Latest news with #PSI
Time of India
an hour ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Home minister Parameshwara pledges to make Karnataka drug free
Koppal: Home minister G Parameshwara stated that the state govt is committed to establish Karnataka as a drug-free state. During a press conference on Sunday, he emphasised that actions will be taken to prevent drugs from entering the Anegondi area of the district. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "If necessary, a police station will be set up there to protect the interests of the local residents and to curb the availability of drugs for tourists," he confirmed. Addressing Basavaraj Rayareddy's statement about Gangavathi taluk being a ganja centre, he said, "We will address his concerns and suggestions. Measures will be implemented to combat drug issues." Regarding BR Patil's allegations about corruption in the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation, the minister said, "If there was any wrongdoing in the housing project, BR Patil should contact the minister of the relevant department or at least file a complaint with our department, and the govt will take suitable action. Responding to minister HK Patil's correspondence about mining irregularities, Dr Parameshwar said, "Patil mentioned in his letter that the govt lost Rs. 1.5 lakh crore due to mining irregularities. However, he did not accuse the govt. He only pointed out that cases of mining irregularities are being delayed. Nevertheless, the govt will take action on this matter." "The police have been given autonomy to function. No officer faces pressure in their duties. We have served the people of the state for two years. We remain dedicated to fulfilling our commitments. Substantial funds have been allocated to guarantee schemes. All development initiatives remain active," Parameshwara explained. Regarding home ministry recruitment, he noted, "After the PSI scam, recruitment had paused. The numerous vacant PSI positions across the state have now been filled. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A Hyderabad-based organisation has recognised Karnataka's police system as exemplary. Our department's officers are performing excellently." In response to a question regarding the change in the KPCC president, Parameshwara said, "I don't know." Chief minister's economic advisor Basavaraj Rayareddy, MP K Raghavendra Hitnal, District Congress general secretary Krishna Ittangi, and others were present.
Barnama
a day ago
- Politics
- Barnama
Top News Headlines In Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore & Vietnam: June 22, 2025
BOMB THREAT IN THREE DAYS FORCES SAUDIA PLANE TO LAND IN N. SUMATRA -- JAKARTA GLOBE Joko Widodo (Jokowi), the seventh president of Indonesia, has decided not to run for the chairmanship of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), according to his youngest son and incumbent chairperson, Kaesang Pangarep. Kaesang said that he and his father communicated intensively on the subject over the past week. A Saudia Airlines aircraft carrying 376 Indonesian hajj pilgrims and 13 crew from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Surabaya in East Java, was forced to make an emergency landing at Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, on Saturday morning following a suspected bomb threat. MYANMAR 1. COMMERCIAL-SCALE SOLAR ENERGY PRODUCTION -- THE GLOBAL NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR The government is exploring commercial-scale solar energy generation to support factories. It is contemplating to provide special incentives for companies to generate solar power and urge local producers to manufacture high-quality solar panels using local raw materials. 2. AGRI, LIVESTOCK ZONING TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY -- THE GLOBAL NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Authorities will focus on implementing agriculture and livestock zones in Yangon to ensure food safety for the city. These zones aim to supply livestock, fish, eggs and vegetables for the more than seven million population of the region daily. SINGAPORE 1.'FORDOW IS GONE': TRUMP SAYS US FORCES BOMBED IRAN NUCLEAR SITES -- THE STRAITS TIMES/REUTERS US President Donald Trump on June 21 said that a 'very successful attack' on three nuclear sites in Iran had been successfully carried out, including at Fordow. HAS STRUCK 3 IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES, TRUMP SAYS, JOINING ISRAELI AIR CAMPAIGN -- CNA/AP President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Jun 21) that the US military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel's effort to decapitate the country's nuclear programme in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran's threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict. VIETNAM ANTI-DUMPING PROBE AGAINST PLYWOOD EXPORTERS -- VIETNAMPLUS Nearly 100 Vietnamese plywood exporters to the United States (US) will be probed for anti-dumping. The US Department of Commerce has initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into hardwood and decorative plywood products imported from Vietnam. OPERATORS TOLD TO EMBRACE DIGITALISATION -- VIETNAM NEWS Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ho Chi Minh City have been urged to embrace digital and AI transformations to remain competitive and achieve sustainable growth. The city's digital economy is expected to contribute 25 per cent to its local economy by 2030. -- BERNAMA BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies. Follow us on social media : Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio Twitter : @ @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial TikTok : @bernamaofficial
Forbes
2 days ago
- Science
- Forbes
AI-Engineered Cement Formulations Promise To Cut CO₂ Emissions In Half
AI is making its impact felt in the physical world Cement doesn't usually come up in conversations about cutting-edge AI. But that might be changing. A research team at Switzerland's Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) has created a new AI framework that can generate low-CO₂ cement formulations in seconds. Their goal isn't just to optimize for sustainability. It's to rethink how construction materials are developed in the first place. Engineering Smarter Cement With AI and Chemistry In a new study released this week, researchers at PSI didn't just plug in generic AI tools. They built a custom system tailored for cement. Rather than adapting a generic AI model, the PSI team built a specialized system from the ground up. It starts with their own simulation software, which models how various cement ingredients react during the hardening process. That information is then used to train a neural network that predicts how strong different mixtures will be, based solely on their composition. This compresses what would usually take weeks or months of lab work into just milliseconds. 'This allows us to simulate and optimise cement formulations so that they emit significantly less CO₂ while maintaining the same high level of mechanical performance,' Romana Boiger, lead author of the study, explains. The team also applied genetic algorithms, computational tools that mimic natural selection, to find mixes that best balance strength and emissions. The top-performing blends are then flagged for real-world testing. What sets this apart is the integration of genetic algorithms, commonly used in AI optimization. These are applied to find a range of 'best-fit' options where trade-offs between performance and sustainability are balanced. From there, top candidates can be selected for experimental validation. Cement Is an Unlikely But Ideal Test Bed for AI You might not expect it, but cement is one of the world's biggest climate problems. It's responsible for about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, largely due to the chemical process used to produce clinker, a key ingredient. Despite decades of improvements, the underlying chemistry hasn't changed much. That's why PSI's method stands out. Instead of altering the process or adding carbon capture systems, the team re-engineers the formula itself. The result? Cement that's just as strong, but far less carbon-intensive. Implications for the Today's Cement Built Environment So far, the data is promising. Some of the most effective mixes identified by PSI's AI match today's performance standards but emit up to 50% less CO₂. That kind of efficiency could have a huge impact, especially as global cement demand continues to rise. Nikolaos Prasianakis, head of PSI's Transport Mechanisms Research Group and co-author of the study, puts it this way: 'The range of possibilities for the material composition – which ultimately determines the final properties – is extraordinarily vast. Our method allows us to significantly accelerate the development cycle by selecting promising candidates for further experimental investigation.' These gains could scale quickly. With global per capita cement use averaging about 1.5 kilograms a day, even modest efficiency gains would lead to major emissions cuts. John Provis, who leads PSI's Cement Systems Research Group, highlights just how big the opportunity is. 'To put it bluntly, humanity today consumes more cement than food – around one and a half kilograms per person per day,' he explains. 'If we could improve the emissions profile by just a few percent, this would correspond to a carbon dioxide reduction equivalent to thousands or even tens of thousands of cars.' The Bigger AI Movement in Materials Science PSI isn't alone in applying AI to cement. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, researchers partnered with Meta and concrete supplier Ozinga to develop AI-optimized concrete that cut carbon by 40%. MIT has trained models to scan research papers and databases to identify novel, low-emission materials. But PSI's approach stands out for one reason: it doesn't rely on past data alone. Instead, it combines deep chemical simulations with machine learning, creating a model that can adapt to regional raw materials and different production scenarios—without having to test every possibility by hand. Challenges and Commercialization Of course, a promising model isn't enough. These cement mixes still need to prove themselves under real-world conditions, such as curing, durability, supply chain fit, and compliance with global standards like EN 197-1. 'This is just the beginning,' he says. 'The time savings offered by such a general workflow are enormous – making it a very promising approach for all sorts of material and system designs.' The team is already looking to expand the model to account for real-world constraints, such as regional resource availability, cost, and lifecycle performance. These are key steps if the AI is to become more than a research tool. The Bigger Picture for AI's Practical Use What makes this effort compelling is that it delivers something tangible, not just predictions or insights, but real physical materials. A better cement mix might not sound as exciting as generative images or chatbots, but the implications are massive. This might be the broader signal for AI's next phase. It's no longer confined to virtual outputs. Increasingly, it's shaping the materials that make up the real world. And in this case, it's rewriting the recipe for the very foundation we build on.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Haveri DGP office staff allegedly involved in PSI recruitment scam
Haveri: The 2021 state police sub-inspector recruitment scandal, allegedly involving politicians, govt officials, and certain educational institutions saw a new twist on Monday with a complaint filed in Haveri against a first division assistant (FDA) working at the office of the director general of police (DGP) and an associate of the FDA. The accused reportedly approached candidates, seeking bribes before the recruitment notification for 545 PSI posts was issued. The accused have been identified as Sudeer Kumar T C, who allegedly received Rs 25 lakh from a PSI candidate in Haveri, and his associate Sunilkumar from Badami, Bagalkot district. Police have registered an FIR based on a complaint by Dundibasappa Langoti, a Haveri city resident. According to Langoti, Sudeer and Sunilkumar had claimed they were connected to senior police officers and politicians, promising to secure a PSI post for Dundibasappa's brother Siddesh. They demanded Rs 25 lakh, of which, Rs 10 lakh was transferred to Sunilkumar's bank account. "After that, the accused were paid Rs 15 lakh in cash. This happened between March 15, 2020, and March 5, 2025, but my brother never got selected," Dundibasappa said in his complaint. The complainant further said when his brother demanded a refund, a cheque was issued to him by the two accused, which bounced due to insufficient funds. "Both Sunilkumar and Sudeer have cheated us," Dundibasappa claimed. "We have registered an FIR against the accused on May 30, and investigation is still on. We will file a chargesheet once the probe is completed," said police officer S R Ganachari from CEN police station, Haveri. The scandal involved 545 PSI positions, for which, numerous candidates clocked high scores at a particular examination centre in Kalaburgi, allegedly aided by Bluetooth devices connected to external sources. Subsequently, the govt cancelled and re-conducted the exam. Currently, all 545 selected candidates have assumed their duties. Haveri: The 2021 state police sub-inspector recruitment scandal, allegedly involving politicians, govt officials, and certain educational institutions saw a new twist on Monday with a complaint filed in Haveri against a first division assistant (FDA) working at the office of the director general of police (DGP) and an associate of the FDA. The accused reportedly approached candidates, seeking bribes before the recruitment notification for 545 PSI posts was issued. The accused have been identified as Sudeer Kumar T C, who allegedly received Rs 25 lakh from a PSI candidate in Haveri, and his associate Sunilkumar from Badami, Bagalkot district. Police have registered an FIR based on a complaint by Dundibasappa Langoti, a Haveri city resident. According to Langoti, Sudeer and Sunilkumar had claimed they were connected to senior police officers and politicians, promising to secure a PSI post for Dundibasappa's brother Siddesh. They demanded Rs 25 lakh, of which, Rs 10 lakh was transferred to Sunilkumar's bank account. "After that, the accused were paid Rs 15 lakh in cash. This happened between March 15, 2020, and March 5, 2025, but my brother never got selected," Dundibasappa said in his complaint. The complainant further said when his brother demanded a refund, a cheque was issued to him by the two accused, which bounced due to insufficient funds. "Both Sunilkumar and Sudeer have cheated us," Dundibasappa claimed. "We have registered an FIR against the accused on May 30, and investigation is still on. We will file a chargesheet once the probe is completed," said police officer S R Ganachari from CEN police station, Haveri. The scandal involved 545 PSI positions, for which, numerous candidates clocked high scores at a particular examination centre in Kalaburgi, allegedly aided by Bluetooth devices connected to external sources. Subsequently, the govt cancelled and re-conducted the exam. Currently, all 545 selected candidates have assumed their duties.
The Hindu
15-06-2025
- The Hindu
Police fire on rape accused who attacked officers in Karnataka's Dandeli
Police officers fired on a rape accused after he attacked police officers in Dandeli in Uttara Kannada district, in Karnataka, on Saturday (June 14, 2025.) Kiran Patil, police sub-inspector (investigation), shot at Firoz Yasin Yaragatti (23) when he attacked police officers with stones and a knife. Firoz is a rowdy-sheeter who had escaped after raping and robbing a Dalit woman in a forest near Dandeli on June 12, 2025. Investigators got a tip off that the accused was living on the fringes of the Kalagi forest near Dandeli. When they surrounded him, the accused attacked Mr. Patil and a constable. Mr. Patil fired two warning shots in the air and asked the accused to surrender. When he did not surrender, the PSI fired at his legs and arrested him. The accused has been admitted to the district hospital. SP M. Narayan visited the injured police officers and spoke to the accused in the hospital. The SP, additional SPs G. Krishnamurthy and M. Jagadish and Deputy SP Shivananda Madarakhandi and circle inspector have congratulated the PSIs Mr. Patil and Aminsaab Attar, and staff Krishnappa Bellivari, Imran Kambarganavi and others.
