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The Department of Immigration and Emigration (DIE) this week received cabinet approval to introduce ‘e-passports’ to all through a public-private partnership (PPP).
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This would be a travel document with the holder’s biometric data in electronic format and it will store, “digitally signed data, which include a copy of the MRZ in data page, digital facial image (mandatory data), fingerprint images (optional), iris image (optional), chip authentication, and validation data”.
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The University of Moratuwa had been assigned to carry out a comprehensive assessment on the Department’s readiness for its migration to an e-passport and to determine and additional requirements for the same task, said the cabinet paper on the subject.
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The Cabinet committee on Economic Management further advised the Department to develop an overall implementation approach for the establishment of the solution in consultation with key stakeholder organizations including ICTA.
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The “General assumption is that e-passports benefit other countries than the issuing country but the solution has the potential of bringing in new regulations to facilitate e-passports issued by other countries in Sri Lanka’s border control”, read the justification for the new scheme.
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At present, Sri Lankan passports already incorporate biometric data into the passport application system.
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This joint proposal made by the Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, Harin Fernando and Minister of Internal Affairs, Wayamba Development and Cultural Affairs, S.B. Nawinne also proposed that the PPP be drawn out with the company De La Rue Lanka Currency and Security Print. The company is expected to finance 100 percent of investment which amounts to Rs 1.2 billion.
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Cabinet thus granted approval for De La Rue to “study the current passport printing and personalization system of the DIE in collaboration with ICTA and prepare detailed system design and submit to cabinet and to have existing service providers of DIE associated with the current passport issuance process to carry out related integrations with the new e-passport solution and to engage De La Rue through a MoU for the proposed first work study on e-passports and to have ICTA serve as a partner of the project”.
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Every morning, you either use an environmentally-unfriendly disposable cup, a disgusting, gunked-up-with-toothpaste cup to rinse out, or your strain your neck to bend over and drink out of the faucet. Stop that. Check out this awesome, lifechanging toothbrush that acts as a water spout for post-brush rinsing.
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The Rinser Toothbrush is made by Scott Amron, the same dude who made the keychain key and carabiner key. It's a similar concept to this fountain brush from 2007, but that that one was never really available, apparently, and the prototypes were $1,750. So, no thanks.
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Around a quarter of entertainment consumed by people in five years time will have been created, edited and shared within their ‘peer circle’ rather than coming out of traditional media groups, a phenomenon being dubbed Circular Entertainment. By Nokia at least.
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By ‘Circular’, Nokia means content that is created or shared in the form of social media. Like a track being remixed, then circulated amongst a group of people for example or video of a night out being recorded and edited, before being passed around for further edits or additions.
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The findings are part of a study on global entertainment called ‘A Glimpse of the Next Episode’, carried out by The Future Laboratory, based on the behaviours of ‘trend-setting consumers’ from 17 countries, combined with the views of industry figures and Nokia’s own research team.
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The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and Trading Standards are to bring their anti-software piracy campaign to London and the South East, writes Linda Endersby.
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The 'Software - Stay Legal' programme for the region mirrors initiatives in northern England and in Wales, highlighting the issue of piracy and its negative impact on the jobs market.
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Speakers from a number of software IP rights holders, including Adobe, Symantec and Microsoft will help send a message to firm's across the region, building awareness of the economic impact of the illegal use of software.
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FAST is providing guidance for Trading Standards officers across the country on how to spot piracy and therefore be equipped to enforce intellectual property rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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"The digital sector is essential for economic growth in the South East and Trading Standards has to make sure it is fully prepared in the fight to protect local businesses against software piracy," said Jo Player, Trading Standards Manager for South East.
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"Copying software is not a victimless crime and businesses in the South East are suffering as a result of it - weakening the UK economic recovery and threatening job creation," Player added.
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Cole went on: "Industry-led bodies, such as FAST, play a vital role in driving awareness, educating businesses, and assisting the authorities with enforcement. Inviting a dialogue between businesses and Trading Standards will no doubt prove fruitful."
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The programme commences on 15 May at the Guildhall in Windsor.
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"every now and then I fall apart"
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As the top state for solar power, California is not pumped for the eclipse.
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Yes, we’re talking the solar eclipse, the first time the moon will entirely block out the sun over North America in almost 100 years.
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With an estimated 7.4 million people planning to travel to the eclipse’s path of totality, eclipsed states are already gearing up for apocalyptic traffic and crowding. But California — not directly in the path of the eclipse — is worried about what could happen when its solar resources in the Pacific Northwest are temporarily blocked out all at once.
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So the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) took extra precautionary steps and set up a website where Californians can pledge to reduce energy use from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Californians who want to participate can help by unplugging appliances and turning off lights. The CPUC says that dealing with the eclipse responsibly will show fossil fuel–reliant states that they can depend on solar energy, sun or none.
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This isn’t the first time solar power has been eclipsed and it won’t be the last — there are two more American solar eclipses coming up in the next 50 years. Looks like California’s getting in a test run.
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Trump officials want to add a coal display to the EPA museum, because of course.
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The $132 million project will provide separated through lanes by the summer of 2022 for southbound drivers going beyond Virginia Route 3 and U.S. Route 17.
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WASHINGTON — Major construction began this week to widen a frequently congested stretch of Interstate 95 near Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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The four-year $132 million project will build three new southbound lanes over the Rappahannock River by the summer of 2022. A similar northbound span that had been canceled will now be built later as part of a deal tied to the extension of the 95 Express Lanes 10 miles south to just north of U.S. Route 17, but that project remains in development.
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The new span will provide separated through lanes for I-95 drivers going beyond Virginia Route 3 and U.S. 17, with existing lanes serving local traffic getting on or off at the two exits. The changes are meant to reduce weaving and congestion-related delays, said Kelly Hannon of VDOT’s Fredericksburg district.
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“Coming south … you’ll have the choice: Do you want to get in the [new] southbound Rappahannock River crossing lanes, or are you going to be exiting at Route 3 or Route 17? So we do have a very extensive sign plan that will communicate all of this to drivers as they are traveling down the interstate,” Hannon said.
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The toll lanes will end before this area, connecting to the new spans that will be free and open to all traffic. The toll lane extension is also expected to open around 2022.
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For now, construction work on the southbound span will close the left shoulders on both the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway. Crews are also expected to begin clearing trees in the median near the river later this month.
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No lane closures are planned during rush hours, but lanes are expected to be closed in the area overnight and possibly other times through 2022.
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The work zone is more than 4 miles in length, from just north of Exit 133 in Stafford County after Centreport Parkway to just south of Exit 130 in Fredericksburg.
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As part of the project, entrance and exit ramps between I-95 and Route 17 will be changed, and the I-95 overpasses above Route 17 will also be replaced.
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The work is in addition to other overnight paving work and lane closures, including for new interchange projects such as Exit 140 in Stafford.
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The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees says more than a fifth of Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are suffering from acute malnutrition.
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"They are suffering for purely man-made reasons," said the agency's commissioner-general Peter Hansen.
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"No drought has hit Gaza and the West Bank, no crops have failed and the shops are often full of food."
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He said the failure of the Middle East peace process and Israel's policy of sealing off Palestinian areas had had the effect of a terrible natural disaster.
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The UN agency is now launching a $200m appeal to fund what Mr Hansen said was the region's biggest food aid programme.
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The agency said it was planning to spend $35m of that money on distributing food parcels to 1.3 m people - or 222,000 families - over the first six months of 2003.
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Level of malnutrition "comparable to that in Zimbabwe or Congo"
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Before the latest Palestinian intifada (oruprising) started two years ago, the agency had been feeding just 11,000 families in the occupied territories.
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The agency requested $170m for this year's programmes. It said it received only 60% of that amount, but endless obstacles, delays at checkpoints and heavy curfews meant the agency actually spent less.
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The UN said in September that the uprising and Israel's stranglehold on the occupied territories has left the Palestinian Authority bankrupt and plunged Palestinians deeper into poverty.
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It said nearly half of the Palestinian population was living on less than the UN's poverty threshold of $2 a day.
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The local economy was close to collapse and the level of malnutrition was comparable to that in Zimbabwe or Congo.
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Nursing mothers and pregnant women are consuming on average 15-20% fewer calories per day than they did before.
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As a result, both their health and the normal development of their children are threatened.
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There has also been an increase in stillbirths.
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Mr Hansen said he was not surprised over "harsh" measures by Israel to protect its people.
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However he said he did not believe that many of the steps would provide effective security.
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"We are not there to advise the Israeli Government on its security policies," Mr Hansen said.
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"But if we were to be asked about advice, I think we would find that many of the measures that are taken do not, in the medium and long-term, increase the security which the Israeli people have the right to expect in their lives."
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Mr Hansen said that Israel's measures created "a number of people who have seen their lives ruined, who have seen their families killed or maimed, and who have experienced a humiliation that one really must see and experience to grasp it".
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Israel's ambassador to UN offices in Geneva said that Israel was working "with the interested parties to alleviate the humanitarian situation in the territories and make life easier for those Palestinians not involved in terrorism".
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The six artists (from left) Heikal, Chayanin, Arikwibowo, Fazrin, Amar and Safar at the G13 Gallery.
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THE artworks by six young artists at G13 Gallery at Kelana Square might have their own unique styles, but all of them have something in common – a strong message to convey to the public.
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Be it acrylic, charcoal or oil, these six young artists’ paintings reflect what is taking place in the world today and their perceptions of these developments.
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As seen in a simple and straight-forward manner, local artist Safar Zin’s collection titled “All Evil” that used acrylic and charcoal on canvas conveyed his thoughts about social media users.
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“I distorted the pictures with three portraits of me by covering the eyes, ears and mouth similar to the popular saying; see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.
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“It shows that social media users do not bother to verify facts before sharing certain information and do not bother about the consequences of their actions.
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“This is happening in real life as we see a lot of people are making irresponsible posting in social media,” he said.
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His painting titled “Mainstream” featured himself “holding” a quote “I post therefore I am” and “I follow therefore I am” is based on Rene Descartes famous quote: “I think therefore I am”, which condemns the actions of irresponsible postings on social media.
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Safar posing in front of one of his artworks titled ‘Mainstream’ that is based on Rene Descartes’ famous quote: ‘I think therefore I am’.
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Another artist, Arikwibowo Amril, 28, sees the world in darker hues as his paintings, titled “Gold Digger”, “Kidnap” and “Syndicate”, had horrid compositions of disfigured bodies using the collage technique.
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It also featured a repetition of symbols as metaphors to show people’s dissatisfaction about the state of affairs and economic injustice in the country.
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“The symbol of a dollar sign, a pair of knives, and a revolver is a reflection of the current pop culture in Malaysia.
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Fazrin posing with his collection of artworks inspired by the traditional art of weaving.
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“Crimes are taking place everywhere and cases of people being kidnapped or murdered are worrying.
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“Money is the root of all evil as most of these cases involved money,” he said, adding that the artworks portrayed an ongoing story of criminal cases.
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The artworks which were inspired from Andy Warhol’s pop era also featured the artist’s portrait embedded with emotions.
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“This is how I perceive society. I feel angry and helpless because there is nothing I can do about it,” Arikwibowo said.
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Heikal Taki’s two paintings titled “Father Figure” and “Wife Material” were his take on how society viewed men and women differently.
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“In the case of the woman’s portrait, I want to highlight that some women are still being liberated by society in this country while ‘Father Figure’ showed that no man is perfect.
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“I also want to show how gender and race are being stereotyped in the world,” he said.
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The art exhibition that runs until Jan 30 also featured Thai artist Chayanin Kwangkaew whose oil painting of two girls could easily be mistaken as photographs.
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“I painted every detail of the model from a photograph and added abstract elements to cloud the background and give a more imaginative space to those admiring it.
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Chayanin’s paintings of two girls (in the background) can easily be mistaken for photographs.
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“Although the choices of colours are mostly black and white, the model somehow looked calm and serene, depicting a contradictory effect from the painting,” he said.
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Tracing back traditions, Fazrin Abd Rahman’s love for the traditional weaving technique had given him the idea to modernise it into his contemporary artwork.
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Made of aluminium sheets with spray paint, Fazrin said his artwork that comes in four different pieces, were experimental in nature.
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“I love the weaving technique a lot and I wanted to preserve this art technique in modern society.
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“Beside reminding people of the weaving technique through my artwork, I also want to know how people would perceive my artwork.
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Heikal’s ‘Wife Material’ (left) and ‘Father Figure’ showcase how men sees women and vice versa.
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“There were a lot of trials to get the colour right and it was an experimental project for me,” he said.
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Lastly, local artist Amar Shahid saw beauty from the imperfections of old photographs and immortalised it with his painting.
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For him, it was a more philosophical approach as he hopes to reinstate discussions of formalism back into art criticism.
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“There is a fine line between photographs and a painting and this questions the two-dimensional and three-dimensional planes which differentiate these two.
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Amar paints old photographs with all the flaws that come with aged photos.
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“Painting exactly what photographs showed, including the flaws, might give a rigid feeling to the painting.
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“So for some of the photographs, I added a few strokes of paint,” he said.
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Visitors should not be surprised by the random flare or watermark in his pictures as they were deliberate.
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The exhibition opens from 11am to 5pm daily except Sunday.
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Two men have died in a collision in North London early this morning, after being chased by police, according to Scotland Yard.
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The Metropolitan Police have issued a statement after two men died in a collision early this morning on the Seven Sisters road in North London.
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