China's Zhurong Rover Finds Traces Of Recent Water Activity On Mars

China's fully robotic rover on Mars has, for the first time, found traces of recent water activity on the Red Planet, indicating that Mars has a few areas where conditions are suitable for life to exist. According to a paper published in the journal Science Advances, the Zhurong rover, which landed on Mars in 2021, detected evidence of liquid water on sand dunes at low latitudes, i.e., towards the equator and away from its poles. 

In their study, Chinese researchers noted that scientists have for long believed that Mars once had an earth-like climate and an ocean flowing across its surface about three billion years ago. But dramatic climate changes froze much, with scientist believing most of it likely became trapped in the planet's outer layer, or crust. To date, no evidence had provided to show the presence of liquid water at low latitudes on the Red Planet.

However, the latest research is now believed to be a major breakthrough in understanding the evolutionary history of Mars. 

Scientists studying data from China's Zhurong rover pointed out that the rover did not directly detect any water in the form of frost or ice, rather it observed salt-rich dunes with cracks and crusts. The rover found cracked layers on tiny Martian dunes for the first time, which implies the Red Planet was a salt-rich watery world as recently as 400,000 years ago, the study said. 

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The Chinese researchers explained that since temperatures on Mars oscillate wildly and spike in the mornings, the saltwater evaporated and left behind salt and other newly formed minerals that later seeped between the dune's sand grains, cementing them to form a crust.

"This is important for understanding the evolutionary history of the Martian climate, looking for a habitable environment, and providing key clues for the future search for life," said lead researcher Professor Qin Xiaoguang, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The team stated that they used data obtained by the robotic rover's Navigation and Terrain Camera, Multispectral Camera, and Mars Surface Composition Detector. They found that the surface layer of the dune was rich in hydrated sulfates, hydrated silica, iron oxide minerals and possibly chlorides. 

"According to the measured meteorological data by Zhurong and other Mars rovers, we inferred that these dune surface characteristics were related to the involvement of liquid saline water formed by the subsequent melting of frost/snow falling on the salt-containing dune surfaces when cooling occurs," Mr Qin said. 
 

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Elon Musk Says Starship Could Be Ready For Launch In 6 To 8 Weeks

SpaceX's Starship spacecraft, designed to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars, exploded minutes after its liftoff in a test flight in Texas on April 20. SpaceX said in a statement that the spacecraft "experienced multiple engines out" during its ascent, then "lost altitude and began to tumble," before the "flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and the ship." Now the CEO of SpaceX and billionaire Elon Musk has stated that the spacecraft could be ready for relaunch in "six to eight weeks".

The billionaire, during Twitter Spaces, on Saturday evening, stated that when the engines of Starship, 30 out of 33 of which fired on for the flight test, reached "full thrust," it "probably shattered the concrete", as per a report in CNN. Mr Musk further stated that he was "glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small," and it would take "six to eight weeks" to get the required infrastructure in place for another launch. 

"The outcome was roughly in (line) with what I expected and, maybe slightly exceeded my expectations," the CEO of the company said, as per the outlet.

As per the outlet, the spacecraft and launcher were destroyed over the Gulf of Mexico when the spacecraft's flight termination or self-destruct, mechanism was activated. According to the billionaire, the flight termination system would need to be re-certified because the feature took longer than anticipated to blow up the rocket, "ensuring it didn't careen off course". That might affect how long it takes for the company to get a new Starship on the launch pad.

"The vehicle structural margins appear to be better than we expected. As we can tell the vehicle is actually doing somersaults towards the end and still staying intact," Mr Musk said. 

It is to be noted that the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) of the US government is overseeing the investigation. Until that evaluation is over, SpaceX is not allowed to launch another Starship vehicle. It is also not clear how much time it would take. "We aren't going to speculate on timelines. Safety will dictate the timeline," FAA said, as per the outlet. 

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"Another Special Message": PM Speaks To UNESCO Chief In Mann Ki Baat@100

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday interacted with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in the 100th episode of his monthly radio broadcast 'Mann Ki Baat'.

The Director-General of UNESCO not only wished the countrymen for the wonderful journey of the 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' but also asked questions on education and cultural preservation in India.

"I have received another special message from Audrey Azoulay, DG, UNESCO regarding 'Mann Ki Baat'. She has wished all the countrymen for this wonderful journey of 100th episode," PM Modi said during his 100th Mann Ki Baat address.

Audrey Azoulay is a French civil servant and politician who has been serving as the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2017, becoming the second female leader of the organization.

Speaking to PM Modi in his radio broadcast today, the UNESCO Chief said, "Dear Prime Minister, on behalf of UNESCO, I thank you for this opportunity to be part of the hundredth episode of the Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast. UNESCO and India have a long common history. We have very strong partnerships together in all areas of our mandate education, science, culture and information."

She also asked various questions to PM Modi on education and cultural preservation amid India's ongoing G20 Presidency.
"UNESCO is working with its member states to ensure that everyone in the world has access to quality education by2030, with the largest population in the world. Could you please explain the Indian way to achieve this objective? UNESCO also works to support culture and protect heritage," she said.

#MannKiBaatAt100

I am happy to interact with you in the 100th 'Mann Ki Baat' programme. I am also happy that you have raised the important issues of education and culture.
: PM @narendramodi.#PMonAIR | #MannkiBaat100Episode | #MannKiBaat100 | #MannKiBaat pic.twitter.com/XFOnAp83XR

— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) April 30, 2023

PM Modi thanked the UNESCO Chief for taking part in the 100th episode of the Radio broadcast and said that he is happy that she raised important issues.

He further said that Mann Ki Baat has been a catalyst in igniting numerous mass movements. "Be it NEP or the option of studying in regional languages, many initiatives such as Gunotsav and Shala Praveshotsav were highlighted in MannKiBaat," the Prime Minister said.

"Maan Ki Baat is a programme that allows every citizen to inspire others; this positivity will propel our nation in Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav."

"Be it Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, love towards Khadi, nature-related concerns, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav or that of Amrit Sarovar, whatever issue Mann Ki Baat got associated with, it has ignited a people's movement," PM Modi added.

Ahead of the historic 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' which aired on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people to join him live at 11:00 am and said that the journey of his radio monthly programme in which he addresses the common people has been "truly special".

The Prime Minister said that during the journey, the "collective spirit" of the people of the country was celebrated.

Earlier today, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday joined the Indian community in New Jersey to listen to the 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat'.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh too interacted with the Indian community in London before the broadcast of PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat. He said that PM Modi has raised the esteem of the Indian community abroad, according to the statement released by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Minister said, the world is looking up to the Indian community with great hope and expectation and it is high time that they also rise to the occasion and contribute to the well-being of the entire humankind in the true spirit of the theme of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' as given by PM Modi during India's G20 presidency.

PM Modi's monthly radio programme completed its 100th episode today which aired at 11 am and broadcast live across the country and in various parts of the world including the United Nations Headquarters.

Mann Ki Baat is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month.
The programme, which began on October 3, 2014, has inspired community action and grown to be an essential tenet of the government's citizen outreach programme, which targets a variety of social groups including women, youth, and farmers.

A study was conducted regarding the impact of Mann Ki Baat on people's lives. The study showed that over 100 crore people have connected to Mann Ki Baat at least once, it speaks directly to people, celebrates grassroots-level changemakers and achievements of people and has influenced people towards positive actions.

Apart from 22 Indian languages and 29 dialects, Mann Ki Baat is broadcast in 11 foreign languages including French, Chinese, Indonesian, Tibetan, Burmese, Baluchi, Arabic, Pashtu, Persian, Dari and Swahili.

Mann Ki Baat is being broadcast by more than 500 All India Radio broadcast centres.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Unacceptable Behaviour": Doull Blasts PBKS Star On-air during IPL match

No matter what is the reputation of the player, former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull doesn't belive in mincing his words when doing commentary. Having criticised top players like Babar Azam and Virat Kohli in the past, Doull took a swipe at South Africa and Punjab Kings pacer Kagiso Rabada during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match on Friday. Doull, who was commentating during the match, slammed Rabada for his 'unacceptable behaviour' as the express pacer bowled a couple of no-balls by overstepping during the match against Lucknow Super Giants.

"This is unacceptable behaviour. You're an international bowler. He's pushing it all the time, even when he is behind he is just there by an inch," Doull said live on-air.

Doull's comments came when Rabada overstepped for the second time in the match against LSG. It was the fifth ball of the 16th over when the Proteas pacer bowled a no-ball. His next ball was a wide, much to the disappointment of Doull and PBKS fans. However, the following delivery only resulted in a single.

Punjab Kings went on to concede a whopping 257 runs, the second-highest innings total in IPL history, in the match against Lucknow Super Giants. After the game, PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan admitted that the bowlers gave away too many runs for the batters to chase.

"We gave away too many runs. I felt that it (ball) didn't come on quickly to the bat and it went straight to the fielder (on his dismissal). I felt my strategy to play with the extra bowler backfired. We missed a spinner today. It's a learning for me. Livi (Livingstone) and even Sam (Curran) were there, so we couldn't send him (SRK) ahead," he said after the match.

Rabada, despite being a world-class bowler, conceded 52 runs in 4 overs while picking two wickets.

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100th Episode Of 'Mann Ki Baat': Top Quotes By PM Modi

1. "'Mann Ki Baat' has also become a unique festival of goodness and positivity of the countrymen. A festival that comes every month, keenly awaited by all of us. We celebrate positivity in this. We also celebrate people's participation in this."
2. "'Mann Ki Baat' is the 'Mann Ki Baat' of crores of Indians, it is the expression of their feelings."
3. "3rd of October, 2014 was the festival of Vijaya Dashami and all of us together started the journey of 'Mann Ki Baat' on the day of Vijaya Dashami. Vijaya Dashami is the festival of victory of good over evil. 'Mann Ki Baat' has also become a unique festival of goodness and positivity of the countrymen."
4. "Whether it is about Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, or the Swachh Bharat movement, love for Khadi or nature, whether it is the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav or Amrit Sarovar, any subject with which 'Mann Ki Baat' got associated, turned into a mass movement, and you people have made it so."
5. "For me 'Mann Ki Baat' is not a program, for me it is a matter of faith, of worship, or Vrat. Like when people go to worship God, they bring along a Thaal of Prasad. For me, 'Mann Ki Baat' is like a Thaal of Prasad at the feet of God in the form of Janata-Janardan, the people. 'Mann Ki Baat' has become a spiritual journey of my being."
6. "I always say that before going abroad for tourism, we must visit at least 15 tourist destinations of our country and these destinations should not be from the state where you reside...they must be from any other state outside your state."
7. "Today we are completing the 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' with the same spirit of Charaiveti Charaiveti. In strengthening the social fabric of India, 'Mann Ki Baat' is like the thread of a rosary, holding each bead together."
8. "In every episode, the spirit of service and capability of the countrymen have inspired others. In this program, every countryman becomes an inspiration to other countrymen. In a way, every episode of Mann Ki Baat prepares the ground for the next episode."
9. "I have an unwavering belief that the biggest change can be brought about by collective effort."
10. "Through 'Mann Ki Baat', many mass movements have come into being and gained momentum. For example, the very mission to re-establish our toys and our toy industry started with 'Mann Ki Baat'. The beginning of raising awareness about Indian breed dogs, our native dogs, was also started with 'Mann Ki Baat' only."

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EU Lawmakers Struggle to Finalise Law to Regulate ChatGPT and Generative AI

As recently as February, generative AI did not feature prominently in EU lawmakers' plans for regulating generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT.

The bloc's 108-page proposal for the AI Act, published two years earlier, included only one mention of the word "chatbot." References to AI-generated content largely referred to deepfakes: images or audio designed to impersonate human beings.

By mid-April, however, members of European Parliament (MEPs) were racing to update those rules to catch up with an explosion of interest in generative AI, which has provoked awe and anxiety since OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT six months ago.

That scramble culminated on Thursday with a new draft of the legislation which identified copyright protection as a core piece of the effort to keep AI in check.

Interviews with four lawmakers and two other sources close to discussions reveal for the first time how over just 11 days this small group of politicians hammered out what could become landmark legislation, reshaping the regulatory landscape for OpenAI and its competitors.

The draft bill is not final and lawyers say it will likely take years to come into force.

The speed of their work, though, is also a rare example of consensus in Brussels, which is often criticised for the slow pace of decision-making.

Last-minute changes

Since launching in November, ChatGPT has become the fastest growing app in history, and sparked a flurry of activity from Big Tech competitors and investment in generative AI startups like Anthropic and Midjourney.

The runaway popularity of such applications led EU industry chief Thierry Breton and others to call for regulation of ChatGPT-like services.

An organisation backed by Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and Twitter, took it up a notch by issuing a letter warning of existential risk from AI and calling for stricter regulations.

On April 17, the dozen MEPs involved in drafting the legislation signed an open letter agreeing with some parts of Musk's letter and urged world leaders to hold a summit to find ways to control the development of advanced AI.

That same day, however, two of them — Dragos Tudorache and Brando Benifei — proposed changes that would force companies with generative AI systems to disclose any copyrighted material used to train their models, according to four sources present at the meetings, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions.

That tough new proposal received cross-party support, the sources said.

One proposal by conservative MEP Axel Voss — forcing companies to request permission from rights holders before using the data — was rejected as too restrictive and something that could hobble the emerging industry.  

After thrashing out the details over the next week, the EU outlined proposed laws that could force an uncomfortable level of transparency on a notoriously secretive industry.

"I must admit that I was positively surprised on how we converged rather easily on what should be in the text on these models," Tudorache told Reuters on Friday.

"It shows there is a strong consensus, and a shared understanding on how to regulate at this point in time."

The committee will vote on the deal on May 11 and if successful, it will advance to the next stage of negotiation, the trilogue, where EU member states will debate the contents with the European Commission and Parliament.

"We are waiting to see if the deal holds until then," one source familiar with the matter said.

Big Brother vs the Terminator

Until recently, MEPs were still unconvinced that generative AI deserved any special consideration.

In February, Tudorache told Reuters that generative AI was "not going to be covered" in-depth. "That's another discussion I don't think we are going to deal with in this text," he said.

Citing data security risks over warnings of human-like intelligence, he said: "I am more afraid of Big Brother than I am of the Terminator."

But Tudorache and his colleagues now agree on the need for laws specifically targeting the use of generative AI.

Under new proposals targeting "foundation models," companies like OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, would have to disclose any copyrighted material — books, photographs, videos and more — used to train their systems.

Claims of copyright infringement have rankled AI firms in recent months with Getty Images suing Stable Diffusion for using copyrighted photos to train its systems. OpenAI has also faced criticism for refusing to share details of the dataset used to train its software.

"There have been calls from outside and inside the Parliament for a ban or classifying ChatGPT as high-risk," said MEP Svenja Hahn. "The final compromise is innovation-friendly as it does not classify these models as 'high risk,' but sets requirements for transparency and quality."

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Smartphone companies have launched many compelling devices over the first quarter of 2023. What are some of the best phones launched in 2023 you can buy today? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Realme 11 Pro+ Display Specifications Confirmed Officially; Appears on Geekbench Listing Ahead of Launch

Realme 11 series smartphones, comprising Realme 11, Realme 11 Pro, and Realme 11 Pro+, are confirmed to launch on May 10 in China. While the smartphone's debut is still more than a week away, the company has revealed the display specifications of the Realme 11 Pro+ via a Weibo post. Additionally, the smartphone has also appeared on the Geekbench listing.

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Sperm Donor Who Fathered Over 550 Children Ordered To Stop By Dutch Court

A  court in the Netherlands on Friday banned a man from donating any more of his sperm after he was suspected of fathering more than 550 children. The man named Jonathan Jacob Meijer aged 41, could be fined more than 100,000 Euros (Rs 90,41,657) if he tries to donate again, BBC reported.

The shocking case came to the limelight after a foundation and the mother of one of the children filed a lawsuit against him in Hague. The judge who heard the civil case said the donor "misinformed prospective parents about the number of children he had already fathered in the past.''

"All these parents are now confronted with the fact that the children in their family are part of a huge kinship network, with hundreds of half-siblings, which they did not choose. The court prohibits the defendant from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgement," Judge Hesselink said in a ruling on Friday.

He has also been ordered not to contact any prospective parents "with the wish that he was willing to donate semen... advertise his services to prospective parents or join any organisation that establishes contact between prospective parents," Mr Hesselink added,

Notably, Mr Meijer donated his sperm to at least 13 clinics, with 11 of them located in the Netherlands. According to Dutch clinical guidelines, sperm donors should not donate to more than 12 women or should not father over 25 children. This is to prevent cases of accidental breeding and psychological problems in children who may get disturbed after learning that they have hundreds of siblings.

However, he helped produce between 550 and 600 children since he started donating sperm in 2007. In 2017, he was banned from donating to fertility clinics in the Netherlands. Instead of stopping he carried on donating sperm abroad and online.

The mother of one of the children in the court case said she was grateful that the court had stopped the man from ''mass donations that [have] spread like wildfire to other countries''.

"I'm asking the donor to respect our interests and to accept the verdict because our children deserve to be left alone," she said in an official statement.

However, the donor's lawyer said in a court hearing that he wanted to help parents who would otherwise be unable to conceive. A musician by profession, Mr Meijer currently lives in Kenya.

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Twitter to Take 10 Percent Cut on Content Subscriptions After 12 Months

Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that the social media platform will take a 10 percent cut on content subscriptions after the first year, as the company looks to monetize content on the website in a bid to diversify its revenue sources.

Earlier this month, billionaire owner Musk said users of the social media platform will be able to offer their followers subscriptions to content, including long-form text and hours-long video.

He had also said that the company will not take a cut for the first 12 months on content subscriptions.

Musk has been bringing in changes at Twitter to boost revenue after the platform saw advertising income drop last year in the run up to his $44 billion (nearly Rs. 3,59,700 crore) acquisition that closed in October.

He added that the company's cut from subscriptions on iOS and Android platforms will drop to 15 percent in the second year from 30 percent in the first.

A few days back, Musk also has made an important announcement regarding the blue tick verified accounts on Twitter. In a series of updates that Musk has introduced to Twitter after his takeover, he has also added a pointer to his updates about getting verified accounts prioritised. 

After Twitter began removing blue ticks from the accounts of several celebrities and famous personalities, only those account which paid for the blue tick could be seen as verified. However, as multiple accounts have started paying, the announcement from Musk will definitely motivate others to join the bandwagon.

The blue tick served as a way of protecting well-known individuals from impersonation and tackling false information.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Apple is opening its first stores in India, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi. What does this mean for Apple customers in India? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Rohit "Was Depressed For A Month": India Star On Batting Great's WC Snub

Rohit Sharma is now one of the biggest names in world cricket. Apart from being the Indian cricket team captain, his batting prowess has made him one of the most respected cricketers. Always considered as a rare batting talent, made his India debut in 2007 in an ODI against Ireland. Currently, Rohit has 3379 runs in 49 Tests (average 45.66), 9825 runs in 243 ODIs (average 48.63) and 3853 runs in 148 T20Is (average 31.32). He is one of the few players to have scored a ton in all three formats. Despite having such a track record, there was a time when Rohit was depressed due to his cricket career. 

Indian women's team star Jemimah Rodrigues has revealed a conversation with the Indian men's team captain regarding the time when he was not picked for the 2011 World Cup in India. 
 
"Rohit Sharma was also dropped from the 2011 Word Cup. I asked him the question, '10 years down the line, you are leading India, did you ever think that this would happen?' He (Rohit Sharma) was like 'No, a lot of people came up to me at that time and said a lot of things but nobody knew what I was going through'. There was only one person, Yuvraj Singh, who came up to him (Rohit), took him out for dinner and there was nobody else. He said he was depressed for a month. Because the WC is something that you dream about. So, when he said that, I was crying inside. I was literally in tears," Jemimah Rodrigues said on 'Breakfast With Champions'. 

"He said: 'Tough times will happen but you know it is what you do next. Make sure when you get the next opportunity, you are ready for it. It happens (or) doesn't happen it's fine.' And that stuck with me. I don't have to prove to anyone or anything. I just have to play for the pure joy of the game," she said.

Rohit is currently playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2023.

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See You At The Met Gala, Alia Bhatt - Pics Of Her Airport Look

Alia Bhatt, all set to make her big Met Gala debut this year, flew out of Mumbai on Friday night. The actress was all smiles as she was photographed at the Mumbai airport. The actress topped a pair of blue denims with a plain white t-shirt and a quirky printed jacket. She completed her look with white sneakers and a matching sling bag. Alia Bhatt will be wearing designer Prabal Gurung's creation at the grand fashion gala. Meanwhile, Prabal Gurung congratulated the actress on her Best Actress win at the Filmfare Awards and he wrote, "Congratulations Alia Bhatt on winning the Best Actress Filmfare for Gangubai Kathiawadi. Can't wait to see you soon and celebrate at the Met Gala." Thanking him in her Instagram story, Alia wrote, "Thank you Prabal. See you tomorrow."

Here are the pictures of Alia Bhatt at the Mumbai airport:

See Alia Bhatt and Prabal Gurung's Instagram exchange here:

Screenshot of Alia Bhatt's Instagram story

The Met Gala takes place on the first Monday of May at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This year, besides Alia Bhatt, Priyanka Chopra will also attend the gala. Previously, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Natasha Poonawalla and Isha Ambani have attended the Met Gala.

Alia Bhatt will soon made her Hollywood debut with Heart Of Stone, co-starring Gal Gadot. The actress will also be seen in Jee Le Zaraa with Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif and, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani with Ranveer Singh. The film will also feature veterans Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi.

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Sony Xperia 1 V Launch Date Set for May 11: Expected Specifications, Features

Sony Xperia 1 V launch date has been announced by the company, and the next "One" branded smartphone is set to make its debut next month. While the company is yet to reveal details of its upcoming phone, leaked renders have already given us a sneak peek at the handset as well as its specifications. The phone is expected to arrive as the successor to the Sony Xperia 1 IV that was launched by the company last year.

The Japanese phone maker confirmed that it will launch the next "ONE" smartphone on May 11 at 1 pm Japan Time (9:30 am IST). The firm is evidently referring to the upcoming Xperia 1 V smartphone in the teaser video. Sony has also touted the camera performance of the phone, tweeting that it will be equipped with a next-generation sensor. However, it hasn't shared details of the camera's specifications.

According to an earlier report, leaked images of the Sony Xperia 1 V hint at the presence of a triple rear camera setup along with an LED flash on its rear panel. The LED flash is said to sit inside the camera island, unlike its predecessor, the Xperia 1 IV.

The leaked image of the handset shows the power button and the volume rocker on the left side along with what appears to be a dedicated camera shutter button to capture photos. There could be a microphone, a USB Type-C port, a speaker grille, and a SIM tray on the bottom, while a 3.5mm headphone jack and a secondary microphone could be placed at the top.

The Sony Xperia 1 V is also tipped to sport a 6.5-inch display and could be powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC paired with 16GB of RAM. For optics, the smartphone may ship with a triple rear camera unit comprising a 48-megapixel wide-angle sensor, and two 12-megapixel sensors. It may also feature a 12-megapixel selfie camera. The phone is likely to be powered by a 5,000mAh battery, according to the report.

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Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it's first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Sony Xperia 1 V Launch Date Set for May 11: Expected Specifications, Features

Sony Xperia 1 V has been rumours and mills for months and now the company has finally announced the launch date for the upcoming smartphone. The handset will make its debut next month in Japan. While the company is yet to reveal anything about the phone, the leaks and rumours have already given us a sneak peek into the expected look of the smartphone.

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Bengaluru Food Blogger Sparks Debate On Expensive 5-Star Restaurant Meals

Eating out is a rejuvenating experience. It gives us a much-needed break in the form of an outing, gives us time out from cooking and treats our taste buds to delicious flavours. That's why some people don't mind spending a little extra for a good meal at a fancy restaurant for the sheer luxury of it. But everyone wants to get the best bang for their buck. This food blogger was clearly not happy with the expensive meal she had at a 5-star restaurant. She took to Twitter to pour out her anger and asked fellow Twitter users about their opinion of spending too much money on a single meal.

Also Read: Man Bashes 'Overpriced' Airport Food, Eats Homemade Paratha With Mother At Airport

Bengaluru-based food blogger Kripal Amanna posted about her 5-course meal at a 5-star restaurant, which turned out to be quite costly according to her. She wrote, "7500 plus tax! Nearly 10 grand per person for a meal in Bengaluru! For food alone, five courses look good but not overly spectacular or exotic. Is it just me who thinks our five-star hotels now dwell in a parallel universe!?"

7500 plus tax! Nearly 10 grand per person for a meal in Bengaluru! For food alone, five courses, looks good but not overly spectacular or exotic. Is it just me who thinks our five star hotels now dwell in a parallel universe!?

— kripal amanna (@kripalamanna) April 27, 2023

Also Read: "Where Is The Cheese?" Angry Customer Shares Pic Of Costly But "Dry" Burger

The tweet was posted today, April 27, 2023, and it has already received over 33 K views. Other Twitter users did share their responses to her query. Many of them agreed with her. 

Also Read: Huge Bill For Chai Samosa At Mumbai Airport Shocks Twitter

One user suggested that 5-star hotels' food is for corporates and the cream of society, not middle-class people. 

It's for corporates and cream of society not worth for middle class

— Randomthiswayy (@Randomthiswayy) April 27, 2023

Another user seconded it by saying that meals at 5-star restaurants are usually sponsored by companies for business meetings. "It's more to satisfy the business interest than the stomach," he said.

Most of the bills are paid by sponsors … like company paid , corporate sponsor , marketing expenditure, advocacy development, business deal meet etc., so it's more to satisfy the business interest than the stomach 🤓

— medixraghu (@medixraghu) April 27, 2023

One user ranted that the food doesn't even taste that great at luxury hotels.

Forget about food satisfying our soul …that food doesn't even satisfy our tastebuds!!

— babruvahana (@babruvahanaa) April 27, 2023

Another user agreed that the taste doesn't justify the price of the food and the services.

Yea they're pretty expensive with a taste that doesn't justify the price and services

— Darshil Shah (@darshilvshah) April 27, 2023

Also Read: British Airways' First-Class Meal Leaves Twitter Horrified, Here's Why

Here are some more reactions to the post:

Fine dining is a scam. Its more of presentation and ambience of the place than the food.

— 🔴⚪ಯಾನ್ ತುಳುವೆ 🚩 (@YaanTuluve) April 27, 2023

There are way better meals to be had for a fraction of the price

— FootyFlex (@StatsMerchant) April 27, 2023

Not just the 5 stars but many standalone fine-dine restaurants are also over-priced.. And barring a few legendary names, quality of food everywhere is mediocre.. Huge gap in VFM compared to other metro's..

— Anup Kumar (@KumarWini) April 27, 2023

Solution: HomeFood 😂

— Pavanraj Shetty  ⚡️ (@iamprj) April 27, 2023

What do you think about the high pricing of food at 5-star hotels? Is it justified? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Google Pixel 7a Leaked Render Shows Off New Coral Shade, May Debut in Four Colour Options

Google Pixel 7a is expected to make its official debut at Google I/O 2023 alongside the Pixel Fold. Ahead of the expected launch, multiple leaks have exposed almost every detail about the upcoming smartphone. Now, a well know tipster has shared an alleged image of Pixel 7a in a new colour option. The new render leak shows off the handset in a new shade. Past leaks have suggested blue, grey, and white colour options for the Pixel 7a. It is expected to be powered by a Tensor G2 chipset.

Known tipster Evan Blass (@evleaks) posted the alleged render of Google Pixel 7a on Twitter. The leaked render shows the handset in an orange shade. This colour option looks quite identical to the coral colour we've seen in past Google handsets such as the Pixel 6 and Pixel 4. Previous leaks have also given us a look at the blue, grey, and white colourways.

The Google Pixel 7a is seen with dual rear cameras similar to the outgoing Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro models. A Google logo is also placed at the bottom. Further, power and volume buttons are seen arranged on the left spine.

Thanks to multiple tipsters, we've learned of the price details and specifications of the Pixel 7a. The Pixel 7 series smartphone is expected to be unveiled during Google's I/O 2023 event on May 10 alongside the Pixel Fold. It could go on sale in global markets in the third quarter. The handset is said to be priced between $450 to $500 (roughly Rs. 32,000 to Rs. 40,000).

The Pixel 7a is tipped to come with a 6.1-inch full-HD+ OLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. It is said to be powered by Google's in-house Tensor G2 chipset, paired with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. The dual rear camera unit of the Pixel 7a is expected to comprise a 64-megapixel primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) support and a 12-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide lens. Further, there could be a 10.8-megapixel selfie camera. The Pixel 7a is expected to carry a 4,400mAh battery with 20W wired charging support.

---

Are the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro the best in their segment? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Motorola Razr 40 Ultra Promo Images Leaked, Suggests Design and Colour Options

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is expected to launch soon. The foldable smartphone could also debut with Moto Razr+ and Moto Razr 2023 monikers in some countries. A recent report has now leaked the design renders and colour options from alleged promotional materials.

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The Future Of AI Relies On A High School Teacher's Free Database

In front of a suburban house on the outskirts of the northern Germany city of Hamburg, a single word - "LAION" - is scrawled in pencil across a mailbox. It's the only indication that the home belongs to the person behind a massive data gathering effort central to the artificial intelligence boom that has seized the world's attention.

That person is high school teacher Christoph Schuhmann, and LAION, short for "Large-scale AI Open Network," is his passion project. When Schuhmann isn't teaching physics and computer science to German teens, he works with a small team of volunteers building the world's biggest free AI training data set, which has already been used in text-to-image generators such as Google's Imagen and Stable Diffusion.

Databases like LAION are central to AI text-to-image generators, which rely on them for the enormous amounts of visual material used to deconstruct and create new images. The debut of these products late last year was a paradigm-shifting event: it sent the tech sector's AI arms race into hyperdrive and raised a myriad of ethical and legal issues. Within a matter of months, lawsuits had been filed against generative AI companies Stability AI and Midjourney for copyright infringement, and critics were sounding the alarm about the violent, sexualized, and otherwise problematic images within their datasets, which have been accused of introducing biases that are nearly impossible to mitigate.

But these aren't Schuhmann's concerns. He just wants to set the data free.

Large Language

The 40-year-old teacher and trained actor helped found LAION two years ago after hanging out on a Discord server for AI enthusiasts. The first iteration of OpenAI's DALL-E, a deep learning model that generates digital images from language prompts - say, creating an image of a pink chicken sitting on a sofa in response to such a request - had just been released, and Schuhmann was both inspired and concerned that it would encourage big tech companies to make more data proprietary.

"I instantly understood that if this is centralized to one, two or three companies, it will have really bad effects for society," Schuhmann said.

In response, he and other members on the server decided to create an open-source dataset to help train image-to-text diffusion models, a months-long process similar to teaching someone a foreign language with millions of flash cards. The group used raw HTML code collected by the California nonprofit Common Crawl to locate images around the web and associate them with descriptive text. It does not use any manual or human curation.

Within a few weeks, Schuhmann and his colleagues had 3 million image-text pairs. After three months, they released a dataset with 400 million pairs. That number is now over 5 billion, making LAION the largest free dataset of images and captions.

As LAION's reputation grew, the team worked without pay, receiving a one-off donation in 2021 from the machine-learning company Hugging Face. Then one day, a former hedge fund manager entered the Discord chat.

Emad Mostaque offered to cover the costs of computing power, no strings attached. He wanted to launch his own open-source generative AI business and was keen to tap LAION to train his product. The team initially scoffed at the proposal, taking him for a kook.

"We were very skeptical in the beginning," Schuhmann said, "But after four weeks or so we got access to GPUs in the cloud that would normally have cost around $9,000 or $10,000."

When Mostaque launched Stability AI in 2022, he used LAION's dataset for Stable Diffusion, its flagship AI image generator, and hired two of the organization's researchers. A year on, the company is currently seeking a $4 billion valuation, thanks largely to the data made available by LAION. For his part, Schuhmann hasn't profited from LAION and says he isn't interested in doing so. "I'm still a high school teacher. I have rejected job offers from all different kinds of companies because I wanted this to stay independent," he said.

New Oil?

Many of the images and links in databases like LAION have been sitting in plain sight on the web, in some cases for decades. It took the AI boom to reveal its true value, as the bigger and more diverse a dataset is, and the higher quality the images in it, the clearer and more precise an AI-generated image will be.

That realization, in turn, has raised a number of legal and ethical questions about whether publicly-available materials can be used to feed databases - and if the answer is yes, if creators should be paid.

To build LAION, founders scraped visual data from companies such as Pinterest, Shopify and Amazon Web Services - which did not comment on whether LAION's use of their content violates their terms of service - as well as YouTube thumbnails, images from portfolio platforms like DeviantArt and EyeEm, photos from government websites including the US Department of Defense, and content from news sites such as The Daily Mail and The Sun.

If you ask Schuhmann, he says that anything freely available online is fair game. But there is currently no AI regulation in the European Union, and the forthcoming AI Act, whose language will be finalized early this summer, will not rule on whether copyrighted materials can be included in big data sets. Rather, lawmakers are discussing whether to include a provision requiring the companies behind AI generators to disclose what materials went into the data sets their products were trained on, thus giving the creators of those materials the option of taking action.

The basic idea behind the provision, European Parliament Member Dragos Tudorache told Bloomberg, is simple: "As a developer of generative AI, you have an obligation to document and be transparent about the copyrighted material that you have used in the training of algorithms."

Such regulation wouldn't be an issue for Stability AI, but it could be a problem for other text-to-image generators - "no one knows what Open AI actually used to train DALL-E 2," Schuhmann said, citing it as an example of how tech companies lock up public data. It would also upend what is now the status quo in data collection.

"It has become a tradition within the field to just assume you don't need consent or you don't need to inform people, or they don't even have to be aware of it. There is a sense of entitlement that whatever is on the web, you can just crawl it and put it in a data set," said Abeba Birhane, a Senior Fellow in Trustworthy AI at Mozilla Foundation who has studied LAION.

Although LAION has not been sued directly, it has been named in two lawsuits: one accusing Stability and Midjourney of using copyrighted images by artists to train their models, and another by Getty Images against Stability, which alleges that 12 million of its images were scraped by LAION and used to train Stable Diffusion.

Because LAION is open-source, it's impossible to know which or how many other companies have used the dataset. Google has acknowledged that it tapped LAION to help train its Imagen and Parti AI text-to-image models. Schuhmann believes that other large companies are quietly doing the same and simply not disclosing it.

Worst of the Web

Sitting in the living room as his son played Minecraft, Schuhmann likened LAION to a "small research boat" on top of "big information technology tsunami," taking samples of what's beneath to display to the world.

"This is a tiny amount of what's available publicly on the Internet," he said of LAION's database. "It's really easy to get because even we, with maybe a budget of $10,000 from donors, can do it."

But what's publicly available isn't always what the public wants - or is legally allowed to see. In addition to SFW photos of cats and firetrucks, LAION's dataset contains millions of images of pornography, violence, child nudity, racist memes, hate symbols, copyrighted art, and works scraped from private company websites. Schuhmann said he was unaware of any child nudity in LAION's data set, though he acknowledged he did not review the data in great depth. If notified about such content, he said, he would remove links to it immediately.

Schuhman consulted lawyers and ran an automated tool to filter out illegal content before he began assembling the database, but he is less interested in sanitizing LAION's holdings than in learning from them. "We could have filtered out violence from the data we released," he said, "but we decided not to because it will speed up the development of violence detection software." LAION does provide a takedown form to request the removal of photos, but the dataset has already been downloaded thousands of times.

Offensive content lifted from LAION appears to have been integrated into Stable Diffusion, where despite recently tightened filters, it's easy to generate fake Islamic State beheading photos or Holocaust images. Some experts believe such material can also create biases within an AI generator itself: Tools like Dall-E-2 and Stable Diffusion have been criticized for reproducing racial stereotypes even when a text prompt doesn't imply the subject's race.

Such biases were why Google decided not to release Imagen, which had been trained on LAION.

When reached for comment, Stability AI said it trained Stable Diffusion on a curated subset of LAION's database. The company sought to "give the model a much more diverse and wide-ranging dataset than that of the original SD" it wrote in an email, adding that they tried to remove "adult content using LAION's NSFW filter."

Even advocates of open source-based AI warn of the implications of training AI on uncurated datasets. According to Yacine Jernite, who leads the Machine Learning and Society team at Hugging Face, generative AI tools based on tainted data will reflect its biases. "The model is a very direct reflection of what it's trained on."

Introducing guardrails after the product is up and running isn't sufficient, Jernite added, as users will always find ways to circumvent the safety measures. "That's what happens when you take a model that is trained to emulate what people do on the Internet in general and then say, 'Okay, but don't do that.' People will find a way to still make it do that," they said.

Gil Elbaz, founder of the data nonprofit Common Crawl, doubts whether "there's a straight line that you can draw from the training sets to what's produced," and instead likened the process to an artist who goes to museums for inspiration but is blocked from making replicas of artworks. Instead, he said, "it's important for society to decide what use cases are legal or not legal."

It won't only be left up to society. As regulators in Europe craft legislation to navigate the uses of artificial intelligence, they are grappling with the fact that the data now being mined for the current AI boom has for years been generated in in a legal gray zone that is only now coming under serious scrutiny. "AI wouldn't have been possible at this level of complexity without years of the accumulation of data," said Tudorache, the European Parliament member.

But to Schuhmann, it's not the datasets that should be monitored. In his eyes, the worst-case scenario for AI is one in which Big Tech is able to crowd out developers by catering their tools to a regulatory framework. "If we try to slow things down and over-regulate," he warned, "there is a big danger that in the end, only a few big corporate players can afford to fulfill all the formal requirements."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Aadhaar Holders Carried Out 2.31 Billion Authentication Transactions in March

Aadhaar holders have carried out nearly 2.31 billion authentication transactions in the month of March 2023, indicative of the growing usage of Aadhaar and the growth of the digital economy in the country.

In a release, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT said the March number is better than the February when 2.26 billion authentication transactions were carried out. A majority of the authentications transaction numbers were carried out by using biometric fingerprints during the month, followed by others.

"Aadhaar e-KYC service continues to play a stellar role for banking and non-banking financial services by providing transparent and improved customer experience and helping in ease of doing business. More than 311.8 million eKYC transactions were carried out during March 2023, a jump of over 16.3 per cent against February," said the release.

Another benefit of the adoption of e-KYC is it has also significantly reduced customer acquisition costs for financial institutions, telecom service providers and others.

Whether it is Aadhaar-enabled direct fund transfer, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) for last-mile banking, authentications, or e-KYC for identity verification, Aadhaar has been playing an important role in supporting Digital India vision and enabling ease of living for residents.

The Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) enables financial inclusion for those at the bottom of the income pyramid. In March 2023, 219.3 million last-mile banking transactions were made possible through AePS and the network of micro ATMs, the release said.

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Apple is opening its first stores in India, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi. What does this mean for Apple customers in India? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Motorola Razr 40 Ultra Leaked Design Renders Show Big Outer Display, Hinge Colours

Motorola Razr 40 Ultra is expected to launch later this year. Ever since Lenovo's CEO confirmed the release of a new Moto Razr handset, there have been several leaks and reports surrounding the purported foldable handset. After being officially teased last week, design renders of the phone have been now leaked.

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"Speak In Tamil, Not Hindi": AR Rahman Tells Wife At Event. Her Reaction

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Apple, Android Rivals First-Quarter Sales Slide in China as Smartphone Shipments Fall 11 Percent YoY

Apple and its Android rivals saw sales slide in the first quarter in China, research firm Canalys reported on Thursday, as consumers continued to tighten their belts following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

The iPhone maker was the top-selling brand over the first three months of the year, with 20 percent market share. But its overall shipments in China fell to 13.3 million units, a 3 percent decrease from the same period in 2022.

Sales for all other top-selling brands also fell, with total smartphone shipments dropping 11 percent year-on-year to 67.2 million units, the lowest quarterly total since 2013.

Despite being the best-selling brand in the quarter, Apple saw its total market share fall 3 percentage points year-on-year.

Oppo and Vivo, Android brands that trail Apple as the second and third best-sellers, saw shipments fall 10 percent and 7 percent respectively.

Honor and Xiaomi, which specialise in low-end models, saw shipments fall 35 percent and 20 percent respectively, suggesting consumers shied away from phone purchases even at the cheapest prices.

China's GDP grew 4.5 percent in the first quarter, beating expectations, and policy makers in Beijing are working on plans to further stimulate demand. However, economists expect most Chinese consumers and businesses to spend cautiously over the coming year.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Apple is opening its first stores in India, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi. What does this mean for Apple customers in India? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Apple, Android Rivals First-Quarter Sales Slide in China as Smartphone Shipments Fall 11 Percent YoY

The iPhone maker was the top-selling brand over the first three months of the year, with 20 percent market share. But its overall shipments in China fell to 13.3 million units, a 3 percent decrease from the same period in 2022.

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On Virat-Anushka's 'Fresh Lime Soda' Pic, Fans Point Out Dravid's Presence

Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, who is the wife of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and India star batter Virat Kohli, shared an unseen photo with his husband and Faf du Plessis. In the picture, Anushka gave a serious expression, while Kohli made a hilarious pose. RCB captain Faf, who was standing behind the couple, also made a funky pose for the picture. Anushka also had a funky name for the trio as she wrote "Team Green" on the her Instagram story.

Faf also reposted the photo on his Instagram story and wrote: "Haha what are we called" and tagged Anushka.

pic.twitter.com/UJkXH8H6Q7

— Sayana Mk (@sayana_mk) April 25, 2023

Anushka responded by saying: "Band name - fresh lime soda"

Kohli and Faf's franchise, RCB, also shared the photo with a caption: "The coolest band in the IPL: Fresh Lime Soda".

pic.twitter.com/UJkXH8H6Q7

— Sayana Mk (@sayana_mk) April 25, 2023

While Anushka and Faf were sharing a funny banter on Instagram, fans on Twitter were quick to spot Team India head coach Rahul Dravid in the background as the photo went viral on social media.

Here's how Twitter reacted: 

Be careful of the wall.

— Naveen (@_naveenish) April 25, 2023

Legend in the background.

— N$ (@nav1n0x) April 25, 2023

I can see Rahul Dravid in the background

— Kushal kalagond (@kushal_kalagond) April 25, 2023

Did anyone notice rahul dravid in the back?

— akash Lal (@thebeardguy17) April 25, 2023

I'm Rahul Dravid in this photo.

— Tejesh R. Salian (@tejrsalian) April 25, 2023

RCB are back on track in IPL 2023 after registering back-to-back wins. With wins over Punjab Kings in Mohali and Rajasthan Royals in Bengaluru, RCB have moved into the top half of the points table.

On Wednesday, RCB host Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. A win would take them upto third spot in the points table with 10 points.

Faf is currently the leading run-scorer in IPL 2023, having scored 404 runs in seven matches.

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Nvidia Releases Software Tools for AI Chatbots to Curb Unwanted Responses, Dangerous Information

Nvidia, a major supplier of chips and computing systems for artificial intelligence, on Tuesday, released a set of software tools aimed at helping chatbots watch their language.

Nvidia's chips have helped companies like Microsoft add human-like chat features to search engines like Bing. But the chatbots can still be unpredictable and say things their creators wish they did not.

Microsoft in February limited users to five questions per session with its Bing search engine after the New York Times reported the system gave unsettling responses during long conversations.

Nvidia's software tools, provided free of charge, are designed to help companies guard against unwanted responses from chatbots. Some of those uses are straightforward - the maker of a customer service chatbot might not want the system to mention products from its competitors.

But the Nvidia tools are also designed to help AI system creators put into place important safety measures, such as ensuring that chatbots do not respond with potentially dangerous information such as how to create weapons or send users to unknown links that could contain computer viruses.

US lawmakers have called for regulations around AI systems as apps like ChatGPT have surged in popularity. Few legal rules or industry standards exist on how to make AI systems safe.

Jonathan Cohen, vice president of applied research at Nvidia, said the company aims to provide tools to put those standards into software code if and when they do arrive, whether through industry consensus or regulation.

"I think it's difficult to talk about standards if you don't have a way to implement them," he said. "If standards emerge, then there'll be good place to put them."

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it's first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Vivo X90, Vivo X90 Pro With MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoCs, Triple Rear Cameras Launched in India: Price, Specifications

Vivo X90 Pro and Vivo X90 powered by MediaTek's Dimensity 9200 SoCs have been unveiled in India. The smartphones get a 50-megapixel triple rear camera setup with Zeiss branding and come with Vivo's V2 chip for image processing.

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Tere Naam Star Bhumika Was Replaced In Jab We Met, Munna Bhai MBBS

Bhumika Chawla, who made her big acting debut with late Satish Kaushik's 2003 hit Tere Naam, opposite Salman Khan, in a recent interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan, opened up about signing films and then being replaced by other actors. Bhumika revealed that the actress had signed Jab We Met and Munna Bhai MBBS and was replaced by Kareena Kapoor and Gracy Singh, respectively. Bhumika told Siddharth Kannan, "I got many offers. I've always been selective and choosy about what I do. I had signed a big film after it, that unfortunately the production changed, then hero changed, the film title changed. Then the heroine was changed too. But if I would have done that it would have been different."

Speaking about Imtiaz Ali's 2007 hit Jab We Met (starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor), Bhumika said, "The only time I felt bad was when I signed Jab We Met and it didn't happen. I was the first one, Bobby (Deol) and me, when it was called Train. Then, it was Shahid (Kapoor) and me, and then Shahid and Ayesha (Takia), and then Shahid and Kareena (Kapoor). That's how things happened but it's okay. I only felt bad once and then never again because I just move on. I don't think much about it."

Bhumika added that she had also signed Rajkumar Hirani's Munna Bhai MBBS but Gracy Singh was finally cast in the film. "I had signed Munna Bhai MBBS but it didn't happen. Kannathil Muthamittal with Mani (Ratnam) sir didn't happen," said Bhumika Chawla and added that it was only Rajkumar Hirani that told her the reason she was replaced in his film. She said, "Only Raju sir can share this. He told me the reason after 10-12 years when we met at a place. He said 'Because of somebody's mistake you were removed from the film'. But it's okay. This also happens here."

Meanwhile, Bhumika Chawla  made a comeback with Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, starring her Tere Naam co-star Salman Khan.

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Twitter Says It Removed 6.5 Million Pieces of Content in First Half of 2022 Before Elon Musk's Takeover

Twitter on Tuesday said it required users to take down over 6.5 million pieces of content in the first half of 2022, before the social media platform was taken over by billionaire Elon Musk, a 29 percent increase from the second half of 2021.

Twitter disclosed the number of content removals in a blog post on the same day the European Union said the social media platform would be among 19 tech companies subject to new landmark rules that require them to share data with authorities, do more to tackle disinformation and conduct external and independent auditing.

Failure to comply with the rules - some of the world's strictest regulations on online platforms - could result in fines of up to 6 percent of global revenue or even a ban from operating in the EU, according to the European Commission's website.

Before Musk purchased Twitter in October and cut roughly 80 percent of its staff, Twitter normally published twice-yearly reports on its Transparency Center website, detailing information such as the number of accounts it suspended and the number of government requests it received for data.

Twitter's update on Tuesday came in the form of a short blog post, and the company said it would give an update about its "path forward for transparency reporting" later this year.

Publishing transparency reports is one of the requirements under the EU's new internet rules.

The company said it received 53,000 legal requests from governments during the first half of 2022 to remove certain content, with Japan, South Korea, Turkey and India submitting the most requests.

Twitter did not disclose the number of requests it complied with.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Apple is opening its first stores in India, one in Mumbai and the other in Delhi. What does this mean for Apple customers in India? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Ajinkya Rahane's Return To India's Test Team Sends Twitter Into Meltdown

Fans rejoiced as veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane made his return to the Indian squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad on Tuesday, handing the 34-year-old a return for the summit clash against Australia in June. It was at the start of last year that Rahane had featured in the whites for India, playing against Australia. Having done the hard work in domestic cricket and shown exemplary form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the 34-year-old impressed the selectors enough to earn a recall.

Rahane's comeback after 15 months was on predictable lines after Shreyas Iyer's back injury ruled him out of the grand finale. Iyer has undergone surgery in the UK for a lower back stress fracture.

Rahane played the last of his 82 Tests in January 2022 against South Africa in Cape Town. Here's how fans reacted to his return:

Ajinkya Rahane included in the Indian team for the WTC final.

Welcome back, Rahane. pic.twitter.com/QarI9TCXoo

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 25, 2023

I had been thinking, and chatting to people, about India's squad for the WTC Final. And whichever way I looked at it, I was zeroing in on this team. That suggests there weren't too many choices. The only real talking point is the return of Rahane. Looks in good form, not slogging…

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 25, 2023

Ajinkya Rahane makes his return to the India team after 17 long months.

The comeback man - Rahane! pic.twitter.com/uw9lJMj5E4

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 25, 2023

Ajinkya Rahane is back in the test squad.

Welcome Back Rahane. pic.twitter.com/DsLfxfBHZH

— ` (@rahulmsd_91) April 25, 2023

Ajinkya Rahane included in the Indian team for WTC Final 2023.

Welcome back Rahane #AjinkyaRahane #wtcfinal #WTC2023 pic.twitter.com/X4EAomVGaJ

— Ashutosh Srivastava (@sri_ashutosh08) April 25, 2023

Ajinkya Rahane included in the WTC Final squad!! We'll Deserved King. pic.twitter.com/g8TDupE8Y0

— DIPTI MSDIAN (@Diptiranjan_7) April 25, 2023

The rest of the squad led by Rohit Sharma was on predictable lines.

KS Bharat is the only specialist wicketkeeper, while Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, who were part of the home series against Australia, were dropped from the current squad.

It also has to be noted that KL Rahul, dropped from the playing XI for the 3rd and 4th Test against Australia, retains his place in the squad despite struggling for form even in the IPL for his franchise Lucknow Super Giants.

With the WTC final set to be held in London, the selectors also included Shardul Thakur in the team for the match, owing to his famous performances away from home, especially in Australia.

India's Test squad WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.

With PTI inputs

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Fastrack Revoltt FS1 Pro Smartwatch With 1.96-inch Arched Display Launched in India: Price, Features

Fastrack Revoltt FS1 Pro smartwatch with 1.96-inch AMOLED Arched Display has been launched in India. The smartwatch offers IP68 dust and water resistance, smart health monitors, activity trackers, and over 110+ sports modes. The display offers 410 X 502 pixels resolution. The watch comes with fast charging support and is claimed to offer a full day of use with just 10 minutes of charging. Fastrack's new smartwatch comes in three colourways - black, blue, and teal. It has support for 200+ watch faces and Bluetooth calling.

Fastrack Revoltt FS1 Pro price, availability

Fastrack Revoltt FS1 Pro price is set at Rs. 3,995 in India. The wearable will go on sale on April 27 via Flipkart. The Bluetooth calling smartwatch comes in three colour variants - black, blue, and teal.

Fastrack Revoltt FS1 Pro specifications, features

The newly launched Revoltt FS1 Pro from Fastrack comes with a 1.96-inch super AMOLED Arched Display, with 410 X 502pixels resolution. The smartwatch offers over 110+ sports modes as well as several smart health monitoring sensors like stress monitoring, auto sleep tracking, and 24x7 heart rate monitoring. It also supports over 200 watch faces.

The Revoltt FS1 Pro supports SingleSync Bluetooth calling, which is said to offer uninterrupted connectivity. In addition to this, the watch also features 2.5X NitroFast charging support, which is claimed to offer a full day of battery life with just 10 minutes of charging.

Moreover, the Revoltt FS1 Pro also supports smart notifications & AI voice assistant. It comes with IP68 dust and water resistance rating as well. More details such as battery life will be revealed once the watch goes on sale later this week.

Earlier this month, Fastrack unveiled the Limitless FS1 smartwatch in India at a price of Rs. 1,995. The smartwatch comes with Bluetooth calling support, and a 1.95-inch display. It is equipped with an advanced ATS chipset and offers over 150 watch faces and inbuilt Amazon Alexa support. The Fastrack Limitless FS1 is powered by a 300mAh battery that is said to offer a battery life of up to 10 days.

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Are affordable smartwatches worth it? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Filmfare Awards 2023: Here's The Full Nominations List

Bollywood fans, rejoice. It is that time of the year again when the nominations for the much-awaited Filmfare Awards - one of Bollywood's biggest awards nights - are made available to the public. Bouncing back from the lull created by the pandemic, last year saw some great films and incredible performances. Now, most of them have found a place in the nomination list of Filmfare Awards. Some of Bollywood's biggest names have been nominated across the three major award sections - Popular Awards, Critics' Awards, and Technical Awards.  One of the most important categories of the night, Best Film, includes a mix across genres. The movies competing for the coveted trophy are Badhaai Do, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, Gangubai Kathiawadi, The Kashmir Files, and Uunchai.

The directors of the very same films have also been nominated in the Best Director category – Anees Bazmee (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2), Ayan Mukerji (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva), Harshvardhan Kulkarni (Badhaai Do), Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Gangubai Kathiawadi), Sooraj R. Barjatya (Uunchai), and Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (The Kashmir Files).

Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan has earned himself yet another  Best Actor nomination for Uunchai alongside Ajay Devgn (Drishyam 2), Anupam Kher (The Kashmir Files), Hrithik Roshan (Vikram Vedha), Kartik Aaryan (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2), Rajkummar Rao (Badhaai Do).

Alia Bhatt's solo act in Gangubai Kathiawadi will compete with Bhumi Pednekar (Badhaai Do), Janhvi Kapoor (Mili), Kareena Kapoor Khan (Laal Singh Chaddha), and Tabu (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2) in the Best Actress category.

Here is the list of other nominations:

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)

Anil Kapoor (Jugjugg Jeeyo)

Anupam Kher (Uunchai)

Darshan Kumar (The Kashmir Files)

Gulshan Devaiah (Badhaai Do)

Jaideep Ahlawat (An Action Hero)

Maniesh Paul (Jugjugg Jeeyo)

Mithun Chakraborty (The Kashmir Files)

Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female)

Mouni Roy (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Neetu Kapoor (Jugjugg Jeeyo)

Sheeba Chaddha (Badhaai Do)

Sheeba Chaddha (Doctor G)

Shefali Shah (Doctor G)

Simran (Rocketry: The Nambi Effect)

Best Music Album

Amit Trivedi (Uunchai)

Pritam (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Pritam (Laal Singh Chaddha)

Sachin Jigar (Bhediya)

Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Lyrics

A M Turaz (Jab Saiyaan- Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Amitabh Bhattacharya (Apna Bana Le Bhediya)

Amitabh Bhattacharya (Kesariya- Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Amitabh Bhattacharya (Tere Hawaale- Laal Singh Chaddha)

Shellee (Maiyya Mainu- Jersey)

Best Playback Singer (Male)

Abhay Jodhpurkar (Maange Manzooriyan- Badhaai Do)

Arijit Singh (Apna Bana Le- Bhediya)

Arijit Singh (Deva Deva- Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Arijit Singh (Kesariya- Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Sonu Nigam (Main Ki Karaan- Laal Singh Chaddha)

Best Playback Singer (Female)

Jahnvi Shrimankar (Dholida- Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Jonita Gandhi (Deva Deva- Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Kavita Seth (Rangisari- Jugjugg Jeeyo)

Shilpa Rao (Tere Hawaale- Laal Singh Chaddha)

Shreya Ghoshal (Jab Saiyaan- Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Debut Director

Anirudh Iyer (An Action Hero)

Anubhuti Kashyap (Doctor G)

Jai Basantu Singh (Janhit Mein Jaari)

Jaspal Singh Sandhu And Rajeev Barnwal (Vadh)

R Madhavan (Rocketry: The Nambi Effect)

Best Debut Male

Abhay Mishr (Doctor G)

Ankush Gedam (Jhund)

Paalin Kabak (Bhediya)

Shantanu Maheshwari (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Debut Female

Andrea Kevichusa (Anek)

Khushali Kumar (Dhokha: Round D Corner)

Manushi Chhillar (Samrat Prithviraj)

Prajakta Koli (Jugjugg Jeeyo)

Critics' Awards

Best Film 

Badhaai Do (Harshvardhan Kulkarni)

Bhediya (Amar Kaushik)

Jhund (Nagraj Popatrao Manjule )

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (R Madhavan )

Vadh (Jaspal Singh Sandhu And Rajeev Barnwal)

Best Actor 

Amitabh Bachchan (Jhund)

R Madhavan (Rocketry: The Nambi Effect)

Rajkummar Rao (Badhaai Do)

Sanjay Mishra (Vadh)

Shahid Kapoor (Jersey)

Varun Dhawan (Bhediya)

Best Actress 

Bhumi Pednekar (Badhaai Do)

Kajol (Salaam Venky)

Neena Gupta (Vadh)

Taapsee Pannu (Shabaash Mithu)

Tabu (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

Technical Awards

Best Story

Akshat Ghildial, Suman Adhikary (Badhaai Do)

Anirudh Iyer (An Action Hero)

Jaspal Singh Sandhu And Rajeev Barnwal (Vadh)

Niren Bhatt (Bhediya)

Sunil Gandhi (Uunchai)

Best Screenplay

Aakash Kaushik (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

Akshat Ghildial, Suman Adhikary And Harshavardhan Kulkarni (Badhaai Do)

Jaspal Singh Sandhu And Rajeev Barnwal (Vadh)

Neeraj Yadav (An Action Hero)

Sanjay Leela Bhansali And Utkarshini Vashishtha (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (The Kashmir Files)

Best Dialogue

Abhishek Dixit (Uunchai)

Akshat Ghildial (Badhaai Do)

Manoj Muntashir And B.A.Fida (Vikram Vedha)

Neeraj Yadav (An Action Hero)

Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Sumit Saxena (Doctor G)

Best Background Score

Mangesh Dhakde (Anek)

Pritam, Jim Satya, Prasad S, Meghdeep Bose, Tanuj Tiku, Ketan Sodha, Sunny M.R.(Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Sachin-Jigar (Bhediya)

Sam Cs (Vikram Vedha)

Sanchit Balhara And Ankit Balhara (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Cinematography

Ewan Mulligan (Anek)

Kaushal Shah (An Action Hero)

P.S. Vinod (Vikram Vedha)

Setu (Laal Singh Chaddha)

Sudeep Chatterjee (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Production Design

Amrita Mahal Nakai (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Durga Prasad Mahapatra (Vikram Vedha)

Mayur Sharma And Apurwa Sondhi (Bhediya)

Mustufa Stationwala (Laal Singh Chaddha)

Rajat Poddar (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

Subrata Chakraborty And Amit Ray (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Costume Design

Maxima Basu (Laal Singh Chaddha)

Priyanka Gayatri Dubey And Mahananda Sagare And Veera Kapur Ee (Jhund)

Rohit Chaturvedi (Badhaai Do)

Sanjeev Rajsingh Parmar (Samrat Prithviraj)

Sheetal Iqbal Sharma (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Best Sound Design

Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Kaamod L Kharade (Anek)

Kunal Sharma (Bhediya)

Leslie Fernandes (Vikram Vedha)

Sanal George (Gangubai Kathiawadi)

Shajith Koyeri, Lakshmi Naidu Mantini (Laal Singh Chaddha)

Best Editing

Bunty Nagi (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

Ninad Khanolkar (An Action Hero)

Sandeep Francis (Drishyam 2)

Sanyukta Kaza (Bhediya)

Shankh Rajyadhyaksha (The Kashmir Files)

Best Action

Amin Khatib (Drishyam 2)

Dan Bradley, Diyan Hristov And Parvez Shaikh (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Faruk Kabir, Yannick Ben, Vidyut Jammwal And Amin Khatib (Khuda Haafiz Chapter 2 Agni Pariksha)

Parvez Shaikh (Vikram Vedha)

Ram Chella, Lakshman Chella, Parvez Shaikh, Kecha Khamphakdee (Heropanti 2)

Sea Young Oh, Parvez Shaikh, Hitz International Action Specialists (Dhaakad)

Best Vfx

Assemblage Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.(Rocketry)

Dneg, Redefine (Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Mpc (Bhediya)

Red Chillies VFX (Laal Singh Chaddha)

Red Chillies VFX, After Studios (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

Best Choreography

Bosco Caesar (Rangisari- Jugjugg Jeeyo)

Bosco Caesar (Title Track- Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2)

Ganesh Acharya (Dance Ka Bhoot- Brahmastra Part One: Shiva)

Ganesh Acharya (Thumkeshwari- Bhediya)

Ganesh Hegde (Alcoholia- Vikram Vedha)

Kruti Mahesh (Dholida- Gangubai Kathiawadi)

On April 27, 2023, the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai will be the venue for the awards ceremony. This year, the ceremony will be hosted by Salman Khan for the first time, who will be joined by co-hosts Ayushmann Khurrana and Maniesh Paul. The event will feature spectacular performances by several superstars including Vicky Kaushal, Govinda, Tiger Shroff, Janhvi Kapoor, and Jacqueline Fernandez. Get ready to be entertained!

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