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Harrisburg, PA The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is finalizing development and testing of an electronic permitting (ePermitting) system for Chapter 102 permit applications for stormwater discharges associated with construction activities.

Increasing the availability of online permitting is another way DEP is improving efficiency and providing certainty for applicants, said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. This new option for applications will reduce workload for staff, allowing improved permit reviews.

The Chapter 102 ePermit system will save time for applicants, County Conservation District (CCD) staff, and DEP reviewers. One of the overall goals of DEPs ePermitting effort is to improve the efficiency of submission and reviews of permit applications and Notices of Intent (NOIs) and allow faster responses to applicants regarding permit submission, review, and issuance. The system will also include online payment of certain fees for applications, will reduce the expense of printing design drawings, and make information available in real-time to the public (which will increase transparency). DEP and CCD are still accepting paper applications; however, DEP expects to eventually completely replace paper applications with electronic submission.

DEPs Bureau of Clean Water administers the statewide Erosion and Sediment Control (E&S) program under Pennsylvania Code Title 25 (Environmental Protection) Chapter 102. Chapter 102 requires a permit from DEP for construction activities involving one or more acres of earth disturbance, timber harvesting and road maintenance activities involving 25 or more acres of earth disturbance, and oil and gas and other activities involving five or more acres of earth disturbance.

The initial release of the Chapter 102 ePermit system will include new NOIs for coverage under the PAG-02 General NPDES Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities and NOIs for PAG-02 amendments of coverage for applications that were originally processed in the ePermit system.

Development of the Chapter 102 ePermitting effort was built on other DEP ePermitting efforts, including the Oil and Gas Management and Chapter 105 ePermitting efforts. The Chapter 102 effort engaged CCDs, PennDOT, and engineering consultants.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamar Thrasher 717-319-1758

Excerpt from:
Chapter 102 Electronic Permit System to be Released Monday - Governor Tom Wolf

Egyptian security forces have arrested a pastry chef who supplied cupcakes with penis decorations for a private birthday party at a sporting club in a wealthy Cairo neighbourhood.

In the latest example of the Egyptian states attempts to control public morality, which tend to target women, the female chef was arrested at her home after party attenders shared photos of the cupcakes with members of the Gezira club and on social media.

State media reported that security forces identified the baker after taking statements from eyewitnesses.

The case attracted the attention of the minister for youth and sports, Dr Ashraf Sobhy, who oversees clubs such as Gezira. Sobhy said his department would form a committee to investigate the incident and punish alleged perpetrators.

The baker has been interrogated by the same misdemeanour court that recently tried the Egyptian actor Rania Youssef on charges of contempt of Islam and infringing Egyptian family values, after she commented on her own physique during a television programme.

Earlier this month two female TikTok influencers who served jail terms last year for violating family values and harming public morals were acquitted.

In June 2020 the renowned bellydancer Sama El Masry was jailed for three years and fined 300,000 Egyptian pounds (equivalent to 14,025) for violating family values and immorality.

Egypts tabloids delighted in publishing pictures of the cupcakes, with the offending decorations blurred out. Egypts largest state-owned newspaper, Al Ahram, described the confections as indecent and immoral shapes.

Timothy E Kaldas from the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy said: On one level its hard not to be initially struck by the absurdity of penis cupcakes garnering the attention of state prosecutors, police investigators, members of parliament and the regime-controlled press. At the core of the matter is not the banning of sexuality in the public sphere, it is restricting sexuality that is outside the control of men.

Al Masry Al Youm newspaper reported that the pastry chef was in tears when she arrived at a prosecution office in Cairo. According to the paper, she told interrogators that patrons of the club came to my shop and handed me pictures of genitals, and asked me for cakes in these forms.

After questioning by prosecutors, the baker was released on a bail of 5,000 EGP (233).

Go here to see the original:
Egyptian chef arrested after making cupcakes with penis decorations - The Guardian

If there is one hallmark of the current regime in power in the country, it is the bravado and the swagger with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conducted his administration in the last seven-odd years.

Love it or hate it, Modi has managed to mesmerize the country so much that he managed to push the worst of his decisions like Demonetisation, the ill-conceived GST reforms and even the sudden lockdown and still saw his party winning elections while all kinds of dissent and dissenters were ruthlessly crushed.

We are aware of the story of 83-year-old Jesuit priest Stan Swamy suffering imprisonment without being granted bail even on health grounds. Centres of students dissent like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were attacked by goons while the Delhi Police kept watching the mayhem going on inside the campus. Tall civil society activists like Teesta Setalvad were either slapped with income tax or legal notices with the loud and clear message being: keep quiet, or else...

The government conveyed to all and sundry that there was no scope of any protest or dissent as long as Narendra Modi was in power; if anyone dared the government on any count, that person will have to bear consequences. The Modi government literally continued crushing all sorts of dissent with an iron hand while the people continued to support the Prime Minister.

But as the Urdu saying goes, Har Firaun ke liye ek Moosa bana hai (every Pharao gets his own Moses), and Modi too got a Moses in the form of the farmers agitation at Delhis borders.

Almost two months after thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh gathered outside Delhi demanding repeal of the farm laws enacted by it, the Modi government, as everybody said, blinked on Wednesday, stating that it was ready to freeze farmer laws for 18 months and was willing to change them after discussions with the agitating farmers.

It was the first time that the Modi government swallowed its pride after repeatedly declaring that there will be no going back on the three contentious laws that deal with agriculture reforms.

But what explains this sudden change of heart of the Modi government on the issue of dissent and protests? The government evidently realized that the farmers protest had touched the hearts and minds of at least the populace of rural India and it might cost the government politically.

The announcement came a day after RSS general secretary Bhiyaji Joshi told a national daily that both the farmers and the government must find common ground to resolve the deadlock. It was quite evident that the RSS, with its ears to the ground, conveyed to no one else but the Prime Minister himself that not resolving the farmers issue could hurt the BJPs poll prospects.

Well, the agitating farmers called Modis bluff and forced him to blink. It is indeed a major victory of not just the farmers but also all democratic forces which have been reeling under an inhumane administration that was till now unwilling to heed to even the peaceful protest. But the credit surely goes to those men and women who have been braving it out at Delhis borders demanding a repeal of the farm laws for almost two months. Their do or die kind of resolve ultimately forced the government to bend.

It could very well be a turning point for the Indian Opposition that had been helplessly watching the Modi juggernaut marching ahead so far. Herein lies a political message for the Opposition parties that the way to succeed in opposing the government on any issue lies in peaceful street protests provided there is a unity of purpose as well as ranks as displayed by the farmers.

The farmers agitation clearly shows that the Modi magic can be dispelled only through Gandhian means of moral force that farmers displayed through their protest by putting up in the open in this biting cold of December and January. Their sacrifices won the hearts and minds of countrymen and evidently frightened even an autocratic ruler like Narendra Modi.

It is for the Opposition parties now to take to the streets in a Gandhian mode and win the peoples hearts and minds like the farmers did. It will not just force Modi to bend but will consolidate votes for them as well.

Here is the original post:
Farmers agitation clearly shows even an autocrat like Modi can be made to bend through Gandhian means - National Herald

Apple's portfolio of existing technologies could make its "Apple Car" a formidable competitor in the electric vehicle market, investment bank Cowen says.

In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, Cowen analyst Krish Sankar says that the current EV market has evolved in a way that could offer new methods or opportunities for Apple to enter the space.

The company is already well-positioned to do so, Sankar believes. Apple has a strong product and intellectual property portfolio in several areas key to the autonomous and electric car market. That includes software, AI, navigation, energy storage, and cloud services.

Sankar says Apple's expertise is enabled by its silicon design capabilities; its software platforms; its data center operations; a proprietary mapping database; a library of media and entertainment services; and an ecosystem of existing mobile devices.

"Branding aside, we think these strengths make Apple a desirable partner for traditional automakers," Sankar said.

But there are a few automotive-related areas in which Apple has yet to show promise. Sankar points to autonomous driving software and the ability to manufacture devices larger than a computer at scale.

With Apple's strengths and weaknesses in mind, Sankar outlines a few paths the Cupertino firm could take to enter the electric vehicle market.

The company could partner with an established automaker that currently lacks EV or AI expertise. Until recently, Apple's car project was said to be focused on under-the-hood autonomous systems, rather than actual vehicle design.

It could also release an actual production vehicle by outsourcing manufacturing to a third-party company. Current rumors indicate that Apple is in talks with Hyundai about its EV ambitions.

The acquisition of an existing electric vehicle company could also offer a "sustainable market advantage," but Sankar says that this method would lack the capital to scale up manufacturing. In early 2020, Apple reportedly mulled an acquisition of California EV startup Canoo before talks fell apart.

"We believe each option entails tradeoffs between time to market, capital efficiency, operating margin profile across demand cycles, and the degree of control over design or manufacturing outcomes," Sankar writes.

In any case, the analyst predicts that a $1 million unit "Apple Car" shipment base could generate about $0.25 of incremental earnings-per-share (EPS). That's about a 6% accretion versus its 2022 EPS estimate.

If Apple were to get its operating margins high enough, it could hit a $0.50 or 11% accretion in EPS.

Sankar's 12-month AAPL price market remains unchanged at $133 per share. That's based on a 25x earnings multiple to Apple's core business, including iPhone and hardware, and a slightly lower 41x multiple on the recurring Services segment.

Here is the original post:
Apple has the means to disrupt the electric vehicle space, analyst says - AppleInsider

Google is investigating recent actions by Margaret Mitchell, who helps lead the company's ethical AI team, Axios has confirmed.

Why it matters: The probe follows the forced exit of Timnit Gebru, a prominent researcher also on the AI ethics team at Google whose ouster ignited a firestorm among Google employees.

What's happening: According to a source, Mitchell had been using automated scripts to look through her messages to find examples showing discriminatory treatment of Gebru before her account was locked.

What they're saying: In a statement, Google confirmed that Mitchell's email account has been locked and that the company is investigating why Mitchell downloaded a large number of files and shared them with people outside the company.

Between the lines: Earlier Tuesday, Mitchell had posted a tweet critical of Google CEO Sundar Pichai's planned meeting with historically Black college and university leaders, writing:

What's next: "We are actively investigating this matter as part of standard procedures to gather additional details," a Google representative said.

Go deeper: Tech research becomes hazardous ground

See the original post here:
Scoop: Google is investigating the actions of another top AI ethicist - Axios