Category: Information Technology ( IT & Software )

** Less than 100 workers of Foxconn return to one of the dormitories, operations to resume in phased manner

Resuming operations with full workforce to take some more months

Less than 100 workers at Foxconn’s plant in Sriperumbudur have returned to one of the dormitories. The plant is likely to reopen on January 12, however resuming of operations with the full 15,000 workforce will take some more months, as corrective measures have to be implemented in full, according to sources, besides there is a change in local management.

The plant which makes Apple iPhones, was shut down last month after a food poisoning incident affected more than 100 women workers. Apple has placed the plant on probation and Foxconn has apologised for the incident, while assuring of corrective action.

** Some of the most complex cloud projects are coming out of India, Microsoft executive says

In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Shivir Chordia, Azure Business Group Lead at Microsoft India, spoke about the growing cloud ecosystem, the pandemic’s role in driving cloud adoption across different sectors, and more.

** Musk reveals how he hired Ashok Elluswamy as Tesla Autopilot Head

Ashok Elluswamy holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the College of Engineering Guindy, Chennai

Elluswamy was actually the first employee to be hired for Tesla’s Autopilot team, with Musk actually using Twitter to ask people to apply for the role back in 2015.

** Launch of portal for unorganised workers key achievement: Labour Ministry

Another major step in 2021 was launch of all-India surveys on migrant workers

While the Union Labour and Employment Ministry launched surveys on unorganised sector workers and started a portal for registering such workers in 2021, welfare schemes for unorganised workers under the labour codes passed by Parliament in 2020 remained an unfulfilled promise.

The four labour codes — on wages, social security, occupational safety and industrial relations — were passed by Parliament in 2019 and 2020. However, they are yet to be implemented as the rules framed under provisions of the codes have not been notified. According to senior officials of the Ministry, the Central rules were ready before the start of financial year 2021-2022, but several States are yet to frame their rules under the codes.

** The Hindu’s Shiv Sahay Singh wins prize at Ramnath Goenka award

The Hindu’s West Bengal correspondent Shiv Sahay Singh won the Ramnath Goenka award in the “Uncovering India Invisible” category for his 2019 story “Death by Digital Exclusion” which exposed how the Jharkhand government’s insistence on digitisation deprived people living on the margins of the benefits of the public distribution system (PDS).

** Bengaluru Man MD Ahmed Bags Guinness Record For Memorising Most Three-Digit Flash Numbers

Bengaluru-based author and coach Mohammed Ali Athar Ahmed, also known as MD Ahmed, entered the Guinness World Records for memorising the most number of three-digit flashcards.

Ahmed bagged the world record for recalling 32 three-digit flash numbers. The previous record was held by an Iranian (30 three-digit cards).

Ahmed is highly trained in memory techniques and also trains others to use such techniques. He decided to attempt a Guinness World Records title to help inspire others who are also interested in memorising as a skill and sport, Guinness World Records noted.

** Narinder Singh Kapany: The relentless innovator behind the science of fibre optics

Known as the ‘Father of Fibre Optics’, Dr Narinder Singh Kapany had over 100 patents under his name.

For someone who was hailed as one of the seven unsung heroes of the 20th century for his Nobel Prize-deserving invention in 1999 by Fortune magazine, Narinder Singh Kapany remains relatively unknown.

The Indian American scientist was a multi-faceted personality—physicist, innovator, entrepreneur, farmer, philanthropist, and an avid art collector.

he also invented Retinal laser coagulation treatment. He became the first Indian Sikh to take a company public in Silicon Valley. 

In 1967, Kapany created the Sikh Foundation that pioneered the display of Sikh Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and established the first permanent Sikh Art Gallery in the United States and Canada

** IIT Dropout Series: Jharkhand boy left IIT Delhi for own startup, now runs a Rs 500-crore company with global partnerships

Ankit Prasad made it to the list of Forbes 30 under 30 in 2018 and has also been recognised in the Business World magazine’s 40 Under 40 list.

However, he wanted to tap into the growing smartphone industry and in 2015 founded ‘Bobble AI’ which created ‘Bobble Indic’ keyboard. Around 120 languages from around the world, as well as 37 Indian languages, are assisted by the keyboard. Bobble AI’s valuation was recorded to be over 500 crores in 2020, which increased to more than 750 crores in the third quarter of 2021.

* 5-yr-old in Bengaluru sets world record in coding

Five-year-old Sunvisha C Nair, a student of Christ KG at SG Palya, has emerged as the ‘world’s youngest person to code decimal and its corresponding octal, hexadecimal and binary coding of 1-15, in a number system’