Finally, Apple iPad gets its own iPadOS: Compatible devices and what's new

The iPadOS brings desktop-like browsing experience, improved file manager, enhanced multitasking capabilities, redesigned user interface, etc.

Business Standard : American technology company Apple Inc on Tuesday rolled out the iPadOS for the iPad Air 2 (and later versions), all iPad Pro models, iPad 5th generation (and later models), and iPad mini 4 (and later models). Announced in May at the Apple’s worldwide developer conference, the iPadOS brings new tools and features to iPads, which were until now using the iOS. The new operating system for iPads brings a desktop-like browsing experience, improved file manager, enhanced multitasking capabilities, redesigned user interface, etc.

Here is what is new in the iPadOS:

Home Screen

The iPadOS brings a redesigned home screen with a new layout to show more apps and information at a glance. The new home screen supports adding multiple widgets, allowing easy access to quick information such as weather, calendar, events, reminders, etc.

Multitasking with 'Split View' and 'Slide Over'

With new Split View and Slide Over feature, the iPadOS makes it easy to work on multiple files and documents, and using the same app for multiple purpose. Now, you can compose an email while viewing another email side by side or access multiple apps like Messages or Calendar with just a swipe.

New capabilities for Apple Pencil

Apple Pencil features are integrated in the iPadOS to make it feel more natural. You can now mark up and send entire webpages, documents or emails on iPad by swiping Apple Pencil from the bottom corner of the screen. A redesigned tool palette gives quick access to tools, colour palettes, shapes, object eraser, a new pixel eraser for removing any part of a stroke and a ruler for drawing straight lines.

Improved Files App

The Files app gets a major improvement and iCloud Drive support for folder sharing. Now, anyone with access to a shared folder will see it in iCloud Drive and will have the ability to access the latest version. The File app now also supports external drives, allowing users to easily plug in USB drives, SD cards or log into an SMB file server, all from within the Files app.

Youth show the mirror to major nations including India at UN climate summit

16 children, including India's Ridhima Pandey, said they would petition the UN against five big carbon polluters in the world.

Business Standard : At the United Nations (UN) emergency climate summit, 16 children, including India’s Ridhima Pandey, said they would petition the UN against five big carbon polluters in the world--Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey--for violating their rights as children by failing to adequately reduce emissions.

Pandey, 11, is from Haridwar in Uttarakhand, and had, in 2017, filed a case against the Indian government at the National Green Tribunal for failing to take action against climate change.

As countries reiterated old promises to control climate change, the youth, led by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, emerged as climate leaders. “I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you come to us young people for hope. How dare you?” said Thunberg.

Every country, except the United States, has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Of those countries, 45 have agreed to an additional protocol that allows children to petition the UN directly about treaty violations.

Within that group of 45, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey are some of the biggest emitters of the pollution that causes climate change. None of the five is on a path needed to keep the planet from heating over 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius by the turn of the century.

The petition by children comes on the heels of the latest report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that said global temperature has risen by 1.1 degrees Celsius since systematic record-keeping began in 1850, and by 0.2 degrees Celsius compared to 2011-2015.

“Climate change causes and impacts are increasing rather than slowing down,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the WMO.

Antonio Gueterres, the UN secretary general, has praised Thunberg for her leadership, calling it “absolutely remarkable”. The UN credits the pressure from the youth for pushing climate action across countries.

“I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you come to us young people for hope. How dare you?” said 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg at the United Nations Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York.

What bites music business in India? Time and revenue mismatch, says study

Streaming now brings in 70 per cent of the Rs 1,068 crore the industry made in early 2019.

The Indian music industry is growing, but in bits and bytes. Both audio and video streaming grew 30 per cent during the earlier part of the year. Streaming now brings in 70 per cent of the Rs 1,068 crore the industry made in early 2019.

The remainder came from physical sales, performance rights, and other revenues, according to the latest Digital Music Study 2019 from the Indian Music Industry (IMI), which represents the Indian recorded music industry and is affiliated to the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

The study is based on a sample of 3,000 Indians aged 16-64, who were interviewed earlier this year.

The feel good numbers suggest that Indians spent more than 19 hours a week listening to music, and 97 per cent of them did so on a smartphone device.

However, the numbers get pretty sad after that. The biggest issue is the disparity between the amount of time people spent on a medium or method, and the revenues it brought. For instance, video streaming as a share of total listenership grew from 45 per cent in 2018, to 55 per cent in 2019. However, its contribution to revenues fell from 20 per cent to 18 per cent.

The radio industry, which accounted for close to 22 per cent of listening, brought in just under 3 per cent of revenues. It should be noted that the video streaming industry is about five times and radio over three times the size of the music industry.

“Such discrepancies in revenue contribution may be attributed to legislative and regulatory impediments that inhibit the return of fair value to rights holders,” says the study. In radio, for instance, royalty is mandated at 2 per cent of advertising revenues by the Copyright Board.

This is an anomaly by any standards. In most industries, revenues are usually indexed to the audience share. For instance, given that just over half the TV industry’s viewership comes from general entertainment channels, a similar proportion of its ad revenues come from the same medium.

Business Standard

SpiceJet mulls buying 100 Airbus jets after Boeing 737 MAX fallout

The Max has been grounded worldwide since March after a pair of crashes killed 346 people.

India’s SpiceJet Ltd. is weighing an order for at least 100 Airbus SE planes as Boeing Co. grapples with the fallout over its grounded 737 Max.

The budget carrier, a major global customer for the Max, may buy a “sizable” number of Airbus A321LR and XLR jets to accommodate a planned expansion, SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh said Tuesday.

No decision has been made, he said, and the airline would consider a competing midrange jetliner if Boeing decides to build one.

Airbus has “pushed us hard since the day we started flying Boeing aircraft, and of course with the current problems, they’ve pushed us harder,” Singh said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. “They have made us a commercial offer and we are evaluating it.”

The discussions with Airbus threaten Boeing with a high-profile defection at a time when the U.S. planemaker is enmeshed in one of the biggest crises in its 103-year history. SpiceJet, India’s second-largest airline, has 13 Max jets already in its fleet and has committed to buy as many as 205 of the single-aisle workhorses as it expands capacity to handle the nation’s fast-growing demand for air travel.

While Singh didn’t specify the exact size of a potential transaction, he said “any aircraft order that SpiceJet places would at least be 100 aircraft.” That would value the deal in excess of $13 billion, based on 2018 list prices before customary discounts for the A321neo. The LR and XLR variants are longer-range variants of the plane.

The Max has been grounded worldwide since March after a pair of crashes killed 346 people. More than six months later, the timing of the return to service remains unclear as regulators worldwide conduct independent assessments of the jet’s airworthiness.

Business Standard

Trade unions of public sector banks call off two-day nationwide strike

AIBOA, the Indian National Bank Officers' Congress and the National Organisation of Bank Officers had called for a two-day strike opposing the amalgamation of banks.

Trade unions of public sector banks (PSBs) on Monday decided to withdraw a two-day nationwide strike slated to begin from Wednesday.

The unions called off the strike after holding a meeting with Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar in which they were assured that a committee will be set up to address issues arising out of the proposed amalgamation of 10 PSBs into four.

“The finance secretary was positive in formation of a committee consisting of all concerned to address the issues arising out of the proposed merger of 10 banks, including preserving the identity of all the banks. An appeal was made to us to revisit our strike call in view of the discussions,” a statement issued by four unions, which had given the strike call, said.

The All India Banks Officers’ Confederation, the All India Banks Officers’ Association (AIBOA), the Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress and the National Organisation of Bank Officers had called for a two-day strike opposing the amalgamation of banks.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last month announced merger of four banks. 

Punjab National Bank (PNB) will take over Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India to become the country’s second-largest lender after State Bank of India (SBI) in terms of business. Canara Bank will subsume Syndicate Bank; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will merge with Union Bank of India; and Allahabad Bank will become part of Indian Bank.

“We have been further assured that officers of all scales will be covered during the ongoing wage negotiations between the bank management and unions. This is a positive development,” AIBOA general secretary Nagarajan S said.

The current wage revision is due from November 2017, after the terms of the previous bipartite wage settlement ended in October 2017. In the last wage revision in 2012, which was for the period between November 1, 2012 and October 31, 2017, when bank employees got a 15 per cent wage hike.

Business Standard

Rising power: Why India has faced muted criticism over its Kashmir policy

India's economic heft and its standing as a potential counter to China may be behind the absence of strong reactions.

If Prime Minister Narendra Modi was worried about a frosty reception in the U.S. after his crackdown on India’s Muslim-majority region of Kashmir, President Donald Trump was quick to put those fears to rest.

“Border security is vital to India,” Trump said alongside Modi, as the two spoke at a huge gathering of around 50,000 Indian-Americans on Sunday. “We understand that.”

The high-level acknowledgment from the world’s most powerful political leader comes as Modi -- who will address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday -- continues an unprecedented security crackdown in the tense Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir. On August 5, he abolished 70 years of regional autonomy and placed its citizens under widespread restrictions including an extended communications blackout. It also follows India’s push to strip millions of people -- mostly Muslims -- of their citizenship in the country’s northeastern state of Assam, near Bangladesh.

Trump’s comments, although not explicit approval, are symbolic of the quiet acceptance of India’s policies which have attracted little international criticism. India’s actions have been compared to what China is doing in its own restive mostly-Muslim border region of Xinjiang. But few countries other than Pakistan and China, which both have territorial claims in disputed Kashmir, have criticized New Delhi -- a stark contrast to the 22 states that signed a letter criticizing China’s crackdown against Muslim minority Uighurs, which has seen as many as 1 million citizens placed in “re-education camps.”

Nations want to keep Modi onside as they recognize India’s rising strategic importance in Asia as a counterweight to Beijing. There’s also the size of its market, including billions in arms purchases, and the fact that criticizing New Delhi risks aligning with Pakistan, which is widely accused of sponsoring terrorist groups in the region.

“There is little diplomatic upside to directly challenging India,” said Paul Staniland, an associate professor at the University of Chicago. “India is an important economic and strategic partner, or potential partner, for countries ranging from France to the U.S. to the Gulf states. It’s also clear that the government of India won’t be rolling back its policy anytime soon, and many countries are leery of seeming to back the Pakistani line.”

Business Standard

Kohli one demerit point away from getting banned from international cricket

With three demerit points, Kohli needs to keep his on-field aggression in check as India have just started a hectic home season; one more demerit point before January 16 next year will trigger a ban.

Business Standard : India cricket team captain Virat Kohli, who received an official warning and one demerit point for breaching ICC Code of Conduct in India’s third T20 match against South Africa on Sunday, is just one demerit point away from getting banned from international cricket. On Sunday, Kohli had an inappropriate shoulder contact with pacer Beuran Hendricks in the fifth over of the Indian innings while taking a run.

Kohli admitted his offence and accepted the sanctions. Now, his total count of demerit points has reached three in less than two years. "Kohli admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Richie Richardson of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, and as such, there was no need for a formal hearing," the ICC said in the statement.

Kohli needs to keep his aggression in check as India have just started a hectic home season. After having levelled the T20I series 1-1 with them, India will now play three Test matches with South Africa cricket team. Later, India will host Bangladesh for three T20Is and two Tests in November, and then go for bilateral series with West Indies, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand.

How Virat Kohli earned three demerits points

Kohli received one demerit point during the Centurion Test against South Africa on January 15, 2018, for his misbehaviour with an on-field umpire. He was hit with a second demerit point during India's fixture against Afghanistan in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World World Cup for excessive appealing.

When a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, the player is suspended. It means if Kohli receives another demerit point before January 16 next year – two years from the Centurion Test – he will get a suspension.

How demerit points lead to suspension

Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, and a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of the player's match fee, besides one or two demerit points.

When a player reaches four or more demerit points within a 24-month period, they are converted into suspension points and a player is banned.

Two suspension points equate a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20Is, whatever comes first for the player.