Kavanaugh sworn in as US Supreme Court justice
Washington, Oct 7 : Brett Kavanaugh, 53, was sworn in as a judge of the US Supreme Court, hours after he was confirmed by a bitterly divided Senate by 50-48 votes.
Kavanaugh was officially sworn in early Saturday evening as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts who administered the Constitutional Oath in the Justices' Conference Room.
Retired Associate Justice Anthony M Kennedy administered the Judicial Oath. Wife Ashley Kavanaugh held the family Bible. Justice Kavanaugh's two daughters, Liza and Margaret, and his parents attended the ceremony.
Kavanaugh replaces Kennedy, who had announced his resignation early this year.
The swearing in of Kavanaugh as the Supreme Court judge brought to end weeks of bitterly fought battle between the ruling Republican and the opposition Democratic parties.
Things took an ugly turn in the last few weeks, when at least three women came forward with allegations that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted them.
Millions of people inside US and abroad watched live on their television sets the open hearing of Kavanaugh and his first accuser Christine Ford, a professor in California.
Under tremendous political pressure, Trump ordered a last-minute FBI supplemental inquiry, the results of which reports said did not prove the allegations. Day later on Saturday, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Kavanaugh by 50-48 votes, which was mostly on party lines.
Kavanaugh is the second Supreme Court nominee of President Donald Trump to be confirmed by the Senate.
Trump who was on a November 6 mid-term election campaign trail in Kansas called Kavanaugh to congratulate him on his confirmation and swearing in.
"I just congratulated him," he said, "Congratulations". It was well fought. I mean, who would have thought a thing like that could've happened -- what he's been through? Everything was uncorroborated, he told reporters in Topeka, Kansas.
Describing Kavanaugh as an outstanding person, Trump alleged that in recent weeks he and his family suffered a lot because of the opposition Democratic lawmakers who according to him supported an uncorroborated allegation of sexual assault against him.
"We're very honored that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats. It's a horrible attack that nobody should have to go through," he said.
"But the beautiful thing is, he is now in. He's going to be there for a long time. And he's just an outstanding intellect, outstanding scholar, a brilliant lawyer -- brilliant at everything he's ever done. So we're very happy. It was a great vote, a very historic vote," Trump said.
Even as he was being sworn in inside the Supreme Court, scores of people protested across the street at the Capitol.
"The crowd in front of the US Supreme Court is tiny, looks like about 200 people (& most are onlookers) - that wouldn't even fill the first couple of rows of our Kansas Rally, or any of our Rallies for that matter! The Fake News Media tries to make it look sooo big, & it's not!" Trump said in a tweet.
Of the nine-members on the powerful Supreme Court bench, two of the judges Kavanagh and Neil Gorsuch have been nominated by Trump. His predecessor Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both women, on the bench in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
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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.
