Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has entered into a partnership with Astra Tech, Dubai-based consumer technology, to allow customers to book flights using artificial intelligence through chat app Botim, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
The partnership between the two companies was signed at an Arabian Travel Market (ATM) by Antonwaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways, and Abdullah Abu Sheikh, founder of Astra Tech on Wednesday.
Through the Botim GPT module developed by Astra Tech, flights and other travel-related services are integrated into the Botim application, providing a convenient and innovative way for customers to book Etihad Airways flights.
Under the deal between Etihad Airways and Astra Tech, customers of the airline will be able to book flights just by typing in basic details of the service they need, using technology and then completing the booking itself.
About Botim
Botim, known for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) across the MENA region, has now transformed from a communication application into the world’s first ultra application.
Botim offers many services, including fintech, government services, pharmacies, retail and more, for its users to make their lives more digital, seamless and convenient. Founded in 2017, Botim operates in 155 countries and offers free video and voice calls, money transfers within the UAE powered by PayBy, phone top-ups and bill payments locally and internationally, group chats and group calls, games, health features and a Quran book reading.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday termed the criticism of Uddhav Thackeray in Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar’s autobiography as “wrong information” and downplayed the issue by claiming books are read for two days and then put into libraries.
He also said Thackeray would soon respond to what has been written about him in the book.
In his revised autobiography Lok Majhe Sangati’, which focuses on events post-2015 and was released on Tuesday, Pawar wrote it was difficult to fathom why Thackeray as chief minister chose to visit Mantralaya, the state secretariat in south Mumbai, only twice during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is wrong information. He (Thackeray) was regularly going to office. His visits (to Mantralaya) reduced during coronavirus pandemic because there was a central government directive to work from home,” Raut said, adding that the prime minister, Union ministers and other chief ministers too were not going to office during the pandemic.
In his book, Pawar also blamed Thackeray for failing to to quell the discontent within his own party and for resigning as Maharashtra chief minister without putting up a fight.
A rebellion by Eknath Shinde in June last year brought down the Maha Vikas Aghadi government under Thackeray. Shinde went on to become CM with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Pawar wrote that a CM needs “political acumen” and must remain well-informed about political goings-on, and “we all felt that these things were lacking”.
Speaking on the issue, Raut said, “I have not read the book. I will read it. People read a book for two days and then it goes into the library. Let it go. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief (Uddhav Thackeray) is giving an interview on this very soon. He will respond to the what is written about him.”
The final version of House Bill 2789 passed the state Senate 39 to 19 after it was approved in March by the House on a 66 to 39 vote.
The impetus for the legislation came from newly elected Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose office oversees library systems and their funding. Giannoulias, a Democrat, said he couldn’t fathom that book banning is happening in 2023.
“It is so blatant, and so dangerous. I was blown away,” he told POLITICO.
Efforts to curb reading materials are “about restricting the freedom of ideas that certain individuals disagree with and that certain individuals think others should have access to,” he said.
Giannoulias says this legislation is the only one of its kind.
Illinois doles out some $62 million to libraries around the state each year, according to Giannoulias’ office.
“All these efforts to curb reading materials have absolutely nothing to do with books. They are about restricting the freedom of ideas that certain individuals disagree with and that certain individuals think others should have access to,” Giannoulias told POLITICO.
Republican lawmakers who oppose the legislation have argued that their goal is to make sure books distributed in public schools and libraries are age appropriate.
Republican state Sen. Jason Plummer on Wednesday called the legislation an example of Democrats “pushing an ideology on Illinois citizens, regardless of where they live or what they believe.”
He said it was “offensive to take away public funds from people whose taxes paid for these grants.”
Other Republicans raised questions about the bill possibly allowing libraries that don’t allow drag shows to reserve library meeting rooms to be penalized, which sponsors say are decisions that should be decided by librarians, not community members who oppose such groups.
Giannoulias disagrees with the idea that locals would lose control, saying local librarians “have the educational and professional experience to determine what’s in circulation. Let them decide.”
The bill says that in order for public libraries, including in public schools and universities, to remain eligible for grant funding, they must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights or adopt their own written statement prohibiting the banning of books.
A library that doesn’t certify either of the statements, or takes the next step of banning a book, will not be eligible for grant funding from the secretary of state, according to the secretary’s office.
Giannoulias proposed the idea of banning book bans during his campaign last year and then approached Democratic state Rep. Anne Stava-Murray about following through with legislation. She had a special interest because a group of parents at a high school in her district demanded a book about a nonbinary person coming out — “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” by Maia Kobabe — be banned from the school district’s shelves. The parents called the book pornographic.
Members of the Proud Boys attended a school board meeting on the issue. After much debate, the book stayed, but the concerns lingered for Stava-Murray.
“The kids luckily stood up for the book. That community rallied around the kids,” Stava-Murray told POLITICO.
Stava-Murray said she researched the issue and saw other communities across the country facing similar challenges, so she set out to create the legislation.
The American Library Association has said it’s seen a record 1,200 challenges to books over the past year, nearly double from the previous year.
Most of the titles challenged in 2022 “were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community or by and about Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color,” according to the association. In Illinois, the organization said there were 43 attempts that year to limit access to books.
President Joe Biden has blamed “MAGA extremists” for attempts to ban books and made ending book bans a central part of his reelection campaign.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Florida’s proposed parental rights expansions, FL HB1069 (23R), are part of the push by state conservatives to uproot what they say is “indoctrination” in schools and is one of several bills taken up this session focusing on the LGBTQ community and transness in particular. It’s an issue DeSantis frequently raises ahead of his expected presidential bid, where he regularly decries teachers who discuss gender identity with young students.
It’s also led to high profile fights pitting Florida Republicans and DeSantis against LGBTQ supports such as the Biden administration and Walt Disney Co., who said such legislation with further marginalize LGBTQ students and will lead to increased bullying and even suicide.
The bill will broaden the state’s prohibition on teaching about sexual identity and gender orientation from kindergarten through third grade to pre-K through eighth grade, though in April the Florida Board of Education already expanded the restrictions to all public schools through high school.
It also targets how school staff and students can use pronouns on K-12 campuses. Specifically, the legislation stipulates that school employees can’t ask students for their preferred pronouns and restricts school staff from sharing their pronouns with students if they “do not correspond” with their sex. Under the bill, it would be “false to ascribe” a person with a pronoun that “does not correspond to such person’s sex.”
“The ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ law has already caused sweeping damage across our state,” said Jon Harris Maurer, director of public policy at Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group. “It was wrong when it was adopted, and expanding it is wrong now. State Democrats have joined LGBTQ advocates in opposing the bill throughout the two-month session, contending that the policies equate to sex discrimination and are disrespectful to LGBTQ students and families.
Democrats suggested that even though the bill isn’t explicitly titled “Don’t Say Gay,” its policies extend beyond the language in the legislation and target the LGBTQ community, pointing to instances such as a Republican House member labeling transgender people as demons, imps and mutants.
Democrats argued that the legislation being taken up by Republicans is pushing people away from Florida, such as former Miami Heat basketball star Dwyane Wade, who said he left the state because he has a 15-year-old transgender daughter.
“Let’s be honest about at least what this bill is about,” state Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) said on the floor Tuesday. “It is about trying to silence any discussion about anything different from heterosexuality.”
But Republican legislators, who hold supermajorities in both chambers, maintain that expanding the parental rights law is necessary to ensure the state’s youngest students learn about adult topics like sexual orientation and gender identity from their parents instead of teachers.
Similar to last year, when the parental rights bill was introduced, conservatives have fought against the narrative surrounding the bill, condemning opponents who call the measure “Don’t Say Gay” and for politicizing an issue they say is “common sense.”
State Sen. Doug Broxson (R-Gulf Breeze), the Senate’s budget chief, addressed this Wednesday when speaking about why state Republicans don’t always debate controversial bills.
“They’re sitting there with a mandate from their district that says ‘Senator, would you make sure you reinforce common sense?’ Just do what makes sense,” Broxson said on the floor. “You don’t have to debate about it, you don’t have to get up and shout, scream. Just push a button that you believe in common sense.”
Additionally, the bill aims to expand Florida law to require that books facing objections for being pornographic, harmful to minors, or describe or depict sexual activity must be pulled within five days and remain out of circulation for the duration of the challenge.
This comes as DeSantis, along with other Florida conservatives, seek to remove books with graphic content from schools, taking aim at specific titles such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe, which depicts sex acts.
Democrats criticize this provision as a “ban first, review later” mentality and censorship in education. But Republicans contend the measure is focused on protecting children from explicit content.
“We need to keep the discussion about what would be termed as book banning in context, because we’re talking about pornography or sexually inappropriate materials,” state Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), who sponsored the bill, said during a Tuesday’s floor session. “We have in no way directed these schools or directed the districts to remove every single book off their school shelves. But parents need an opportunity to raise a concern If they have one, and that should be reviewed.”
The Florida House passed HB 1069 by a 77-35 vote in March. DeSantis is widely expected to sign the bill into law.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court asked the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Directorate of Intelligence on Monday to consider whether a book written by a retired air force officer can be published after certain “classified” content is removed from it.
Hearing the retired airman’s plea for permission to publish the book, Justice Prathiba M Singh directed that a meeting between the petitioner and the officials concerned be held within a month and sought a report on it.
The respondent authorities said the clearance for the book’s publication cannot be given as its content is not conducive to the interests of the IAF.
It was said that in accordance with the IAF’s regulations, classified material cannot be discussed and the book contains certain information that has not been “declassified”.
The court was told that the objectionable content included information about certain “counter-intelligence operations”.
The petitioner said he was willing to amend or delete the objectionable portion.
“Let the petitioner be heard by officials of the Indian Air Force and the Directorate of Intelligence in order to explore the possibility of whether the book can be published after the content is amended or deleted,” the court ordered.
The petitioner, a former group captain, told the court that he decided to write the book on his experiences and according to a reply to a query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, there are no guidelines in place in respect of a retired air force official writing fictional books.
The court also asked the authorities to file their response.
The matter would again be heard by the court on October 20.
London: Rishi Sunak will read from the biblical book of Colossians at the Coronation of King Charles III in keeping with the recent tradition of British Prime Ministers giving readings at State occasions, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury revealed as part of the official Liturgy for the religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey here on May 6.
Sunak, Britain’s first Prime Minister of Indian heritage and a practicing Hindu, reading from a biblical book will resonate with the multi-faith theme being struck for the Christian ceremony.
Lambeth Palace, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury Reverend Justin Welby, said that members of other faith traditions will play an active role in the service for the first time.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury has selected a new Epistle for this Coronation, which will be Colossians 1:9-17. This passage has been chosen to reflect the theme of service to others, and the loving rule of Christ over all people and all things, which runs through this Coronation Liturgy,” Lambeth Palace said.
“Following recent tradition of British Prime Ministers giving readings at State occasions as Head of the host Nation’s government this will be read by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,” it said.
By longstanding tradition, the Archbishop of Canterbury authorises a new Liturgy or the form according to which a public religious worship takes place for every Coronation. The three oaths by the King at the heart of the service remain unchanged, including the promise to maintain “the Protestant Reformed Religion”.
The overall theme of the Liturgy is “Called to Serve”, which is intended to reflect the commitment that the King will make to serve God and the people of the United Kingdom.
“I am delighted that the service will recognise and celebrate tradition, speaking to the great history of our nation, our customs, and those who came before us. At the same time, the service contains new elements that reflect the diversity of our contemporary society,” said Welby.
His office said the service has been designed to reflect the changes in the UK since Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953, the character of Britain as it is today, and the Church of England’s role in contemporary society. As one of the newer elements, the 74-year-old monarch will pray aloud in the Abbey using words specially written for the occasion that reflect the “duty and privilege of the Sovereign to serve all communities”.
Lambeth Palace confirmed that the Presentation of the Regalia will be made by Members of the House of Lords and for the first time, some of the items which have no Christian meaning or symbolism will be presented by peers who belong to different faith traditions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.
Buckingham Palace had previously confirmed that Lord Narendra Babubhai Patel, 84, will represent the Hindu faith and hand over the Sovereign’s Ring to Charles. While Lord Indrajit Singh, 90, will represent the Sikh faith and present the Coronation Glove, Lord Syed Kamall, 56, of Indo-Guyanese heritage, will represent the Muslim faith and present the Armills or a pair of bracelets.
“At the end of the procession at the close of the service, before His Majesty proceeds to the Gold State Coach, the King will receive and acknowledge a spoken greeting delivered in unison by Representatives from Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist communities,” Lambeth Palace said.
The thousands congregated at the Abbey and millions expected to be watching on screens as the ceremony is telecast live will be invited to say the words: “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law so help me God”.
The five elements of the historic “English Coronation Rite” will take place in their traditional order: The Recognition; The Oath; The Anointing; The Investiture and Crowning; and The Enthronement and Homage.
These elements will take place within the traditional structure of a service of Holy Communion, including prayers and Bible readings, and King Charles and Queen Camilla will receive Holy Communion during the service.
Chris Booth spent much of Tuesday morning supervising the installation of a crown 4.2 metres wide on the stone columns at the front of Nottingham’s Council House.
The crown had been brought out of a council depot (where it is stored alongside a vast goose that appears annually for the Nottingham goose fair), repainted and had had its plastic pearls retrofitted with LED bulbs so they can be lit up at night.
For a while, the team of six men using scaffolding and a cherrypicker lift struggled to reattach the cross and orb to the top of the crown, but by 2pm it was in place and firmly secured with six ratchet straps. “It’s a very nervous time. A lot of stuff can go wrong,” said Booth, an operations manager with John E Wright & Co, a signage company.
In the Old Market Square in front of the building, a few people took out their phones to take pictures but most people walked by, indifferent to the council’s coronation preparations.
Polling suggests the Midlands is the area of Britain where people are least moved by the coronation. When asked in a recent YouGov survey “how much do you care about the forthcoming coronation of King Charles”, 41% of people in the Midlands said they cared “not very much”. In Scotland, 45% of those polled said they cared “not at all”, but attitudes in the Midlands revealed widespread ambivalence.
The city’s muted excitement levels are reflected in the number of applications for street closures so that coronation parties can be held. Nottingham city council has received applications for 10 street parties, about half the number of requests made before the queen’s jubilee last year.
Balloon seller Billy Davy in Nottingham city centre. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
Billy Davy, who has been selling novelty balloons all over the country on and off for 30 years, sold about 200 during last year’s jubilee celebrations but does not expect to shift so many next week. “I’m not sure this one will be as good – I don’t think it’s as big an event,” he said.
Eddie Hall, busking with his guitar in the square as the crown was installed, said he had little interest in the coronation. “I might have a little glimpse of it but I’m not mad on them,” he said. “I don’t think people should have privilege from their birth – it’s what you do, not your birth, that should matter. I wouldn’t protest about it, but I don’t agree with it, it’s outdated.”
Busker Eddie Hall: ‘I don’t think people should have privilege from their birth.’ Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
Over the decades, the royal family have visited Nottingham dozens of times. The queen came here on at least 10 occasions. Princess Anne reopened the Theatre Royal after a refurbishment in 1978. On a rainy day in 1985, Charles visited with Diana, waved from the Council House balcony – just below where the fibreglass crown is now hanging – and had a seafood buffet lunch inside. He received a fire officer helmet from the Nottinghamshire fire brigade before returning to London in a plane he flew himself.
In 2009, Charles was in Nottingham again to unveil a plaque at the headquarters of Boots the chemist “to commemorate his visit during our 160th anniversary year”. These trips do not seem to have left an indelible impression, and most people struggle to say what precisely the royal family has done that has had a positive impact on the city.
Joanne Roe, who works for HMRC in customer insights, was walking through the flattened site of the former Broadmarsh shopping centre, a gloomy area of the city where many department stores have closed and a number of homeless people had gathered, some with sleeping bags slung over their shoulders. Black-and-white images of Nottingham from the queen’s 1953 coronation tour show a more vibrant, less desolate city centre. Roe was not sure that the coronation celebrations would act as much of a boost to the local economy. “Will the coronation bring money into the country? If it does, that money won’t come to Nottingham,” she said.
Joanne Roe: ‘I might have it on in the background.’ Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
She was uncertain about when the coronation was due to take place. “Is it on Saturday? If I’m at home, I might have it on in the background. I’m slightly monarchist, but not massively. I don’t have any negative feelings towards them. They are not a meaningful part of my life,” she said.
The only royal visit that seems to have stuck in people’s minds was the trip made by Prince Harry and Meghan in 2017, their first official appearance after announcing their engagement. Sam Harrison, a visitor services supervisor at Nottingham Contemporary gallery, was working that morning. “People in the streets outside were electrified, craning their necks. It’s not surprising – they were superstars on a global level,” he said.
He was unsure whether the coronation would provoke similar levels of excitement. “My mum really wants to watch it. If I’m off work, I’ll ask her to come over and watch it with me. I am a republican, in principle, but I wouldn’t say the monarchy is a burning issue for me.”
Sam Harrison: ‘I wouldn’t say the monarchy is a burning issue for me.’ Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
Gauging opinions on the monarchy, as pollsters know, requires the question to be carefully worded. When asked if she supported the monarchy, Samiha Zahin, 20, a microbiology student at Leicester University, said yes. “I think it’s cool to have princes and princesses, but I wish William was going to be king, he’s younger,” she said.
Asked if the cost of the coronation was excessive and if the royal family represented value for money, she, like most people questioned, became more negative in her responses. “£100m? They should just spend £1,000 and have a nice small family gathering, and say: OK, now you are king,” she said.
Samiha Zahin, centre right, in front of the Council House. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
The council has organised a temporary reopening of Nottingham Castle over the coronation weekend and is selling 1,500 tickets at £1 each so that people can watch the event on a big screen. William Catherall, 78, a retired engineer, said he had no desire to attend.
“I watched the last coronation, I was about five, at a friend’s house. About 20 people, mainly ladies, were all jammed into this front room in front of a tiny television,” he said. “I won’t be watching this time. I was brought up to respect the royal family, but I have lost that respect – all the scandals, particularly Andrew. I’ll be reading a book in the garden, I won’t be glued to the television.”
At a politics class at Bilborough sixth-form college, on the western fringes of the city, student attitudes to the monarchy initially echoed this ambivalence. Of the 20 students there at the start of the class, no one wanted to describe themselves as a monarchist but only two identified themselves as firm republicans. Ten raised their hands to the suggestion that they felt neutral (the remaining seven did not want to commit even to indifference).
Student Axl Nicholls: ‘We’re paying a lot of money for a coronation.’ Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
But as the conversation progressed (and a few more firmly anti-monarchy pupils turned up late), more students expressed firm opposition to the crown, in line with polling showing that support for the monarchy is lowest among 18- to 24-year-olds.
Axl Nicholls was troubled by the royal family’s ties to a history of colonising other countries, thinly hidden beneath the veneer of the Commonwealth. “I also think with the state of the economy, the fact that people are using food banks and workers are feeling they have to go on strike, we’re paying a lot of money for a coronation. In the last year we’ve had a jubilee celebration, a funeral and now a coronation. There’s a lot of bad media around the family, particularly Prince Andrew. I just feel like it’s not necessary – what’s the point of it?”
Oliver Brown: ‘He’s quite old to be becoming king now.’ Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian
Another student, Oliver Brown, said: “I hate to say it, but the elephant in the room is that he’s quite old to be becoming king now. I can’t say he represents me; I struggle with his age.”
Three-quarters of the A-level students said they would not be watching the coronation, and not all of the four people who said they were going to coronation parties were motivated by patriotism. One student said she would be helping at a Salvation Army street party, which was “more of a celebration of community than the monarchy”.
Rachel Vernon was looking forward to attending a “Fuck the King” anti-monarchy party on the Friday before the coronation. “Some people are doing things with British flags, Vivienne Westwood-style; I’m going to go as the Tiger King, Joe Exotic,” she said.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
Aligarh: Several unnamed persons have been booked for offering namaz outside two mosques in the old city area in violation of prohibitory orders on Eid last week, police said on Friday.
City Superintendent Police Kuldeep Singh Gunawat told the media that clerics had assured the district authorities ahead of Eid that no one will be allowed to offer prayers on roads outside mosques.
“Despite such assurances a large number of people offered prayers on the road outside the Eidgah ground under Delhi Gate Police Station and another mosque in a locality under Kotwali police station,” said the officer, adding, the FIRs were lodged on April 26.
Police are reviewing video footage of the day to identify those who participated in the outside prayers.
Earlier police in Kanpur said they have booked more than 2,000 people on similar charges in three FIRs.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The Kraszna-Krausz book awards recognise individuals who have made an outstanding original or lasting educational, professional, historical and cultural contribution to literature concerning photography or the moving image. Two winning titles are selected annually, with prize money of £10,000 divided between them
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
A collection of Amy Winehouse’s previously unseen journal entries, handwritten lyrics and personal photos will be made public this summer.
The late singer’s personal ephemera will be shared for the first time in Amy Winehouse: In Her Words, a new book published on 31 August by HarperCollins.
Her parents Mitch and Janis Winehouse, who provided the foreword for the book, said in a statement: “This beautiful new collection of Amy’s notes and musings shows another side of Amy – her fun and witty side.
“We wanted to share this with Amy’s fans so that they too can enjoy Amy, in her words.”
The publication date is scheduled for two weeks before what would have been Winehouse’s 40th birthday. She died by an accidental alcohol overdose in July 2011, aged 27, after a string of public struggles with addiction and poor mental health.
“To fully understand Amy Winehouse on what would have been her 40th birthday, this extremely personal and revealing book, filled with her private thoughts and emotions, uncovers the heart of the artist who dreamed big and cared deeply,” said Lisa Sharkey of HarperCollins. “We could not be prouder to publish this cherished keepsake and are grateful to her parents Janis and Mitch for sharing their daughter in this sensitive beautiful book.”
All of the book’s royalties will be donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, with a promised minimum donation of £70,000. Since its establishment by Mitch Winehouse in 2011, the charity has supported vulnerable or disadvantaged young people through the provision of recovery housing, resilience training and music therapy workshops.
In 2012, a year after the singer’s death, Mitch Winehouse published a memoir detailing his daughter’s life. Amy, My Daughter featured exclusive extracts from his own diary as well as unseen photos from their family album. All proceeds went towards the Foundation.
A new film biopic of Winehouse’s life, Back to Black, is in production, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. While official promotional material has not yet been circulated, behind-the-scenes paparazzi images shared on Twitter sparked a backlash earlier this year, with some calling the project insensitive and exploitative.
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( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )
