Interpol President Who Vanished In China Has Resigned
HONG KONG: Interpol announced Sunday that it had accepted the resignation of its president, Meng Hongwei, who disappeared in China in late September. The international police organization's statement came shortly after China revealed that Meng was under investigation for unspecified crimes.
Interpol said Meng's resignation was effective immediately.
China's top anti-corruption agency said in a one-sentence statement Sunday that Meng was suspected of breaking the law, without giving details. Meng, who is concurrently a Chinese deputy minister of public security, was elected to head Interpol in 2016 and slated to serve at its Lyon, France, headquarters until 2020.
The unusual case erupted into public view on Friday, when French authorities announced a search for the Chinese national after his wife, Grace, who is living in France, reported him missing to local police.
The mystery deepened dramatically over the weekend, as Grace Meng told reporters in Lyon to say that her husband had sent her a knife emoji as a way of telling her he was in danger before he vanished. Grace Meng covered her face during the news conference because she feared for her safety, the Associated Press reported.
Interpol said Friday it was seeking information about its president from Chinese law enforcement.
Meng may have been involved high-stakes power struggles, said Dali Yang, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
"He was in an international post that is significant to China's ability to influence international events," Yang said. "This damages the image of the Chinese system and shows how it takes people in without due process, so clearly they saw significant, overriding political reasons to do this."
Meng's seizure on suspicion of corruption is an ironic reversal for a Chinese official whose ascent to the top of Interpol was supposed to aid Beijing's efforts in catching corrupt runaway officials. Under his watch, China submitted to Interpol extensive lists of fugitives suspected of corruption and wanted for extradition.
China is now in the sixth year of a vast anti-corruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping that has netted thousands of officials and business executives. Critics in China and abroad have warned that many corruption investigations are politically motivated and used to consolidate Xi's power and topple rival factions.
In recent years, investigators at the Communist Party's influential Central Commission for Discipline Inspection - and an even more powerful body established this year by Xi, the National Supervisory Commission - have signaled a willingness to pursue officials in the highest levels of China's security apparatus and military.
Zhou Yongkang, a former domestic security czar, was sentenced to life in 2015 for graft, and the head of counterintelligence, Ma Jian, was prosecuted two years later.
courtesy : ndtv.com
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
AI reshaping music, filmmaking in Kannada cinema
Bengaluru: Artificial Intelligence is slowly changing the way music and creativity are produced in the Kannada film industry, raising concerns among musicians, singers and technicians, The New Indian Express reported on Sunday.
Music composer, actor and director V Manohar reportedly said, AI is being used to write lyrics, especially in low-budget movies. Once lyrics are generated, AI can suggest thousands of tunes. It even asks whether the voice should be male or female. With one click, a complete song is ready.
“If this continues, singers and musicians will have less or no work in the coming days. But it may not succeed either. A few years ago, dubbing was allowed and people could watch movies in any language they preferred. But not many took to it as they wanted to watch a movie in the original,” TNIE quoted him as saying.
According to the report, Filmmaker Avinash U Shetty, a National Award winner, said resistance to new technology is not new. Those who resisted shifting from analogue to digital films years ago have now embraced it. The industry is now using only 10% of the AI potential. If it is scaled up, it can do unimaginable things. What we consider bad now, may not be after five years.
Highlighting the cost advantage, Sangamesh, an independent creator reportedly said, he made a three-minute video using AI for just Rs 4,500. Earlier, the same work would have cost nearly Rs 15 lakh. I finished the entire project in three days. The only expense was the AI software subscription, he said.
These days, it has become difficult to differentiate between the real and AI. AI is creating artistes. Scenes like war, big fights and dance can be shot with a lesser number of artistes. Then with the aid of visual effects and AI, you can achieve what you have in mind, he said.
Actor-director D P Raghuram felt that while AI has made an impact on music, it lacks emotional depth. Cinema earlier involved hard work and strong emotional connections. AI can help improve our work, but creativity should remain human, he reportedly said.
As per the report, earlier, Kannada cinema employed hundreds of junior artistes, who not only earned wages but also shared meals on sets and formed lasting bonds with stars like Dr Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Ambareesh. Today, filmmakers fear that increasing dependence on AI could reduce such human connections, turning creativity into just another automated process.
