Hind Himalaya Staff, Author at Hind Himalaya

Wearable Technologies to assess Human Behaviors !!

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Apr 1, 2023 | @HH Bright Zone, Editors Choice

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For sure Wearable technologies has been revolutionizing the way we interact with the world around us, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and data patterns is taking it to the next level. With AI technology becoming more advanced, wearables are now able to collect and analyze data in real-time, providing insights and guidance to improve daily lives.

Ajeeta Rajkumar Khatri, an Indian student hailing from Amravati, Maharashtra, recently got her conference paper titled “ Analyzing Interactions in Paired Egocentric Videos” published at the esteemed 17th IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition.

With the guidance of Dr. Nwogu and Dr. Butler from Rochester Institute of Technology for this research. Ajeeta, who has an MS in Computer Science, and is currently employed at Mathworks Inc., explored the impact of wearable technologies in understanding human behavior as a part of the broad field of affective computing during her research. Her research is an example of how multimodal data from wearable technologies can be combined using a machine learning based probabilistic framework to successfully make agnostic assessments of human behavior in social conversations.

She collected paired conversational data from multiple human users wearing two specific wearable technologies – Vuzix glass and Empatica wristband. By combining multimedia information from the Vuzix glass with physiological information received from the Empatica wristband, Ajeeta could successfully demonstrate agreement/disagreement in a paired conversation. She utilized multiple machine learning models : hidden Markov, random forests and Bayesian for linking arousals/emotions in a conversation to make assessments of agreement/disagreement to specific topics. Ajeeta’s research provides a tool that has the potential to be deployed in paired conversational settings – and can transform radically the fields of behavioral psychology, security (interviews) and can be deployed in a social environment with consent to better understand human behavior. An automated process, based on principled mathematics, to understand human emotions based on physiological data and video/audio information can prove useful in the modern world where humans and machines are becoming inseparable.

Ajeeta’s research can be accessed via the IEEE Xplore platoform through this link : https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10042654

Indian American Richard Verma named for the tallest State job

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Dec 25, 2022 | Indian-American

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President Joe Biden has declared his intention to nominate Richard Verma, former US diplomat to India, to be Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.

Currently the Chief Legal Officer and Head of Global Public Policy at Mastercard, Verma also served as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs during the Obama Administration, according to a White House announcement Friday.
Earlier in his career, he was National Security Advisor to US Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) while he was Democratic Whip, Minority Leader, and then Majority Leader of the US Senate.

He is a veteran of the United States Air Force, where he functioned on active duty as a Judge Advocate. He earned a BS at Lehigh University, a JD cum laude at American University, an LLM with distinction at Georgetown University Law Center, and a PhD at Georgetown University.

Verma has received several awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Medal from the Department of State, the International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations and the Meritorious Service Medal from the United States Air Force.

He acts as a trustee of The Ford Foundation, and is on multiple other boards, including the National Endowment for Democracy and Lehigh University.

Apoorva Mehta Instacart cofounder facing a lawsuit for stealing trade secrets

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Dec 22, 2022 | Indian-American

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Grocery delivery firm Instacart Indian-Canadian cofounder Apoorva Mehta has been accused in a lawsuit of using stolen trade secrets to create a healthcare startup that was a duplicate of an existing company.
Hello Logistics Inc, which runs under the name NextMed, sued Mehta, his business partner Tejasvi Singh, and their company Cloud Health Systems over allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright infringement, and other claims. Both firms run websites advertising weight loss.

“Wanting in on NextMed’s success, and in search of venture capital funding for a new project,” Mehta teamed up with Singh, “to do what Mehta later said he considered ‘unethical but not illegal’— create a copycat company,” NextMed said in the complaint filed Dec 19 in Manhattan federal court.
Singh, a cofounder of NextMed, gathered some of the company’s closest held trade secrets under the guise of gathering the information as part of due diligence for investors, according to the complaint.
Mehta and Singh then utilized the information to create a company that does business as Sunrise, with a copycat website, according to the complaint.
They also lined up vendors and implemented NextMed’s highly confidential customer acquisition and other plans, “in mere weeks,” NextMed claimed in the complaint.
Mehta’s new company which was launched a few weeks ago has already raised $30 million from two venture capital firms, NextMed said.

NextMed is seeking an order to shut down the Sunrise website and unspecified monetary damages.

Good news for H1b holders and who lost their jobs

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Dec 21, 2022 | Immigration

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Nonimmigrant workers who have lost jobs may have several options for remaining in the United States in a period of authorized stay based on existing rules and regulations, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Regulations permit a discretionary grace period that allows workers in E-1, E-2, E-3, H-1B,

H-1B1, L-1, O-1, or TN classifications (and their dependents) to be considered as having maintained status following the cessation of employment for up to 60 consecutive calendar days or until the end of the authorized validity period, whichever is shorter (See 8 CFR 214.1(l)(2)).

During this period, workers may be able to maintain their nonimmigrant status if a new employer timely files a petition on their behalf with an extension of stay request (e.g., an H-1B change of employer petition for a worker in H-1B status).

Portability rules permit workers currently in H-1B status to begin working for a new employer as soon as the employer properly files a new H-1B petition with USCIS, without waiting for the petition to be approved. More information about H-1B portability can be found on our H-1B Specialty Occupations page.

Workers may use the up to 60-day discretionary grace period to apply to change their nonimmigrant status, which may include changing status to become the dependent of a spouse (e.g., H-4, L-2).

Workers may use the up to 60-day discretionary grace period to seek a new employer-sponsored nonimmigrant status in the same or different status.

Some workers may be eligible to file a self-petitioned immigrant visa petition concurrently with an adjustment of status application.

Workers who are the beneficiary of an approved employment-based immigrant visa petition (Form I-140) may be eligible for a compelling circumstances EAD for up to one year if they:

do not have an immigrant visa available to them in the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin, and
face compelling circumstances.

For precise news on various options , refer the USCIS page -https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/options-for-nonimmigrant-workers-following-termination-of-employment

TikTok to be banned on Texas state devices

by Hind Himalaya Staff | Dec 13, 2022 | Community

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Gov. Greg Abbott banned TikTok from state-owned devices .
There is finally a non biased measures across the country to stop impact of an app that is hurting national security as it raises deep questions about its impact on young users.

South Dakota, Maryland, South Carolina and Nebraska are among states that have prohibited the app on government devices. Indiana, meanwhile, has sued TikTok not only over its data exploitation but because it exposes children to sexual content. The U.S. military blocked access in 2020 and advised all military personnel to delete the app from their smartphones.

“The threat of the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate the United States continues to grow on multiple fronts,” Abbott wrote to the heads of state agencies. “While the federal government holds the ultimate responsibility for foreign policy issues, the state also has the responsibility and opportunity to protect itself.”
Abbott also wrote to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, urging them to pass legislation to “safeguard our state against threats like TikTok,” including by codifying his directive to state agencies and making similar regulations for local governments.

The governor demanded state agencies to “strictly” enforce the ban on their officers and employees from downloading or using TikTok on any government-issued cellphones, laptops, tablets and other devices capable of Internet connectivity. He stated they may grant exceptions for law-enforcement investigations and other legitimate uses.
Abbott also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information Resources to develop a model plan for state agencies to address vulnerabilities from the use of TikTok on personal devices by Jan. 15, and for agencies to implement their own policies by Feb. 15.