Yangon, April 2: A 26-year-old hotel staff member was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed hotel building in Myanmar’s Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, five days after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the country, according to the State Administration Council’s information team.

Two people were trapped under the debris, and rescue teams from the Myanmar Fire Services Department and Turkey successfully pulled one survivor to safety, the information team said.

The operation at the hotel began at around 3:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday, and the man was rescued by approximately 00:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, it said.

Efforts are ongoing to locate and rescue the remaining trapped individuals, media reported.

The death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar has risen to 2,719, with approximately 4,521 people injured and 441 others still missing, said the country’s Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing.

Meanwhile, Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar’s junta, rejected ceasefire proposals from Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) and declared a continuation of military operations.

This move directly affects humanitarian efforts as the casualties from the devastating earthquake escalate.

“Some ethnic armed groups may not be actively engaging in battles right now, but they are gathering and training in preparation for attacks. Since this is a form of aggression, the military will continue necessary defence operations,” Hlaing said during a fundraising event in Naypyidaw on Tuesday.

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake, followed by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock minutes later, struck Myanmar’s Mandalay region on Friday, causing massive casualties and damage.

Myanmar announced on Monday a week-long mourning period following the earthquake that struck the nation and wrought widespread destruction.

As the earthquake left entire communities in ruins, reports suggest that concerns have arisen about the potential for Myanmar’s military junta to direct humanitarian funds to affected areas. It is stated that supplies are driven to the areas the junta favours rather than those most in need of help.

The United Nations and international aid organisations are struggling to respond to the devastating earthquake, which destroyed several cities such as Mandalay, Sagaing, and Naypyitaw, and displaced tens of thousands of people. The hospitals are trying to cope with the high influx of patients.

However, the United Nations, the US, India, the European Union, and several other nations and international organisations have sent aid and rescue efforts for earthquake victims in Myanmar.

The Indian Army and Navy mobilised their resources with unwavering resolve, providing both immediate rescue support and long-term aid to the affected communities.

New Delhi, April 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Thailand, beginning Thursday, for the sixth BIMSTEC Summit, during which he will meet his counterpart, Paetongtarn Shinawatra and hold bilateral ties.

During the visit, PM Modi will be enhancing India’s deep civilisational linkages, maritime connectivity, and cross-cultural exchanges with member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit.

At the summit, themed ‘BIMSTEC – Prosperous, Resilient and Open’, the leaders are also expected to discuss various institutional and capacity-building measures to augment collaboration within the BIMSTEC framework, the Ministry of External Affairs said last week.

India has been taking several initiatives in BIMSTEC to strengthen regional cooperation and partnership, including in enhancing security; facilitating trade and investment; establishing physical, maritime and digital connectivity; collaborating in food, energy, climate and human security; promoting capacity building and skill development; and enhancing people-to-people ties,” read a statement issued by the MEA.

PM Modi’s visit to the South Asian country at the invitation of the Thai government is expected to strengthen ties and reaffirm India’s commitment to regional cooperation.

This would be the second meeting between PM Modi and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Earlier, PM Modi visited Thailand in 2019, and this visit is expected to build on the positive momentum of bilateral relations.

The last BIMSTEC Summit was hosted by Colombo in virtual format.

Established in June 1997, the BIMSTEC regional grouping forms a unique link between South and South-East Asia with five members from South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka – and two from South-East Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

Thailand is India’s maritime neighbour, a valuable partner in the Act East policy and vision for the Indo-Pacific, and also a highly valued partner in BIMSTEC.

India and Thailand are maritime neighbours with shared civilisational bonds underpinned by cultural, linguistic, and religious ties.

Notably, India recently sent the holy relics of Lord Buddha and two of his main disciples for a 25-day exposition across five different cities of Thailand, and its unprecedented success cemented age-old ties between the two nations.

San Francisco, Feb 15: Sam Altman-run OpenAI on Saturday rejected billionaire Elon Musk’s offer to buy the nonprofit company for $97.4 billion.

In a statement on X social media platform, Bret Taylor, Board Chair of OpenAI, called Musk’s bid “an attempt to disrupt his competition.”

“OpenAI is not for sale, and the board has unanimously rejected Mr. Musk’s latest attempt to disrupt his competition,” Taylor posted.

“Any potential reorganisation of OpenAI will strengthen our nonprofit and its mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity,” said Taylor on behalf of the OpenAI Board of Directors.

According to reports, OpenAI has also sent a letter to Musk’s lawyer, saying that the bid was not in the best interests of its mission.

Earlier this week, Musk’s AI company, xAI, and a group of investors offered to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit for $97.4 billion.

Altman and the company’s board of directors dismissed the unsolicited proposal.

In a statement, Andy Nussbaum, the counsel representing OpenAI’s board, said Musk’s bid “doesn’t set a value for OpenAI’s nonprofit” and the nonprofit is “not for sale.”

Musk was an OpenAI co-founder and brought a lawsuit against the company and Altman, alleging that OpenAI engaged in anticompetitive behaviour and fraud, among other offences.

In October last year, Musk filed for a preliminary injunction against OpenAI for alleged anti-competitive behaviour.

The motion for an injunction accused OpenAI, its CEO Altman, President Greg Brockman, Microsoft, LinkedIn co-founder and former OpenAI board member Reid Hoffman, and former OpenAI board member and Microsoft VP Dee Templeton of “various illicit activities and seeks to halt them”.

The allegations also included converting OpenAI’s governance structure to a for-profit and “transferring any material assets, including intellectual property owned, held, or controlled by OpenAI, Inc., its subsidiaries, or affiliates.”

OpenAI said in a statement that “Elon’s fourth attempt, which again recycles the same baseless complaints, continues to be utterly without merit.”

The AI company had earlier called the lawsuit “blusterous” and baseless.