"Honoured": Chennai-Born Sriram Krishnan, Donald Trump's Pick For AI Advisor

US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Sriram Krishnan as senior policy advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Sharing a post on the Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, "Sriram Krishnan will serve as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy."

"Working closely with David Sacks, Sriram will focus on ensuring continued American leadership in AI, and help shape and coordinate A.l. policy across Government, including working with the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Sriram started his career at Microsoft as a founding member of Windows Azure," he said.

?? I'm honored to be able to serve our country and ensure continued American leadership in AI working closely with @DavidSacks.

Thank you @realDonaldTrump for this opportunity. pic.twitter.com/kw1n0IKK2a

— Sriram Krishnan (@sriramk) December 22, 2024

Mr Krishnan, 41, acknowledged the offer and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity, saying, "I'm honoured to be able to serve our country and ensure continued American leadership in AI working closely with @DavidSacks . Thank you @realDonaldTrump for this opportunity."

Sanjeev Joshipura, Executive Director of Indiaspora, congratulated Mr Krishnan on his appointment and highlighted his exceptional qualities, calling him as an "insightful thinker."

"We heartily congratulate Sriram Krishnan and are delighted that he has been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. For several years, Sriram has been an insightful thinker and influential commentator in the artificial intelligence realm. His previous work blending public policy, international affairs, investing and technology will stand him in good stead as he serves the nation in this important role," he said.

"As Indiaspora continues our convening and thought leadership work on AI in the United States and abroad, we look forward to engaging closely with Sriram," he added.

As per his website, Mr Krishnan till recently was a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a personal investor in over two dozen companies including SpaceX, Figma and Scale.ai. He previously lead organizations at Meta, Twitter/X and Microsoft.

He has a Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology from SRM Engineering College, Anna University.

Mr Krishnan and his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy host the podcast "The Aarthi and Sriram Show."

On Sunday, Trump nominated Mark Burnett as the country 's special envoy to United Kingdom.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump noted that Burnett brings to the table "a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition" to the important role.

He also noted that Burnett would work in enhancing the diplomatic ties between the US and the UK with a focus on areas of mutual interest such as trade, investment and cultural exchanges.

Earlier, Trump nominated Herschel Walker, a renowned American athlete and businessman, as the United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Walker has been a former Heisman Trophy winner, a National Football League (NFL) great, as well as co-chair of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.

In early December, Trump nominated former Georgia Senator David Perdue as his pick for the US Ambassador to China, Al Jazeera reported.

"As a Fortune 500 CEO, who had a 40-year International business career, and served in the US Senate, David brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China. He has lived in Singapore and Hong Kong, and worked in Asia and China for much of his career," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social."

He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain peace in the region and a productive working relationship with China's leaders," Trump said, as per Al Jazeera.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Pakistan Jails 25 Imran Khan Supporters Over Violent Protests

Pakistan military courts have convicted and sentenced 25 people for involvement in pro-Imran Khan unrest last year, the armed forces said Saturday, with the majority handed decade-long prison terms.

Ex-prime minister Khan was arrested in May last year after being ousted from office and mounting an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the nation's powerful military leaders.

His detention over graft allegations sparked nationwide unrest, some targeting armed forces installations, and prompting rare prosecutions of civilians in military courts.

Amnesty International called the move "an intimidation tactic, designed to crack down on dissent" and said it was "contrary to international law".

Military courts are largely opaque, but after months of confidentiality the military public relations wing named 25 people who have been prosecuted.

All of the convicted are men and 14 have been sentenced to a decade of "rigorous imprisonment", the military said with the remaining 11 set to serve lesser prison terms.

"All sentences announced by the military courts are disproportionate and excessive," said a spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. "These sentences are rejected."

The verdicts were announced just three weeks after the capital Islamabad was gripped by fresh unrest, as tens of thousands of Khan supporters flooded in to demand his release.

The government said at least five security personnel were killed whilst PTI allege at least 10 of their own were shot dead by security forces before crowds retreated. 

'Political terrorism'

A military statement did not make clear what crime each person had been convicted of or when, listing only the location of their offence. The shortest sentence meted out was two years.

During the May 2023 unrest Pakistan "witnessed tragic incidents of politically provoked violence and arson at multiple places," the military statement said.

"These blatant acts of violence not only shocked the nation but also underscored necessity of checking this unacceptable attempt of political terrorism."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said "no civilian should be tried in a military court under any circumstances".

"This contravenes the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan as well as the international human rights obligations to which Pakistan is a state party," the organisation said in a statement on social media platform X.

Former cricket star Khan served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, when he was ousted by parliament in a no-confidence vote.

He blamed the then-head of the powerful military establishment for his downfall. Pakistan's generals are considered the country's political kingmakers and have directly ruled the nation for decades at a time.

Khan's May 2023 detention lasted a matter of days but he was re-arrested three months later and has remained imprisoned since, facing a parade of court cases he claims are politically motivated.

Meanwhile, PTI was targeted by a sweeping crackdown following the unrest, with thousands of grassroots supporters and senior officials arrested.

The 72-year-old was barred from running in February elections, which were marred by rigging allegations.

PTI defied the crackdown to win more seats than any other party, but a coalition of parties considered more pliable to military influence formed a government and shut them out of power.

A United Nations panel of experts found in September that Khan's detention "had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office".

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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China Woman Hires Actors To Pose As Family, Extorts Money From Blind Date

A married woman in China has been detained by police for hiring actors to impersonate herself and her parents on a blind date.

The man, named Xin, a resident of central China's Hubei province, met the woman who identified herself as Xiaoyu. She reached out to him in August 2022 after seeing his contact details in a wedding planning advertisement, South China Morning Post reported.

A month after their initial online meeting, Xiaoyu professed her love to Xin.

As the two of them started planning their marriage last year, the woman informed Xin that he will have to pay a 'bride price' of 188,000 yuan (US$26,000) to her family, according to the local customs.

In January 2023, Xin visited her home and brought along gifts worth 10,000 yuan to meet her parents. However, she claimed that she would not be able to meet him as she was ill.

Thereafter, she continued to take money from him claiming that she required it for her mother's surgery as well as gifts for her sister, while consistently denying Xin's request to meet in person, citing that it was “inconvenient”.

In order to deceive the culprit, she continued to share her photographs and spoke to him over the phone which helped her assuage his growing suspicions. 

According to Xin, he transferred more than 220,000 yuan to the woman throughout last year.

Xiaoyu finally agreed to meet Xin in April and stated that she would come with her parents and sister to his city. However, during the meeting, the man noticed that the woman looked completely different from her photographs. To this, she alleged that the images were “beautified”.

A month after that, Xin's family met with the woman's family to discuss wedding arrangements. During this time, Xin again transferred additional funds and even brought new clothes worth 40,000 yuan for them.

However, Xin was left surprised when he accidentally went on to discover chat messages on Xiaoyu's phone. In the messages, she had complained about him “constantly asking to meet,” while promising to “act according to the script”.

On being confronted, Xiaoyu claimed that it was somebody else who was using her account. A day later, Xiaoyu's sister, Xiaomiao, met Xin in person and told him that her sister was “depressed,” while requesting him to break up with her.

Xin felt there was something fishy and decided to uncover the truth. Hen then travelled to Xiaoyu's city and called her up. However, Xiaomiao answered the phone on her behalf. This is when Xin realised that Xiaomiao was the actual “fiancée” he had been allegedly dating for the past two years.

According to police, the unemployed married woman, surnamed Zhou, even had a child and had hired actors to portray her family and herself in order to extract money from Xin. She wanted the money to financially support her child. In total, Xin sent her 480,000 yuan (US$65,000) before the accused was detained by police in November.

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Putin Calls For "More Interesting" Alternatives To Porn. Here's Why

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concerns about the widespread global popularity of pornographic content, calling for the development of more engaging alternatives to capture people's attention.

During his annual ‘Direct Line' event in Moscow on December 19, which lasted for over four hours, Mr Putin acknowledged the wide prevalence of pornographic content and proposed the development of more “interesting” alternatives to capture people's attention. 

According to a report in RT (formerly Russia Today), Vladimir Putin said that adult content was not just an issue in Russia, but a global phenomenon, saying, “This is not only our problem, but also the problem of many other countries.”

He emphasised that while banning such content might be an option, it is more important to provide alternatives that can offer a more compelling and interesting experience. “The answer can be what? In general, you could ban, but you should always offer an alternative that is more interesting than a porn site. So that a person would get in there, open a porn site and say: ‘I've already seen this, I want to see something else'.”

Mr Putin's remarks come at a time when concerns over internet content and its effects on societal norms have reached global proportions. While many countries struggle with regulating adult material, Putin's focus is on fostering a cultural shift that offers more captivating and positive alternatives to online pornography.

According to a Statista report, visits to adult content websites globally are in billions. As of May 2024, Pornhub recorded around 5.49 billion visits per month, while Xvideos followed with 4.02 billion monthly visits. The Statista report also stated that adult content remained one of the leading categories for internet traffic.

A few months ago, in September 2024, Vladimir Putin made headlines with an unconventional proposal to address Russia's declining birth rate. He reportedly encouraged Russians to engage in intimate relations during lunch and coffee breaks at work. At the time, Russia's fertility rate stood at around 1.5 children per woman, significantly below the 2.1 rate needed to sustain a stable population.

Additionally, Russia's Health Minister, Dr Yevgeny Shestopalov, chimed in, asserting that being too busy at work should not be used as an excuse for avoiding procreation. He suggested that people could utilise their breaks to focus on expanding their families.

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Scientists Reveal Simple Yet Effective Method To Cut Alcohol Intake

A recent study suggests that combining the warning about alcohol-related cancer risks with tracking each drink consumed is an effective way to reduce alcohol intake. The study found that emphasising the cancer connection while encouraging drink-counting significantly helps curb excessive drinking. Among other health problems, an excessive intake of alcohol tends to cause premature death and heart disease, digestive difficulties, and a higher risk of dementia. This dual approach offers a practical and effective strategy for promoting better health and reducing the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Lead author of the study, Professor Simone Pettigrew from The George Institute for Global Health, said that harmful alcohol use in Australia is a major health issue-it is associated with increased risk of injury, chronic diseases including alcohol-related cancers, and premature death. And it's not just heavy drinkers- even moderate drinkers are at increased risk of several types of cancer.

"There are limited resources available for alcohol harm-reduction campaigns, so it's important to find out which messages resonate best to ensure they have the best chance of working," she said.

"Many people don't know that alcohol is a carcinogen-it's important information that drinkers should have access to. But telling people alcohol causes cancer is just part of the solution-we also need to give them ways to take action to reduce their risk."

The study involved three surveys, which were completed by 7,995 participants, 4,588 of whom completed the second three weeks later, and 2,687 of whom completed the last survey three weeks later.

"We found that pairing information about alcohol and cancer with a particular practical action-counting their drinks-resulted in drinkers reducing the amount of alcohol they consumed," said Professor Simone Pettigrew.

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Opinion: The Election That Defied Explanations

India on the Move by Marya Shakil and Narendra Nath Mishra; Pages 174; Price Rs 699 

First, a disclosure. One of the authors of the book India on the Move is a friend I have known and admired for years. I urge you to keep that in mind while reading this review.

The book is an honest attempt to make sense of the multi-layered 2024 Lok Sabha verdict. It does so in a way few others have attempted to decipher elections thus far: Through WhatsApp group chats, by examining the issues that unified and polarized the country, through long and arduous train journeys, and through conversations with some of the most prominent figures in Indian politics, among other methods.

In that sense, the book is a collection of impressions drawn from real events as they unfolded. As master chroniclers of our time, the authors must be commended for not imposing their biases and prejudices on their written words. That is no mean achievement considering the polarised world we are living in.

A few lines from the book are worth highlighting here. “While JNU catalysed a resurgence of nationalist discourse in India, it concurrently sowed seeds of discord among the youth, whose disillusionment would manifest in subsequent political landscapes,” the authors observe, referring to a series of events at India's premier Jawaharlal University, which eventually contributed to the emergence of contrasting narratives.

Let's consider another passage: “While the virus tested the robustness and contingencies of the country's healthcare systems, the fear of the virus also amplified existing prejudices at a time when the nation needed to fight a common enemy,” the authors argue, reflecting on the Covid pandemic, which tested our bodies and nerves like few other events in recent decades.

There are chapters, and then there are unique phrases. Here are some chapter titles from the book: When a Deadly Virus Meets Viral Nationalism, Nationalism Goes Global, Of Ideology and Semantics, New Parliament and New Names, Political Tricolour and Soft Hindutva, and Popular Culture: The New Battleground. My favourite remains the one dealing with multiple discourses during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors are spot-on when they observe that “the new plan of benevolent statesmanship linked with nationalism has now become an inevitable part of politics".

My own take is that while the 2024 verdict leaned more toward benevolent statesmanship, the element of macho nationalism was somewhat missing. It seemed like a collection of several state elections. While West Bengal voted one way, neighbouring Bihar went the opposite. The verdict in Uttar Pradesh was full of surprises, and the people of Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan chose to punish some and reward others.

One theme that stood out was that people did not appreciate any political party taking them for granted. “Logon ne aukat dikha di” (people showed a mirror to all), as a friend said the day the Lok Sabha election results were announced.

The book delves into the multiplicity of the 2024 Lok Sabha verdict. Instead of a single meta-narrative, there were several at play—some cancelling each other out, and some reinforcing one another.

My editor-in-chief beautifully captured the pattern here: “It is a multi-layered verdict—the beauty of the India we know and have grown up in. The 2024 mandate is like a rainbow whose colours politicians will have to work hard to decipher. And decipher they must, with humility and passion, not dismissively. This verdict signals a triumph of individualism.”

(The author is Consulting Editor, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

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Bacan: A Secret Island Near Venice With Unique Ecosystem

Located off the shores of Venice, Bacan, a small strip of land is 820 feet wide and 33 feet long. Once a temporary feature that only emerged from the lagoon during the summer months, Bacan has now become a year-round refuge for Venetians, thanks to the city's flood barriers.

The Mose flood barrier, which has been protecting Venice from rising sea surges since 2020, has played a key role in keeping Bacan afloat. "The barrier accelerates the flow of water into the lagoon when it's open, bringing more sand and helping to sustain Bacan," explained Giovanni Cecconi, an engineer who worked on the project, to The Times. "By raising the barrier in winter, it also protects the island from surges that used to erode it."

Before the 6 billion pounds Mose flood barrier was built, Venice's St. Mark's Square was regularly flooded in winter. The barrier accelerates the flow of water into the lagoon, bringing in more sand that helps sustain the island. In winter, the barrier is raised to prevent storm surges, keeping Bacan safe from erosion.

Bacan was last submerged during the winter of 2020. Today, it is a peaceful escape from the crowded streets of Venice, where locals can bask in the sun and forage for shellfish in the thickets of new vegetation that have emerged on the island. Mr Cecconi said that the island's transformation into a new ecosystem shows the lagoon's potential to evolve positively with human intervention.

Mr Cecconi, an engineer involved with the Mose project, shared that Bacan has become a year-round sanctuary. "I have friends who visited [the island] yesterday and collected 5kg of razor clams," he said. The island is now home to samphire, flowers, rushes, and tamarisk thickets, creating a new ecosystem. Mr Cecconi believes the flood barrier is responsible for the island's transformation.

Some experts warn the flood barriers could disrupt the natural balance of the lagoon. By blocking storm surges, the barriers prevent the inflow of silt, a critical element for the salt marshes that stretch across the lagoon. These marshes play a crucial role in fighting climate change, absorbing carbon at a rate 30 times greater than forests.

Bacan's new vegetation is helping protect it from erosion, and locals are happy to have a peaceful escape from the tourist crowds. But they hope it remains a secret from developers and mass tourism. "What we need to avoid are ice cream kiosks and luxury hotels," Mr Cecconi warned.

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