Robo Revolution. Humanoids Steal the Spotlight
Ruhullah leads protest on reservation; PDP, other party leaders participate Srinagar: National Conference leader and Lok Sabha member from Srinagar Aga Ruhullah Mehdi led a peaceful protest outside the residence of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here to support the demand for “rationalisation” of reservations in Jammu and Kashmir. Also, the Chief Minister assured a delegation of protesting students that the cabinet sub-committee formed to review the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir will submit its report within six months, according to student leaders. The students are protesting against the reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir implemented after the abrogation of Article 370. “We met the chief minister and held discussions on the reservation issue for about 30 minutes. The crux of the discussion was that the chief minister has asked for six months for the sub-committee to complete its work,” one of the student leaders told reporters after meeting Abdullah at his residence. Taking to social media, Abdullah said the channel of communication with the students will remain open without any intermediaries. “Today I met the representatives of the Open Merit Students Association. The beauty of democracy is the right to be heard & dialogue in a spirit of mutual cooperation. I have made certain requests of them & given them a number of assurances. This channel of communication will remain open without any intermediaries or hangers-on,” the chief minister posted on X. Mehdi, a firebrand leader, had on Sunday announced that he would be joining the student protest. With the Centre granting reservation to Pahari-speaking people in Jammu and Kashmir, the open merit category has been reduced to 30 per cent while 70 per cent of seats are reserved for various communities. Students, especially those undergoing training in medicine and surgery, have been protesting, saying the reservation policy promotes mediocrity where merit should reign supreme. Asked if he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting between the students and the chief minister, the Lok Sabha member said his satisfaction was immaterial. “If the students are satisfied, I am satisfied. The good thing is that the process of the sub-committee has been made time-bound. Earlier it was open-ended,” Mehdi said. He said it was wrong to call the event a protest as it was “an assembly of people to discuss” the reservation policy. Several political leaders including Lok Sabha member from Baramulla Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer and leaders of arch-rival PDP — Waheed Para and Iltija Mufti — have supported the protest led by the leader of the ruling NC. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, has also called for “rationalisation” of reservations. PDP MLA from Pulwama Waheed Para in a post on X said he welcomes Mehdi’s decision to stand with the youth in “demanding rationality and fairness in reservation policies. This is a pivotal moment to address pressing grievances and ensure our policies are inclusive, youth-friendly, and just”. Para said at the heart of this matter lies the urgent and vehement demand for proportional representation, a system that allocates opportunities based on the socio-economic realities of communities, ensuring no group is disproportionately favoured or left behind. “Our demand is not antithetical to affirmative action, in fact, we are in favour of strengthening it. We believe that inclusion through reservation must go beyond tokenism to foster substantive equality. We believe in empowering marginalised communities to not just be present but to shape decisions and lead change. “However, let’s be clear: Merit must remain the bedrock of our systems. Reservations must serve only as targeted exceptions to bridge inequalities, not as tools for perpetual imbalance. Policies that reduce the majority to a minority are neither just nor sustainable,” he added. The Mirwaiz, in a post of X, said the issue of reservations should be addressed with justice and fairness by those in charge, safeguarding the interests of all segments of society and not at the expense of any one group. “The current status of reservations does that, by undermining the interests of the General/open merit category. Fervent appeal to address their concerns immediately! Support #openmeritstudentsassociation @OMSA_JK sit-in protest,” he said. The Mirwaiz said he would be part of the protests if allowed by authorities. “My delegation will be there to support. Will also raise the issue in #JamaMasjid whenever permitted to go,” he added. Awami Ittehad Party MLA Sheikh Khursheed and chief spokesman Inam un Nabi also joined the protests in support of “rationalisation” of reservations.
NEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans . Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he'd let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, and other “elegant minor deviations” from the dress code. He said Carlsen's stand — which culminated in his quitting the tournament Friday — highlighted a need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.” Carlsen, meanwhile, said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship when it begins Monday. “I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side,” the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster said. But he added that he loves playing blitz — a fast-paced form of chess — and wanted fans to be able to watch, and that he was encouraged by his discussions with the federation after Friday's showdown. “I think we sort of all want the same thing,” he suggested in the video on his Take Take Take chess app’s YouTube channel. “We want the players to be comfortable, sure, but also relatively presentable.” The events began when Carlsen wore jeans and a sportcoat Friday to the Rapid World Championship, which is separate from but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that longstanding rules prohibit jeans at those tournaments, and players are lodged nearby to make sartorial switch-ups easy if needed. An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and wasn't paired for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organization noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier in the day for wearing sports shoes, changed and continued to play. Carlsen has said that he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were unyielding. He said “it became a bit of a matter of principle,” so he quit the rapid and blitz championships. In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had indeed broken a rule and said changing clothes would have needlessly interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “unbelievably harsh.” “Of course, I could have changed. Obviously, I didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by that.”None
MALAGA, Spain (AP) — The last man to face — and beat — Rafael Nadal in professional tennis, 80th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp , converted his 10th match point Friday to finally close out a 6-4, 6-7 (12), 6-3 victory over Daniel Altmaier and help the Netherlands reach its first Davis Cup final by sweeping Germany. Tallon Griekspoor, who is ranked 40th, sealed the 2-0 win for the Dutch in the best-of-three-match semifinal by hitting 25 aces and coming back to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-4. When it ended, appropriately, on an ace, Griekspoor shut his eyes, dropped to his knees and spread his arms wide. “We have been talking about this for two, three years,” Griekspoor said. “We believed in ourselves so much. We always felt like this was possible. To do it now feels unbelievable.” The other semifinal is Saturday, with No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner and defending champion Italy taking on Australia . The championship will be decided Sunday. “We don’t have that top 5 player. We don’t that top 10 player. We don’t have that top 15 player,” Dutch captain Paul Harhuuis said. “But it’s a team effort. ... So proud of these guys.” In Friday's opener, van de Zandschulp was up a set and just a point away from leading 5-2 in the second when Altmaier began playing more aggressively and interacting more with the German fans, yelling and throwing uppercuts or raising his arms after key points. In the tiebreaker, Altmaier managed to save five match points before converting his own fourth set point to extend the contest. But van de Zandschulp — who upset four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz at the U.S. Open — quickly moved out front in the final set, even if he eventually needed five more match points in the last game before serving it out. “At some point, I didn’t know what to do any more on the match points,” van de Zandschulp said. “I had the toughest match of my life on Tuesday (against Nadal), so everything that comes next is maybe a little bit easier.” In the quarterfinals, van de Zandschulp outplayed Nadal for a 6-4, 6-4 result that marked the end of the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s career because the Netherlands went on to eliminate Spain 2-1. The 38-year-old Nadal announced last month that the Davis Cup would be his final event before retiring. Presumably because people purchased tickets ahead of time with plans to watch Nadal compete in the semifinals, there were hundreds of unoccupied blue or gray seats surrounding the indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martina Carpena in southern Spain on Friday. Now truly a neutral site, the place was not nearly as loud and rowdy as on Tuesday, although there were shouts of “Vamos, Rafa!” that drew laughter while van de Zandschulp played the 88th-ranked Altmaier. It took Griekspoor more than 75 minutes and nearly two full sets to figure out how to break No. 43 Struff and then did it twice in a row — to lead 6-5 in the second set, and then go up 1-0 in the third. That was plenty, because Griekspoor saved the only two break points he faced. The Netherlands hadn’t been to the semifinals since 2001. The Germans — whose best current player, two-time major finalist Alexander Zverev, is not on the team in Malaga — have won three Davis Cups, but not since 1993, when 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich led them to the title. AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennisThe hot stove has been burning for roughly a month now, and the first free agent is off the board. The Los Angeles Angels, as they've done frequently this offseason, struck a deal with starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi for three years and $63 million. Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman discuss the surprising signing and why this could be a positive move for the Angels, who may benefit from the third Wild Card spot. While Los Angeles might not be done making moves, this deal should be an encouraging sign for fans that the team intends to compete in 2025. Also on this episode of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast, the guys provide an update on the Juan Soto sweepstakes, including which teams they think are out of the running and whether this process could end up being meaningless if Steve Cohen is willing to offer a blank check. The guys also open up the BBQ Mailbag to answer listener questions, discuss the trade between the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals and remember 1970 National League batting champ Rico Carty. (1:47) - Angels sign Yusei Kikuchi (10:37) - Scott Boras scoreboard—Juan Soto update (25:18) - BBQ Mailbag (40:51) - Reds-Royals trade (46:48) - Non-tender roster updates (49:34) - Remembering Rico Carty
