Latest news with #Venkatesan
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
MP slams Centre over Keeladi report correction
Madurai: Madurai MP Su Venkatesan has accused the Union govt of trying to alter the Keeladi excavation report, and to suppress crucial historical findings. The CPM leader questioned the repeated revisions being sought in the report submitted by archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishnan. "Why is there a continuous push to revise the Keeladi report even after two versions were submitted? Who is behind this pressure," he said. Venkatesan alleged that the central govt was trying to dilute findings that date Tamil civilisation at Keeladi between the 8th and 5th century BCE, a discovery that could redefine the understanding of ancient Indian history. The ministry of culture claimed that the corrections were part of standard administrative processes. However, Ramakrishnan reportedly refused to make further alterations, stating that scientific data supports the existing timeline. "This is not a technical correction; this is an attempt to rewrite Tamil history," Venkatesan said. He said the CPM will organise a state-wide walkathon from June 11 to 21 to highlight public grievances at the central, state, and local administrative levels, including pending financial dues owed by the Centre to Tamil Nadu. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How long does it take to breakeven on solar panels? Activ8 Undo On the RBI's new draft guidelines on gold loans, he said conditions such as mandatory proof of income and original purchase receipts for pledged gold, were impractical for daily wage earners and the middle class. "Gold loans are 100% secured. There is no risk to banks. These new conditions will only hurt the poor," he said. Venkatesan said he submitted a petition to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who assured that the matter would be reviewed.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Political motive behind asking archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna to rewrite report on Keeladi excavations, says Su. Venkatesan
Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan has criticised the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for asking archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna, who unearthed an ancient civilisation in Keeladi in Sivaganga district, to resubmit the report on his findings. Speaking at a press meet in Madurai on Friday, Mr. Venkatesan said that there was a political motive behind this. When the history of Tamil civilisations were being unearthed, the political motive behind seeking a revision of the findings cannot be accepted, he said. Mr. Ramakrishna who led the archaeological excavations has submitted the report based on the findings. When the ASI asked him to resubmit the report, he clarified that it was based on the conclusive findings of the excavation at the site and refused to revise it. Even after this, why was a revision to the report being sought, Mr. Venkatesan asked. They have questioned the periods that pushed back the timeline of Tamil civilization. They have sought a clarification to change it which cannot be accepted, he said, adding that Mr. Ramakrishna had already made the clarifications and accepted the changes. Mr. Venkatesan urged that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) draft regulations on gold loans should be dropped entirely. He thanked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the suggestions to ensure that the requirements of small gold loan borrowers are not adversely affected. The regulations would have affected the middle class and the poor people, he said. He said that the CPI (M) has planned to take out a march in June highlighting various issues concerning the Centre, the State and Madurai Corporation. He said that there were several pressing issues that needed to be addressed, including regarding Madurai's growth and the implementation of the projects that were promised. The main objective was to find solutions for the issues and address the gap between the people and the authorities, he said.
The Hindu
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Fighting the shadows of the mind
Ratan Thakore Grant's Studio for Acting and MISF!T (My Interest Stays Firmly in Theatre) presents Blindspot in Bengaluru. MISF!T, has staged plays including Connectologues V3.0 and Trident!ty. Blindspot is an original piece, says writer-director Venkatesan, who has collaborated with creative consultant Vishal Nayer on the play. 'The story revolves around Dr. Anika Sharma, a renowned psychiatrist who has perfected memory-reconstruction therapy,' says Venkatesan. 'She returns to her ancestral home to take over a lab as the new managing director. The lab is founded by her father Dr. Jayanth and his friend Vikram. Anika discovers days in her past that she cannot remember due to a childhood incident.' Another character, Karan, jogs Anika's memory, Venkatesan says. 'She uncovers her company's identity and a gruesome incident dating back 15 years.' Memory reconstruction, Venkatesan explains, is an extension of hypnotherapy. 'The play is not science fiction but rather about a scientific concept that exists today. We have taken certain creative liberties with the story of the journey of characters.' The play follows a non-linear format, Venkatesan says, as the protagonist navigates a web of lies and deception spun by those close to her. 'We always make it a point to stage a play in May in memory of our founder-teacher, Ratan Thakore, who we lost on May 8.' The inspiration for the protagonist, Venkatesan says was from close to home. 'My mother, Pattammal, is a strong woman and has been my hero. She is the inspiration for the protagonist's life and strength on stage. I lost my father when I was very young and my mother worked as a teacher.' Pattammal won the National Award in the Best Teacher category and received the award from the late President Dr. Abdul Kalam, Venkatesan says. 'Writing about a female protagonist was not difficult at all.' The play uses a few cinematic elements, says Venkatesan. 'The stage is split into parts where the stories and the different time zones come alive. We have quite a bit of musical elements as well.' The 90-minute multilingual play will be staged at Medai, Koramangala on May 31, at 7.30 pm and on June 1 at 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. Tickets available on BookMyShow.
CNBC
14-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Perplexity partners with PayPal for in-chat shopping as AI race heats up
Perplexity is extending its bet on chat-powered shopping, aiming to stand out in the crowded generative artificial intelligence market against OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The company said on Wednesday that it's partnering with PayPal to let users make purchases directly in chat. U.S. customers will soon be able to book travel, buy products, and secure concert tickets without leaving the platform. Payments will be completed in the chat with PayPal or Venmo, and PayPal will handle processing, shipping, tracking, and invoicing. Purchases will be completed with one click, with the help of the payment company's passkey checkout. "Perplexity wants to be wherever users are asking questions and making decisions," said Ryan Foutty, Perplexity's vice president of business. "Our vision for assistive AI is that everything just gets better and easier for people — wherever they are and however they prefer to make decisions." Perplexity jumped into e-commerce last year, adding a shopping feature for paid U.S. users and integrating with sellers using services like Shopify. Now Perplexity is allowing users to complete transactions within a chat, a feature that OpenAI's ChatGPT has yet to roll out. PayPal is competing for AI deals against companies including Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard. PayPal technology chief Srini Venkatesan said PayPal's system can directly connect to the merchants, handling payments, shipping, and billing information without requiring users to re-enter details. The company also manages support. "The next generation of commerce is happening on the agentic side. People are starting to research and shop online through agents," Venkatesan said, referring to AI-driven systems that can complete tasks without human intervention. "Agentic commerce is not only the searching but making it all the way to the purchase — paying for it and then buying it from that merchant. So that's what PayPal has been leading, and we've been trying to get the agentic commerce piece right." Venkatesan said PayPal's edge in this space comes from its ability to securely verify both buyers and sellers. PayPal authenticates users through their wallet and automatically fills in billing and shipping information, aiming to reduce friction. "We provide the trust that the business is legitimate on one side, and then the customer is legitimate on the other side," he said. The partnership comes as Perplexity is finalizing a $500 million funding round at a $14 billion valuation, down from an initial target of $18 billion. The use of AI-driven chat services for buying decisions has jumped 42% in the past year, according to Salesforce data, based on 1.6 trillion page views on its platform. Global sales influenced by AI climbed to $229 billion between November and December, up from $199 billion during the same period a year earlier. ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude and Google's AI Overviews have climbed ahead in search, building powerful real-time results and AI-enhanced answers. OpenAI launched its ChatGPT search feature last year, positioning it to compete directly with Perplexity, while Google's AI Overviews brought real-time insights to search.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- The Hindu
Two men sentenced to life imprisonment in separate POCSO Act cases
Two men were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Chengalpattu after being convicted of raping minor children. They were found guilty under the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in two separate cases. On February 15, 2023, the Chitlapakkam police station registered a case for offences, including rape, under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and POCSO Act on the complaint of the mother of a victim, aged seven years, who hailed from Chromepet. After investigation, accused R. Venkatesan, 51, was arrested. Following due process of law, as mandated by the POCSO Act, the investigation was completed in a timely manner, and the final report was filed before the Special Court for POCSO Act cases, Chengalpattu, the police said. The trial commenced on October 14 last year. At the conclusion of the trial, the special court sentenced Venkatesan to life imprisonment, besides imposing a fine on him. Similarly, another case was registered at Maraimalai Nagar police station in 2019 under the provisions of the POCSO Act on the complaint of the mother of a victim, aged about nine years, from Chengalpattu. The police arrested the accused Aaroon, a 31-year-old Thiruvotriyur native, for offences including penetrative sexual assault. The trial commenced on October 5, 2019, and at the conclusion of trial, the special court sentenced him to life imprisonment. He was also fined. A senior police officer of the Tambaram City Police said in both cases, to establish the guilt of accused, witnesses were examined, exhibits were produced, and material objects were marked in support of the prosecution, amidst the accused persons' efforts to evade trial proceedings. At one point, the accused prolonged the trial proceedings. Consistent and persistent efforts were taken to show progress in the trial, and continuous follow-up ensured the appearance of the accused, which resulted in achieving the legal ends of justice and conviction, the officer said.
