bhubaneswar l saturday l july 04, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l jeypore EDITION Top Defence panel clears buys hedaing hedaing hedaing he da worth about `52,000 crore hedaing ing hedaing hedaing The 38.2% Acquisition part in (DAC) meeting OnlyDefencepeople take Counciljob-related on Friday while 91% spend their time in activities cleared major capital acquisition proposals worth around has found dfdx ghg socialising, a new survey`52,000 crore | P7 hvjh Op Sindoor’s influence on priorities hedaing hedaing hedaing he da hedaing ing First meet after big shake-up at head edaing hedaing he da hedaing ingthe top The National Statistical Office’s TimeDefence Minister Rajnath Singh, approvals by the DAC, chaired by Use Survey revealed that 24.1% pointed to how Operation Sindoor influenced acquisition priorities, as people participate in activities related to learning, while only 2.4% take counter-drone systems, layered air work. The survey also said that 20.7% part in volunteer and other unpaid defence, anti-tank weapons and persistent surveillance platforms were services for household members. people said they do unpaid care giving on the shopping list. The Army’s request for the indigenous care and care an anti-UAV system, Such services include child Akash-Tarang,for dependent adults was cleared ■ ■ ■ This was the first DAC meet Time Use Survey is the top, with The primary objective of thesince a shake-up at to measure Gen Raja Subramani taking over as Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Dhiraj participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities Seth asis an important source of information on theas Navy chief unpaid It Army chief and Adm Krishna Swaminathan time spent in DAC’s “acceptance of necessity” is the first of the procurement care-giving activities, volunteer work, unpaid domestic service steps, which includes tendering, household members, etc | P7 producing activities of thetechnical evaluation and cost negotiations 00000 2,300 indigenous anti-tank guidedsurvey Households covered by The missiles, 100 launchers, 5 simulators 2019 conducted during Jan-Dec okayed CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Govt plans separate law to address AI challenges Existing legal framework inadequate to regulate evolving tech: IT secy R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi With policymakers across the globe grappling with the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), from disinformation to cyber security threats, the government is considering the option of bringing in a separate legislation to regulate AI, IT secretary S Krishnan said on Friday . India’s existing legal framework has managed to address the initial concerns around AI, such as deepfakes and labourrelated issues. However, as the AI technology evolves and new threats emerge, a dedicated regulation or law may be required to deal with them, Krishnan added. “In AI and cybersecurity the , regulations regarding the legal process in India have been adequate in addressing our initial concerns... We addressed these by making new rules under the existing laws. But now we feel that we may need to think more deeply and make additional regulations. We may need to make a new law,” Krishnan said. Without giving a timeframe for the proposed law, he said: “It is a conversation which has commenced... My minister (IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw) and I have both been on record earlier that we will look at AI regulation when the time is right, and it appears that the time is getting right, and we will start looking at it.” Vaishnaw directs meta officials be summoned IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed his ministry to summon Meta officials over Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse material. According to sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the govt has sought an explanation from Meta. The move follows a BBC report on paid Insta ads with the key words “rape video” and “child video”. These advertisements allegedly redirected users to Telegram channels that sell child sexual abuse material. Meanwhile, Meta representatives met MeitY officials on Friday in connection with the government’s earlier notice on the proposed “usernames” feature on WhatsApp The IT secretary, who was speaking on the sidelines of a CII cybersecurity event in Delhi on Friday also acknowledged , the knotty issue of VPN (virtual private network) service providers refusing to register in India and offering services from other countries. “There is a system for VPNs to register, but many do not register in India and offer services from elsewhere. We have to look at both technology solutions and legal solutions to address this issue,” he said. VPN encrypts internet connection and routes it through a remote server to enhance privacy security and access to re, , stricted content. It provides anonymity to users who can bypass government censorship and access sites that are banned in their country . Krishnan said the government has asked Google Play Store and Apple App Store to remove three Chinese apps— BAT-BMS, Lossigy and Epochi-ion—after they were found to have been misused to disable battery-operated vehicles remotely The decision was taken . after viral videos showed erickshaws being rendered inoperable through a remote shutdown feature in the BATBMS app, triggering concerns over cybersecurity risks associated with internet-connected vehicle management systems. “A couple of apps came to our notice. Both have been taken down,” Krishnan said, adding that any other app found to be similarly misused would also be blocked. Ronaldo & Co advance after VAR drama Ramos’ late decider Goncalo Ramos headed Portugal into the lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time before Croatia saw a last-gasp equaliser ruled out for offside in Toronto. Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo had helped haul his team back into the contest, burying a 68th-minute penalty to cancel out Croatia’s opener E x p ress Ne w s S er v i c e @ Bhubaneswar A day after bagging the India’s largest FDI in metallurgy sector, the state government on Friday signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with IHI Corporation and ACME Group for a cumulative investment of `67,000 crore to promote collaboration in clean energy advanced manu, facturing and industrial development. The MoC was signed during Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s interaction with a Japanese business delegation at Lok Seva Bhawan here. Industries minister Sampad Chandra Swain was present. IHI and ACME will jointly set up TNPL team owner has stake in EPL FC G o mesh S @ Chennai IN a first, the upcoming edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) will see a US-based franchise owner who has stakes in English Premier League club Leeds United FC. Palani Gurusamy — founder of Circlebase, an IT consulting firm — will be taking over Madurai Panthers franchise from Siechem Technologies going forward as they assembled the team at the TNPL auction in Chennai on Friday . three projects in Odisha, generating employment opportunities for around 7,000 people. The projects include a 0.4 MTPA green ammonia project at Gopalpur-Tata SEZ with an investment of `20,000 crore and employment potential of 3,400, along with an associated jetty-less floating terminal infrastructure involving an additional investment of `1,000 crore. Besides, a 0.8 MTPA green ammonia project at Paradip has been proposed with an investment of `34,000 crore and employment potential of 3,600, along with a methanol project involving`12,000 crore and creating 600 jobs. Majhi highlighted state’s vision to establish one of the country’s largest green hydrogen ecosystems. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Friday broke its silence over the sensational donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, with general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale observing that the condemnable act had deeply hurt the sentiments of the entire society and demanding stringent punishment for the guilty . At the point of contact, the tech shows a small spike as seen in the image | FIFA Media Tech denies Croatia Portugal were stunned when Josko Gvardiol prodded home an apparent equaliser. Yet VAR chalked off the goal after a chip embedded in the ball detected that it had brushed Croatia striker Igor Matanovic while Mario Pasalic was in an offside position in the build-up Pre-quarters from today The last-16 stage begins today with Canada facing Morocco before France’s tie vs Paraguay 4 China firms get waiver for power projects R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi THE Centre has granted a twoyear exemption to four Chinalinked electrical equipment makers with manufacturing facilities in India, allowing them to participate in government tenders for critical power infrastructure projects. The four companies are TBEA Energy India, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese company TBEA Group; Nanjing Electric India, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese power equipment manufacturer Nanjing Electric; New Northeast Electric India, which press Intake Pvt jet operators seek separate crew timings | P7 Ganjam village a prohibited zone | P4 “After yesterday’s $11 billion agreement with Middle East investors, today’s partnership with our Far East friend Japan will further brighten the state’s industrial sector,” he said. Stating that Odisha has so far approved 12 major green hydrogen and green ammonia projects, attracting over `2 lakh crore investment and creating more than 36,000 jobs, the chief minister said two green industrial corridors are being developed covering Paradip, Kendrapara and Gopalpur, which will make Odisha, the ‘Steel Capital of India’ and a global leader in green steel production. He invited IHI Corporation to set up a ‘Japanese Green Engineering and Innovation Centre’ in the state. He also requested the MITSUBISHI Corporation to invest in the field of green chemicals and sustainable fuels. Official sources said the representative of Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company expressed interest in working together to build a green and strong future for Odisha The CM said since ‘Utkarsh Odisha’ in January last year, the second industrial revolution has begun in the state, and in the last one-and-half years, the state government has approved projects worth more than `10 CONTINUED ON P5 lakh crore. RSS raps Ram temple donation theft, seeks action against guilty RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR and Nam i ta B aj pa i @ New Delhi/Lucknow Earlier, Spain had advanced to last 16 stage with a scintillating 3-0 win over Austria in Los Angeles. Two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and a Pedro Porro header sealed victory for the Spaniards. Switzerland also advanced with a 2-0 win over Algeria Today’s matches: Canada vs Morocco 10.30 PM, France vs Paraguay 2.30 AM* (IST Sunday) Odisha signs MoC with IHI Corp, ACME for `67,000 cr green energy and infra projects CM Mohan Majhi and Industries minister Sampad Chandra Swain with the Japanese delegation 3 cheers for Spain Emphasising the need to restore public confidence, Hosabale said the prevailing confusion and uncertainty must come to an end. “In this regard, we expect the temple management and the UP government-appointed special investigation team (SIT) to take all necessary initiatives.” He appealed to the Hindu community to exercise patience and restraint, urging them not to allow anti-national forces to exploit the incident. CONTINUED ON P5 Exemption sought in January The Ministry of Power had sought the exemption in January to prevent delays in key transmission and power projects. The move is expected to increase competition in procurement across the power, transmission and distribution, renewable energy, industrial automation, and infrastructure sectors over the next two years has technology transfer ties with Chinese power sector companies; and Taikai Electric (India), a subsidiary of China-headquartered Taikai Group. The exemption has been granted by the finance ministry under the Public Procurement Order (Rule 144(xi) of the General Financial Rules, 2017), which restricts companies from countries sharing a land border with India, including China, from participating in government procurement without prior approval. TNIE has reviewed the copy of the order. Following the 2020 border clashes, Chinese bidders were required to obtain political and security clearances before bidding for public contracts. In May 2026, the finance ministry notified new rules allowing overseas companies with Chinese shareholding of up to 10% to invest in India under the automatic route. With the exemption, these companies will be eligible to bid for public sector contracts involving critical power equipment, particularly high-voltage transformers and gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), where domestic manufacturing capacity remains limited.