No sick leave, job rotation: India’s gig workers are overworked, underpaid

Arif*, 28, shuffled uncomfortably in the driver’s seat of his Maruti Wagon R as he tackled the crowded streets of Lower Parel, Mumbai’s arterial business district, on a sultry April 2019 evening. A hit track from the recent Hindi movie Gully Boy played on the music system but it did nothing to drown out the noise outside or ease his discomfort.

Arif had recently undergone an appendectomy and though the stitches had been removed, the wound was yet to heal completely. But rest was not an option. “If I stay at home, I won’t be able to earn anything,” he said, adding, “I have to take a break after each trip because it hurts.”

Arif is among the 1.5 million drivers working for ride-hailing companies in the country, part of India’s emerging gig economy–a labour market characterised by short-term contracts or freelance work for drivers, delivery staff and so on. Employers include web- or mobile-application based cab services such as Uber and Ola, and food delivery applications such as Zomato and Uber Eats.

Ola and Uber India have a 95% share of the country’s platform taxi market, and between late 2017 and early 2018, Ola had 56.2% of that share, Economic & Political Weekly reported in June 2018.

But app-based service companies such as Ola, Uber, Uber Eats, and Zomato have some of the worst working conditions among Indian start ups, according to a study by the Fairwork Project, an initiative led by two Oxford University researchers, Quartz India reported on March 26, 2019.

Read Complete Article

OnePlus 7 on sale at noon today on Amazon: 5 reasons why you should upgrade

OnePlus’ midrange flagship smartphone the OnePlus 7 is going on sale at noon on Tuesday, exclusively on the e-commerce platform Amazon India. The phone comes in two RAM and storage variants – 6GB/128GB and 8GB/256 – priced at Rs 32,999 and Rs 37,999, respectively. While the base variant with 6GB RAM will be available only in a mirror grey colour, the 8GB RAM variant will be available in mirror grey and red colour options.

As a part of launch offer, telecom operator Reliance Jio is offering benefits worth Rs 9,300 bundled with the OnePlus 7. The phone is eligible for up to Rs 2,000 instant discount on SBI debit and credit card. Besides, the phone is also eligible for no cost equated monthly instalment for up to three months, up to 70 per cent guaranteed exchange value via Servify, and exchange offers.

Reasons you should upgrade to the OnePlus 7

Price

Successor of the OnePlus 6T, the OnePlus 7 is actually priced lesser than the price of its predecessor. The OnePlus 7 premium variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage costs equal to the price of OnePlus 6T’s base edition.

Dual speakers

Like the premium OnePlus 7 Pro (review), the OnePlus 7 also has dual speakers for stereo output. The speakers support Dolby Atmos for immersive surround sound experience.

Read Complete Article

23-yr old infected with Nipah virus in Kerala: All you should know

Almost a year after ‘Nipah‘ (NiV) caused panic in Kerala after claiming over 17 lives, the deadly virus is back in the state. On Tuesday, Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja confirmed that a 23-year-old college has been infected with the Nipah virus in Kochi. The results of blood samples of the student were tested at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune. The government is preparing a list of people who were in contact with the infected youth. The government has so far listed out at least 86 people who he came in contact with recently. They have been kept under observation and asked to report to the nearest medical facility if they develop influenza-like symptoms like fever, headache, myalgia (muscle pain), vomiting and sore throat.

Health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan told reporters that there is no need to panic, after chairing high level meeting on Nipah Virus in Kerala this morning.

He also said that the wildlife department had been asked to capture bats for testing of the virus.

This is the fourth outbreak reported in India, with previous ones having occurred in 2001 (45 deaths), 2007 (5 deaths) and 2018 (17 deaths). What is this ‘deadly Nipah virus’? Can it be contained? How does it spread? How is one infected by Nipah and what is the cure? – these are some of the points we’ve covered here.

What is Nipah virus (NiV)?

Nirmala Sitharaman second woman Finance Minister after Indira Gandhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday surprised markets by naming Nirmala Sitharaman, formerly the country’s defence minister, as the next finance minister at a time when Asia’s third-largest economy is stuttering.

Sitharaman, 59, will become the senior most woman minister in Modi’s cabinet and the second woman to head the finance department after late former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Amit Shah, chief of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was appointed as the minister of home affairs, giving him responsibility for internal security with a control over the federal police.

Regarded as the architect of Modi’s landslide victory in the recently concluded general election, Shah replaces senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who will now be defence minister.

Shah had been tipped as a possible candidate for the finance ministry in recent days, but the job went to Sitharaman, who has an economics background and was briefly the junior finance minister in Modi’s first term.

Read Complete Article

In a first, an AI taught itself to play a video game, and is beating humans

Since the earliest days of virtual chess and solitaire, video games have been a playing field for developing artificial intelligence (AI). Each victory of machine against human has helped make algorithms smarter and more efficient. But in order to tackle real world problems – such as automating complex tasks including driving and negotiation – these algorithms must navigate more complex environments than board games, and learn teamwork. Teaching AI how to work and interact with other players to succeed had been an insurmountable task – until now.

In a new study, researchers detailed a way to train AI algorithms to reach human levels of performance in a popular 3D multiplayer game – a modified version of Quake III Arena in Capture the Flag mode.

Even though the task of this game is straightforward – two opposing teams compete to capture each other’s flags by navigating a map – winning demands complex decision-making and an ability to predict and respond to the actions of other players.

This is the first time an AI has attained human-like skills in a first-person video game. So how did the researchers do it?

The robot learning curve

In 2019, several milestones in AI research have been reached in other multiplayer strategy games. Five “bots” – players controlled by an AI – defeated a professional e-sports team in a game of DOTA 2. Professional human players were also beaten by an AI in a game of StarCraft II. In all cases, a form of reinforcement learning was applied, whereby the algorithm learns by trial and error and by interacting with its environment.

Read Complete Article

ICC world cup 2019 WI vs PAK Live score: Pakistan to bat; Amir, Riaz in

In today’s match of ICC cricket World Cup 2019 (CWC), the Pakistan cricket team, led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, will lock horns with Jason Holder’s Windies cricket team at Trent Bridge stadium in Nottingham. Pakistan will look to draw inspiration from the 2017 Champions Trophy win in England two years ago. However, Pakistan’s record in One Day Internationals (ODI) since then has not been very awe-inspiring: They have lost 21 of the 32 ODIs since their Champions Trophy triumph, and won only nine.

While Pakistan at present has a losing streak of 10 which they would like to break today, West Indies have been in good form in recent times. The latter held England to a stalemate at home earlier this year. They also boast some big power hitters like Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shai Hope in their batting line-up,. which can tear apart any opposition and make a mockery of their bowling attack. Head to head, too, Windies have an edge. They have won 70 of their 133 matches against Pakistan, while the latter has won oinly 30. Three matches have ended in a tie.

Check 2019 CWC Points table here

ICC cricket World Cup 2019: Pakistan vs West Indies LIVE score

Cricket legend Tendulkar to make his debut as on-air expert in ICC CWC 2019

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will make his debut as an on-air expert in the ICC ODI World Cup, starting Thursday in the United Kingdom.

The Master Blaster will take his place in the commentary box ahead of the tournament opener between hosts England and South Africa.

Tendulkar joins an illustrious panel of experts in the pre-show on Star Sports. He will have his own segment ‘Sachin Opens Again’.

The 46-year-old, who has represented India in six World Cups, holds the record for scoring the highest number of runs in a single edition of the World Cup, scoring 673 in 2003.

India opens its campaign on June 5 against South Africa.

ICC world cup 2019 ENG vs SA LIVE score: Root, Roy rebuild after early loss

In today’s match of ICC cricket World Cup 2019 (CWC 2019), the Eoin Morgan’s England cricket team will lock horns with South Africa cricket team led by Faf du Plessis at The Kennington Oval in London. An embarrassing first round exit in cricket world cup 2015 prompted them to rethink of their approach towards the 50-over cricket. The transformation has been remarkable, with England national cricket team climbing to the top of the one-day international (ODI) rankings and twice setting a new record for the highest ODI total, which now stands at 481 for six. On the other hand, South Africa have suffered plenty of cricket World Cup heartache which earned them the title of ‘chokers’. However, they are coming into the ICC CWC 2019 as an underdog with most of their players are expected to retire after the show-piece event. Head to head, South Africa have an advantage as they won 29 out of 59 matches while one match ended in a tie and 3 matches ended with no result.

ALSO READ: These gorgeous stadiums in England will host ICC Cricket World Cup matches

ICC cricket World Cup 2019: England vs South Africa LIVE score

SSC MTS exam 2019: Hurry, last day to apply today; all you need to know

SSC MTS exam 2019: Today is the last day of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) accepting applications for SSC MTS or Multi-Tasking (Non-Technical) Staffing 2019 recruitment drive. Candidates who are interested in appearing for the recruitment process but have not applied yet are advised to do without any delay at ssc.nic.in. SSC has been accepting applications for SSC MTS Recruitment 2019 since April 22.

How to apply for SSC 2019 MTS recruitment:

— Visit the SSC official website.

— Users have to register first at the SSC website, which can be done by clicking on ‘New User ? Register Now’ button in the — Login section of the home page.

— Once registered, click on ‘Apply’ button on the home page.

— Click on ‘Others’ tab and click on ‘Apply’ link against the MTS.

— Go through the application process and pay the requisite application fees.

— Once submitted, take a print out of the application for future reference.

Payment method for SSC MTS Recruitment

Offline: Candidates opting for Offline payment mode will have to pay their Application Fees through state Bank of India Challan generated online. The requisite Application Fees is Rs 100. The Female Candidates and reserved category candidates are exempted from payment of fees.

Online Payment: Candidates can pay their Application Fees online through SBI net banking/credit/debit card. The Application Fees is Rs 100. The SC/ST/Female/PH Category aspirants are exempted from payment of their Application Fees.

Read Complete Article

Mirage probe puts spotlight on Dassault’s flight computer’s behaviour

On February 1, two experienced Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots died when their newly upgraded Mirage 2000-I fighter crashed while taking-off in Bengaluru. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) investigating the accident is now confronting the worrying possibility of a glitch in the Mirage 2000’s flight computer that kicks in without warning, causing the aircraft to behave unpredictably.

IAF flight records examined by the CoI have revealed at least four such incidents in the past. In each of these, a flying Mirage 2000 has, suddenly and without command from the pilot, jerked its nose towards the ground. Then, as spontaneously, the nose was jerked upwards. Each time, the aircraft has continued this up-and-down jerking — termed “pitch oscillations” — for several seconds before resuming normal flight.

Members of the CoI from the IAF, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) and the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) are veering round to the belief that such an incident caused the February 1 crash.

In three recorded incidents, the “pitch oscillations” took place at high altitudes, giving the aircraft time to correct itself. However, on February 1, the ill-fated Mirage 2000-I’s flight computer jerked the fighter’s nose down just after it lifted off the runway. With the aircraft barely five metres off the runway, it had no time, or altitude to correct itself. In a fraction of a second, the nose slammed onto the runway, the front undercarriage (nose wheel) sheered off, and the aircraft careened across the runway, fatally out of control.

In facing “pitch oscillations” when their aircraft was five metres above the ground, the two pilots who died were unluckier than several predecessors whose aircraft misbehaved at higher altitudes. An incident recorded in 1989 recounts that Mirage 2000, aircraft number KF138, experienced “sudden and momentary pitch oscillations… (for) a few seconds” at an altitude of 4,500 feet some 16 minutes after take-off. The oscillations exerted a violent force of “+10.5g to -6g” (“g” indicates the force of gravity) on the pilots and caused the cockpit’s red and amber warning lights to glow.

Read Complete Article