US to screen social media history for visa, train journeys are getting safer, and more trending news

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Getting a US visa is set to be a lot more cumbersome. The Trump administration has proposed rules that require all applicants to disclose their social media (Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter, among other overseas-based platforms) user names for the past five years. Besides, applicants will be asked to furnish phone, mobile numbers and email addresses used, and details of international travel undertaken in the last five years. The move, the State Department estimates, would affect over 710,000 immigrant and nearly 15 million non-immigrant visa applicants. 

Travelling on Indian Railways is becoming safer. The national transporter, which got flak in the past for a dismal passenger safety record, reported 73 accidents last fiscal, down 29% from 104 in FY17 and the lowest in 35 years. To become a “zero-accident” network, the Railways has committed ?7,267 crore to safety in this year’s Budget, up from ?1,933 crore allotted in FY18. It has also deployed an estimated ?2,726 crore for developing flaw-detection systems, ballast-regulating machines, and automatic track-inspection systems to prevent mishaps.

Gender pay gap: 24 male chief executives outearn the highest-paid female CEO. An analysis of India Inc’s top 500 firms (excluding PSUs) shows the best-paid woman CEO earned ?19.8 crore in FY17, less than a quarter of the ?83.2 crore that the top-paid male CEO made. Besides, only eight women feature in the list of 123 executive directors that took home ?10 crore or more. They are also paid a lot less – female directors had a median pay of ?1.3 crore compared to the ?2.2 crore their male counterparts earned.

India is now the world’s second-largest phone maker. Data from Indian Cellular Association shows the country has replaced Vietnam as the second-largest phone manufacturer by volume, accounting for 11% of global production in 2017, up from 3% in 2014. Local assembly is also on the rise, with imports of completely built units as a percentage of the domestic market falling to 18% in 2017-18 from 78% in 2014-15. The government is considering to levy a 10% import duty on populated printed circuit boards, a key smartphone component, in a series of steps aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing.

Driving on national highways will cost you more. The National Highways Authority of India has increased toll rates by 5-7% to adjust for a higher Wholesale Price Index. The hike will also apply to monthly and daily trip passes used by frequent travellers. Coupled with revised fuel prices and insurance premiums, the higher toll rates are likely to result in an increase in prices of goods. “Transporters were already facing problems dealing with e-way bill and third-party premium for vehicles transporting goods… prices of essential commodities will also shoot up,” Agra Transporters’ Welfare Association’s Virendra Gupta said, adding that transporters would protest the increase.

Idea of the Day: Advances in automation stand to deliver major financial rewards to businesses and the global economy. But Venture for America founder Andrew Yang warns that we’ll need to go beyond purely economic measurements (such as GDP) to create a viable future for tomorrow’s working world. ? Share your thoughts: #AutomationJobs

“We need to start steering our economy to serve human goals and values. It is only by changing what we are striving for that we can win this race.”

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