In a breakthrough achievement, astronomers have taken the first ever image of a black hole, international media report said. The black hole is located in a distant galaxy.

The black hole is 500 million trillion km away from the earth and was photographed by a network of eight telescopes across the world, BBC reported.

It has a mass 6.5 billion times that of the Sun and it is one of the heaviest black holes that astronomer think exists.

KATHMANDU: German Embassy in Kathmandu is organizing a 16-day exhibition on “The German Energiewende: Transforming Germany’s energy system” in Lalitpur from 12-26 April.

The exhibition illustrates the German economy’s transformation towards reusable energy sources, it was shared at a press conference organized by the German Embassy in Kathmandu.

Ambassador Ronald Schafer informed that since Germany is leading the movement with an objective of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050, Nepal too has huge potential in generation of renewable energy through tapping in to various sources such as hydro-power and solar energy, but also working towards energy efficiency, among others.

The exhibition, according to Ambassador Schafer, will be an occasion to discuss challenges, and show appreciation for the efforts of the Government of Nepal to create a conducive environment towards climate-friendly energy in the country.

A statement issued on the occasion said the interactive exhibition has already toured more than 80 locations in more than 30 countries and has been seen overwhelmingly across the world.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a photo story about 60 years of friendship between Nepali and German citizens.

Germany, through GIZ, is supporting Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) in promotion and development of renewable energy technologies in various municipalities and rural municipalities, the statement said.

KATHMANDU: Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota has asserted that the government is preparing for the implementation of 5G soon. He said that the expansion of ‘4G’ technology was accorded highest priority by the government.

Minister Baskota said that the recently held Nepal Investment Summit had also emphasized on the development and expansion of information and technology in the country.

Inaugurating the Nepal Mobile Congress-2019 organized here today by the Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei, Minister Banskota said the government was working towards making Nepal a digital country.

Seeking cooperation from all sectors to achieve the vision of ‘Digital Nepal’, Baskota sought support from investors, private sectors in development, and expansion of information and technology.

According to the Minister, the government was seeking investment in information technology and launch a new information and technology act to end the existing hassles, if any, prevailing at the policy-level.

“Nepal is paving its path towards Nepal digital economy. Information Technology would be optimally employed in education, health, agriculture, tourism, forest, irrigation and energy sector,” the Minister observed.

Reminding that Prime Minister KP Oli had instructed to bring into effect the digital framework within five years, Minister Baskota expressed his confidence that Nepal would make a stride in the field of information and technology.

Huawei, which has been working in Nepal since 1999, has its presence in more than 170 countries across the globe.

The four-day event showcases the works carried out by the Chinese telecom giant.

Huawei’s Executive Chief for Nepal, Denny Deng, urged all sides for digital economy and shared about the activities of the Huawei.

SYDNEY: Facebook Inc said it would toughen measures to fight fake news in Australia, media reports said.

It said it will also ‘briefly block’ foreigners from buying political advertisements in the lead-up to a national election, which is due in a few weeks, according to reports.

In Australia, it is, however, not clear which foreigners sought to buy campaign ads. However, the government warned in 2017 of Chinese interference attempts and said in February a foreign government had hacked parliament’s computer network.

Facebook’s move also comes particularly in the wake of the mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand.

According to reports, foreigners would be forbidden from buying advertising mentioning political parties, slogans and logos. (Agencies)

SEOUL: South Korea is commercially launching the fifth-generation (5G) services on Friday to become the first country to roll out the latest wireless technology with Samsung Electronics’ new 5G-enabled smartphone Galaxy S10.

Ryu Young-sang, executive vice president at SK Telecom, said the country’s telecom companies have been providing services meeting the South Korean customers’ high standard in speed and picture quality.

According to him, 5G will change the landscape of the gaming industry since it will allow games streamed with minimal delay to be played on smartphones.

The 5G technology can offer 20-times faster data speeds than 4G long-term evolution (LTE) networks. It will also better support for artificial intelligence. (Agencies)

HAVANA: Google has signed a deal with Cuban telecoms monopoly ETECSA on to work toward improving internet traffic exchange between their two networks and connectivity on the island.

Internet laggard Cuba has sought to increase web access in recent years, introducing cyber cafes, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile internet, but users still complain of the cost, sluggish connection and spotty coverage.

Google and ETECSA signed a memorandum of understanding to begin the negotiation of a so-called “peering agreement” that would create a cost-free and direct connection between their two networks.

This would enable faster access to content hosted on the tech giant’s servers, in a country where information is tightly controlled, and reduce costs for Cuba which would no longer have to pay for an intermediary.

“The implementation of this internet traffic exchange service is part of the strategy of ETECSA for the development and computerization of the country,” Google and ETECSA said in a joint news release, read out at a news conference in Havana.

The peering would be implemented “when technical conditions allow it,” they said. That means the establishment of a physical connection between Cuba’s network and a Google “point of presence”, the closest ones being in South Florida, Mexico and Colombia.

The agreement creates a joint working group of engineers to figure out how to implement this.

Cuba is currently connected to the internet via a fibre-optic cable from Venezuela that went live in 2013, while much of its web infrastructure on the island is Chinese. Earlier this week, Cuba and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on increasing cooperation in telecommunications.

Google has been working to expand its business in Cuba for years although analysts say it will have to work hard to gain the government’s trust.

“The signing of this memorandum evidences that the interest of U.S companies in developing businesses with ETECSA remains,” the Google, ETECSA news release read.

Google set up a small pilot display center in Havana and signed a deal in 2016 granting internet users quicker access to its branded content.

Former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt met Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel twice last year, in June in Havana and in Google’s New York office in September.

Google’s attempts to enter the Cuban market come as it faces blowback from employees and human rights activists over attempts to expand in another Communist-run state, China, amid concerns it could comply with that country’s internet censorship and surveillance policies.

Google has said it has not committed to any policies as it explores offering more services in China.

Whether due to the U.S. embargo, lack of cash or concerns over the free flow of information, the internet was largely available to the public in Cuba only at tourist hotels until 2013.

(Agencies)

NEW YORK:  Google has launched a video-game streaming platform called Stadia. The platform will store a game-playing session in the cloud and lets players jump across devices operating on Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS, such as Pixel phones and Chromebooks. The Stadia will be available in late 2019.

Some industry watchers were expecting a streaming console, but Google’s platform centers squarely on the company’s cloud infrastructure.

“The new generation of gaming is not a box,” said Google Vice President Phil Harrison. “

Much like movies and music, the traditional video-game industry has been shifting from physical hardware and games to digital downloads and streaming. Video-game streaming typically requires a strong connection and more computing power than simply streaming video, since there is real-time interaction between player and game. Google says it is leveraging its data centers to power the system.

Google said playing video games will be as simple as pressing a “Play Now” button, with nothing to download or install. An optional dedicated Stadia controller will be available. The WiFi-enabled controller has a button that lets players launch a microphone and use Google Assistant to ask questions about the games being played. Another button lets users share gameplay directly to Google’s video streaming service, YouTube.

He said, “It won’t replace traditional games devices overnight”. “And we wouldn’t be here if not for the existing traditional platforms.”

The company said Stadia will be available in late 2019 in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and parts of Europe. Google showed demos of “Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” and “Doom Eternal.” More information about games and pricing is due this summer.

That’s because the platform could bring in players not willing to spend the money upfront for a gaming PC or a console.

(Agencies)

LONDON: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking the social media company in a new direction by focusing on messaging similar to the features of Chinese app WeChat.

Zuckerberg outlined his vision to give people ways to communicate privately, by stitching together Facebook’s various services so users can contact each other across all of the apps.

That sounds strikingly similar to WeChat, which has become essential for daily life in China. WeChat, or Weixin as it’s known in Chinese, combines functions and services that in the West are done by a number of separate companies — think of Facebook and its Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram services combined with PayPal and Uber.

WeChat, launched in 2011, has the usual chat features — instant messaging and voice and video calling, though it doesn’t employ top-notch encryption like Facebook’s Whatsapp. Here’s a look at what else it does.

The app hosts group chats where users can discuss topics like sports, technology, social issues, investment ideas, celebrities, breaking news and beyond. WeChat Moments is a scrolling social media feed where users can write posts and share photos and videos.

The app rolled out a new feature this year, Time Capsule,that removes user videos after 24 hours, in an apparent attempt to mimic Facebook’s Stories feature.

Users can also send friends digital stickers, get access to online games and find out who’s nearby by shaking their phone.

Companies and organizations both inside and outside China can use the app for marketing by setting up an official account. Travel booking platform AirBnb, luxury goods company Chanel and Chinese tech giant Huawei are among brands with a presence on WeChat.

It is wildly popular in mainland China and less so in other countries, which is unsurprising because the communist leaders in Beijing have blocked its citizens from accessing Facebook and other Silicon Valley services for years.

But there’s one thing that WeChat doesn’t let users do: speak freely. Politically sensitive posts are regularly scrubbed from the service, illustrating how the app has become a key part of China’s censorship regime because of its huge user base and outsize social influence.

WeChat also lacks so-called end-to-end encryption, considered the gold standard for privacy and used by Facebook and other services like Signal and Apple’s iMessages.

Chinese dissidents and activists have long suspected that authorities are able to monitor what they’ve been saying on the app. The company, however, has denied it keeps a record of user chats.
(Agencies)

The federal government’s lead cyber security agency has set about finding a new platform to improve how it monitors global cyber threats and shares intelligence with partners. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) last week put out the call for the cyber threat intelligence solution to replace its existing platform, which is currently used to exchange information with private and public sector partners automatically.

A spokesperson told iTnews the new platform was needed to “improve compatibility with industry standards and allow sharing with our partners in an automated and efficient way”. “A commercial solution will be easily accessible and in a format that can used by the widest number of systems and security teams,” the spokesperson said.

Tender documents indicate information, which will be provided in a variety of formats including advisories, would be “context-rich, actionable and timely”. ACSC expects this will allow partners to “prioritise and implement countermeasures in the face of a threat”, while freeing them to “focus on activities that cannot be automated”.

The preferably commercial-off-the-shelf solution will also allow the agency to “constantly monitor cyber security threats” by tapping insights from local and global sources that include governments and business computer emergency response teams (CERTs).

The solution will be integrated into the government’s cyber.gov.au portal, which the agency plans to further develop into “the authoritative source of cyber security advice and assistance for the Australian economy” during 2019. The portal has been up and running as a “static” alpha website since August last year.

The proposed one-stop shop or central hub of cyber security information will consolidate a number of existing cyber security websites, including for the ACSC, CERT Australia and ACORN, and offer a range of services in addition to threat intelligence sharing.

ACSC expects the incoming solution to “be capable of ingesting multiple threat intelligence feeds”, including attack patterns, malware, exploits and vulnerabilities. It will also enable advanced analysis and sharing of the threat intelligence, with context added to ensure that it is understandable.

ACSC said it had already identified six products from companies outside of Australia that “may potentially” satisfy its requirement, but that further market research was needed. The products are: Anomali (Threat Stream), Eclectic IQ, TC Complete (Threat Connect), NC4 (Soltra Edge), Threat Quotient (ThreatQ) and TruSTAR (Threat Intelligence), all of which have been invited to respond to the request for information.

(Agencies)

Kathmandu: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that the country has already moved ahead towards digital Nepal, e-governance and paperless technology. Inaugurating the High Definition (HD) version of four channels of the Nepal television on the occasion of 34th anniversary of the Nepal television here today, Prime Minister said that agriculture, industry, tourism, infrastructure development, energy, education and health sectors of Nepal would be modernized.
He further said that super computer has already been made jointly by scientists of Nepal and Switzerland. The Prime Minister said, “Nepal has been moving one-step ahead with modernization every day in every sector. We have been moving forward with the national goal—economic prosperity, good governance and prosperous Nepal on the basis of gained achievements. We all can move ahead in the race of modern Nepal.”
Recalling that he was in Pokhara jail in course of the anti-Panchayat movement at a time when Nepal Television was established, Prime Minister Oli said that an era of change and awareness has begun in Nepal. Similarly, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gokul Prasad Banskota, said that Nepal television has different responsibility as compared to other television channels. He said the Nepal television is not a government organisation, it’s the television of the people.
The Communications Minister said, “There is no any government interference on Nepal Television”, adding that the government has always been providing support to the Nepal television. The Communication and Information Technology Minister stressed the need of providing resources to the NTV and making it well-equipped to enhance its competitiveness with other television channels, calling on the NTV staffers to be more professional and hone their expertise, rather than looking up to this or that party or the government minister.
He also suggested that the NTV should go for the public service broadcasting (PSB) model in the six months from now. Legal framework for combining the NTV and Radio Nepal into PSB is still awaited. Chairman of NTV Dr Mahendra Bista said guidelines have been issued for making the television newsroom independent and professional as well as for addressing the national aspirations by being people-centric.
He added that although the media should be critical, there is no longer any need now for it to be more pessimistic.
NTV General Manager Govinda Rokka said a year of transformation has commenced for NTV in its content and presentation along with the new technology.
All four channel in HD from today 
All the four channels run by NTV – Nepal Television, NTV Plus, NTV News and NTV Kohalpur- have been simultaneously converted to the HD mode from today. Nepal Television with its signature theme, ‘Communications for Development’, is the first television channel in the television history of Nepal. It was instituted in 2041 BS. Its reach covers 52 per cent of the territory and 72 per cent of the population at present through geo-terrestrial medium.
Advertisers honoured 
On the occasion, Minister Baskota presented letter of honour to the representatives of the Media Hub Pvt Ltd, Key Advertising Service Pvt Ltd and Expo Media Pvt Ltd, the advertising agencies making the highest transactions.
Similarly, comedy artists Marich Man Shrestha, Raju Poudel, Daman Rupakheti, among others were also honoured.
Also honoured on the occasion were Deepak Kumar Joshi who designed the Nepal Television’s logo and Gopal Thapa, the host of the Bimba Pratibimba programme- the longest running programme on NTV. Likewise, prizes were awarded to nine local reporters and 28 staffers completing 28 years of service.