World’s First Artificial Mind
South-African Israeli Professor Henry Markram, a doctor-turned-computer engineer has announced his team would create the world’s first artificial conscious and intelligent mind by 2018, reports The Mail.
His words staggered the erudite audience gathered at a technology conference in Oxford last summer.
On the shore of Lake Geneva, this brilliant, eccentric scientist is building an artificial mind. A Swiss – it could only be Swiss – precision- engineered mind, made of silicon, gold and copper.
The end result will be a creature, if we can call it that, which its maker believes within a decade may be able to think, feel and even fall in love.
Professor Markram’s ‘Blue Brain’ project, must rank as one of the most extraordinary endeavours in scientific history.
If this 47-year-old South-African Israeli is successful, then the world will witness the first of the Frankensteins. The world will be on the verge of realising an age-old fantasy, one first imagined when an adolescent Mary Shelley penned Frankenstein, her tale of an artificial monster brought to life – a story written, quite coincidentally, just a few miles from where this extraordinary experiment is now taking place.
Success will bring with it philosophical, moral and ethical conundrums of the highest order, and may force us to confront what it means to be human.
But Professor Markram thinks his artificial mind will render vivisection obsolete, conquer insanity and even improve our intelligence and ability to learn.
What Markram’s project amounts to is an audacious attempt to build a computerised copy of a brain – starting with a rat’s brain, then progressing to a human brain – inside one of the world’s most powerful computers.
This, it is hoped, will bring into being a sentient mind that will be able to think, reason, express will, lay down memories and perhaps even experience love, anger, sadness, pain and joy.
‘We will do it by 2018,’ says the professor confidently. ‘We need a lot of money, but I am getting it. There are few scientists in the world with the resources I have at my disposal.’
There is, inevitably, scepticism. But even Markram’s critics mostly accept that he is on to something and, most importantly, that he has the money.
Tens of millions of euros are flooding into his laboratory at the Brain Mind Institute at the Ecole Polytechnique in Lausanne – paymasters include the Swiss government, the EU and private backers, including the computer giant IBM. Artificial minds are, it seems, big business.
Australia Condemns Garg’s Killing
Australian authorities on Monday “unreservedly” condemned the killing of an Indian youth in Melbourne calling his stabbing a heinous crime even as police claimed there was no evidence to suggest that it was a racial attack.
21-year-old Nitin Garg, an accounting graduate who was originally from Punjab, died after he was stabbed yesterday in West Footscray area. He was the first to die in a slew of attacks on Indians in Australia.
“I obviously unreservedly condemn this attack,” Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said. “People in Melbourne’s west, people around the nation, I think they will be joining together to say we unreservedly condemn this violence.”
Gillard said police should now be allowed to carry out their investigation.
“This is a nation that welcomes international students,” she said. “We want to make them welcome, this is a welcoming and accepting country.”
Condemning the killing of Garg, Victorian Acting Premier Rob Hulls said “the tragic death of a young Indian lad is … abhorrent, it is a heinous crime and it is something that the police are putting all resources into investigating and finding the culprit.”
Victorian police, meanwhile, denied any racism angle in the killing of the Indian youth, claiming that there was no evidence to suggest it was a racially-motivated attack.
“I think to draw any conclusion as to the motive may interfere with the investigation and would be presumptuous at this stage,” Senior Sergeant Dave Snare from the Homicide Squad was quoted as saying by ‘The Age’.
Victorian Acting Premier Hulls also asked people not to jump to conclusions about the incident being a racial attack. He said he had not been advised on whether the stabbing was a hate crime.
“I don’t think anyone should jump to conclusions at this stage. I think it’s important that police be allowed to get on with the job of investigating this heinous crime,” he said.
Hulls claimed that Victoria remained one of the safest places in the world, with crime rates falling dramatically in the past few years.
The government had introduced new legislation requiring judges to consider hate crime in sentencing violent offenders and police had extra powers to conduct random weapons searches, he said.
“We will continue to do what we can as a government to reduce crime, to make Victoria a safe place to live, a safe place to have holidays, a safe place to visit,” Hulls said.
Garg was stabbed in the abdomen as he walked to his part- time job at Hungry Jack’s restaurant in West Footscray on Saturday night (0330 HRS IST yesterday). He died later in hospital.
The attack drew strong reaction from India which said such incidents could have a “bearing” on bilateral ties.
Ex-Minister’s Son,Held In Currency Scam
Acting on CBI’s request, Nepal police have arrested the son of an influential politician in Nepal along with his two Pakistani accomplices and a bodyguard in connection with a fake Indian currency and drugs racket having links to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Yunus Ansari, son of former Nepalese minister Salim Ansari, his bodyguard and two Pakistani nationals were arrested here on Friday and Saturday.
Police first arrested the bodyguard Kashi Ram Adhikari — who was allegedly involved in transporting the drugs and fake currency — from a guest house in Thamel, a tourist hub here, on Friday.
Later, they arrested two Pakistani nationals, Amir alias Mohamad Iqbal and Raju alias Mohammad Saiyad, from Thamel.
Ansari was taken into custody on Saturday after the Pakistanis pointed towards him during the interrogation, according to Superintendent of Police, Ganesh Khatri Chhetri.
Police also seized 3.7 kg brown sugar and fake Indian currency notes in denominations of 5,00 and 1,000 with a face value of over 25.44 lakh from the Pakistani nationals.
A case against Ansari and the three others would be filed in the Kathmandu District Court and they been sent to the judicial custody for 10 days for investigation.
The group is also learnt to have a connection with Dawood Ibrahim, police said.
According to ‘The Kathmandu Post’, Nepal police arrested them following a request from CBI.
The CBI sought Ansari’s arrest after two Nepalis arrested with fake notes in India in August told investigators that he was the main person behind the counterfeit currency racket.
The drugs and fake currency were brought here from Pakistan and their ultimate destination was US, police said. The plan was to send the drugs to China from Nepal and then to the US, they said.
While the drugs were seized from a guesthouse at Thamel on Friday, the fake currency was recovered from Blue Bird Hotel situated in Tripureshwor, which was used by Yunus Ansari who is also the chairman of Rastriya Janata Dal.
Police had earlier said that five people were arrested in the fake currency and drug racket, including two Nigerians.
Ansari is also Chairman of National Television channel, which is airing its programmes under trial transmission. The channel claimed that he was innocent and it was just “a foreign game plan” to defame him and shut down the channel.
Ansari’s father Salim Ansari was Minister for Land Reform Management during deposed King Gyanendra’s direct rule.
In the 1994 polls, Salim Ansari was elected as a candidate of the now-ruling CPN(UML). He served as Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation in the CPN(UML)’s brief rule in 1994, but when the party was divided in 1998 he joined the CPN(ML) and later became Minister of Tourism in coalition government.
When CPN(ML) and CPN(UML) reunited, Salim Ansari again became a CPN(UML) leader. However, in December 2002, he left CPN(UML) and subsequently formed the Samajbadi Party Nepal.
In July 2005, Gyanendra appointed him Minister. In 2007, Salim Ansari was arrested following Terai riots, but was freed soon apparently because of his clout. PTI
Mafia Boss Carried To Funeral In Golden Coffin
The son of Canada’s most powerful Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto was laid to rest in a golden coffin in Montreal.
With a heavy police presence the body of Nick Rizzuto, son of the Montreal Mafia head, was carried through the streets of the city’s Little Italy neighbourhood on Sunday.
Nick, was standing next to a black Mercedes last Monday when a gunman approached him and fired several shots into him. He died on the spot and the killer is at large.
Most of the mourners at Notre-Dame-de-la Defense church remained tight-lipped as they filed out after the service, refusing to speak to reporters assembled outside. One burly man angrily ushered journalists out of the church after they tried to enter to watch the proceedings.
Family friend Ricardo Padulo recalled the younger Rizzuto, 42, as a ‘gentleman’.
‘This turnout shows respect,’ Padulo said. ‘In the eye of God he’s a great person. It was a beautiful service.’
His father Vito is currently serving a sentence in Colorado for racketeering related three Mafia murders in 1981 and was not seen at the funeral.
The victim’s grandfather and namesake Nicolo Rizzuto Sr did attend wearing a dark cashmere coat and his trademark fedora. During the service, the priest, dressed in fuchsia robes, addressed the somber crowd in Italian.
Honour Sachin with a ‘Vishwa Ratna: Lata Mangeshkar.
LATA: My heartiest congratulations to him. I have seen Sachin right from the time he made his debut as a sixteen-year-old. Since then, he has gone on to climb dizzy heights, he’s got married, raised a family, and somehow remained the same humble man throughout. It’s really amazing to know he has been around for 20 years. I greet him and his family. May God bless him and may he go on for another 40 years!
Like Sunil Gavaskar, there’s a comforting thought that Sachin will hold the fort, that Team India is safe. Though each stroke is a stroke of genius, I have a distinct liking for his straight drive. I also admire the way he looks up to the heavens every time he completes a half-century or century. It means he is thanking God for blessing him, and that’s a great thing. Who can forget the 1999 World Cup, when he played on even though his father passed away midway through the tournament? Sachin took a break to attend the funeral and returned quickly to score a century, then looked up to the skies to seek his father’s blessings. It was a very touching and emotional moment for every Indian. The poignancy of that moment has stayed in the minds of all who watched that knock. I am no exception.
11 dead as bombers hit ISI office, police station in Pak.
Suicide bombers struck an office of the ISI and a police station in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 11 people and injuring 40
Pak blast Pakistani security officials secure the site of a bomb blast at the ISI building in Peshawar. (AFP Photo) More Pictures
others in the latest in a wave of audacious terrorist attacks across the country.
A suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden car into the gate of the Inter-Services Intelligence office within the cantonment of Peshawar city at 6.40 am, killing at least eight persons and injuring 30 others, police and rescue service officials said
The bomber’s car was packed with about 200 kg of explosives, Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed Khan told reporters. The facade of the building and a nearby check post were destroyed by the blast, which was heard up to 20 km away.
Officials at the Lady Reading Hospital said they had received the bodies of two security personnel, four civilians and a private security guard.About 30 injured people, including a six-year-old boy, were taken to this hospital. More bodies and injured were taken to a military hospital.
The ISI office on Khyber Road that was targeted is located at a short distance from an army stadium and the official residences of several dignitaries, including the Governor and Chief Minister of the North West Frontier Province.
A second suicide bomber rammed a car packed with explosives into a suburban police station in the garrison city of Bannu, southwest of Peshawar, killing three policemen and wounding five others, police said.
“The bomber rammed the car into the police station,” Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said from the garrison town.
“There are three policemen dead and 12 injured. The number of casualties is likely to rise because the injured are being pulled out from the rubble of the police station,” he added.
Peshawar, which borders Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt where US officials say al-Qaida are plotting attacks on the West and where Pakistani troops are pressing a major offensive, is frequently hit by attacks.
Now,the Metro from Delhi to Noida.
The Delhi Metro has finally crossed the border to the first suburb Noida. The Delhi-Noida link was inaugurated on Thursday. It has been thrown open to the public on Friday.
There were two chief ministers on hand to launch it. Delhi’s Sheila Dikshit and UP’s Mayawati did the honours, flagging off the much-waited Metro line between Delhi and the satellite town of Noida.
Mayawati and the media were among the first to ride the 13-kilometre stretch built over a period of three years for 800 crores. Between 6 am and 11 pm, close to 40 trains will operate on the line for an estimated 53000 passengers everyday.
It hasn’t been an entirely smooth ride. First, a crack was discovered in a crucial pillar. Then, after trial runs began, it was discovered that only 3 of the ten stations are ready with parking facilities. Feeder buses haven’t been launched.
And then there have been repeated murmurs that security checks and trial runs were cut short so that the launch could coincide with a huge trade fair, ensuring trains are packed in their first few days of service.as authorities wanted to start operations… during the busy trade fair… that would ensure more footfalls.
But Noida’s high crime rate is also a matter of concern for both passengers and the police. “There will be CISF people who will provide security here,” says E Sreedharan, Chairman of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
Will Nitin Gadkari next BJP president?
Is the Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari all set to be the party’s next national president? The question is doing the rounds in the BJP.
Gadkari was in the national capital on Thursday. Significantly, he did not deny being tipped for the top party post. He said he was ready for any assignment.
“I am a loyal soldier of the party but my political influence is limited within Maharashtra and not the rest of the country. I am no one to intervene or take decisions on their behalf at that level. Though the situation hasn’t arisen but I will do whatever the party wants me to as I have in the past. I was never part of any race neither have I tried to participate in any race ever,” says Gadkari.
“I have always taken up any responsibility that the party has entrusted me with, starting from pasting posters when I began with ABVP.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said a few days ago that BJP’s central leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar have been passed over for the post.
Gadkari’s candidature as the Sangh’s choice has been doing the rounds since September.
Since there’s no consensus in the BJP on an alternative name, as GenNext leaders opposed one another bitterly, the RSS seems to be succeeding in pushing its case for a leader from “outside Delhi”.
Rajnath Singh also has officially asked the RSS to help in choosing the next president.The L K Advani faction is opposing a leader who will closely align with the Sangh.
Jharkhand: Kidnapped MLA calls top cop.
The RJD MLA who was kidnapped by Maoists called up the Jharkhand IG to say that he was safe. Ram Chandra Singh and a supporter were kidnapped from his constituency Manika as they were returning on a motorcycle after attending a function.
Singh has got a ticket to contest again in the coming Assembly elections.Jharkhand is one of the worst affected Naxal states which is why polling is being held in five phases for the 81 Assembly seats starting on November 27.
Rahul’ Mahesh Bhatt’s son suspected with Headley.
Is Mahesh Bhatt’s son Rahul the actor mentioned in the e-mails between Headley and his Lashkar contacts?
Now more revelations have emerged in the Headley terror plot. Reports in a section of the media say that the mysterious name, Rahul, mentioned extensively in Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Coleman Headley’s e-mails to handlers in Pakistan has finally been identified.
It’s neither Shah Rukh Khan nor Rahul Gandhi, as suspected, but the son of famous filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.
Twenty-five-year-old Rahul Bhatt is a fitness instructor and a body builder. He is in fact a friend of Headley who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Chicago last month.
Headley, a key suspect in the terror plot against India and Denmark, which was uncovered by the FBI last month, had befriended Rahul at a gym. But the police say Rahul probably had no idea of the man’s real identity.
However, investigating agencies, who have already questioned Rahul, have almost given him a clean chit, saying that he appears to be innocent.In a few e-mail conversations with a LeT operative, Headley has mentioned Rahul several times.