National Energy Board issues new approvals for Trans Mountain pipeline
CALGARY – The National Energy Board has issued three decisions for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion approving the tunnel route through Burnaby, B.C., and allowing construction to begin on a tunnel entrance.The energy board said in a news release it is granting relief for pre-construction conditions on Trans Mountain property at the Westridge Marine Terminal where the Burnaby Mountain tunnel portal will be located.The federal government approved the 1,147-kilometre pipeline between Alberta and the West Coast in November 2016 along a roughly 150-metre wide corridor, but the project continues to face political and public opposition in B.C.The pipeline ends in Burnaby, B.C., where Mayor Derek Corrigan has vowed that the route will never be approved because of the damage and disruption it would cause his city.But in its decisions, the energy board encouraged the city to collaborate with Trans Mountain to resolve concerns with the pipeline’s location.“The Board is of the view that Burnaby and Trans Mountain can achieve more mutually acceptable outcomes by maintaining professional engagement on matters they are both responsible,” says the decision issued Thursday.The construction at the terminal is still subject to federal, provincial and municipal permits, but the board said allowing work to begin now would avoid potential impacts on migratory birds that use the area later in the spring.In its application to the board, Trans Mountain said it would take four to six weeks to conduct tree clearing at the entrance site, and the work would need to be completed before restrictions pertaining to birds came in effect.If the window for construction was missed, Trans Mountain said that would delay work on the next phase of the $7.4 billion project.The board also issued decisions over concerns filed by a resident and the City of Burnaby over the tunnelling of the pipeline through the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area. Both presentations said the tunnel would create disruptive noise and vibration, and would damage the natural environment.Documents from the board said it was satisfied by the mitigating efforts put forward by Trans Mountain to minimize disruption to residents, including a plan to monitor and report vibrations generated by the construction.Trans Mountain has been directed to deliver a specific plan to monitor vibrations at least 30 days before tunnel boring begins.Tunnelling was also determined to be the best method in reducing negative effects on the environment and residents, the board said.The board said that 56 per cent of the pipeline route has been approved so far, but construction won’t be authorized until the remainder of the route is approved and other conditions are met.More decisions are pending and a another set of route hearings in the Lower Mainland will be held in March, a spokesman with the National Energy Board said on Thursday.The existing Trans Mountain pipeline has carried oil from near Edmonton to the marine terminal in Burnaby since 1953, but the additional line would nearly triple oil-shipping capacity.The B.C. New Democrat government said it will limit the expanded shipment of diluted bitumen until environmental concerns can be addressed. The Alberta government responded by cutting off talks for the sale of electricity and halting B.C. wine imports.The federal government has said it stands by its approval of the pipeline and the project will go ahead.B.C.’s Environment Minister George Heyman said Wednesday that talks about the pipeline between federal and provincial bureaucrats have been underway since last week.Companies in this story: (TSX:KML)— By Linda Givetash in Vancouver.
Kespry, the drone-based aerial intelligence solution provider, has announced its new BYOD (Bring Your Own Drone) program. It includes a new platform pricing model designed to meet the expanding enterprise aerial intelligence requirements of multi-site mining companies. Kespry now offers a single fee for its platform, including unlimited access to industry-leading, vertically-integrated applications, the Kespry Cloud and AI and ML-based analytics.“BYOD means companies can either choose to go with Kespry-managed drone hardware or use their own existing DJI drone fleet, including the DJI Mavic 2 Pro and the DJI Phantom series. The combination of flexible platform pricing and BYOD means teams across mining, aggregates and inspection companies have uniform access to the latest aerial intelligence technology, Kespry’s unrivaled accuracy, ease-of-use and safety benefits.”Enabling customers to integrate existing DJI drone fleets into the Kespry aerial intelligence platform ensures data reliability by providing a single source of aerial truth. Now, regardless of which drones they use, customers benefit from the complete Kespry experience, including industry-specific tools, automatic platform updates and world-class customer support.“We’re very pleased to partner with Kespry and have DJI drones seamlessly integrate with the Kespry platform,” said Bill Chen, Enterprise Partnerships Manager, DJI. “The combination of DJI’s industry-leading drone platforms with Kespry’s vertical capabilities and expertise will further boost efficiency for its mining and aggregates customers by allowing them to more accurately and frequently measure stockpile volumes, and manage inventory across multiple sites. Kespry’s BYOD program will also enable insurance and roofing companies to significantly reduce the time spent on inspecting buildings, while delivering precise risk assessments.”Kespry’s new platform pricing uses a single fee model designed for mining, aggregates, construction, and inspection companies to scale aerial intelligence across their operations. The cost is now based on the number of sites or properties involved, ensuring deployments are precisely aligned with business needs. Kespry and DJI-managed drones are available on an unlimited flight basis, in conjunction with the ability for customers to use the BYOD model with existing DJI Mavic 2 Pro and DJI Phantom series drones.“The integration of BYOD and new platform pricing means Kespry customers can further improve profitability with more accurate and frequent assessment of their assets across the regions they operate in,” said George Mathew, CEO, Kespry. “The combination of the Kespry platform, hardware flexibility and uniform access to our comprehensive applications and vertical-specific tools makes enterprise expansion easier and more accessible than ever. It enables companies to align their aerial intelligence strategy in lockstep with their evolving business goals.”
More than A$2.3 billion ($1.54 billion) was spent on minerals exploration in Australia in 2018-19, according to exploration expenditure data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.This investment is up 19% from the previous year and has seen investment in gold exploration rise – also by 19% – to a new record high of A$964 million, according to the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).The MCA said this growing investment by mining is helping to secure Australia’s long-term prosperity.The highest increase in exploration investment in an individual state was in South Australia, up by 55% to A$85 million.”The mining industry needs stable policy settings from both state and federal governments to continue to deliver benefits for all Australians,” the MCA said.“The recently announced Productivity Commission enquiry into resources sector regulation is a welcome first step in ensuring state and federal governments have the policy settings that continue to support mining and even greater investment in exploration to develop Australia’s next wave of critical mineral, base metal and gold mines.”This exploration investment is creating and supporting jobs throughout the country, especially in regional Australia.When exploration investment translates to minerals production, Australia is the big winner, the MCA said. Mining is the country’s largest source of export revenue and has generated A$212 billion in company tax and royalties for Australia over the last decade, it added.
A MAJOR GLOBAL survey out carried out by a Jewish organisation has found that 20 per cent of Irish adults hold anti-Semitic attitudes.The Anti-Defamation League’s ADL Global 100 survey gave over 53,000 adults in 102 countries worldwide a selection of negative Jewish stereotypes and recorded how many people described the statements as ‘probably true’.The statements included stereotypes such as, ‘Jews have too much power in the business world’, ‘Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust’ and ‘Jews think they are better than other people.The survey found that 20 per cent the Irish people surveyed answered ‘probably true’ on the majority of statements that were put to them.The survey ranks Ireland as roughly in the middle in comparison with other countries in Western Europe. Greece is the most anti-Semitic country in Western Europe according to the ADL, with over two-thirds harbouring such attitudes. Sweden is the least so at 4 per cent of those surveyed, with the UK also scoring low at 8 per cent.The negative statement to which most Irish people agreed was ’Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their home country’ with 52 per cent of Irish people answering ‘probably true’ to that statement.30 per cent of Irish people surveyed agreed that ’Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust’ and 28 per cent said ‘Jews have too much power in the business world’. Source: ADL.orgWorldwide, they survey found that one-in-four adults hold anti-Semitic views. English speaking countries are the least anti-Semitic with an average ranking of 13 per cent. As a religion, 49 per cent of Muslims surveyed worldwide were found to have anti-Semitic views.The ADL ranked the West-Bank and Gaza and Iraq as the countries with the most anti-Semitic with Greece being the highest outside of the Middle-East.The Anti-Defamation League is an New York based organisation that was founded over 100 years ago to guard against anti-Semitism. The ADL’s support has frequently been courted by US politicians as part of electioneering but has been criticised by some for using bullyboy tactics against opponents, in particular labelling criticism of Israeli policy as ant-Semitic.Details of and methodology for the global survey can be viewed here. Read: Fianna Fáil condemns anti-Semitic remark allegedly made by canvasser >Read: Racist graffiti painted opposite Immigrant Council offices >
7 from Tipperary and 4 from Kilkenny – the 2016 All-Star hurling team Galway and Waterford also have winners in the GAA-GPA awards. Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny – Glenmore)Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHOCathal Barrett (Tipperary – Holycross Ballycahill)Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHOJames Barry (Tipperary – Upperchurch Drombane)Source: James Crombie/INPHODaithi Burke (Galway – Turloughmore)Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHOPadraig Walsh (Kilkenny – Tullaroan)Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHORonan Maher (Tipperary – Thurles Sarsfields)Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHOPadraic Maher (Tipperary – Thurles Sarsfields)Source: James Crombie/INPHOJamie Barron (Waterford – Fourmilewater)Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHODavid Burke (Galway – St Thomas)Source: Donall Farmer/INPHOWalter Walsh (Kilkenny – Tullogher Rosbercon)Source: James Crombie/INPHOAustin Gleeson (Waterford – Mount Sion)Source: Donall Farmer/INPHOPatrick Maher (Tipperary – Lorrha Dorrha)Source: James Crombie/INPHORichie Hogan (Kilkenny – Danesfrot)Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHOSeamus Callanan (Tipperary – Drom & Inch)Source: James Crombie/INPHOJohn McGrath (Tipperary – Loughmore Castleiney)Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO Castleknock’s remarkable journey to the top of Dublin club footballLeinster club winner and Kilkenny All-Ireland champion join Wexford backroom team Add us: the42.ie http://the42.ie/3062791 Previous Tipperary’s Seamus Callanan with Galway’s Daithi Burke Source: Donall Farmer/INPHOSEVEN PLAYERS FROM All-Ireland champions Tipperary and four from beaten finalists Kilkenny have been honoured in the 2016 GAA-GPA All-Star hurling team.There are two winners apiece from beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists in Galway and Waterford.Kingpins Tipperary have winners in Cathal Barrett, James Barry, Ronan, Padraic and Patrick Maher, Seamus Callanan and John McGrath.Kilkenny’s recipients are Eoin Murphy, Padraig Walsh, Walter Walsh and Richie Hogan.Daithi and David Burke are honoured from Galway while Jamie Barron and Austin Gleeson are the successful players from Waterford. 27,754 Views Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO” title=””>Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO” title=””>Source: James Crombie/INPHO” title=””>Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO” title=””>Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO” title=””>Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO” title=””>Source: James Crombie/INPHO” title=””>Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO” title=””>Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO” title=””>Source: James Crombie/INPHO” title=””>Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO” title=””>Source: James Crombie/INPHO” title=””>Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO” title=””>Source: James Crombie/INPHO” title=””>Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO” title=””> Short URL Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny – Glenmore)
Previous 1 / 15Next 42 Comments Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Nov 4th 2016, 8:02 PM Share83 Tweet Email Next Friday 4 Nov 2016, 8:02 PM There are nine first-time winners in Murphy, Barrett, Barry, Padraig Walsh, Ronan Maher, Barron, Walter Walsh, Gleeson and John McGrath.Padraic Maher and Richie Hogan both collect their fourth All-Star while it’s a third award for Seamus Callanan and David Burke. Patrick Maher and Daithi Burke both previously won one award.There are four players from last year’s team again honoured in Hogan, Callanan and the Burke duo from Galway. Indeed it is the third successive year that sharphshooters Hogan and Callanan have claimed awards.Ronan and Padraic Maher are the first Tipperary brothers to win All-Stars in the same year since Paul and Eoin Kelly achieved that feat in 2002.Padraig Walsh follows in the footsteps of his older brother Tommy who won nine awards during his Kilkenny career, while John McGrath’s older brother is a two-time recipient.2016 GAA/GPA All-Star Hurling Team of the Year1. Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny) – First time winner2. Cathal Barrett (Tipperary) – First time winner3. James Barry (Tipperary) – First time winner4. Daithi Burke (Galway) – Winner in 20155. Padraig Walsh (Kilkenny) – First time winner6. Ronan Maher (Tipperary) – First time winner7. Padraic Maher (Tipperary) – Winner in 2009, 2011 and 20148. Jamie Barron (Waterford) – First time winner9. David Burke (Galway) – Winner in 2012 and 201510. Walter Walsh (Kilkenny) – First time winner11. Austin Gleeson (Waterford) – First time winner12. Patrick Maher (Tipperary) – Winner in 201413. Richie Hogan (Kilkenny) – Winner in 2011, 2014 and 201514. Seamus Callanan (Tipperary) – Winner in 2014 and 201515. John McGrath (Tipperary) – First time winnerThe42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add! By Fintan O’Toole
The Weather Channel app allegedly amassed user location data without permission or users’ knowledge. The Weather Company Partly cloudy with a chance of lost privacy. That might be the forecast if you’re using an app to check the weather.The city attorneys of Los Angeles on Thursday sued the developer of the Weather Channel app for allegedly collecting, sharing and profiting from user location data without users’ permission. Roughly 45 million people use the app every month, and it was the most downloaded weather app from 2014 to 2017, according to the lawsuit. The suit alleges that IBM subsidiary The Weather Company, the outfit behind the app, used the program to “amass its users’ private, personal geolocation data” while making users believe their data was used only to provide accurate local weather forecasts. IBM says The Weather Company has always been transparent with its use of location data.”The disclosures are fully appropriate, and we will defend them vigorously,” Edward Barbini, vice president of corporate communication at IBM, said in an emailed statement.The Weather App tracks users’ movements in minute detail and sells this data to third parties without users’ knowledge or permission, the lawsuit alleges. The app collects location data on where users live and work, as well as the places they visit throughout the day and night, according to the suit. It also gathers info on how much time users spend at each place, the suit says. The data can allegedly be analyzed to understand a specific user’s daily habits, shopping preferences and even unique identity. “This case goes to the core of one of today’s most fundamental issues, how do we maintain our privacy in the digital age? We chose this defendant because this app touches all demographics,” Mike Feuer, LA city attorney, said at a press conference on Friday. “This app seems to be benign; how many of you would suspect that to get a weather app, we would be tracked 24/7?”The Weather Channel app isn’t the first program to face scrutiny in regard to user location data. The New York Times in December revealed how free apps like GasBuddy are programmed to track users in homes, hospitals, schools and offices. “I hope every company can be truly transparent and disclose to users what’s at stake,” said Feuer. “That’ll be the right thing to do.” Fight the Power: Take a look at who’s transforming the way we think about energy. Cambridge Analytica: Everything you need to know about Facebook’s data mining scandal. Post a comment 0 Share your voice
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Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders and supporters protest against the verdict in the corruption case of Bangladesh`s main opposition leader and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia in Dhaka on 12 February 2018. Photo: AFPThousands of Bangladeshi opposition supporters staged rallies across the country on Monday demanding the release of their jailed leader Khaleda Zia and free and fair elections.Khaleda Zia, three-time prime minister in the Muslim-majority nation of 160 million, was imprisoned for five years last week for embezzlement, sparking riots from supporters who rejected the verdict as politically motivated.The chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is expected to appeal but the conviction may affect her ability to stand in a general election slated for December.Thousands of BNP activists in cities across Bangladesh joined hands in a march calling for Khaleda’s immediate release from a prison in Dhaka.“We want her immediate release and a free and fair election,” BNP secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told AFP outside the national press club in Dhaka where more than 5,000 gathered.Khaleda Zia, 72, is expected to be freed on bail once the appeal has been lodged but her supporters fear Bangladesh’s ruling party will try and keep her detained on other charges.Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders and supporters protest against the verdict in the corruption case of Bangladesh`s main opposition leader and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia in Dhaka on 12 February 2018. Photo: AFPShe is accused of dozens of other criminal violations including corruption and violence.One of her lawyers, Zainul Abedin, said authorities were attempting Monday to hold Khaleda Zia in connection with an arson attack in 2015.Alamgir said at least 4,300 opposition officials had been arrested in the past fortnight as police sought to offset resistance ahead of Khaleda Zia’s sentencing. A party vice chairman and two former ministers were among those detained, he added.Police have not commented on the arrests.Zia is a former ally-turned-arch-rival of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.The BNP boycotted the general election in 2014 that saw Hasina return to power, but Khaleda Zia is expected to contest the upcoming poll in December.Her son Tarique Rahman, who lives in exile in London, has been named as the acting opposition chief, despite being convicted and jailed in absentia for ten years on the same charges as Zia.Last month prosecutors sought the death penalty over his alleged role in a deadly 2004 grenade attack that injured Sheikh Hasina.Khaleda Zia and her son were detained by an army-backed government in 2007 and spent a year and a half in detention pending trials for alleged corruption.
Logo of DMPThe Traffic Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in its drive against traffic rules violation filed some 3,772 cases against different modes of vehicles in the city on Tuesday.Of the cases, 334 were filed for driving vehicles on wrong sides, 65 for using hydraulic horns, seven for using hooter and beckon light and 16 others for using tinted glass in microbuses.Some 1,223 cases were filed against motorcycles and 68 bikes were seized for violation of the traffic rules during the period.Traffic policemen also dumped 35 vehicles and impounded 894 others using tow trucks during the daylong drive that started at 6am.They realised over Tk 30.79 lakh in fine for traffic rules violation, said DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman on Wednesday.
To embed this piece of audio in your site, please use this code: 00:00 /01:04 – / 3In many other cities you’ll see light rail trains in all sorts of colors. But Metro has maintained the same gray color scheme since it first started running the trains in 2004. After two cyclists were hit and killed by trains earlier this year, Metro board member Jim Robinson says it’s time to make some changes.“Well the trains are both hard to see because of the silver-gray color,” says Robinson. “They literally melt into what I would call the urban canyon and they’re quiet.”Stripes and wrappings have already been added to some of the trains. Now Metro is spending $326,000 to add big red and blue stripes to the rest of the fleet. That includes over 60 vehicles.Metro CEO Tom Lambert says it’s part of an overall effort to make things safer for pedestrians and cyclists.“There’s a lot more we’re doing with the traffic engineering group,” adds Lambert. “We also have a traffic safety group that we brought in to take a look at all aspects of safety. We’ve made intersection improvements.”Lambert says they hope to have the new red and blue stripes on all trains by the end of October. Share X Listen
Stay Longer, Save More at The Plaza New York Experience more and up to 25% off when you extend your stay at The Plaza and savor all that New York City has to offer. Ad by The Plaza NY See More AdChoices Now, High Fidelity wants to focus on virtual world meeting spaces for teams and enterprises. These spaces don’t have to be used with VR headsets, with users also being able to join with regular PCs, and headphones for 3D audio.In a post geared towards developers, High Fidelity further explained their reasoning for the pivot: “At the moment, there just aren’t enough people using VR headsets to sustain a business that makes a little money from a lot of users. There will be, but it will take a few years. In the meantime, we need to focus on a more specific use case for VR.”High Fidelity shut down its own public spaces in its virtual world effective immediately, but the company will continue to support third-party developers who are working on their own spaces. High Fidelity will also continue to support its marketplace, which is powered by an in-world currency based on Blockchain technology.The company raised around $73 million from funders including IDG Capital, Vulcan Capital and True Ventures. Popular on Variety ×Actors Reveal Their Favorite Disney PrincessesSeveral actors, like Daisy Ridley, Awkwafina, Jeff Goldblum and Gina Rodriguez, reveal their favorite Disney princesses. Rapunzel, Mulan, Ariel,Tiana, Sleeping Beauty and Jasmine all got some love from the Disney stars.More VideosVolume 0%Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcutsKeyboard Shortcutsplay/pauseincrease volumedecrease volumeseek forwardsseek backwardstoggle captionstoggle fullscreenmute/unmuteseek to %SPACE↑↓→←cfm0-9Next UpJennifer Lopez Shares How She Became a Mogul04:350.5x1x1.25×1.5x2xLive00:0002:1502:15 Related
Neil Gaiman VR Experience ‘Wolves in the Walls’ Wins Primetime Emmy First Look: Trailer for Venice-bound VR Experience ‘The Line’ (EXCLUSIVE) High Fidelity, the virtual worlds startup led by Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, laid off 20 staffers, or about 25% of its staff, this week. Rosedale said in a blog post that the company was changing course to focus on enterprise communication, and blamed lower-than-expected VR headset adoption for the decision.“If you had asked me when we started the company in 2014, I’d have said that by now there would be several million people using (VR headsets) daily, and we’d be competing with both big and small companies to provide the best platform—but I was wrong,” Rosedale wrote.“Daily headset use is only in the tens of thousands, almost all for entertainment and media consumption, with very little in the way of general communication, work, or education,” he added.High Fidelity launched as a kind of VR-based successor to Second Life in 2016. The company pitched its platform as open and decentralized, giving artists and others a chance to create their own virtual worlds. It also briefly experimented with original content production, ordering a season of a VR talk show exclusively for High Fidelity.
“If (the) Municipal Corporation Department (MCD) is not working then Bharatiya Janata Party should resign. Aam Aadmi Party will turn MCD into a profit-making venture within a year,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while speaking at the vote-on-account, which was presented in the Assembly by state Finance Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday. Kejriwal had also charged that the prevailing corruption in the three civic bodies was the main reason behind the financial stand-off between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party. He further alleged that if BJP could not bear the burden of running the Municipal Corporation of Delhi properly and effectively; then the party should leave it for AAP to handle. In the same vein, Kejriwal also pointed fingers in the direction of the Central government and held them responsible for any water crisis that may arise in Delhi in future. Also Read – Working on improving tiesEven if these allegations are true; they do little to alleviate the mess that the BJP managed MCD finds itself in. The North and East Delhi municipal corporations are currently cash-strapped and unable to pay their staff for the past two months. There are fears that a large section of these workers may soon go on strike. The East Delhi municipal corporation finds itself in the precarious situation of needing Rs 600 crore just to clear its debts; let alone entertain the possibility of stabilising its depleted finances. Also Read – Political parties and our RepublicThis unavoidable situation has been precipitated by the fact that for a long while almost all the three municipal corporations were running deficit budgets; with a huge grand canyon-like gap between revenue and expenditure. The BJP may argue that running the MCD smoothly required poor financial accounting on their part. This claim, however, can be easily dismissed by the reality that poor financial accounting alone can’t result in debts worth Rs 600 crore. Incompetence and corruption could also be probable factors for this situation. Politically the AAP move to point fingers at BJP is a shrewd one. It automatically diverts attention from the internal churn that AAP has been going through of late. Be that as it may, if Kejriwal wants his allegations against opposition parties not to be interpreted by the voting public as typical political bluster and mudslinging, then he has to take heed of the yawning gap between what the AAP has promised and what it has delivered so far. Rather than pointing fingers at opposing parties, AAP must earnestly focus on the daunting challenge of fulfilling the promises it had made in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections. Anything less than that will be self-defeating for a party, which has rode into power riding on a massive wave of public optimism.
Kolkata: The state Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) department will be developing a network to ensure that its Fintech hub and the proposed Silicon Valley hub can work in close coordination with each other.”We have to ensure that both traditional and emerging businesses have a suitable home in Bengal. Our department is working toward this,” said IT&E minister Bratya Basu, while addressing a knowledge workshop on Fintech at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre on Friday. Also Read – Rain batters Kolkata, cripples normal lifeChief Minister Mamata Banerjee had laid the foundation stone for the Silicon Valley project in New Town last month, where leading companies like Reliance, Amazon, Fujisoft etc. have already evinced interest in investing.Taking the cue from the minister, state Additional Chief Secretary, IT&E department, Debashis Sen said that the Fintech hub, with a number of financial institutions, is looking to use the best of technology, particularly for safe and secure transactions. Also Read – Speeding Jaguar crashes into Mercedes car in Kolkata, 2 pedestrians killed”Cutting edge technology will be available at the Silicon Valley hub. So, a strong network will be developed between these two hubs,” a senior official of the IT department said.Bratya Basu released a user manual on use cases of Blockchain based crowd sourcing solutions that have been developed by his department, at the workshop.”Our government is working on taking a lead in fintech and blockchain, as these technologies will soon emerge as a major job creator in the days to come,” he said. According to Basu, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee believes that IT not only ensures citizen centric service but at the same time, has the potential for generating a lot of jobs for the skilled and talented youths in the state.Blockchain technology developed by the state IT&E department has been made available for the Vivek Tirtha project being carried out by Ramakrishna Mission.”Blockchain technology is particularly safe for crowd funding, as the database is shared across lakhs of computers at the same time. So, hacking into a single computer does not affect the data and hence, there cannot be any misappropriation,” said Debashis Sen.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Attend this free webinar and learn how you can maximize efficiency while getting the most critical things done right. February 23, 2018 5 min read Free Webinar | Sept 5: Tips and Tools for Making Progress Toward Important Goals Register Now » The blockchain world is, or at least once was, inherently exclusive. The reason is that, since blockchain’s inception, entrepreneurs, investors and consumers outside the development community have struggled to fully grasp just how big the prospect of a blockchain world is. Chalk that struggle up to the overshadowing of blockchain by Bitcoin and the persisting mythology around that currency.Related: More Than Just Bitcoin: Blockchain Has Value Across Multiple IndustriesIn fact, it wasn’t until this past year that the world at large began to understand the potentially huge implications of blockchain, both financially and socially. Today, up-and-coming blockchain applications have an advantage that others who vied for initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the past lacked: recognion. People now realize that blockchain is the future, because the media keep telling them so.Today, when those people see information swirling around yet another blockchain-based app, they are now more intrigued. Yet this surge of awareness is also a double-edged sword. Just because many people can now distinguish a decentralized ledger from a cryptocurrency doesn’t mean that the communal marketing efforts of blockchain developers and hubs have reached their peak — far from it.An onslaught of condemnationAs blockchain gains more recognition and word-of-mouth momentum, some applications are also raising eyebrows.Since the beginning of 2018, there has been an onslaught of condemnation against the various ICOs that are little more than scams. Investors, and the financial community at large, now want crypto applications to offer more than just hypotheses and white papers; they want proof of value for those applications. While, in the long run, this trend will likely boost blockchain, by (hopefully) weeding out the scams from the viable applications, right now, it’s sparking mistrust of blockchain-based solutions in general.For blockchain to really lead the type of global revolution its supporters want, the industry as a whole has to help people understand its structure and then its long-term benefits. In this vein, blockchain organizations need to tap into the global reach and engagement that social media platforms offer.Of course, social media platforms themselves are under fire (think: Russian hackers). But, for the cryptocurrency industry, which needs to build understanding on a global scale, social platforms offer a direct gateway to worldwide audiences. These brands and businesses must use social media to build communities and help customers feel that they belong — that they’re part of something more than just a consumer group, that they have the support they need from the companies involved and from other consumers.Blockchain businesses, in particular, must build a community to give novice consumers the resources and support they need and connect them to those already familiar with the product and concept.Related: 3 Major Industries in Which Blockchain Technology Is Changing Life As We Know ItWhy community must come before an ICOWhile not everyone is yet familiar with cryptocurrencies and blockchain, the use of crypto may very well become a no-brainer in the future. If you are a blockchain entrepreneur and have already built a community, you’ll have a leg up via your established reputation as a trusted blockchain company. You’ll be able to provide support and stability should things go wrong.So, how do you build such a community of support before launching an ICO campaign? Here are two steps you’d be wise to take:Understand your audience.People don’t need to learn every blockchain nuance or distinction of proof of stake to recognize blockchain’s values. If your organization produces only highly technical social content, you’ll lose out on your chance to forge real and lasting connections with consumers. Instead, focus on building content around actual use cases that explains the ways in which your application will enhance people’s lives.For example, if your application aims to improve supply chain transparency in developing communities, you might create rich media content highlighting the real stories of people and businesses in those areas in need of fast, accessible and accountable decentralized ledgers.Audiences exposed to such stories focused on real people and solutions will always forge deeper connections to your company than they will with dry content about the technological intricacies of your application. Create content that speaks to investors.If you are at the stage where you need to promote your application to receive investor funding, you’ll want to focus your efforts and resources on LinkedIn. Creating a company page that highlights the key components of your application, team members and any product development , for example, could serve as the foundation of your LinkedIn efforts.Next, there’s social content. When you create social content with the primary purpose of sparking investor relationships, you must always promote your unique “value add.” Today’s investors are inundated with blockchain-based pitches and content, and it’s difficult for them to cut through the noise.If your LinkedIn updates and stories fail to highlight how your solution is tackling an existing problem from a new angle, you’re essentially sending content out into the void.Related: 9 Blockchain Influencers for You to Follow — Who All Happen to Be FemaleWhen it comes to building social communities, always lead with content that pinpoints what sets you and your application apart from the rest of the pack. And make sure your community knows what that entails.
Cheap flights carrier Jet2.com will launch new flights to Kos, Venice and Gran Canaria from Manchester next summer.The announcement of the new flights comes after the airline revealed that August had been its busiest ever month in terms of bookings since its establishment six years ago.In addition, Jet2.com will increase its number of flights to Lanzarote, Dalaman, Sharm el Sheikh and Tel Aviv from Manchester in summer 2010, which will see the basing of a new 737 aircraft at the north-west airport.Jet.com chief Philip Meeson explained that Manchester was an “extremely important base” for the carrier and that it was “committed” to offering a wide range of holiday options.”It is fantastic to be able to offer people flying from Manchester a number of brand new holiday destinations direct from the region,” he said.”No other airline currently operates a scheduled service to Kos and Venice and we are confident that these will be extremely popular routes.”Earlier this month, the airline announced that it would introduce flights to Bergerac, Sharm el Sheikh and Corfu from Leeds Bradford as part of next year’s summer schedule.ReturnOne wayMulti-cityFromAdd nearby airports ToAdd nearby airportsDepart14/08/2019Return21/08/2019Cabin Class & Travellers1 adult, EconomyDirect flights onlySearch flights Map RelatedJet2.com to introduce flights to Madeira from ManchesterJet2.com to introduce flights to Madeira from ManchesterJet2.com reveals summer 2011 schedule from ManchesterJet2.com reveals summer 2011 schedule from ManchesterFlights to Brive to be launched by Jet2.comFlights to Brive to be launched by Jet2.com