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More News28 Dec 2019 | 5:01 PM

Kannur, Dec 28 (UNI) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan's inaugural speech, at the 80th Session of Indian History Congress (IHC) in Kannur University Thavakkara campus here on Saturday, was disrupted following protest by delegates and Research students.

Puducherry, Dec 28 (UNI) Alleging that Muthialpet Inspector of Police Senthil Kumar has prevented the DMDK workers from joining the rally organized by the BJP in support of the CAA here on Friday, the Puducherry unit of the party on Saturday urged the police department to initiate action against him.

Salem, Dec 28 (UNI) Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today said Tamil Nadu emerging on top in the National Good Governance Index (GGI) among the 'Big States' was a proud moment for the State.

Hubballi, Dec 28 (UNI) On the background of countrywide anti-CAA protests, the BJP has decided to run a pro-CAA awareness campaign across the state from January 1 to 15 which will include door-to-door campaigning to contact 30 lakh households, social media campaign, and rallies in all district centres.

Salem, Dec 28 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today said the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the opposition parties was due to political vendetta and to confuse the people.

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AP Cabinet nod for providing reservation in Panchayat Election for SCs, STs - United News of India

Union Cabinet on Tuesday announced that it has allocated around Rs 3,500 crores for updating National Population Register (NPR). The process shall commence from April next year and will be completed by September.

NPR was first done in 2010 and was later updated in 2015 when it was linked with the Aadhar. But since the announcement of the NPR update has come in the middle of a raging controversy on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), there is widespread confusion between the two. Many have also confused the National Population Register with Census, which is also due.

So what is National Population Register and how is it different from NRC or Census? Let's have a look:

WHAT IS NPR

The NPR is a register of the usual residents of the country. It contains information collected at the local (village/sub-town), subdistrict, district, state and national level under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

WHO IS USUAL RESIDENT OF INDIA

A usual resident is defined, for the purposes of the NPR, as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more, or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months.

The law compulsorily seeks to register every citizen of India and issue a national identity card.

WHO WILL CONDUCT NPR

The process of updating NPR will be carried out under the aegis of the Registrar General and ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India.

WHAT INFORMATION WILL BE COLLECTED UNDER NPR

The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic particulars such as:

WHAT DOCUMENTS DO YOU NEED TO PRODUCE FOR NPR

During the NPR, a respondent will not require to produce any document. As per a statement was given by Home Minister Amit Shah to news agency ANI, NPR information will be self-attested, that is, whatever information is provided by the respondent will be deemed correct and no documents or biometric would be required.

WHEN AND WHERE NPR WILL BE CONDUCTED

The process of collecting information for NPR will start in April 2020 and will be completed by September. NPR will be conducted across India, except Assam as the state has already gone through the National Register of Citizens. Gazette notification for the forthcoming NPR has been published by the central government in August.

HOW IS NPR DIFFERENT THAN CENSUS

While the process of NPR and Census will begin simultaneously, the two databases are not same.

The decennial census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on different characteristics of the people of India.

While NPR only contains demographic information, more details are required for census like information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, and housing and household amenities besides others.

The census is the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and plan for the future.

A census official collects details from village residents during Census 2011. REUTERS

The census provides detailed and authentic information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanisation, fertility and mortality, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, language, religion, migration, disability besides others.

The enumerators also collect data related to cultivators and agricultural labourers, their sex, occupational classification of workers in the non-households industry, trade, business, profession or service by class of worker and sex.

There will be a detailed survey on gender and literacy rate, a number of towns, slum households and their population.

Information is also collected on sources of potable water, energy, irrigation, method of farming, whether a house is a concrete, thatched or others.

Also read | What is NRC: All you need to know about National Register of Citizens

The census, 2021 will be done in two phases. In the first phase, the work of house-listing or housing census will be conducted from April to September 2020. In the second phase, the enumeration of the population will be done from February 9 to February 28, 2021, with reference moment as 00:00 hours of March 1, 2021.

For snow-bound areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date will be October 1, 2020.

With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time tested exercise has been bringing out a veritable wealth of statistics every 10 years, beginning from 1872 when the first census was conducted in India non-synchronously in different parts.

HOW IS NPR DIFFERENT THAN NRC

National Population Register is a database of people living in India, citizens or not, but National Resgiter of Citizens is a database of Indian citizens. The NRC process demands proof of citizenship from the respondents. Those who found in wnat of the proof may face deportation or detention in long run. But in NPR, there is no need to provide any document.

WILL ANYONE LOSE CITIZENSHIP BECAUSE OF NPR

"It is possible that some names are missed in the NPR, still their citizenship will not be revoked because this is not the process of NRC. The NRC is a different process. I want to make it clear that nobody will lose citizenship because of NPR," Amit Shah said.

The home minister's statement came amid controversy that NPR was the first step towards NRC. Several opposition leaders requested CMs to boycott the NPR process to avoid NRC. But the home minister has claimed that the two are not linked in any way.

The home ministry officials have also said that there is no plan to use data collected during NPR to form the basis of NRC.

WHAT IS THE USE OF NPR

The question remains that if the government has Census than why does it need NPR.

The officials say that NPR data helps identify the demographics of actual residents who will be direct beneficiaries of any schemes launched in the area.

For example, a majority of permanent residents of an industrial town in Gujarat may be Gujarati speaking, but the majority of current residents may consist of Hindu speaking people from various parts of the country. The NPR data will help government design and adapt schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Jandhan Yojna, or medium of instruction in schools as per the current demographics, thus making the schemes more effective.

(With inputs from agencies)

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What is NPR: All you need to know about National Population Register - India Today

Council chiefs have signed off plans to invest 7 million to turn more than 16,000 street lights LED in the county.

Shropshire Council will turn 16,523 lights that arent already LED over the next three years.

Councillor Simon Harris, member for Broseley, said his town made the switch earlier this year and said it was a fantastic scheme with 178 lights completed.

He added: The work men were fantastic, the whole town has benefitedand this is a great thing for the county.

The move will cost 6.83 million, but will save the authority 506,533 per year in bills.

More than 3,000 lights in the county have already been switched.

Councillor Steve Davenport, cabinet member for highways, said: It is a good scheme that will result in us saving 1million annuallyin total.

We currently have men in vans going around checking lights and this will help them.

Councillor Dean Carroll, cabinet member for climate change added: This will be a huge benefit to our efforts to tackle climate change.

I urge everyone to support it.

Councillor Viv Parry said the scheme was first mentioned five years ago and said it was a shame that the switch had not been made sooner.

Mark Barrow, director of place, said in a report to fullcouncil: Shropshire Council wishes to invest within its remaining 16,253 street lights that are located across the county, to replace the traditional street lighting bulbs with LED replacement, and where required replace the street lighting columns.

The LED conversion programme will contribute significantly to reduced energy consumption and will be intrinsic to the delivery of the councils environment agenda, by reducing the consumption of electric by 56 per cent over the working period.

The council currently spends approximately 1 million each year on energy for street lighting.

Recent projections indicate energy costs for street lighting will rise by between five per cent and 14 per cent over the next 10 years which could mean the annual cost increasing to nearly 3.7 million in that time and as high as 13.7 million in 20 years if prices rose by 14 per cent each year.

This forecast is clearly unsustainable, and a change in the approach is required.

He added: By investing approximately 6.83 million over three years to convert the councils 16,253 street lights to LED, it would reduce their consumption by 56 per cent saving approximately 506,533 per year (at todays prices) in energy and a reduction in maintenance costs of an estimated 390,899 per year.

In order to achieve the above intention, full council is asked to approve that Shropshire Council applies to SALIX (a government agency) for an interest-free loan, supported with identified and approved SC finance to deliver a total budget of 6,824,011 for the three years of the programme to deliver the improvements and changes.

Continued here:
Shropshire: 16000 street lights to be upgraded - Border Counties Advertizer

More News28 Dec 2019 | 5:01 PM

Kannur, Dec 28 (UNI) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan's inaugural speech, at the 80th Session of Indian History Congress (IHC) in Kannur University Thavakkara campus here on Saturday, was disrupted following protest by delegates and Research students.

Puducherry, Dec 28 (UNI) Alleging that Muthialpet Inspector of Police Senthil Kumar has prevented the DMDK workers from joining the rally organized by the BJP in support of the CAA here on Friday, the Puducherry unit of the party on Saturday urged the police department to initiate action against him.

Salem, Dec 28 (UNI) Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today said Tamil Nadu emerging on top in the National Good Governance Index (GGI) among the 'Big States' was a proud moment for the State.

Hubballi, Dec 28 (UNI) On the background of countrywide anti-CAA protests, the BJP has decided to run a pro-CAA awareness campaign across the state from January 1 to 15 which will include door-to-door campaigning to contact 30 lakh households, social media campaign, and rallies in all district centres.

Salem, Dec 28 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today said the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the opposition parties was due to political vendetta and to confuse the people.

Original post:
AP government to set up 'High Power' Committee on Capital city issue - United News of India

More News28 Dec 2019 | 5:01 PM

Kannur, Dec 28 (UNI) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan's inaugural speech, at the 80th Session of Indian History Congress (IHC) in Kannur University Thavakkara campus here on Saturday, was disrupted following protest by delegates and Research students.

Puducherry, Dec 28 (UNI) Alleging that Muthialpet Inspector of Police Senthil Kumar has prevented the DMDK workers from joining the rally organized by the BJP in support of the CAA here on Friday, the Puducherry unit of the party on Saturday urged the police department to initiate action against him.

Salem, Dec 28 (UNI) Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today said Tamil Nadu emerging on top in the National Good Governance Index (GGI) among the 'Big States' was a proud moment for the State.

Hubballi, Dec 28 (UNI) On the background of countrywide anti-CAA protests, the BJP has decided to run a pro-CAA awareness campaign across the state from January 1 to 15 which will include door-to-door campaigning to contact 30 lakh households, social media campaign, and rallies in all district centres.

Salem, Dec 28 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today said the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the opposition parties was due to political vendetta and to confuse the people.

See the original post:
Mahadayi row: Centre facing hurdle in coming out with Gazette Notification: Shettar - United News of India

A landscape management company in the area just got an infusion of growth capital, thanks to an equity investor.

An undisclosed investor recently acquired a minority stake in Augusta-based Turf Works, according to Grand Rapids-based Calder Capital.

Turf Works co-owners Dave Konkle and Kevin Boucher approached Calder Capital earlier this year seeking advice on how to grow the companys customer base.

After consulting with Max Friar, managing partner of Calder Capital, Konkle and Boucher decided the best course of action was not to sell the company but instead to look for an investor willing to provide growth capital.

After a lengthy search, an individual investor was found who turned out to be a perfect fit, they said.

Calder Capital provided us with several quality investors, and after careful consideration, we are very pleased with our new partner and believe we have succeeded in beginning to take our company to the next level, the co-owners said.

When people think about mergers and acquisitions, they generally do not think about partner buy-ins; however, there are a lot of qualified investors interested in taking majority and minority positions in established and profitable companies like Turf Works, Friar said.

Taking on a partner is a sensitive issue, and we are very pleased it worked out so well for Kevin and Dave at Turf Works.

Ghazey Aleck, an associate with Calder Capital, served as the lead M&A adviser for Turf Works for this transaction.

This represented Calder Capital/Small Business Deal Advisors 21st transaction of the year.

Turf Works

Founded in 1991, Turf Works is a professional landscape management company offering a variety of lawn care services, including mowing, fertilization and turf management; tree and shrub trimming; snow removal services; and a 24/7 emergency hotline.

Turf Works serves industrial, retail, residential, education and municipal clients.

The business employs 10 core staff members and part-time/contract laborers as needed.

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Investor buys stake in landscaping company | 2019-12-26 - grbj.com

MILL CREEK Years ago, a dentist found a starving man in his apple orchard.

He gave him something to eat and nursed him back to health. The homeless man told him hed once been a guard at a New York bank, but hed been hit over the head in a robbery. The dentist let him sleep in a one-room shed behind his house on the outskirts of Mill Creek. He worked on the mans teeth and sometimes even asked him to babysit. His family rented out the house, telling tenants the neighbor in the shed came as part of the deal.

At least thats the strange tale gathered by authorities since Jan. 11, 2015, when a passerby found a body in an overgrown shack along North Creek Park.

Apparently police had come in contact with the man before, and written his name as Jerry Diggs, born in May 1945; or Jerry Deggs, born in December 1949; or Jeremy Diggs, born on New Years Eve 1950. All were close to the truth, but not near enough to lead to his family, to tell them he had died.

His real name remained a mystery until volunteers at DNA Doe Project cracked the case over the past 1 years. Amateur genealogist Jenny Lecus, 35, grew obsessed with the nameless man.

He was my first and last thought every day for 19 months, Lecus said Friday.

If she listened to music, shed wonder what songs he listened to. She wondered about his likes and habits, and what kind of stories he would tell.

In large part thanks to hundreds of hours of sleuthing by Lecus, the Snohomish County Medical Examiners Office is officially releasing the mans name Monday.

She still has many things she would like to know about Nathaniel Terrence Deggs.

A large family

On the East Coast, he went by Terry, not Jerry.

Hed been born to a teenage mother in Baltimore, the second of more than a dozen brothers, sisters and half-siblings. In his youth, he was taken in by a foster mom whose last name was Deggs. They moved to the Bronx.

Little is clear about this part of his life. The siblings knew of each other, but werent always in touch. One of his sisters told authorities shed visited him in New York City. She recalled seeing him in the uniform of a bank security guard. His foster mother died in 1984. Family believed he was extremely upset by the loss. Not long after that, he vanished.

His family searched for him over the years. Yet he existed about as far off the grid as a person can these days, in spite of being perhaps a half-hour drive northeast of Seattle. Why he came here, of all places, is an enigma.

The Mill Creek man discovered the cold, emaciated African-American man in October 1985, staying in a falling-apart barn near his home in the 17500 block of Bothell-Everett Highway. He became a part of the family, cooking for them.

The man went by Jerry. He was reclusive, rarely leaving the shed about 200 feet behind the home. Renters knew a man lived back there, but they learned little about his past.

James K. Prater, 57, a contractor now based in Clearview, rented the place for a year around 1996. He also knew his backyard neighbor as Jerry, a quiet guy who was kind of slow. Hed make childlike sketches of his surroundings in color. On holidays Prater would bring him a plate of food, and if Prater was chopping firewood, hed share the extra.

One day a small fire broke out on the roof of the small cabin. Prater grabbed a ladder and put out the flames. Firefighters would not allow Deggs to keep his wood stove, though. Prater gave him an electric skillet and a small heater, and ran the power cords out of his home business, a paintball shop.

Prater recalled Jerry did odd-jobs for the homeowner mowing the lawn and other landscaping work on the other side of the valley. For the most part Jerry just kept to himself. He liked to eat potatoes and he lived off the land, picking fruit from the orchard, on a quiet 6 acres, Prater said.

He just wandered around in those woods, he said. Theres birds, theres coyotes. Theyre developing it, which is ruining the luster.

Prater had given him seeds to try to grow a garden. Deggs wasnt very good at it. He joked that if he had to grow his own food, hed die. He had no phone and no running water. Once in a while hed walk to the house to fill up from the spigot.

After the dentists father died, the property was transferred to a company co-owned by his sons in 2007.

Several times after that, Mill Creek police documented a man walking along Bothell-Everett Highway. Officers scribbled quick reports when they talked with him, but he was never arrested, fingerprinted or caught in any serious trouble.

Prater continued to drive past the house on his regular trips to Snohomish County. Once, he said, hed even taken back some of the flowers he planted in his former garden.

I had no idea that the old man was still living there, Prater said.

A nameless man

Brambles covered the shed by the time the body was found in 2015, under blankets on a mattress made of pieces of foam. Inside it was undisturbed, with $20 left untouched, police reported.

The nameless man wore dark heavy wool socks. Hed dressed in a plaid flannel shirt, a black T-shirt with a high collar and tan pants. He was missing a tip of one finger. Authorities later learned Deggs had an accident while chopping wood as a boy. Foul play was never suspected in the death. Over several trips, police searched fruitlessly for some piece of ID.

DNA from the remains had been entered into the national database CODIS as early as 2015. There were no matches.

Death investigators took many approaches to find the mans name. They asked the state Department of Social and Health Services to look for records of food stamps that could be linked to him. But there was no evidence he used them.

Once investigators learned of the similar, inconsistent names in old police field reports, the medical examiners office gave those clues to Oregon genealogist Deb Stone. She uncovered a promising lead in an East Coast man, who shared one of the names and was born in the 1940s. But he was still alive.

A forensic dentist compared the mans teeth to those of missing people. But he struggled to narrow down a list of possibilities.

Cans and over 1,000 pieces of paper were recovered from the cabin in 2015, to be tested for fingerprints. Only two sheets came back with workable samples. And neither of the prints matched any person who was reported missing. Those prints may not have come from Deggs anyway, because his fingers were possibly too dry to leave behind a mark.

Articles in The Daily Herald showed a likeness of the mans face, a forensic drawing based on the mans skull. Every tip from the public led to a dead end.

The first step that led to an actual answer came in early 2018. A new DNA sample had been extracted from the mans femur, to be used by the nonprofit DNA Doe Project. The genetic profile was uploaded to the ancestry site GEDmatch, a database that has become a key resource in the fast-emerging field of forensic genealogy.

Researchers use near-matches on the site to track down relatives, and ultimately, they can pinpoint the person in question. Using crime scene evidence, police have worked with genealogists to crack high-profile cold cases over the past two years, including two long-unsolved killings in Snohomish County.

Genealogists have also helped the Snohomish County medical examiner to restore names to an unidentified man found dead in Yost Park in 2018; a piece of human skull caught up in the Skykomish River in 2017; a mostly complete skull recovered from the woods in the Tulalip area in 2016; and a skeleton uncovered near Lynnwood in 1978.

Some cases can be solved in a couple of hours by the DNA Doe Project. Often it takes months. This one took the most time, by far.

For about 1 years, the case became a puzzle for Lecus, a genealogy hobbyist from Franklin, Wisconsin. Shes been fascinated with ancestry since age 14, when she used her Christmas money to buy a family tree-building program.

Lecus has traced her own bloodlines back to the 1700s in Germany. She submitted her own DNA to Ancestry.com in 2016, and instantly she was hooked by a new approach to a lifelong passion. She has volunteered with the DNA Doe Project since it was founded in 2017.

For about a year, there were no close family matches for the person known as the Mill Creek Shed Man. Generally it takes a second cousin or closer to build a tree from scratch. All of this John Does matches were around the fifth-cousin level, back in 2018.

On GEDmatch, users can click a box to let researchers or police view their genetic profile, a recent policy change reacting to concerns over genetic privacy and informed consent. On the downside, it made things much harder for forensic genealogists, and Lecus encouraged anyone signed up for the site to opt in, to help solve cases like this one.

Each day Lecus logged in to check up on handful of profiles shed been monitoring on GEDmatch, to see if close relatives would pop up. Then one morning in February, a half-cousin shared her profile. She was a blood relative of Deggs mom.

A mystery in a mystery

In public records, the name Terry or Jerry or even Nathaniel Deggs is about as elusive as the man himself.

One relative had his Social Security number, but it proved to be little to no help.

The family had hired a private detective at one point, and tried their own internet searches.

His birth certificate still has not been found that particular year was missing in Baltimores public records when Lecus went looking for it, she said. Deggs was likely nearing 65 years old when he died.

One obituary of a brother called him Nathaniel Davy in 2017. Nathaniel was listed as a survivor. Another obituary gave the last name Davis. Since then, some family members have suggested it was a combination of the two. In spite of the confusion, if his siblings hadnt published those names, researchers would still be guessing, Lecus said. The DNA Doe Project volunteered over 1,900 hours in search of the name, affixing thousands of branches to hundreds of family trees. Once Lecus had the half-cousins name, she was able to discover pieces of his ancestry. It led her to the obituaries.

Everyone on that long list of siblings could be found without much trouble except for Nathaniel. Later, DNA from one of the sisters would confirm Deggs was the man in the shed.

I still check every day for new matches, Lecus said. I do hope to have some more of his tree filled in. Its a personal thing.

One night in August, one of Deggs half-siblings answered a phone call from a strange number out of the Seattle area.

There was a bit of an edge in the womans voice, the kind of tone you might give a rude telemarketer, recalled Jane Jorgensen, the investigator at the medical examiners office. It was only 7 p.m. on the West Coast, but it was hours later on the other side of the country.

Then Jorgensen told her why she was calling. The womans voice softened. Shed been waiting a long time for this.

Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.

This story has been modified to more precisely describe the nature of the change of ownership of the house in 2007.

Gallery

In January 2015, an unidentified mans body was found in this shed behind a home in Mill Creek. (Snohomish County Medical Examiners Office)

A man who went by the name Jerry lived in the shed about 200 feet behind this home in Mill Creek. (Snohomish County Medical Examiners Office)

Brambles covered the shed by the time the body of Nathaniel Terry Deggs was found in 2015. (Snohomish County Medical Examiners Office)

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The mystery of the man in the Mill Creek shed is solved - The Daily Herald

By Prakash Mallya

If there is one thing that continues to redefine the way we live -- with an impact greater than any other since the dawn of evolution -- it is technology. Relentlessly playing the role of an alchemist -- transforming science fiction and fantasy into reality, technology is the artist that holds our attention while working behind the scenes. It is an enabler that can fulfill our wants and needs, and enrich our lives with comfort, convenience, entertainment, good health and even prosperity. And going by the trends, it seems like we cant get enough.

Our growing demand for compute and connectivity on the go led to tremendous innovation in mobile devices; our need for safer, greener and intelligent travel led to the invention of smart, autonomous and electric cars; and our need for carrying out real-time monetary transactions led to the electronic banking facility. Technological innovation seems to almost emulate the change constant of life. Heres a look how this evolution continued in the past year:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)AI continued to top the innovation chart this year. Our demand for safer cities, a safer driving experience and improved healthcare has resulted in a spate of innovations and a paradigm shift in the way we use intelligent data. We have seen AI and machine learning (ML) gradually move out of the cloud and closer to edge devices where analytics happen in real-time. This is because data transmission delays (latency) associated with the cloud can adversely impact mission critical outcomes. In order to keep AI-powered devices, such as those in smart city surveillance systems, autonomous cars and healthcare systems responsive enough, the data needs to reside as close as possible to the source. This shift has also been possible due to System-on-Chip (SoC) processors that lend more computing power to edge devices.

Apart from urban denizens and patients, farmers too have started harnessing the power of AI and technology for improving food security and farming practices. Through AI-powered apps, they are monitoring soil and growing conditions, determining crop choices, predicting the weather and temperature, and improving water utilization, crop quality and output (precision agriculture). Developers in India are putting a plant disease detection solution in the hands of farmers to give them greater control over the health of their crops.

And finally, a discussion in AI would not be complete without talking about AI assistants (what we know as voice assistants), and this year, we saw several new ways we could interact with them. Mercedes for example, integrated both Amazon Alexa as well as Google Assistant into its cars, allowing users the comfort and convenience of using their favorite assistant while driving. Fitness buffs could chat with Nike Coach, a digital performance expert using Google Assistant, to find the sneaker that would augment their workout routine. And pizza lovers could order from Dominos not just via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, but also by using Dom -- Dominos own voice assistant. In India, weve seen regional language AI assistants enabling greater reach for digital services. For those who still miss the human touch in these interactions, theres good news coming their way going by Apples recent announcement, Siri will soon sound more like a person and less like an AI bot.

Gaming

The world of gaming is constantly evolving, providing mind-bending and exhilarating experiences to avid gamers with each generation of development release. Games from the 1980s to the 90s ran on 8-bits and the Color Graphics Card (CGC) had just 16 KB of video memory. From the 1990s till the first decade of the new millennium, the market was dominated by the fifth generation of games -- running on 32 and 64 bits.

By 2019, a gaming culture has already marked its presence, which manifests itself today in peoples passion for serious gaming and gaming competitions that make front page news. With the worlds largest youth population, India is one of the fastest growing gaming markets in the world. Recent reports have estimated significant growth in the number of gamers and game developers in the country resulting in increasing gaming revenues. The number of professional esports athletes and streamers in India are also on the rise. Technologies like cloud, ML AI, data-analytics are already disrupting the gaming ecosystem - not just at the development stage but also improving the user experience to a never before seen extent.

Internet of Things (IoT)Gartner forecasts that there will be 20 billion internet-connected things by 2020. While the list of IoT gadgets for consumers may seem unending, ranging from smart and connected gadgets and appliances such as smart refrigerators, air conditioners, watches, fire alarms, door locks, bicycles, medical sensors, fitness trackers, security systems, etc., there were some that particularly caught our attention this year. Like a specially designed watch with IoT integration for people suffering from dementia, Alzheimers disease or autism, allowing the patient and the caregiver to stay connected round the clock. And an automobile gadget with smart features, such as emergency and panic buttons, automatic crash detection, notification of crash to family, and GPS-based location tracking. Amongst other popular IoT products were intelligent thermostats and smart lighting systems used in homes.

Several automation products have IoT integration such as the home automation range of connected smart devices, including those catering to the users light and music preferences. This year saw several of these devices offering users a hands-free, voice-enabled experience rather than touch screen. In India, weve seen applications across retail, education, smart city initiatives, healthcare, among others. From self-service kiosks to smart classroom solutions to remote patient monitoring to surveillance applications, India has seen both product innovation and implementations with potential to scale.

Virtual (VR), Augmented (AR) and Mixed reality (MR) Taking things up a notch, Extended Reality (ER) is another trend that will make headlines in 2020. It can be explained as a term that covers several new and revolutionary technologies that create more immersive digital experiences. To break it down, this refers to virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality. We have all seen or experienced the digitally immersive experience of a computer-generated world that we can experience using headsets that cut out the real world. This is popularly known as Virtual Reality (VR). Augmented Reality (AR) on the other hand, overlays digital objects and portrays them in the real world via smartphone screens or any other display. Mixed Reality (MR) is an elaborate version of AR, where users can interact with digital objects in the real world. For example, a user could play holographic drums via an AR headset. The concept of Extended Reality is that of experiences.

For gamers, theres Super Mario Odyssey and Legend of Zelda included in the list of VR-compatible games introduced by Nintendo this year. And with the much awaited launch of Chrome AR, we can expect our web browser to deliver newer experiences.

RoboticsPowered with advanced AI technology, consumer robots will soon play a defining role in our daily life, assisting us with vacuuming the house, mowing the lawn, and cleaning the pool. Unlike cleaning robots, the social ones will serve as companions and care for us -- they will remind patients of Alzheimers disease to take timely medication, call family members, and take walks. They will socially interact with us at an advanced level with their ability to recognize faces and common human emotions. They will respond to their names, and even love to be petted. Armed with robot SoC, collaborative mini robots will be able to enhance rescue operations by working in a team without a central server, navigating a map, detecting obstacles and finding paths.

Advanced computer vision is also transforming the way drones operate. For example, drones equipped with Vision Processing Units can be controlled to get close-up images from the correct angles and, combined with AI technology, can help detect structural damage in buildings. One such solution is being used for a restoration project for a section of the Great Wall of China. Drones with neural compute chips are allowing deep-learning calculations and image-detection to be performed locally, without internet connection. These are alerting lifeguards about possible shark attacks or trouble faced by swimmers out at sea. AI-powered thermal cameras within drones are also helping scientists study the effect of climate change on polar bears and snow leopards without subjecting researchers and animals to any risk or stress. In India, weve seen etailers like Filpkart use robotics to automate their supply chain for more efficient customer deliveries.

The world of technology is limitless and the list of technological innovations seemingly unending. Theres never a dull moment for technology enthusiasts, and the best is always yet to come.

The author is VP and MD - Sales and Marketing Group, Intel India

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When considering a home improvement project, homeowners must decide whether they should hire a professional or attempt the work on their own. Taking the DIY approach can save you money and give you the satisfaction of completing a renovation or repair with your own two hands. Of course, if you don't have the skills necessary for the job a DIY approach can backfire spectacularly, causing damage to your home and forcing you to spend even more on professional services to remedy the issue.

A recent survey of 991 adults by HireAHelper, a resource assisting homeowners with moving, looked into Americans' willingness to complete home tasks by generation. While a majority of respondents were comfortable taking on simpler repairs, a significant share of the youngest respondents said they would prefer to hire a professional.

Respondents were most likely to say they would assemble furniture on their own, with 86.5 percent saying so. HireAHelper noted how respondents were undaunted by such assembly despite the option of hiring someone through TaskRabbit or a similar gig platform for the work.

Most respondents85.3 percentsaid they would unclog a toilet on their own. However, one-third of Generation Z respondents said they had not completed this task before, and one in four said they would prefer to hire a professional rather than attempt it on their own.

A total of 77.1 percent said they would consider replacing a showerhead to be a DIY task. For the jobs of caulking a bathtub, patching a hole in the wall, or repairing a running toilet, roughly two-thirds66.7 percent, 65.9 percent, and 65 percent, respectivelysaid they would make the repair themselves.

A considerably smaller share40.3 percentsaid they would be comfortable installing a ceiling fan on their own. This process is more complex than other repairs in the survey, as it involves the installation of a new electrical box.

Men identified handiness or DIY skills as the most useful skill type a person can have, beating out financial savviness and auto repair knowledge. Women were most likely to consider financial skills to be valuable, followed by auto repair and handiness.

However, home improvement skills rarely made the list of skills most likely to be identified as useful by respondents. Unclogging a toilet was the second most useful skill named among baby boomers, while Generation Z respondents believed assembling furniture was the third most useful skill they could have. Respondents were more likely to consider skills such as tracking spending, creating a budget, or changing a tire to be useful.

Younger respondents were less likely to say they have passed on handiness or DIY skills to their children. While 63.8 percent of baby boomers had done so, the share fell to 59.8 percent among Generation Xers and 39.7 percent among millennials. HireAHelper noted that millennials were less likely than older generations to say they have passed on skills to their children, but also that many children of millennials are too young to grasp such topics.

A similar survey of 2,000 people by the home improvement resource ImproveNet from November 2018 looked at the regrets of homeowners who had attempted a DIY job. On average, respondents had attempted eight projects, with 63 percent regretting at least one of those attempts and one-third having to call in a professional to redo their work.

Respondents in that survey were most likely to say they regretted trying to install floor tiles, replace ceilings, refinish a hardwood floor, or install carpet. They had more success installing lighting, adding trees or shrubs to their landscaping, or putting in countertops, moldings, or trim.

Fifty-five percent said doing the project on their own took longer than they anticipated, while half said it was physically harder than expected and 48 percent said it required more technical expertise than they realized. Among those who were disappointed with the end result, 55 percent said it didn't look good while 24 percent said it wasn't functional and 21 percent said it didn't hold up over time.

Originally posted here:
Survey explores generational willingness to take on DIY home improvement tasks - theday.com

The installations of the carpet on the pavement of the Chausse de Gand and the Rue de Ribaucourt were carried out without complying with public procurement legislation. Credit: Facebook/Amet Gjanaj

The red carpet that was placed over a distance of 2 km in the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek last week, does not comply with the necessary legislation, according to the cdH party.

The installations of the carpet on the pavement of the Chausse de Gand and the Rue de Ribaucourt were carried out without complying with public procurement legislation, the party said.

Several Christmas decorations were also installed in addition to the carpet, such as light spots in the trees and on the facades, and cost a total of 27,500, reports Bruzz.

A whole series of administrative rules have been circumvented. Normally, it is the non-profit association COM2MOLEM (which will change its name to Millenium), whose budget of 70,000 is supposed to be used for projects for the end-of-year illuminations. But that has not been done, said Ahmed El Khannouss, a member of the cdH, reports DHnet.

It turns out that since the available budget to the economic development department was not used until November, they panicked and broke a series of rules. It was an employee of the aldermans office who bought the 2,000 metres of carpet at 4 per metre without asking, but by directly calling on two shopkeepers associations to cover it up. I have therefore carried out the usual checks, and it turns out that all the legal rules have been broken, he added.

This is a tempest in a teapot. This is a partnership with the two associations mentioned above, no more and no less. We have given them a clear and established mission and the commune will check all the bills. The procedures were well-respected, because it is a mission given to complete the end-of-year illuminations by giving visibility to these commercial cores, said Amet Gjanaj, the Alderman for Trade and Economy.

If we did not call upon the usual organisation, it is simply because the budgets are only now being released following a situation inherited from the previous legislature. The accounts will be released soon, and in the meantime, we have drawn on the economic development departments budget to proceed with these facilities, he added.

Math ChiniThe Brussels Times

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Molenbeek residents find a 2 km red carpet placed on pavements - The Brussels Times