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CHENNAI: BJP state president K Annamalai on Saturday justified his whip protest, saying it was his primal anger against Anna University rape incident that resulted in the protest. Annamalai was on his way to Delhi to participate in a meeting of state BJP presidents. Speaking to reporters at Chennai airport, Annamalai said, “Don't see the protest politically. Considering myself as the brother of the victim, I did this protest out of my primal anger.” He said, “I was angry because the system failed. Police were not straightforward, and the FIR got leaked. BJP functionaries led by (former Telangana governor) Tamilisai Soundararajan protested in Chennai but were arrested, and henceforth I had to undertake the protest.” The BJP state president welcomed the decision of Madras high court regarding the constitution of a special investigation team comprising three women police officers to investigate the Anna University rape case . Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss yearly career horoscopes 2025 for Aries , Taurus , Gemini , Cancer , Leo , Virgo , Libra , Scorpio , Sagittarius , Capricorn , Aquarius , and Pisces .What to Know About Brooke Rollins, Trump’s Choice for Agriculture SecretaryAs PTI convoys from across the country were en route to Islamabad on Sunday for the party’s much-touted power show — despite a court order and government warnings against it — the party claimed its workers were being arrested and dispersed using teargas. On Nov 13, Imran Khan issued a “ final call ” for nationwide protests on Nov 24 (today), denouncing what he described as the stolen mandate, the unjust arrests of people and the passage of the 26th amendment, which he said has strengthened a “dictatorial regime”. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that PTI’s planned protest is unlawful and directed the federal government to take all necessary measures to maintain law and order in Islamabad without disrupting public life, particularly as the Belarusian president is scheduled to arrive over the weekend with a high-profile delegation. As PTI supporters, who had set off on their journey earlier in the day, began reaching Islamabad despite government warnings of arrests, the party claimed the police was detaining its workers and using teargas to disperse them. In a post on X at 7:10pm, the PTI shared what it said were “visuals of the extreme shelling by fascist regime against own citizens at Islamabad Express”. Earlier, a Dawn.com correspondent in Islamabad said mobile internet services were down across the city, while major roads, including motorways, were blocked with containers. Pictures shared by the correspondent showed mostly deserted roads and people on motorbikes making their way from a narrow corner of a road blocked by trucks. Trucks block a road in Islamabad. — photo by Umar Bacha “These constant protests are destroying the economy and creating instability ... we want the political leadership to sit together and resolve these matters,” Muhammad Asif, 35, a resident of Islamabad told Reuters in front of a closed market. Separately, in a notification seen by Dawn.com , the office of the district magistrate in Islamabad ordered the closure of all public and private educational institutions in the capital territory tomorrow. The PTI, in a post on X , claimed that the convoy of National Assembly opposition leader Omar Ayub was targeted near Taxila and shells were fired at it. PTI MNA Sher Afzal Marwat shared a video of his brother Khalid Latif Khan saying his convoy was stopped at Daud Khel and was fired at with “strict teargas shelling”. However, he asserted, “We will reach D Chowk in any circumstance.” In another video , Khalid said that police had been shelling the convoy for over an hour and a half. “We had to face heavy shelling for an hour-and-a-half to two hours,” he said. “Thankfully now, the path has been cleared and we should leave (for D Chowk) within an hour-and-a-half to two hours.” Earlier today, the PTI claimed a “family that had reached D Chowk last night” had been arrested, sharing a video of a woman speaking from inside a prisoner van while another was taken inside too. The woman asked for the reason for being detained, saying, “Okay, we can say sorry that we should not have come to this area.” In another post, the PTI shared a video without specifying the location, saying: “The fascist regime has started, as expected, tear gas shelling against peaceful Pakistanis.” A Dawn.com correspondent present at D-Chowk reported that protesters had not entered the capital until midnight. The PTI posted an update on social media stating that all convoys from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have entered Punjab through different motorways. Senior PTI member and former KP minister Shaukat Yousafzai told Dawn.com that his convoy had managed to reach Taxila via GT Road, but the police blocked the motorway at Burhan. He said that his convoy will turn around to join Gandapur’s. “Opposition leader Umar Ayub, Ali Asghar and others from Kohistan, Mansehra, Battagram, Torghar, Abbottabad and Haripur are in their convoys but they have to join the Gandapur rally to ... reach D Chowk in [a] peaceful manner,” he said. Yousafzai added that the Punjab Police are ready to clash but maintained that the PTI “have one agenda — to hold our peaceful rally”. He also warned that if anything happened, the Punjab Police would be responsible. Meanwhile, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza posted on X that his convoy had reached Sargodha. “Proceed towards Islamabad. Overcome all hurdles from management,” he wrote. Speaking at D-Chowk, the final destination of PTI’s main convoy, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, “One option is that we let them come and [...] paralyse Islamabad. The other option is to protect Islamabad. View this post on Instagram “The area where they (the PTI) have called the protest is a protected area of Islamabad, monitored by the IG and DIG,” Naqvi said, referring to the Red Zone. “Any protesters who enter that area will be arrested,” he warned. View this post on Instagram Despite the security apparatus in place, Naqvi maintained that the blockades were “not as bad as last time” and that the government was trying to give as much relief as possible to those inconvenienced. Referring to the arrival of a Belarusian delegation in the capital, Naqvi said PTI supporters were coming on to the route through which the delegation was supposed to pass. He criticised the PTI for organising protests today instead of attending the funerals being held in Kurram, referring to violent clashes there in the past few days. Addressing the PTI demonstrators, he said: “If you wish to protest, that is your right, but you know exactly who is coming and you have been blocking off roads and causing trouble.” Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi said a “comprehensive security plan” had been formed to prevent mischief. Police personnel align before being deployed near a Red Zone area blocked with shipping containers to hinder a rally by members of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI demanding his release, in Islamabad on Nov 24, 2024. — AFP “If a road is closed, a lane has been kept open along it,” the IG said while speaking to the media, stressing that the purpose of the security plan was to secure the people’s lives and property. “There are obstacles, but the movement of people has not been stopped,” he claimed, adding that action would be taken against people carrying weapons or prohibited items. In a post on X earlier today, the Islamabad police said Rawat T Cross was closed for traffic on both sides and only one lane was open at Chungi No.26 for traffic heading both ways. “However, internal roads are partially open for traffic in Islamabad which can be used in case of extreme need,” the police said, urging citizens to avoid unnecessary travel. In a separate post , the police shared pictures of its personnel stationed at various points to “ensure the imposition of Section 144”, which prohibits gatherings. State broadcaster PTV News shared a post on X pointing out how there were “neither any people nor any flags” on Lahore’s Liberty Chowk, compared to previous instances “when the PTI used to hold its musical shows every other night”. Punjab, especially Lahore, came to a grinding halt on Saturday after the entire intercity bus operation — particularly routes leading to Islamabad and Rawalpindi — were suspended. The security at the Lahore railway station was also beefed up after a huge number of passengers thronged it in a bid to reach their destinations. Internet tracking monitor Netblocks said WhatsApp backends have been restricted in Pakistan, according to a post on X at 1:07am. “Live metrics show WhatsApp backends have been restricted in Pakistan corroborating reports of media sharing issues; the measure comes as authorities tighten security ahead of protests planned by opposition party PTI calling for the release of former PM Imran Khan,” Netblocks said. View this post on Instagram Addressing the media later today, interior minister Naqvi said: “Mobile services are working. The internet has been shut down.” A day ago, the interior ministry said that WiFi and mobile internet services would be suspended only in areas with “security concerns” and remain operational as normal in the rest of the country. In a televised statement, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar termed the PTI responsible for Islamabad’s closure and for “causing damage to businesspeople and the economy”. He asserted that while some routes in the city were closed, others were still open. “The main highway is closed, but despite that people are out and about,” Tarar said. The minister added, “When a party tries to spread division, they do so through violence and property damage. We saw it during the 2014 sit-in, PTV was set on fire and the gates of Parliament were broken down.” Separately, while speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said “PTI’s act will be exposed today”. “I am sure their act will be exposed today [...] why are they spreading anarchy? “Barrister Gohar said [the protest was to] release Imran Khan but he hasn’t been arrested by a deputy commissioner, [through] detention orders or any administrative orders [...] the cases are in the courts and he will have to get himself cleared in those cases.” “If he thinks he is innocent that doesn’t mean you start causing destruction, it means you face your cases in court and tell your lawyers to get the cases disposed quickly,” he said, referring to Imran’s legal challenges. Rallies from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI is in power, left for Islamabad early in the morning, according to the Dawn.com correspondent. MPAs and MNAs of their respective constituencies were leading their convoys and would join the rallies at Burhan near Hazara interchange, the correspondent said, citing PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai. View this post on Instagram However, a heavy police contingent was present on GT Road and motorway at Attock’s Hassanabdal to stop the procession from reaching Islamabad. Several convoys are en route to the capital, PTI shared in multiple posts on X. According to a post on X , a main convoy led by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur departed from CM House in Peshawar. CM Gandapur, expected to lead the largest convoy into Islamabad, earlier called on people to gather near the entrance of the city’s red zone, known as “D Chowk”. And aerial view of the PTI convoy led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on November 24. — Photo by Umar Bacha Another video posted by the PTI showed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s convoy approaching Colonel Sher Khan Interchange outside of Mardan. The video showed a top-down view of the convoy which stretched over some distance. Islamabad’s red zone houses the country’s parliament building, important government installations, as well as embassies and foreign institutions’ offices. “[Imran] Khan has called on us to remain there till all our demands are met,” he said in a video message yesterday. A post on PTI MNA Asad Qaiser’s X account said his convoy will reach Swabi’s Ambar Interchange, where it will join CM Gandapur. Supporters led by Omar Ayub also set off on their journey from Haripur, the PTI said. Rehana Dar , mother of former PTI leader Usman Dar and who contested the Feb 8 general elections against PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, also set off with her convoy from Sialkot. Other convoys include those of PTI’s Peshawar president Irfan Saleem , KP health minister Pakhtunyar Khan’s convoy from Bannu, KP minister Dr Amjad Ali and law minister Advocate Aftab Alam . In a post on X , former KP minister Taimur Khan Jhagra said: “To assume that unjust laws should just be followed, that try to protect state capture and make the judiciary subservient, is wrong.” However, he appealed to all protesters: “Stay peaceful. At all costs. Do not let anyone sabotage your protest.” Another post showed a convoy led by PTI South Punjab president Senator Aoun Abbas and MNA Zartaj Gul had departed for Islamabad. A video shared by the party showed Gul standing atop a vehicle, waving a white flag and chanting “Imran Khan Zindabad. Release, release Imran Khan”. A convoy led by the president of PTI’s Balochistan chapter was also on its way to Islamabad. View this post on Instagram A convoy led by PTI leaders Usama Mela and Ansar Iqbal Haral also departed from Sargodha’s Kot Momin. A post by the PTI on X called for protesters to carry signs and placards in English “in order to amplify our message globally.” “Let our voices echo loud and clear as we stand united for justice, democracy, and a constitutional Pakistan!” PTI leader Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, the Punjab Assembly opposition leader, had earlier said protesters would not leave Islamabad until their demands were accepted. Since Imran’s arrest in August 2023 on several counts, his party has been holding protests across the country for his release and against the alleged rigging of the Feb 8 elections. The last protest in Islamabad by the PTI in early October turned violent with one policeman killed, dozens of security personnel injured and protesters arrested. Both sides accused the other of instigating the clashes. Also on Saturday, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) issued an alert for possible terrorist attacks during the PTI’s march towards Islamabad, reliable sources told Dawn . According to sources, the alert was issued after “technical and human” intelligence gathered by the apex counter-terrorism body revealed that terrorists were planning “major activities” in big cities of Pakistan. Multiple sources confirmed “necessary preparations” by the terrorists in Afghanistan, who “entered into Pakistan” on the night between Nov 19 and 20. They were expected to station themselves in big cities, the sources added. The terrorists, whom the government and the military refer to as Fitna-al-Khawarij , will possibly target the PTI’s protest “for their vested interest”, as per the sources. Nacta has suggested authorities ensure extreme vigilance and heighten security measures to prevent the attack. The government has vowed to suppress the power show with full force, deploying massive security forces, enforcing a sweeping ban on gatherings, blocking highways and motorways and launching a crackdown on leaders and workers of the opposition party. Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at the Red Zone area blocked with shipping containers ahead of a protest rally by PTI in Islamabad on November 24. — AFP The capital police have prepared a list of over 1,500 PTI leaders and workers in Islamabad and constituted 27 teams to arrest them so they could not participate in the protest. The police also arrested 350 other workers of the party, including leader Nafisa Khattak as well as a nephew and brother-in-law of the party’s Islamabad chapter president Amir Mughal. An overnight crackdown was also launched in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where some elected councillors were among those held. Besides Muzaffarabad police arresting 26 people , the houses of various leaders were also raided, including of AJK Assembly’s opposition leader Khawaja Farooq Ahmed. The government has also put all public sector hospitals in Islamabad on high alert in order to meet any emergency situation. Among methods to curtail the protest is the closure of various motorways and key arteries of Punjab, severing paths to Islamabad at multiple points. The National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) announced that six key motorways would be closed for all types of traffic “due to maintenance” from Friday night, advising travellers to avoid unnecessary travel during this period. The motorways closed to traffic are: M1 from Peshawar to Islamabad, M2 from Lahore to Islamabad, M3 from Lahore to Abdul Hakeem, M4 from Pindi Bhattian to Multan, M11 from Sialkot to Lahore, and M14 from Yarik to Hakla. Meanwhile, local authorities blocked bridges over the Chenab and Jhelum rivers in Gujrat district to restrict PTI protesters’ movement towards Islamabad. The closure caused significant inconvenience to commuters who found themselves stuck in long queues of trucks and other vehicles on both sides of the rivers. Heavy containers and trolleys were parked on both sides of the bridges. More to follow Additional input from Reuters
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The sixth edition of the World Telugu Writers conference began on Saturday on a grand note on the KBN College premises in Vijayawada. Former Chief Justice of India N. V. Ramana inaugurated the two-day conference which will conclude on Sunday. Justice (retd) Ramana, the chief guest, along with MLAs Y. Sujana Chowdary, Mandali Buddha Prasad, Vishwa Hindi Parishad national president Acharya Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, Krishnagiri MP K. Gopinath, Margadarsi MD Sailaja Kiran and others paid rich tribute to the Telugu Talli statue. Addressing the conference, Justice (retd) Ramana said that Telugu is spoken by over 10 million people across the country and we should not tolerate attempts to destroy our beautiful language at the behest of commercial and political interests promoting other languages and cultures. “We will become great only when we protect our mother tongue and culture. Even though we may possess many things, without our language we will be regarded as orphans,” he said. Recalling the invaluable contributions of literary legends like Sri Sri, Arudra, Viswanatha Satyanarayana and cinema actors NTR, ANR, SVR, Savithri, Jamuna, and others who strove for the development of Telugu language, he urged people not to forget their services. He emphasised the importance of educating children about their contributions and passing this legacy to future generations. Justice (retd) Ramana appealed to the state government to immediately establish Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University in Andhra Pradesh, revoke GO MS No 85 and strengthen the Telugu Vasha Abhivruddhi Prathikara Samastha to further develop Telugu language. Over 1,500 participants including Telugu poets, writers, and language enthusiasts from various parts of the country along with students from several educational institutions, took part on the first day of the two-day conference.
Mumbai, December 28: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday announced strict and swift action in the gruesome crime involving a 13-year-old girl in Kalyan, saying that senior advocate Ujjwal Nikam will represent the rape-murder case in court. Additionally, he directed the Thane Police Commissioner to ensure the charge sheet is filed within 30 days. "The victim was like my daughter. Ensuring justice for her is my responsibility. The culprits will be severely punished within four months." Kalyan Girl Kidnapping-Murder Case: Main Accused, Wife Among 3 Arrested After 12-Year-Old Girl’s Body Found in Maharashtra Village. On Saturday, the victim’s parents met the Chief Minister along with Mumbai BJP Vice President Amarjeet Mishra and Kalyan East MLA Sulbha Gaikwad. During the meeting, the family shared their pain and demanded justice. The Chief Minister assured them of all possible support and emphasised that strict action would be taken against the culprits. The Chief Minister instructed the Thane Police Commissioner to ensure that the victim’s family feels completely safe. He said: "The family need not fear anyone. If anyone tries to harass them, strict action will be taken against them." Kalyan Horror: Man Allegedly Kidnaps and Sexually Assaults 2-Year-Old Girl Near Titwala After Luring Her With Chocolates and Sweets, Arrested. Fadnavis further assured that the culprits would not be able to come out of jail and would face the harshest punishment. After the meeting, Amarjeet Mishra said: "This case is not just about one family but a matter of security and justice for all daughters. The Chief Minister’s decision to appoint an experienced advocate like Ujjwal Nikam and his directive to file the chargesheet within 30 days is a significant step towards justice." Additionally, Amarjeet Mishra handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as immediate financial assistance to the victim’s family. Earlier on Thursday, a Special POCSO Court in Kalyan town sent Vishal Gawli and his wife Sakshi Gawli to police custody for a week till January 2 in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl who was reported missing since Monday. Thane district was rocked by a sensational sex crime perpetrated on the girl, who had stepped out of her home to buy some provisions but then went 'missing' till her body was found on December 25 (Wednesday). Coming nearly five months after the Badlapur sexual assault on two nursery class girls in August, this is the second case that has sparked outrage with people demanding the death penalty for the alleged perpetrators -- Vishal Gawli, 35, and his wife Sakshi Gawli, 25. Vishal Gawli is accused of kidnapping the girl from near her home, forcibly taking her in an autorickshaw to his house, assaulting, raping, killing and then dumping her body near a cemetery in the neighbouring Bhiwandi town, nearly 8 km away. As the girl failed to return home for several hours, the family had lodged a missing complaint and a probe had started on Monday night, with the needle of suspicion pointing at the Gawli couple after the girl's body was found. The Thane Police formed six teams to hunt him down, but Vishal Gawli had already fled to Shegaon in Buldhana district, where his in-laws reside. There, he was spotted in a crowded restaurant through CCTV footage buying liquor, and the Shegaon police caught up with him in a local hair-cutting salon where he had gone for a clean shave, ostensibly to conceal his identity. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2024 10:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com ).President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, known as AKD, outlined the plans of his Government to rescue the crisis-ridden and slow growing economy in delivering the President’s Address at the opening of the 10th Parliament last week1. In a short speech like this, one cannot give all the micro details of his plan. Hence, by outlining the main policy parameters, he treated his audience to the vision by which his Government is guided in the next five years to deliver prosperity to Sri Lankans. AKD’s forte lies in delivering speeches freely out of his mind instead of reading a prepared text. In his maiden speech at Parliament as the President of the Republic, he spoke for long 55 minutes occasionally looking at the sketch of his speech to pick only the key points. Otherwise, it was a free flow of his mind. In development policy designing and management, there are further steps to be taken by AKD Government. The vision should be converted to a plan, plan broken into projects, projects divided into programs, programs to be represented by implementation units. These units should be given targets with a timeframe. On the other side of implementation, there should be continuous monitoring, progress reviewing, and trouble shooting if there are impediments in the plan implementation. These two machineries should be put in place immediately and they should naturally be under AKD himself to provide the necessary authority and leadership for change management. Without this, the vision will be a talk only devoid of action. James Carville, the political advisor to Bill Clinton is said to have coined in 1992 the phrase, ‘It is the Economy Stupid’, to belittle Clinton’s opposite, George HW Bush, on his ignorance of the ground realities in the ailing US economy2. The underlying connotation was that both the US economy and its chief economic manager were stupid. This soon became the Clinton campaign slogan, and it was successful in denying a second term for the incumbent President. AKD’s chief contender, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe or RW too tried to belittle his two main contenders on a similar ground. RW is reported to have publicly ridiculed AKD as well as Sajith Premadasa that neither one was experienced in running a crisis-hit economy unlike him. In his view, they both had run away from responsibility when the country needed a leader to bring order to the emerging anarchic state. In this context, RW maintained that only he stepped forward to take responsibility and only he had an experienced team to do so3. In the Parliamentary election campaign, RW asked the voters not to send inexperienced people to Parliament and reiterated that only his team has the necessary experience4. The results of both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections showed that RW had failed to convince the voters on this point, like the economy stupid slogan of the Clinton campaign. AKD, in his President’s address, disproved his critics. However, after the Presidential and Parliamentary elections, it is the economy stupid that is going to loom over Sri Lanka making it AKD’s biggest challenge. Like any economic policy program, AKD’s program too has plus as well as minus points. With the unmatched super popularity which AKD has got from the people across the country today, it is natural for his fans to overvalue plus points and gloss over the shortcomings. Such analysis is guided by pure emotional affiliations, and it is injurious to both AKD and the country. The overassessment of his program will not give him an opportunity to correct himself. The country will suffer because of the unintended consequences of his policies. As a result, when, on a later date, the weaknesses are realised, it will be too late to reverse the policies and cut the long-term costs to the economy. Such a fate served on the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he sought to convert the country’s agriculture to organic farming overnight. This daring and obviously destructive attempt was praised by those who were around Gotabaya and, as a result, neither he nor his policy advisors got an opportunity to stop it in time to avoid the long-term damage done to Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector. AKD should not fall into this trap just by listening to people who praise him. Hence, this article will critically review AKD’s policy statement. AKD’s policy vision is based on inclusive development which solicits participation of citizens in all the regions, all ethnicities, all faiths, and all lingual groups. The mandate he has got is from all these diverse parties. But he admitted that there are citizens who have not voted for him, or the candidates fielded by his political alliance. AKD and his Government accept that for a vibrant democracy – a necessity for sustainable development, there should be a multiparty system. It requires the recognition and appreciation of diverse views. This is the foundation of society being promoted under his rule. But for people to participate in development activities, there should also be the observance of the Rule of Law. AKD proudly announced that there should be no one who is above the law and all are under the law. In my view, this rule should be applied to the Executive President as well. A recent example of a President flouting this rule relates to RW who was found guilty by the Supreme Court for violating the Constitution by not holding the local government elections in time5. But RW, instead of observing the Rule of Law, defended his decision not to hold the local government elections implying that he would not obey the Supreme Court’s judgment6. This is a dangerous path for democratic inclusive development. Hence, AKD should not permit anyone to ridicule judicial judgments under his rule. When this precedent is established, it will be observed by future generations as Sri Lanka’s moral and ethical foundation for societal development. It is an essential requirement for inclusive development. Connected to this is his ‘clean Sri Lanka’ program which has gone beyond the environmental aspects of cleaning. It calls for an attitudinal and behavioural change in Sri Lankan people, on one side, and changing the behaviour of Parliamentarians, on the other. In the past, especially during the previous RW regime, Parliament became a place which did not give the best example of behaviour, accountability, and moral ethics to Sri Lankan people. On one occasion, RW speaking in Parliament said that there was no local government election and therefore there was no question of postponing the elections7. When the Supreme Court ordered that the local government elections should be conducted in terms of the prevailing laws, a government party legislator proposed that privileges of Parliament have been breached by an interim order of the Supreme Court8. These are only two glaring instances of immoral and unethical behaviour. These are clear cases of the non-observance of the accountability principle by legislators but there are many more. AKD stressed that Parliament cannot continue to act like this, and it should be brought under the supervision of the public eye. Regarding the behaviour of people, he said that the current ethos and norms should be changed to build a responsible society that appreciates each other. These are what economists call the defects in the institutional structure of the country. They have been branded as destructive institutions and they should necessarily be changed into inclusive institutions if Sri Lanka is to prevent itself from being a failed nation9. AKD also justified, quite correctly, the decision of his Government to go along with the prevailing Extended Fund Facility or EFF from IMF and the associated debt restructuring program. He said that the depth of the economic issue facing Sri Lanka does not leave room for making even the slightest mistake by the Government. It will be fatal to the economic life. Hence, to bring order to the chaos-stricken economy and maintain the trust and confidence of the international community, the Government has decided to be within the parameters set by IMF. He said that the third review of EFF is under way and will be completed by 22 November. This was done as expected10. Debt restructuring with bilateral creditors and commercial creditors, mainly the International Sovereign Bond or ISB holders, will be completed as agreed with them previously by end-December 2024. These are significant achievements with respect to IMF facility contrary to the suspicions of the critics of the AKD Government. However, the external debt restructuring without a significant haircut will leave a massive external sector gap of about $ 17 billion by 2027 as projected by IMF in May 2024 based on the estimated foreign inflows and outflow. It will simply pass the obligation onto the future generations. To avoid another debt crisis and free the future generations of the likely burden falling on them, AKD Government should increase the net foreign inflows in 2025 and beyond through an improvement in the export of goods and services to about $ 45 billion by 2030 as targeted by the Export Development Board11. This is an ambitious target but should necessarily be attained. Proceeding with IMF will help Sri Lanka to tackle the issues in the nominal side of the macroeconomy. That is made up of the inflation, exchange rate, balance of payments, and the government budget. But the development of the real side of the macroeconomy, that is, the production of goods and services, is outside this IMF program. The real sector development will allow Sri Lanka to deliver prosperity to people, improve their living standards, generate employment, and repay external debt by facilitating the earning of foreign exchange through the export of goods and services. For this, a separate plan is necessary. I have presented this case earlier in a separate article12. AKD has recognised this fact. He has proposed to take some immediate measures, known as picking low-hanging fruits, and initiating programs to create a turning point in Sri Lanka’s economy. As low-hanging fruits, he has identified five key areas. They are, information and communication technology or ICT, tourism, use of harbour services, agriculture, and fisheries. These five sectors will help Sri Lanka to increase the incomes of the people, generate employment, and promote consumption which is at a low ebb now. However, given the scale of the foreign funding needed to finance the external financing gap in the immediate future, all these five sectors will not help AKD to generate sufficient foreign exchange income to meet the requirements. They are also medium-term developments rather than quickly pickable fruits. Also, a sector like tourism, though AKD expects to increase the number to 4 million per annum generating a tourism income of $ 8 billion in the next 3-4 years, has two issues to be solved immediately. One is the limited carrying capacity with the available hotel, airport, and transport facilities. These represent investments to be achieved in the medium term rather than immediately. Hence, if Sri Lanka starts investing in these infrastructure facilities immediately, it can attain observable results only after about five years. The second is the low domestic value addition in the tourism sector. To maintain tourists, Sri Lanka should import fuel to power their transportation and electricity generation, vehicles, and above all, foods and beverages. In addition, road and airport expansion also involve foreign exchange expenditure. In these circumstances, the domestic value addition will be only the profits of the hotels, salaries paid to local employees, and purchase of utilities from the domestic market. Hence, out of the $ 8 billion earned as gross income, the net domestic value addition is projected to be about $ 2-3 billion. ICT sector also faces the problem of quick market access and lack of talented personnel. Market access can be achieved through comprehensive economic cooperation agreements with buyer countries on one side, and partnering with seller countries, on the other. In this case, renegotiating the abandoned Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement or ETCA with India should be done by AKD government as a matter of priority. Partnership with Indian ICT firms will provide quick market access to Sri Lankan ICT developers. However, a caveat in ICT sector is the advancements in artificial intelligence or AI which will take over many of the routine and programming jobs from human workers. Developed countries attempt at resolving this issue by evolving with AI13. Without an AI base, Sri Lanka cannot do this. As a turning point, AKD is planning to rely on the development of a digital economy to improve the efficiency and hence, the productivity, in the economy, and the introduction of new technology to Sri Lanka increase its value addition. These are worthwhile medium-term goals to be pursued by the country to make it a rich country in the long run. However, that alone will not help the country due to the scanty natural resource base in the country. Sri Lanka’s only available resource is the brain power of its people. This sector faces two issues which AKD has not recognised in his plan. One is the fast ageing of the Sri Lanka’s population. According to the projections by Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific or ESCAP, Sri Lanka is fast ageing with a median age of 33 in 2025 rising to 40 by 205014. This is a fast increase since 1960 when the median age stood at 18. With an ever-rising low number of young people, Sri Lanka is fast losing its demographic dividend. The second is the increased migration of the professionals in the country which has accelerated during the last three years. The loss of trained professionals is an impediment for Sri Lanka to attain a sustained economic growth. AKD should lay foundation for converting this brain drain to a brain gain. Overall, AKD’s policy statement is comprehensive, well-designed, and quickly implementable. He has not gone for a long-term dream like converting Sri Lanka to rich country by 2048 as was done by RW. His dream was limited only to words without action. In contrast, AKD has tried to tackle immediate as well as medium-term issues. This represents a visionary dream. As argued above, this dream should be converted to an action plan which should be monitored continuously to ensure rapid progress and resolve issues. 1An English translation is available at: https://pmd.gov.lk/news/the-full-speech-delivered-by-president-anura-kumara-dissanayake-at-the-inauguration-of-the-first-session-of-the-tenth-parliament/ 2https://politicaldictionary.com/words/its-the-economy-stupid/ 3https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Why-Ranil-is-so-Confident-of-Winning-the-Presidential-Election/172-291758 4https://economynext.com/sri-lankas-former-president-calls-for-experienced-members-to-be-sent-to-parliament-184036/ 5https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/sri-lanka-top-court-finds-president-wickremesinghe-guilty-of-unlawful-conduct-over-election-delay/articleshow/112716801.cms 6https://www.instagram.com/colombogazette/reel/C_Fq1EtOqaE/ 7https://citizen.lk/article/watch-there-is-no-election-to-be-postponed-ranil-tells-parliament 8https://ceylontoday.lk/2023/03/08/dolawatte-raises-privileges-issue-over-court-order/ 9This issue has been treated in detail here: https://www.ft.lk/columns/What-can-AKD-and-also-SP-and-RW-learn-from-Economics-Nobel-Laureates-in-2024/4-768187 10https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/11/23/pr24435-imf-team-reaches-staff-level-agreement-with-sri-lanka 11https://www.ft.lk/top-story/EDB-targets-45-b-export-revenue-by-2030-amid-economic-overhaul/26-769471#:~:text=EDB%20targets%20%24%2045%20b%20export%20revenue%20by%202030%20amid%20economic%20overhaul,-Thursday%2C%2021%20November&text=Sri%20Lanka%20has%20set%20its,within%20the%20next%20five%20years. 12https://www.ft.lk/columns/AKD-s-top-priority-should-be-to-appease-a-population-boiling-from-within/4-767000 13https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIL5pVqFceA 14https://www.population-trends-asiapacific.org/data/LKA
Wolfspeed (NYSE:WOLF) Shares Down 3.6% – Here’s What HappenedIt looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. People are also reading... "The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more," Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. "There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie," said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction." Something in the kitchen was contaminated In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation, did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the "no-fault findings," as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report, Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist "saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities." But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's "decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable." But how did the drugs get into the kitchen? A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug "then entered the market through illegal channels," he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles," Li said. "The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice." New information sent to WADA ... eventually This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. "Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated," he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. "It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. "Which clearly it has not." Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!
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SAN FRANCISCO — A former OpenAI researcher known for whistleblowing the blockbuster artificial intelligence company facing a swell of lawsuits over its business model has died, authorities confirmed this week. Suchir Balaji, 26, was found dead inside his Buchanan Street apartment on Nov. 26, San Francisco police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said. Police had been called to the Lower Haight residence at about 1 p.m. that day, after receiving a call asking officers to check on his well-being, a police spokesperson said. The medical examiner’s office has not released his cause of death, but police officials this week said there is “currently, no evidence of foul play.” Information he held was expected to play a key part in lawsuits against the San Francisco-based company. Balaji’s death comes three months after he publicly accused OpenAI of violating U.S. copyright law while developing ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence program that has become a moneymaking sensation used by hundreds of millions of people across the world. Its public release in late 2022 spurred a torrent of lawsuits against OpenAI from authors, computer programmers and journalists, who say the company illegally stole their copyrighted material to train its program and elevate its value past $150 billion. The Mercury News and seven sister news outlets are among several newspapers, including the New York Times, to sue OpenAI in the past year. In an interview with the New York Times published Oct. 23, Balaji argued OpenAI was harming businesses and entrepreneurs whose data were used to train ChatGPT. “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” he told the outlet, adding that “this is not a sustainable model for the internet ecosystem as a whole.” Balaji grew up in Cupertino before attending UC Berkeley to study computer science. It was then he became a believer in the potential benefits that artificial intelligence could offer society, including its ability to cure diseases and stop aging, the Times reported. “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them,” he told the newspaper. But his outlook began to sour in 2022, two years after joining OpenAI as a researcher. He grew particularly concerned about his assignment of gathering data from the internet for the company’s GPT-4 program, which analyzed text from nearly the entire internet to train its artificial intelligence program, the news outlet reported. The practice, he told the Times, ran afoul of the country’s “fair use” laws governing how people can use previously published work. In late October, he posted an analysis on his personal website arguing that point. No known factors “seem to weigh in favor of ChatGPT being a fair use of its training data,” Balaji wrote. “That being said, none of the arguments here are fundamentally specific to ChatGPT either, and similar arguments could be made for many generative AI products in a wide variety of domains.” Reached by this news agency, Balaji’s mother requested privacy while grieving the death of her son. In a Nov. 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people — many of them past or present OpenAI employees — the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions. Generative artificial intelligence programs work by analyzing an immense amount of data from the internet and using it to answer prompts submitted by users, or to create text, images or videos. When OpenAI released its ChatGPT program in late 2022, it turbocharged an industry of companies seeking to write essays, make art and create computer code. Many of the most valuable companies in the world now work in the field of artificial intelligence, or manufacture the computer chips needed to run those programs. OpenAI’s own value nearly doubled in the past year. News outlets have argued that OpenAI and Microsoft — which is in business with OpenAI also also has been sued by The Mercury News — have plagiarized and stole its articles, undermining their business models. “Microsoft and OpenAI simply take the work product of reporters, journalists, editorial writers, editors and others who contribute to the work of local newspapers — all without any regard for the efforts, much less the legal rights, of those who create and publish the news on which local communities rely,” the newspapers’ lawsuit said. OpenAI has staunchly refuted those claims, stressing that all of its work remains legal under “fair use” laws. “We see immense potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to deepen publishers’ relationships with readers and enhance the news experience,” the company said when the lawsuit was filed. Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.To lure Juan Soto, Mets created a video of his statue outside Citi Field next to Tom Seaver's
Rick Palacio, the former chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, violated the state’s ethics law when he became a consultant for Gov. Jared Polis in late 2020 because he had too recently served as the governor’s chief of staff, the state’s Independent Ethics Commission ruled. The commission did not levy any financial penalties against Palacio, who led Colorado Democrats from 2011 to 2017. That is because commissioners determined he had not “violated the public trust,” according to a report issued by the commission last week. A complaint was filed against Palacio in 2021 by Defend Colorado, a conservative group, alleging he’d violated ethics rules the year before when he was hired as a consultant for Polis’ office immediately after serving as the governor’s interim chief of staff. Palacio served as interim chief in late 2020, while the governor’s permanent chief of staff was on maternity leave. After then-chief Lisa Kaufmann returned to work in November 2020, Palacio remained on staff for the rest of the month. He was then given a contract as a consultant beginning Dec. 1, 2020, to continue working on pandemic-related issues. Colorado’s ethics law requires recently separated state employees to wait six months before they can be contracted by a state agency to work on anything they had previously been directly involved with, as Palacio was with pandemic efforts. Still, the commission found that Palacio did not need to face any penalties because he had not violated the public trust. Commissioners found that he did not violate a state law barring state employees from using official acts to enrich themselves. According to the report, Defend Colorado agreed that “Mr. Palacio’s consulting contract did not create a conflict of interest or a potential for unfair advantage in Mr. Palacio’s favor.” In an emailed statement Friday, Palacio said the state was “confronted with a once-in-a-century pandemic” during his work with Polis’ office. When “my state needed help, I was honored to step up and serve,” he wrote. “In moments of crisis, I have always believed it is our duty to contribute however we can, and I would hope that anyone else would do the same if called upon by their governor or president.” In a statement, Polis spokesman Eric Maruyama said the governor’s office was “deeply grateful for (Palacio’s) exceptional contributions” and said the office was pleased that the ethics commission found that “Palacio’s actions never compromised the public trust or caused harm to the state.”NoneALISON BOSHOFF: Chef James Martin, his new lover and the old flame in his kitchen