agencies can’t access TikTok’s data legally, they can just go in through the back door, Western officials allege. China’s cyber-spies are among the best in the world, and their job will be made easier if datasets or digital infrastructure are housed in their home territory.
Dutch intelligence agencies have advised government officials to uninstall apps from countries waging an “offensive cyber program” against the Netherlands — including China, but also Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Critics of the cyber espionage argument refer to a 2021 study by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which found that the app did not exhibit the “overtly malicious behavior” that would be expected of spyware. Still, the director of the lab said researchers lacked information on what happens to TikTok data held in China.
TikTok’s Project Texas and Project Clover include steps to assuage fears of cyber espionage, as well as legal data access. The EU plan would give a European security provider (still to be determined) the power to audit cybersecurity policies and data controls, and to restrict access to some employees. Bertram said this provider could speak with European security agencies and regulators “without us [TikTok] being involved, to give confidence that there’s nothing to hide.”
Bertram also said the company was looking to hire more engineers outside China.
3. Privacy rights
Critics of TikTok have accused the app of mass data collection, particularly in the U.S., where there are no general federal privacy rights for citizens.
In jurisdictions that do have strict privacy laws, TikTok faces widespread allegations of failing to comply with them.
The company is being investigated in Ireland, the U.K. and Canada over its handling of underage users’ data. Watchdogs in the Netherlands, Italy and France have also investigated its privacy practices around personalized advertising and for failing to limit children’s access to its platform.
TikTok has denied accusations leveled in some of the reports and argued that U.S. tech companies are collecting the same large amount of data. Meta, Amazon and others have also been given large fines for violating Europeans’ privacy.
4. Psychological operations
Perhaps the most serious accusation, and certainly the most legally novel one, is that TikTok is part of an all-encompassing Chinese civilizational struggle against the West. Its role: to spread disinformation and stultifying content in young Western minds, sowing division and apathy.
Earlier this month, the director of the U.S. National Security Agency warned that Chinese control of TikTok’s algorithm could allow the government to carry out influence operations among Western populations. TikTok says it has around 300 million active users in Europe and the U.S. The app ranked as the most downloaded in 2022.
A woman watches a video of Egyptian influencer Haneen Hossam | Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images
Reports emerged in 2019 suggesting that TikTok was censoring pro-LGBTQ content and videos mentioning Tiananmen Square. ByteDance has also been accused of pushing inane time-wasting videos to Western children, in contrast to the wholesome educational content served on its Chinese app Douyin.
Besides accusations of deliberate “influence operations,” TikTok has also been criticized for failing to protect children from addiction to its app, dangerous viral challenges, and disinformation. The French regulator said last week that the app was still in the “very early stages” of content moderation. TikTok’s Italian headquarters was raided this week by the consumer protection regulator with the help of Italian law enforcement to investigate how the company protects children from viral challenges.
Researchers at Citizen Lab said that TikTok doesn’t enforce obvious censorship. Other critics of this argument have pointed out that Western-owned platforms have also been manipulated by foreign countries, such as Russia’s campaign on Facebook to influence the 2016 U.S. elections.
TikTok says it has adapted its content moderation since 2019 and regularly releases a transparency report about what it removes. The company has also touted a “transparency center” that opened in the U.S. in July 2020 and one in Ireland in 2022. It has also said it will comply with new EU content moderation rules, the Digital Services Act, which will request that platforms give access to regulators and researchers to their algorithms and data.
Additional reporting by Laura Kayali in Paris, Sue Allan in Ottawa, Brendan Bordelon in Washington, D.C., and Josh Sisco in San Francisco.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
PARIS — France is bracing for fresh chaos Tuesday with a day of protests planned against Emmanuel Macron’s detested pensions reform, and trade unions calling for a general strike.
Protests last Thursday descended into turmoil with clashes between police and protesters, and scenes of violence across the country. In the wake of the unrest, which resulted in more than 450 arrests, the French president was forced to cancel a state visit by King Charles III amid security concerns.
Public transport, universities, schools and public services are expected to be disrupted again Tuesday. The impact of the industrial action is being felt across all sectors and areas of public life. A rolling strike of waste collectors in Paris has meant that trash is still piled high in parts of the French capital, and a strike at refineries has led to fuel shortages at some petrol pumps.
Despite widespread unrest, the French president pledged last week that he would not backtrack on the pensions reform which raises the age of retirement to 64 from 62, saying it was “necessary” for the country to balance the books of its generous pensions scheme.
The French government sparked outrage when it invoked article 49.3 of the French constitution to pass its pensions reform, in a controversial move that bypassed a vote in parliament it was expected to lose. The government narrowly survived two motions of no confidence in the National Assembly after the controversial move.
Tuesday’s protest could be an indicator of whether Macron’s inflexibility whips up more discontent on the street or whether the protest movement is starting to subside. French police have been accused of using heavy-handed tactics and it is likely that students and pupils will join protests in greater numbers. On Saturday, a man was left in a critical condition after clashes with police at a French water reservoir project.
Stalemate over pensions reform
Ahead of the protests on Tuesday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called for talks with trade unions and announced she would no longer use article 49.3 except when it comes to budgetary measures.
“Obviously there are tensions over the reform, we need to listen,” she told AFP on Sunday. “[We need] to calm the country and give the French some answers promptly.”
A demonstration of Totalenergies striking employees outside the Gronfreville-l’Orcher refinery | Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images
However, talks between the government and trade unions over the pensions reforms are at a standstill. Macron has said he is open to discussing a range of issues including working conditions, pay and work-related strain, but not the pensions reform. Trade unions say they would agree to talks only if the government agreed to re-examine the legal age of retirement.
With no clear way out and in the wake of a string of violent incidents over the last weeks, there are fears within the trade unions that France may be facing a socio-political crisis similar to the Yellow Jackets movement that rocked the country in 2018-2019.
Trade union leader Laurent Berger warned Monday that France was in “a total state of tension.”
“There is a common will [with the government] to find an exit for this protest movement and not descend into a madness that might take hold of the country, with violence and resentment,” he warned in an interview with French channel France 2.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Hyderabad: The US Consulate in Hyderabad has released a video explaining visa services at its new facility in Nanakramguda, ahead of the reopening.
The video features Consular Officer Cathy, who explains the process for applying for a visa to visit or work in the US. She emphasizes that the process has not changed and still involves making appointments for biometrics and an interview.
For some basic information about visa services at our new facility in Nanakramguda, please check out this video. pic.twitter.com/rMuRwI5FPb
— U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad (@USAndHyderabad) March 17, 2023
New address of VAC, US Consulate at Nanakramguda
Cathy goes on to explain that biometrics appointments will now take place at the new Visa Application Center (VAC) location, while the interview appointment will take place at the new US consulate in Nanakramguda, Hyderabad.
She also provides the address for the new facility, which is located at survey number 115/1, Financial District, Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, Telangana.
Drop box procession for US visa
The video also covers drop box processing, which remains unchanged. The applicants can still use the dropbox if their visa hasn’t expired more than 48 months ago. All dropbox cases will be taken to the VAC and transferred to the consular section.
In another video, the US Consulate in Hyderabad explains how to reach the VAC, which is located at the Lower Concourse, HITEC City Metro Station, Madhapur.
Here’s a short video on how one can reach the Visa Application Center (VAC), located at the Lower Concourse, HITEC City Metro Station, Madhapur, HYD 500081. pic.twitter.com/hyJuhzrIBR
— U.S. Consulate General Hyderabad (@USAndHyderabad) March 17, 2023
US Consulate in Hyderabad ends operations at Paigah Palace
The consulate officially ended operations at Paigah Palace, located in Begumpet, Hyderabad, on Wednesday, and is set to reopen at the new facility on March 20.
Today we lowered the U.S. flag at Paigah Palace for the last time. It’s been an amazing 14 years here and we’re excited to open a new chapter in the U.S.-India partnership at our new facility in Nanakramguda. pic.twitter.com/TPZdtvNDoL
The new US Consulate in Hyderabad, which is set to become the largest one in South Asia, was built with an investment of USD 297 million.
The US Consulate office in Hyderabad began its operation in 2009 and has approved over 16 lakh visas and processed 42,511 citizenship services in the past 14 years. With the new facility, the US authorities are looking forward to surpassing these numbers.
