Columns

New Delhi, May 27 (IANS) As many as 70.5 per cent of the respondents of a survey are satisfied with the BJP-led Central government, followed by 27.6 per cent who feel otherwise, while 2.36 per cent of the respondents said they cannot comment on the matter.

This was disclosed during an exclusive pan-India survey conducted by CVoter to mark nine years of the BJP-led government. Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014 after he led the BJP to a historic majority of 282 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

According to the survey, as compared to 2023, in 2022, 68.85 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the Central government's works, while 28.25 per cent felt otherwise.

In 2021, 59.2 per cent of the respondents were satisfied with the Centre's works, marking a steep fall from 2020 when the numbers stood at 80.73 per cent. In 2019, 74.72 of the respondents were satisfied with the Modi regime's works.

--IANS
ssh/ar

New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) Three out of every five Indians are of the opinion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been successful in projecting India as a global power over the last nine years.

This was revealed during an exclusive pan-India survey conducted by CVoter to mark nine years of the NDA regime headed by Modi.

Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister on May 26, 2014 after leading the BJP to a historic majority of its own in the Lok Sabha elections.

Since then, Prime Minister Modi has continuously and aggressively promoted the interests of India in scores of bilateral and multilateral meetings with leaders of other countries.

The impact of this outreach has been so significant that 50 per cent of Indians who vote for the opposition also agree with the contention.

This is rare because supporters of opposition parties have usually given a thumb down to the Modi regime on various issues not just in this survey, but many others conducted by CVoter over the years.

The only category of Indians who think Modi has failed to project India as a global power in the last one years is Muslims; close to 56 per cent of them are of the opinion he has failed.

Apart from that, a big majority of Indians across demographics and ethnic identities are of the opinion that Modi has been successful in projecting India as a global power.

One of the more interesting findings of the survey is that more rural Indians (61.4 per cent) agree with the contention than their urban counterparts (58.3 per cent).

From his first visit as Prime Minister to the US in August 2014, Modi has maintained an extremely hectic schedule of diplomatic engagements.

--IANS
san/pgh

Ayodhya (UP), May 24 (IANS) The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust has decided to form a team of language experts.

These experts will have the knowledge of not just Indian but foreign languages as well to address queries of devotees coming to the Ram temple from across the country and abroad.

The trust anticipates a huge footfall of pilgrims from different parts of the country and from across the border after the opening of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

According to the temple trust, a large number of tourists come to Ayodhya from across the country, especially Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

"The trust is also carrying out its own study to figure out which foreign tourists from which country are visiting Ayodhya. In accordance with the report, the Trust will rope in foreign language experts," said a member of the Trust.

The Trust is likely to rope in experts in Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Odia and Malayalam languages.

The team formed by the Trust will be different from the one that is being prepared by the Ayodhya administration. The team prepared by the administration will work as a tourist guide.

However, the Trust has already decided to rope in a Korean language expert as a lot of people from here visit Ayodhya.

It may be pointed out that Ayodhya and the Korean peninsula share a historic relationship.

According to the legend, Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya had travelled to Korea via sea route and married King Kim Suro, and became Queen Heo Hwang-ok in 48 AD.

Many Koreans trace their ancestry to the princess.

According to the Trust, at present, around 15,000 to 20,000 devotees are visiting Ayodhya every day. The Trust is expecting this figure to go up to one lakh after the Ram temple is opened for devotees in January 2024.

"Most devotees visiting Ayodhya from outside Uttar Pradesh are from South Indian states. So, experts in South Indian languages are mostly required," said Dr Anil Mishra, a member of the Trust.

--IANS
amita/dpb

Seoul, May 24 (IANS) The number of babies born in South Korea fell to a fresh low in March, exacerbating the dire population crisis of Asia's No. 4 economy, new data showed on Wednesday.

Only 21,138 babies were born in March this year, down 8.1 per cent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marked the lowest number for any March since the statistics agency started compiling monthly data in 1981.

The number of babies born in South Korea has been falling on-year for 88 consecutive months, reports Yonhap News Agency.

A low birthrate has been one of the major crises for South Korea, with younger generations delaying or giving up on having babies due to the high housing prices and economic uncertainties.

The country's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, came to 0.81 in the first quarter of 2023, down 0.06 on-year.

Experts say the rate is expected to further lose ground down the road, considering more babies are normally born in the early part of a year.

The latest rate is much lower than the replacement level of 2.1, which would keep South Korea's population stable at 51.5 million.

Deaths, meanwhile, continued to outpace births, a trend that has been continuing since 2020.

The number of deaths reached 28,922 in March, down 35.2 percent from a year earlier, the data showed, leading to a natural decrease of 7,784.

The decline in deaths came amid the eased impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The data showed that the number of marriages soared 18.8 percent on-year to 18,192, as more couples tied knots amid lifted pandemic regulations.

Divorces rose 4.7 per cent to 8,255 cases over the period.

--IANS
ksk/

Dubai, May 23 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has charged West Indies international all-rounder/keeper Devon Thomas with seven counts under their anti-corruption codes and he has been provisionally suspended with immediate effect for his alleged involvement in attempts to fix matches in Lanka Premier League, Abu Dhabi T20 and Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The ICC has taken this action on behalf of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The ICC, in its capacity as the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, has charged Thomas under the SLC Anti-Corruption Code for Participants (the SLC Code), the ECB Anti-Corruption Code for Participants of the T10 Cricket League (the ECB Code) and the CPL Anti-Corruption Code for Participants (the CPL Code), cricket's world governing body informed in a release on Tuesday.

Devon Thomas has been accused under Article 2.1.1 of the SLC Code of contriving or being party to an agreement to fix or attempt to fix, contrive or influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspects of matches in the Lanka Premier League 2021.

He has also been charged with failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, without unnecessary delay, full details of an approach or invitations received to engage in Corrupt Conduct in the Lanka Premier League 2021.

Under Article 2.4.6 of the SLC Code, Thomas has been charged with failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with the Designated Anti-Corruption Official's investigation by failing to provide accurately and completely any information and/or documentation requested by the Designated Anti-Corruption Official.

Under Article 2.4.7 of the SLC Code, he has been charged with obstructing or delaying the Designated Anti-Corruption Official's investigation into Corrupt Conduct, including (without limitation) concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information that may be relevant to that investigation and/or that may be evidence of or may lead to the discovery of evidence of Corrupt Conduct.

Thomas has been charged, under Article 2.4.4 of the ECB Code, with failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, without unnecessary delay, full details of an approach or invitations received to engage in Corrupt Conduct at the Abu Dhabi T10 2021.

As per Article 2.4.4 of the CPL Code, Thomas has been charged with failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, without unnecessary delay, full details of an approach or invitations received to engage in Corrupt Conduct in CPL 2021.

Under Article 2.4.2 of the CPL Code, he has been accused of failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official (without unnecessary delay) the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or benefit (a) that he knew or should have known was made to procure a breach of the CPL Code, or (b) could have brought the player or the game of cricket into disrepute.

Devon Thomas has 14 days, from May 23, 2023, to respond to the charges.

Devon Thomas has represented West Indies in one Test, 21 ODIs and 12 T20 Internationals.

--IANS

bsk

Greater Noida, May 23 (IANS) Ishita Kishore (26), an alumnus of Delhi University's Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), secured the All-India Rank 1 (AIR 1) in the Civil Services 2022 final, results of which were declared by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday.

"I was confident about qualifying, but topping the merit list came as a surprise," said Ishita, who graduated in economics from SRCC in 2017.

Ishita, a resident of Greater Noida, cleared the prestigious examination on her third attempt.

"This was my third attempt. I worked really hard and it has been a long journey for me. The mains and the interview took a lot of preparation, but I was fully focused all through. The success is the result of my hard work," Ishita told IANS.

Ishita also expressed gratitude towards her family for continuously encouraging her.

"My parents contributed a lot to my success. My mother was my support system," she said.

Taking to twitter, she wrote: "I was confident about qualifying the UPSC exam but topping the merit list came as a surprise. I want to serve the country by joining the Indian Administration Services (IAS). I am so happy today."

Ishita added: "Children should have a positive mindset and confidence while preparing for the UPSC exam."

--IANS
pkt/prw/arm

San Francisco, May 23 (IANS) Entertainment giant Disney has started its third round of layoffs that will affect over 2,500 employees across the board, the media reported.

Although Parks and Resorts remain largely untouched, no particular division is being targeted by pink slips this week, according to Deadline, citing sources.

As part of a cost-cutting measure, the company began removing dozens of titles from its streaming platforms this week.

According to the report, the television division, which was hit hard in the second round of job cuts, is largely spared this time with a small number of layoffs.

Moreover, the report mentioned that the new round of job cuts comes as media companies struggle to deal with the effects of the ongoing writers' strike, which has stopped the development and production of films and television shows.

The first round of layoffs began in March when Disney CEO Bob Iger announced three rounds of layoffs as the company aims to reduce its workforce by around 7,000 workers.

In April, Disney kicked off its second round of layoffs, affecting 4,000 employees.

The entertainment giant revealed in February that it expects to save $5.5 billion as a result of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

--IANS
shs/svn/

Srinagar, May 19 May 19 (IANS) Speaking to Pakistani journalists in Goa where he was attending the Conference of Foreign Ministers of SCO, Pakistan's foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari issued a thinly veiled threat to the host country India.

Responding to a question on the Pakistani stand on the G20 meeting on tourism in Srinagar in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Zardari declared that "when the time is right we shall give a befitting reply which India will never forget."

A couple of weeks earlier, the Pakistan foreign office had officially condemned the Indian decision to hold a G20 meeting in Srinagar. There were also reports that Pakistani diplomacy was going to go into an overdrive to campaign against holding of this meeting in Kashmir.

Earlier, Pakistan had tried to block the G20 meetings in Jammu city in the Union Territory. But that effort fizzled out. Clearly, Pakistan believed that it couldn't allow the same to happen to its campaign against the Srinagar meeting. For an Islamic State like Pakistan, Muslim majority Srinagar is far more critical than Hindu dominated Jammu and it would pull out all stops to deny, disrupt and sabotage this meeting.

That Pakistan is rattled by India hosting a G20 meeting in Kashmir is quite apparent. Pakistan thinks that if this meeting takes place, it will deal a body blow to its claims that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed area. While India will gain international legitimacy on Kashmir, Pakistan will lose its case if the 20 most developed economies meet in Srinagar because it will be tantamount to putting a de facto seal of approval over Indian claims on the 'disputed' region.

Not surprisingly, Pakistan is hoping to convince some of its friends in G20 – China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Indonesia – to boycott the Srinagar meeting in solidarity with Pakistan. But until now, except for China which skipped the meeting in Arunachal Pradesh, and perhaps Turkey, none of the other countries have indicated any reservations about going to Srinagar.

The noise coming out of Pakistan really doesn't make any sense. It isn't as if representatives of foreign countries haven't travelled to Jammu and Kashmir in the past. In fact diplomats from different countries have gone to J&K on their own and as part of delegations facilitated by the Indian government. Incidentally, similar tours have taken place on the Pakistan-occupied parts of the territory.

Foreign tourists, journalists and even investors have been visiting the Kashmir valley. Recently an investors conference was held in which both UAE and Saudi Arabia participated. In fact, the UAE has unveiled ambitious plans for investing in the Union Territory. Investors from other countries have also shown interest in becoming part of the growth story in Jammu and Kashmir. Clearly, Pakistan's protestations are quite meaningless and mendacious.

The bottom-line is that India doesn't need the stamp of G20 to justify her claim on J&K. That claim is well-established and well-accepted, more so after the constitutional reforms of 2019 in the erstwhile state. The G20 meeting is being held in Srinagar not because India wants to cock a snook at Pakistan, but because Kashmir is a part of India.

If similar meetings are being held in each and every state and Union Territory of India, then they will also be held in Jammu and Kashmir. Just because Pakistan has a fictitious claim on the territory, there is no reason for India to kowtow to Pakistan's demands. In any case, there can be no place more appropriate to hold a meeting on tourism than a tourism paradise like Kashmir.

Unfortunately, for nearly three decades, Kashmir has been a tragic victim of Jihadist terrorism sponsored and supported by Pakistan. It lost its place as the jewel in India's tourism map because of the violence that Pakistani agent provocateurs unleashed in the region. Only in the last couple of years has Kashmir once again become a haven for tourists. Record numbers of Indian and foreign tourists have been going to the Union Territory. It is difficult to find a hotel room in the Valley.

Meanwhile, the tourism boom has led to new hotels coming up. Locals have set up top class B&Bs. Local entrepreneurs - hoteliers, tour operators, craftsmen, restauranteurs, cafes, retailers, you name it - have been profiting from the revival of tourism, which itself is a function of the restoration of normalcy in the Valley.

For India, G20 is an excellent opportunity for showcasing the return of normalcy in Kashmir. The fake news, narrative and propaganda on Kashmir being peddled by countries like Pakistan under the tutelage and guidance of Turkey is best busted by allowing, even encouraging, foreign tourists to travel to the proverbial 'Heaven on Earth'. No amount of advertising or publicity campaigns to convince people to travel to Kashmir are as effective as accounts of travellers who have witnessed first-hand the change that has come in the Union Territory.

Except for citizens and reports of hostile countries like Pakistan, China and Turkey, there should be absolutely no restrictions on foreign media from going to and reporting from Kashmir. There will always be some reports who will look for negative stories and file what can be called 'drain inspector's reports'.

These reporters will look for stories that reinforce their prejudice, bias and agenda against India. But there will be many more reporters who will go with an open mind and report what is an objective reality of the situation in Kashmir. They will see the positive energy in Jammu and Kashmir, the development that is taking place, the mainstreaming that is being encouraged and promoted.

The G20 is only the start of this process. Conferencing in Kashmir is now becoming a thing and will only grow. Pakistan will of course do its damnedest best to undermine and sabotage the progress that is visible in the Valley. The only images coming out of Kashmir that Pakistan wants to see is of death, destruction and desolation. That is the reason why Pakistani media often airs footage from years ago to plug the fake narrative of a Kashmir that is burning. But fakery has a shelf-life and Pakistan's efforts to stall the return of normalcy in Kashmir is way past its sell-by date.

--IANS
/kvd

New Delhi/Chennai, May 19 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said that it will withdraw the Rs 2,000 denomination banknote from circulation but it will continue as legal tender.

In a statement, the RBI said: "The 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 primarily to meet the currency requirements of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of legal tender status of all 500 and 1,000 banknotes in circulation at that time."

It also said that all banks shall provide deposit and/or exchange facility for 2,000 banknotes until September 30, 2023.

The RBI said it will withdraw all the Rs 2,000 banknotes as a part of its clean note policy.

According to the RBI, people may deposit Rs 2,000 banknotes into their bank accounts and/or exchange them into banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch.

"Deposit into bank accounts can be made in the usual manner, that is, without restrictions and subject to extant instructions and other applicable statutory provisions," RBI said.

The central bank said in order to ensure operational convenience and to avoid disruption of regular activities of bank branches, exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes into notes of other denominations can be made up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time at any bank starting from May 23, 2023.

To complete the exercise in a time-bound manner and to provide adequate time to the members of the public, all banks shall provide deposit and/or exchange facility for Rs 2,000 banknotes until September 30, 2023.

The facility for exchange of Rs 2,000 banknotes up to the limit of Rs 20,000 at a time shall also be provided at the 19 Regional Offices (ROs) of RBI having Issue Departments, from May 23.

"As witnessed during demonetisation, we expect the deposit accretion of banks could improve marginally in the near term. This will ease the pressure on deposit rate hikes and could also result in moderation in short-term interest rates," Karthik Srinivasan, Senior Vice President Financial Sector Ratings, ICRA said.

According to the RBI, the Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 primarily to meet the currency requirements of the economy after the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currencies in circulation.

The objective of introducing Rs 2,000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. And printing of Rs 2,000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-19.

The RBI said 89 per cent of the Rs 2,000 denomination notes have reached their life cycle end as they were issued prior to March 2017.

The total value of these banknotes in circulation has declined from Rs 6.73 lakh crore at its peak as on March 31, 2018 (37.3 per cent of notes in circulation) to Rs 3.62 lakh crore constituting only 10.8 per cent of notes in circulation on March 31.

It has also been observed that this denomination is not commonly used for transactions. Further, the stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirements of the public, the RBI said.

--IANS
vj/pgh

San Francisco, May 19 (IANS) About 47 per cent of adults in the US said they used the AI chatbot ChatGPT for stock recommendations, and 69 per cent said they would consider using it in the future, a new study has shown.

According to the financial and investing advice company The Motley Fool, about 45 per cent said that they would be comfortable with only using the AI model for stock picking.

After the launch of ChatGPT, it took five days to reach one million users and just two months to reach 100 million users.

According to web analytics company SimilarWeb, roughly 1.6 billion users visited ChatGPT in March alone.

"This scale of this percentage is surprising, and yet it confirms something many of us are witnessing," said Asit Sharma, The Motley Fool senior analyst and lead investor.

"The nature of search, and what we require from it, is changing in real-time, and millions of Americans are eager to try out this new world hands-on," he added.

Moreover, the study said that millennials and Gen Z are leaders in using ChatGPT for investing advice.

About 53 per cent of millennials and 50 per cent of Gen Z have used ChatGPT to find stock picks.

Only 25 per cent of baby boomers said they've used ChatGPT to help find stocks to buy, as older Americans, have not been so quick to turn to ChatGPT for investing advice.

About 46 per cent of Gex X have used ChatGPT for investment recommendations, leaning closer to younger Americans.

"A lifetime of investing in the US markets has taught (baby boomers) to take new advances in investing with appropriate caution, and that it's ok to let the kinks get worked out, before jumping in," said Sharma.

Further, the study said that 77 per cent of high-income Americans used ChatGPT for investment recommendations, compared to 43 per cent of middle-income Americans and only 23 per cent of low-income Americans.

Around 55 per cent of American adult males have used ChatGPT for investing recommendations compared to 42 per cent of women.

The study also found American adult males more confident in ChatGPT's investment advice.

When asked to rate their confidence in ChatGPT's accuracy and the trustworthiness of information on stock picks, men gave a score of 3.3, while women gave a score of 2.9.

The score among all respondents was 3.1.

--IANS
shs/prw