Latest news with #TIM
NDTV
3 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Manipur's Thadou Tribe Body Asks Panel To Recognise 3rd Category Of Displaced People
Imphal/New Delhi: A top body of the Thadou tribe in Manipur has requested the Justice Gita Mittal (retired) Committee, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to recognise a third category of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state where Meitei-Kuki ethnic clashes broke out in May 2023. Currently, the state government recognises two categories of IDPs - those living in relief camps and registered with deputy commissioners (DCs), and those living outside relief camps but within Manipur and registered with DCs. In separate memorandums, the Thadou Inpi Manipur (TIM) said displaced families of the Thadou tribe who are living outside Manipur and outside government relief camps, and who remain unregistered and unreached by any form of state or central assistance since the outbreak of violence over two years ago should be recognised as a third category of IDPs. The Thadou Inpi Manipur has highlighted the community as a distinct tribe with their own ethnic identity, having its own language, culture, traditions, and history, and not a part of the umbrella term 'Kuki'. "Thadou is not Kuki, or underneath Kuki, or part of Kuki, but a separate, independent entity from Kuki... Thadou is one of the original 29 native/indigenous tribes of Manipur, India, that were all simultaneously and duly recognised as independent Scheduled Tribes of Manipur under the 1956 Presidential Order, Government of India," the Thadou Convention held in Assam's Guwahati in November 2024 had declared. In the memorandum submitted to the Justice Mittal Committee on relief, rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced persons in Manipur, the Thadou Inpi Manipur said many members of the Thadou tribe who can be categorised as IDPs include those who fled amid life-threatening violence, suffering total loss of movable and immovable property, with only a few retaining plots of land. They can also include those currently living in cities such as Delhi, Guwahati, Shillong, Bengaluru, and others, facing immense hardship, psychological trauma, and lack of stability; those who have not been officially recognised or registered as IDPs by any government authority, and those who have not received any form of relief, compensation or rehabilitation assistance from either the state or central government to date, the Thadou Inpi Manipur said in a statement. "TIM [Thadou Inpi Manipur] has called for the immediate issuance of displacement certificates, a formal verification exercise, and inclusion in all relief and rehabilitation frameworks, while also urging authorities to acknowledge the resilience of these families who have survived two years without support," TIM joint general secretary Manggou Thadou said in the statement. "These Thadou families were displaced not out of privilege, but out of fear and necessity. Their survival should be recognised, not punished. It is time the government formally acknowledges them as Internally Displaced Persons under a distinct and just category," Manggou Thadou said. The memorandums were signed by TIM general secretary Michael Lamjathang Haokip, who says his house in Manipur's Churachandpur was attacked twice by an armed mob for asserting Thadou as a distinct tribe. The Thadou Inpi Manipur has also been demanding the government to remove 'Any Kuki Tribes' from the list of Scheduled Tribes in Manipur. Apart from the Justice Mittal Committee, the Thadou body also submitted the memorandums to the Union home minister, the Manipur governor, and the chief secretary. The Supreme Court in March extended the tenure of the committee till July 31. A preliminary list of displaced families of the Thadou tribe was enclosed with the memorandums.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Positive talks between Gilardino and Pisa
Pisa and Alberto Gilardino held positive talks on Monday, and although a final decision has yet to be made, the former striker has good chances of being appointed as the new Nerazzurri coach. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter exclusively tell me that Gilardino has a good chance of being appointed as the new Pisa coach. Gilardino the leading candidate for Pisa job GENOA, ITALY – MAY 24: Alberto Gilardino, head coach of Genoa, reacts during the Serie A TIM match between Genoa CFC and Bologna FC at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on May 24, 2024 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by) The 2006 Italy World Cup winner held talks with club directors on Monday. Advertisement Gilardino is also on Parma's list to replace Cristian Chivu, but hasn't been contacted yet. Pisa are also considering foreign options such as Mark van Bommel and Mario Frick, but Gilardino is in a very good position and the newly promoted Serie A side will make a final decision in the next few hours. Pisa target reinforcements for 2025-26 Serie A campaign TURIN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 22: Antonio Sanabria of Torino battles for possession with Malick Thiaw of AC Milan during the Serie A match between Torino and AC Milan at Stadio Olimpico di Torino on February 22, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by) Filippo Inzaghi earned a Serie A promotion with Pisa in 2024-25 but is set to leave the club to join Palermo. Pisa are also following Torino striker Antonio Sanabria to strengthen the attack and Napoli-owned winger Alessio Zerbin for the wings.
New Straits Times
08-06-2025
- Health
- New Straits Times
Man who let snakes bite him 200 times spurs new antivenom hope
TIM Friede was feeling particularly down on the day after the September 11 attacks, so he went to his basement and let two of the world's deadliest snakes bite him. Four days later, he woke up from a coma. "I know what it feels like to die from snakebite," Friede told AFP via video call from his home in the small US town of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. This experience might put most people off snakes entirely, but Friede simply vowed to be more careful next time. From 2000 to 2018, he allowed himself to be bitten by snakes more than 200 times. He also injected himself with their venom over 650 times. Friede endured this pain because he wanted to achieve total immunity to venom, a practice called mithridatism which should not be tried at home. After a couple of years, Friede started to believe he could be the basis for a better kind of antivenom. The former truck mechanic, who does not have a university degree, long struggled to be taken seriously by scientists. But last month, a study published in the prestigious Cell journal showed that antibodies from his blood protect against a range of snake venom. The researchers now hope Friede's hyper-immunity could even lead to the development of a universal antivenom. This would fill a major need, because currently most antivenoms only cover one or a few of the world's 600 venomous snakes. Up to 138,000 people are killed by snakebites a year, while 400,000 suffer amputations or other disabilities, according to the World Health Organization. These figures are believed to be vastly underestimated because snakebite victims typically live in poorer, remote areas. Friede's first bite was from a harmless garter snake when he was five years old. "I was afraid, I cried, I ran away," said Friede, now 57. Then he started bringing snakes home and hiding them in pickle jars. His mother sought counselling, but his interest in snakes persisted. Things escalated after Friede attended a class that taught him how to "milk" snakes for their venom. How antivenom is made has changed little over the last 125 years. Small doses of snake venom are injected into animals such as horses, which produce antibodies that can be extracted and used as antivenom. However this antivenom usually only works for bites from that particular species of snake – and it includes other antibodies from horse that can cause serious side-effects including anaphylactic shock. "I thought, well, if they make antivenom in horses, why can't I just use myself as a primate?" Friede said. He started working through the venom from all the deadly species he could get his hands on, such as cobras, taipans, black mambas and rattlesnakes. "There is pain every time," he said. For years, the scientists he contacted to take advantage of his immunity refused to bite. Then in 2017, immunologist Jacob Glanville, who previously worked on universal vaccines, turned his attention towards antivenom. Glanville told AFP he had been looking for "a clumsy snake researcher who'd been bit accidentally a couple times," when he came across a video of Friede taking brutal back-to-back snake bites. When they first spoke, Glanville said he told Friede: "I know this is awkward, but I would love to get my hands on some of your blood." "I've been waiting for this call for a long time," came the response, Glanville said. The antivenom described in the Cell paper includes two antibodies from Friede's blood, as well as a drug called varespladib. It offered mice full protection against 13 of the 19 snake species tested, and partial protection for the remaining six. The researchers hope a future cocktail will cover far more snakes – particularly vipers – with further trials planned on dogs in Australia. Timothy Jackson of the Australian Venom Research Unit praised the immunological research, but questioned whether a human needed to be involved, pointing to synthetically developed antibodies. * The writer is from AFP Glanville said the ultimate goal of his US-based firm Centivax was to develop a universal antivenom administered by something like an EpiPen, potentially produced in India to keep the costs down. Friede said he was "proud" to have made a "small difference" in medical history. Now working for Centivax, Friede stopped self-inflicting himself with venom in 2018 to save the firm from liability issues. But he hopes to get bitten by snakes again in the future. "I do miss it," he said.
Scotsman
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
I don't have any time for AI stealing our actors' voices
Telephonist Pat Simmons making recordings for TIM, the GPO.'s telephone Speaking Clock service in 1963. (Photo by Ronald Dumont/Daily Express/) I discovered something surprising the other day. BT's speaking clock still exits. The voice sounds the same as it always did and the script has hardly altered since my childhood, the only change being the insertion of a sponsor's name. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Dial 123 and you will hear the familiar tones informing you that 'at the third stroke the time, brought to you by O2, will be 5.27 and thirty seconds.' I was phoning for research purposes, but it it did make me wonder who uses it. In this day and age, when few people make calls on their landline, and most of us have a phone with a clock on the front, do we need this service? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In case you're wondering, when I ended the call to 123, I checked the time on my handset and it was 5.27. I'm not sure if it was a real person. It's sometimes difficult to tell. It definitely was a human voice at one time, but whether it has been sampled is unclear. The same is true of the voiceover announcements on the newer Lothian Buses vehicles. On the old buses, you can tell it's a woman reading off a script, but the new ones sound mechanical. There has been a lot of fuss this week about ScotRail's 'Iona', an AI-generated avatar whose voice has been from sampled the actual speech of Scottish actor Gayanne Potter, used without her permission. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It was taken from a job she did in 2021 for the Swedish company ReadSpeaker. Understandably she feels 'violated' and asks 'Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I'm right here?' If you go on to the BBC News website, you can compare the two. When you listen to Gayanne herself and Iona making the same announcements, you can tell it is definitely the same voice. However, while Gayanne has a warm human tone with varied colours, Iona sounds stilted and robotic. I find AI-generated announcements sinister. They have a similar disembodied feel to the messages that hostages are forced to read, reassuring their friends and family that they are alive and well. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It's definitely their voice, but devoid of emotion as they are speaking the kidnappers' words from a script. A former girlfriend of mine is an actor. Her first professional job when she left drama school was reading the Reading-to-London bus timetable, which was available as a 24-hour phone service. Her grandparents in Sunderland were so proud of her that they used to regularly phone up the timetable to hear Carol's voice. She later went on to have a successful career on stage and TV, yet that voiceover job was the first rung on the ladder for her. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Some actors specialise in voiceover work and for them it is their major source of income. The increasing use of AI is a huge threat to them. In the case of Gayanne Potter, it amounts to theft. ReadSpeaker should have asked for her permission and paid a fee before using her voice. However, human voices are not always the best option. I once did a voiceover job for an advert featuring Kerry Katona. It took her six takes to get her own name right. If we'd used AI, we'd have got home a lot quicker.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Allegri meeting AC Milan chiefs right now to sign contract
Massimiliano Allegri is reportedly meeting with Milan directors this afternoon to sign the contract as their new coach. Multiple sources including Sky Sport Italia, and more all have the same details. Advertisement They state that Allegri is in a hotel in Milan to meet personally with director of sport Igli Tare and CEO Giorgio Furlani. REGGIO NELL'EMILIA, ITALY – APRIL 14: Giorgio Furlani CEO of AC Milan looks on prior to the Serie A TIM match between US Sassuolo and AC Milan at Mapei Stadium – Citta' del Tricolore on April 14, 2024 in Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy. (Photo by) The presence of all three suggests the final details have already been worked out on the terms and this could be the moment that contract is signed. It is going to be a three-year contract worth circa €5m per season plus €2m in performance-related bonuses. Allegri returns for second Milan stint REGGIO NELL'EMILIA, ITALY – AUGUST 23: FC Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri gestures during the TIM Preseason Tournament between US Sassuolo, FC Juventus and AC Milan at Mapei Stadium – Citta' del Tricolore on August 23, 2014 in Reggio nell'Emilia, Italy. (Photo by) This represents a return to San Siro for Allegri, who was already on the Milan bench from 2010 to January 2014, although a great deal has changed at the club since then. Allegri had been lined up to replace Antonio Conte at Napoli, but the latter's decision to reconsider his exit after winning the Scudetto prompted a change of plan, allowing Milan to dive in with their own proposal. In his first experience with the Rossoneri, Allegri oversaw 91 victories, 49 draws and 38 defeats, winning one Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana.
