Kuldeep, Ashwin summit peak Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul and R Ashwin’s four helped hosts India skittle out England for 218 runs on Day One at Dharamsala on Thursday. This is fourth fivewicket haul for Kuldeep. Playing his 100th Test, Ashwin cleaned up the tail while Ravindra Jadeja took one. Fifties by openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal took India to 135 for one | PTI | P13 KOttayam l friday l march 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Cabinet clears L10K cr to boost AI ecosystem Centre hikes DA, DR to 50% of basic pay; extends H300 LPG subsidy through FY25 M o n i k a Yada v @ New Delhi Close on the heels of the Centre’s plan to regulate AI tools deployed in India by big tech companies, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved an outlay of `10,371.92 crore for the national-level IndiaAI Mission to boost the artificial intelligence ecosystem in the country . The IndiaAI Mission encompasses various components. It includes the IndiaAI Compute Capacity to build a scalable AI computing ecosystem with 10,000 or more graphics processing units through public private partnership for startups and researchers. Next, the IndiaAI Innovation Centre will focus on developing indigenous large multimodal models and foundational models in critical sectors. The IndiaAI Datasets Platform will streamline access to quality non-personal datasets and the IndiaAI Startup Financing pillar will support deep-tech AI startups and provide them access to funding to enable futuristic AI projects. The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made a few populist announcements ahead of the 2024 general elections, including the release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to 49.18 lakh Central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to 67.95 lakh pensioners with effect from January 1, 2024. This represents an increase of 4% over the existing rate of 46% for basic pay/pension to compensate against price rise. This will set the exchequer back by `12,868 crore per annum. “This increase is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission,” the government said. The Cabinet also gave nod to the continuation of targeted subsidy of ` 300 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg cylinder) for up to 12 refills per year for 10.27 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana during FY25. The total expenditure will be `12,000 crore for FY25. The subsidy is credited directly to bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries. The Centre also cleared the commerce ministry’s proposal for `10,037 crore outlay for the UNNATI industrialisation scheme aimed at developing the northeastern states. Modi says new J&K breathing freely now; Cong unveils youth outreach PM guarantees efforts Rahul guarantees to fill to win more J&K hearts 30L govt job vacancies F aya z Wan i @ Srinagar Ra j e s h A s nan i @ Jaipur In his first visit to Kashmir after the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said J&K is the head (mastak) of India, which is breathing freely after the removal of its special powers. “I am happy and grateful for your love today Modi will . not leave any stone unturned to return this love and affection,” the prime minister said. In his outreach, he said, “I am doing this hard work to win your hearts. I believe I am on the right path and will continue my efforts to win more hearts. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said. J&K, Modi said, is not just a region but is the head of the country. “And a head held Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday offered a slew of guarantees to the youth, including filling up 30 lakh government job vacancies if voted to power at the Centre. Calling it Bharti bharosa (assurance on filling up vacancies), he said it would be done within specified timeframes. Rahul was speaking at a rally during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Banswara. “In addition, the Congress commits to offering at least one-year apprenticeship to every diploma holder and graduate in both government and private sectors within their first year of graduation, with a stipend of approximately `1 lakh per annum,” he said. Rahul labeled this as- express read Padmaja Venugopal joins BJP, hails Modi T’Puram: Veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal joined BJP on Thursday. Stating that she had been keeping aloof from Congress ever since her defeat in 2021 polls, Padmaja said she was looking forward to working under PM Narendra Modi, who has proved to be a “powerful leader”. P4 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a rally in Srinagar | PTI high is a symbol of development and respect.” He said this is the new (naya) J&K the country was waiting for since decades. It has the courage to overcome all challenges, he said. On the prime minister’s visit, normal life remained unaffected. There was no shutdown as no separatist or militant group had issued such a call. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting in Banswara | PTI surance as Pehli naukri pakki (first job guarantee) and said the promise would be made legally binding akin to the MNREGA scheme. In all, Rahul offered five guarantees to the youth — recruitment, trust, confirmed first job, freedom from paper leaks and youth empowerment. The party packaged it as Yuva Nyay (justice to youth). VCs of Calicut, Sanskrit varsities shown the door E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Exercising his powers as Chancellor, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has ordered M K Jayaraj and M V Narayanan, the vice chancellors of Calicut and Sanskrit universities respectively, to step down from their posts. They were shown the door on the grounds that their selection as VCs was not in accordance with UGC regulations. However, the order will not take effect for 10 days, as per an earlier High Court order. Regarding the continuance of Digital University V-C Saji Gopinath and Sreenarayanaguru Open University V-C P M Mubarak Pasha in office, the governor has referred the matter to the UGC, Raj Bhavan sources said. Last month, the governor had conducted a heari n g o f f o u r V- C s a f t e r issuing showcause notices. The hearing was conducted on the directions of the HC. ● More on P4 Gender gap among HC senior advocates widens P R A M D A S @ Kochi Over the last two decades just two women have risen to the ranks of senior lawyer from the thousands who have been practising in the Kerala High Court. Notwithstanding the disparity, of the 20 designated as seniors by the HC on Thursday —on the eve of International Women’s Day — only one is a woman. Currently, the total number of senior women lawyers stands at a mere three. This contrasts starkly with the recent ground-breaking decision by the Supreme Court, which saw 11 women designated as senior lawyers from a pool of 56 candidates. Advocates V P Seemandini and Sumathi Dandapani were named seniors in 2007. In the list published on March 7, the HC designated Advocate Dhanya P Ashokan as a senior. The HC received 60 applications, of which only one was from a woman. It shortlisted 40 applicants, of which 20 were named seniors. As per Kerala Bar Council data, there are 59,015 advocates in the state, of which 24,132 are women. This equates to roughly one female for every two male advocates. Seemandini, who is vice president (southern region) of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, says there are efficient women lawyers in the HC worthy of being named seniors. “But they don’t believe in submitting the application. In my view, there are currently at least five women who are highly eligible for the post. HC should follow the Supreme Court in identifying suo motu senior women lawyers,” she ● More on P4 told TNIE.
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