Note identifying app for visually impaired people to be offline: RBI
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday told the Bombay High Court that an internet connection would not be required for its proposed mobile application which would help visually impaired people identify currency notes.
RBI counsel Venkatesh Dhond told a division bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Bharati Dangre that a Beta version of the app would be released on November 1.
"After receiving feedback from the concerned parties, a final version of the app would be released. The app would not require an internet connection," Dhond said.
Referring to the communication restrictions in Kashmir, the court had on Thursday sought to know how the RBI's proposed app would help the visually impaired people to identify the currency notes in such situations.
The court was hearing a petition filed by the National Association of the Blind (NAB), claiming new currency notes and coins issued by the central bank posed difficulty for the visually impaired people in terms of identifying and distinguishing them.
The bench was on Friday informed by the Union Government Mint that new coins in denominations of Rs 20, 10, 2 and Re 1 have special marks which would help the visually impaired persons in identifying them.
The new coins would be released in the market by November, the court was told. These coins were submitted to the bench for inspection and also to a few visually impaired petitioners present in the court.
When the petitioners were able to successfully identify the coins, Chief Justice Nandrajog said, "We are moving in the right direction." The court, however, noted that the size of the coins was getting smaller.
"The coins are getting smaller by the day. The new Rs 20 coin looks like a Re 1 coin. The new Re 1 coin looks like the one paisa coin we had in the past," Chief Justice Nandrajog observed.
The bench further said the size and other features of the coins and notes should not change.
"The idea is to maintain the security features, but at the same time not cause problems to the visually impaired persons. A visually impaired person trains himself to identify notes and coins by touch," it said.
The bench posted the petition for further hearing on November 4. In the next hearing, the RBI said it would demonstrate to the court the functioning of its proposed app.
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Bengaluru man arrested for sharing misleading ‘zombie drug’ video
Bengaluru (PTI): A day after a video of a man seen in a disoriented state went viral on social media with claims that he was under the influence of a so-called “zombie drug”, police on Friday arrested a 29-year-old employee of a private firm here for uploading the “misleading” video.
Hemanth, a resident of Vidyaranyapura, was issued a notice to join the inquiry, police said.
Learning that the police were looking for him, he posted an apology on social media. He was later taken into custody, a senior police officer said.
A case has been registered against him under Sections 353(2), relating to statements conducing to public mischief, including spreading false information or rumours that could incite public disorder, and Section 352, dealing with intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, among others, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police added.
After Hemanth uploaded the video, it quickly went viral on Thursday.
Later, police clarified that the man shown in a disoriented state in the video had not consumed any narcotic or psychotropic substance.
He was subjected to a medical examination, and the report confirmed that there was no trace of narcotic substances, Bengaluru police said.
The police also urged the public not to spread unverified or misleading information on social media platforms, as such content can create unnecessary panic and harm individuals’ reputations.
The footage, which circulated widely on social media, showed the man standing motionless. People claimed he might be under the influence of a synthetic “zombie drug” and raised concerns about its availability in the city.
An inquiry revealed that the individual seen in the video had come to Bengaluru in search of a livelihood and had been residing there for the past three months, police said, adding that further investigation is ongoing.
The police warned that strict action will be taken against persons found spreading false information or rumours.
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