Govt to convert NIC number for unique TIN
Govt to convert NIC number for unique TINNewsState Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has stated that measures are underway to convert a person’s National Identity Card (NIC) number to their Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) using the personnel information data base of the of the Department of Registration of Persons. Sri Lanka’s national identity infrastructure is also well developed, and the government is in the process of digitising the National Identity Card (NIC). Ownership of NICs is high in Sri Lanka, reported at 95 per cent for men and 90 per cent for women. Earlier, the government announced that the final deadline to voluntarily register for TIN is February 1. This procedure of converting NIC to TIN was discussed at a high level meeting held at the Presidential Sectretariat on Tuesday with the participation of Presidential Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Senior Economic Advisor to the President Dr. R.H.S.
Source:Sunday Times
January 24, 2024 19:49 UTC
Sri Lankas proposed Online Safety Bill threatens upcoming elections Human Rights Watch
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) states that Sri Lanka’s proposed Online Safety Bill will create broad and vague new speech-related offences punishable by lengthy prison terms, while critically threatening the right to freedom of expression. “A repressive new internet law that Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is trying to rush through parliament this week would create broad and vague new speech-related offences punishable by lengthy prison terms. The law would seriously threaten the right to freedom of expression as Sri Lanka prepares for parliamentary and presidential elections later this year”, it said in a statement. The proposed law, the Online Safety Bill, purportedly provides protections against online harassment, abuse, and fraud, the statement mentioned, highlighting that instead, it is mostly concerned with creating a new “Online Safety Commission,” appointed by the president, that can decide what online speech is “false” or “harmful,” remove content, restrict and prohibit internet access, and prosecute individuals and organizations. “Sri Lanka is still reeling from an economic crisis partly caused by misgovernment and failures of accountability.
Source:The Nation
January 24, 2024 17:30 UTC
NATO's Largest Military Exercise In Decades With 90,000 Troops Starts
NATO on Wednesday began its biggest military exercise since the Cold War with a US warship leaving the United States for transit across the Atlantic to alliance territory in Europe. The Western military alliance has said some 90,000 troops will take part in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise designed to test its defences in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. The exercise is designed to simulate the 31-nation alliance's response to an attack from a rival like Russia. It will be composed of a series of smaller individual drills and will span from North America to NATO's eastern flank, close to the Russian border. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Source:The Nation
January 24, 2024 17:05 UTC
Christopher Nolan on 'Oppenheimer' Oscar success: 'Sometimes you catch a wave'
NEW YORK – Christopher Nolan was still sleeping when his film, “Oppenheimer," landed a leading 13 Academy Awards nominations Tuesday. “Oppenheimer,” Nolan's sprawling American saga of J. Walter Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb, has more or less been the Oscar frontrunner since it made its acclaimed debut in late July. It came one nomination shy of tying the record for best Oscar nominations ever. “It's flabbergasting," said Thomas who spoke with her husband in an interview a few hours after nominations were announced. And so I think that’s something that really touched audiences.
Source:The Nation
January 24, 2024 04:30 UTC
Gravity helps show strong force strength in the proton
Source: phys.orgThe power of gravity is writ large across our visible universe. It can be seen in the lock step of moons as they circle planets; in wandering comets pulled off-course by massive stars; and in the swirl of gigantic galaxies. These awesome displays showcase gravity's influence at the largest scales of matter. Now, nuclear physicists are discovering that gravity also has much to offer at matter's smallest scales.
Source:The Nation
January 23, 2024 22:40 UTC
MTD to take stern action against vehicle owners without proper registration
MTD to take stern action against vehicle owners without proper registrationNewsThe Motor Traffic Department (MTD) is to take stern action against motorists who have not transferred their vehicles in their own names as a ruse to avoid paying tax and also to show minimum number of ownership of a vehicle. MTD Commissioner General, Nishantha Anuruddha Weerasingha said the owners should register their vehicles within 14 days after buying a vehicle under their names failing which they had to pay a fine of Rs100 for every day they keep the vehicle without transferring it under their names. When a traffic offence was committed, the police had difficulty tracing the offender, because the papers had not been transferred to the present owner’s name. It has been revealed that a large number of motorcycle and three-wheeler owners along with motorists have not been transferred it to their names for several years and the fines accumulated into lakhs of rupees. “Investigations into the number plates show that, the papers have changed hands two or sometimes three times, without being transferred to the present owner’s name,” he said.
Source:Sunday Times
January 23, 2024 19:08 UTC
Interest rates unchanged after CB’s Monetary Board meeting
Interest rates unchanged after CB’s Monetary Board meetingNewsThe Central Bank of Sri Lanka has left policy interest rates at their current levels after a meeting on Monday by the Monetary Policy Board. Further, the Board noted the space created by past monetary policy easing measures and the decline in the risk premia attached to government securities for further downward adjustment in market lending interest rates. The Board underscored that the envisaged benefit of further reduction in market lending interest rates needs to be adequately and swiftly passed on to the businesses and individuals by financial institutions. Further decline in market lending interest rates is expected in the period aheadMarket interest rates continued to adjust downwards in line with eased monetary policy and administrative measures taken to reduce overall market lending interest rates. The Monetary Policy Board is of the view that there is further space for market interest rates, especially the lending interest rates and yields on government securities to decline in the period ahead, in line with the reduction in policy interest rates effected in the recent past.
Source:Sunday Times
January 23, 2024 19:08 UTC
New research analyzes state violence in India's coal war
Source: phys.orgPolice, who were deployed to block villagers from protesting a power plant on coastal wetlands in India 14 years ago, shot at protesters, killing three and injuring hundreds. Two years later on the other side of the country, a Buddhist monk was killed in resistance to construction of a hydroelectric dam project.
Source:The Nation
January 23, 2024 10:04 UTC
Resurrecting Dead Loved Ones with AI Is Already a Thing
Fact follows fiction, with a new documentary exploring the sci-fi scenario where loved ones are recreated using artificial intelligence to converse with from beyond the grave. When Angel asked the AI avatar where he was, the chatbot responded, “In hell.”Turning to technology to fill a void left by a partner, parent, or close friend is hardly new. The use of AI “thanabots” has prompted some mental health experts to warn that having a digital avatar of a deceased loved one gets in the way of the grieving process. As Dock explained, interacting with an AI avatar of a deceased person—particularly for a person who is still in the initial stages of denial or shock—may become emotionally dependent on their interactions with an AI avatar of their loved one. “A final consideration that is worth acknowledging is that the use of AI avatars to replicate the likeness of a deceased loved one can potentially be very upsetting for some individuals,” Dock said.
Source:The Nation
January 23, 2024 04:06 UTC
Manipulated hafnia paves the way for next-generation memory devices
Source: phys.orgScientists and engineers have been pushing for the past decade to leverage an elusive ferroelectric material called hafnium oxide, or hafnia, to usher in the next generation of computing memory. A team of researchers including the University of Rochester's Sobhit Singh published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences outlining progress toward making bulk ferroelectric and antiferroelectric hafnia available for use in a variety of applications.
Source:The Nation
January 22, 2024 20:04 UTC
Apparent murder-suicide investigated in Lakeland
police lights (FILE)(Copyright 2023 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.) LAKELAND, Fla. – Police in Lakeland say a 61-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman are dead after what appears to be a murder-suicide Saturday. When they arrived they found the man and woman dead from gunshot wounds. Police say that based on their initial investigation, it appears the man shot the woman and then himself. Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily:Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.
Source:The Nation
January 21, 2024 20:01 UTC
Sajith slams Online Safety Bill and pledges to repeal undemocratic laws
The SJB was confident that except for those who had switched their allegiance to the government earlier there wouldn’t be any fresh crossovers, MP Kiriella said. A. H. M. Fowzie, who succeeded Mujibur Rahuman as Colombo District MP early last year when the latter resigned to contest local government polls has also joined the government. MP Kiriella pointed out that the NPP parliamentary group consisted of only three members, including one National List lawmaker. Prof. G. L. Peiris, Dilan Perea and Dr. Nalaka Godahewa of the dissident SLPP group recently followed Chandima Weerakkody to the SJB. The electorate wouldn’t tolerate the UNP with just one National List MP in Parliament tying up with the SLPP, MP Kiriella said.
Source:The Nation
January 21, 2024 12:13 UTC
Voters facing a confusing political landscape as country heads for elections
Voters facing a confusing political landscape as country heads for elections View(s):Most Sri Lankans believe that 2024 will be election year although it is not very clear whether the presidential election will be held first or the parliamentary elections. The first is calling to account those who have governed the country and giving the voters’ verdict on their performance. This will relate to the record of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his SLPP cabinet when in office. However there are others like parliamentarian Gevindu Kumaratunga who believe that President Ranil Wickremesinghe is obliged to implement the policies of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Kumaratunga in a recent media interview has accused President Ranil Wickremesinghe of blatantly abusing ousted predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s mandate.
Source:Sunday Times
January 21, 2024 11:08 UTC
Some South Carolina voters ready to support DeSantis, despite acknowledging Trump's lead in state
The night after eking out that second-place finish, DeSantis flew straight to South Carolina, as Haley and others shifted their efforts to New Hampshire, where Republicans vote Feb. 24. DeSantis has been stumping in New Hampshire but has reportedly reallocated the majority of his staff to South Carolina, Haley’s home state. Both Trump and DeSantis have omitted a significant part of the gas tax proposal Haley floated as governor, in 2015. South Carolina lawmakers ultimately raised the gas tax under her successor, overriding a veto by Gov. Awaiting DeSantis, Julie Maid said that she was ready to support DeSantis in South Carolina, despite Trump's lead.
Source:The Nation
January 21, 2024 07:59 UTC
ONHCR insist revision of Anti-terrorism Bill
ONHCR insist revision of Anti-terrorism BillNewsThe UN human rights office has urged Sri Lankan authorities to revise the Anti-Terrorism Bill to align with the island’s international human rights obligations. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed concerns about the proposed Bill to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act in Sri Lanka, issuing a statement on Friday (19). The UN human rights office further criticizes the Anti-Terrorism Bill for broad definitions of terrorism, limited judicial guarantees, and limitations on the Human Rights Commission’s visit to detention sites. The OHCHR cautions that if passed, the Bill would grant excessive executive powers to restrict rights, with no safeguard against abuse. The authorities have been requested by the OHHCR to engage with civil society and stakeholders to revise the Bill in line with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations.
Source:Sunday Times
January 20, 2024 19:37 UTC