HYDERABAD l saturday l july 25, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION Anand first-ever indian to occupy fide top post FIVE-TIME WORLD CHAMP’S ELECTION STANCE The five-time world champion assumed the top post as per FIDE charter. During the recent Chennai Grand Masters event, Anand had said he won’t be contesting the September elections. As it stands, the 56-year-old from Chennai hasn’t announced his candidacy, but the last date for nominations is on July 26. He is expected to take a final call within that date Viswanathan Anand becomes interim president of world body after Russian Arkady Dvorkovich steps aside following European Union sanctions Focus on World Championship ■ There’s still no clarity on the host for the World Championship tie between D Gukesh and Javokhir Sindarov. Anand won’t be the deciding authority but it will be interesting to see how things pan out ■ Chennai is yet to bid and there are murmurs that Bengaluru has shown interest but nothing has been confirmed yet | P11 July 26 LAsT DATE FOR filing NOMINATION papers FOR FIDE ELECTIONS 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 Kolkata Pune hyderabad 10% US tariff on India over forced labour concerns mum statutory period of 150 days before expiring on Hours after the 10% tempo- Thursday . rary tariffs imposed under While India has qualified Section 122 of the Trade Act for the lower tariff bracket, of 1974 expired, the US on which gives it a relative adThursday retained the tar- vantage over several competiffs on merchandise imports ing nations, export bodies from India under Section and industry experts cau301, citing concerns over the tioned against overlooking country’s enforcement of re- the broader implications of strictions on forced labour. the US action. US Trade Representative According to economic Jamieson Greer said the new think tank GTRI, it could levy will kick in on Friday . raise the cost of Indian prodFo l l ow i n g t h e ucts in US markets. conclusion of its “The tariff lacks a Section 301 investicredible factual bagation linked to sis and appears deforced labour, the signed to preserve US has imposed tarthe Trump adminiffs on imports from istration’s tariff 60 economies that it wall rather than adsaid had failed to dress an unproven adequately prohibit The fact that India forced-labour probhas been placed in or enforce restric- 10% tariff category lem in India,” said tions on goods proGTRI founder Ajay while competing duced using forced Srivastava. nations face a labour. Manoj Mishra, higher tariff, shows Of these, 17 coun- US’s recognition of partner and tax tries—including In- India’s measures to controversy mandia, Canada, the check forced labour agement leader at UK, Bangladesh, Grant Thor nton SC Ralhan, FIEO and Pakistan—will Bharat, said India president face a 10% tariff, is relatively better while the remainplaced than several ing 43 economies will be sub- Asian manufacturing hubs. ject to a higher levy of According to Mishra, the 12.5%. tariff differential could imGoods loaded before July prove the relative competi24 and entering the US by tiveness of Indian exports, July 28 will be exempt under particularly in sectors such a transition provision. as textiles and apparel, footThe earlier 10% tariff un- wear, furniture, engineering der Section 122, announced goods, electronics and elecon February 20 and imple- trical equipment, and toys, mented on February 24, re- where these countries commained in force for the maxi- pete directly . PUSHP I TA DE Y @ New Delhi Student groups in different cities protesting in solidarity with the CJP’s agitation, despite inclement weather and caning in some places, on Friday | PTI/martin louis/VINAY MADAPU Cabinet OKAYs draft bill on harsher punishment in paper leak cases Educational Govt softens on two institutions demands, may not shut in TG Proposes up to 10 years in jail, up from five; amendment bill may be tabled on Monday m u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi THE Union Cabinet on Friday approved a draft bill prescribing harsher punishment for examination paper leaks, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a midnight video message that the government would move to tighten the law. The bill amends the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, and proposes a minimum jail term of five years for those involved in paper leaks, up from the current three years. In cases of organised paper leaks, the punishment could extend to 10 years in prison along with a fine of up to `10 crore, a sharp jump from the existing three to five years’ imprisonment and a minimum fine of `1 crore. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister at the Parliament House complex, decided that the amended law would target organised gangs and institutions profiting from examination fraud, while shielding ordinary candidates from its harsher provisions. Officials said the government also intends to set up fast-track courts to ensure speedy trials of the offenders. The existing law already covers major recruitment and entrance examinations, including the UPSC, SSC, NEET, JEE and CUET. Announcing the move on Thursday night, Modi had said the Cabinet would take up a draft law providing for stricter punishment and quicker trials in paperleak cases. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday that the bill would be introduced “at the earliest,” adding that the prime minister had directed there be no delay in bringing legislation concerning students. “We are preparing to present the bill. After the Cabinet briefing, we will announce the timing... It would not be appropriate to obstruct such a measure,” Rijiju said, while accusing the Congress of trying to disrupt parliamentary proceedings. He warned that any attempt to stall debate on the bill would draw public anger. Sources indicated the bill is likely to be tabled in Parliament on Monday . The Cabinet’s decision comes against the backdrop of sustained protests over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination and growing demands for stronger safeguards against paper leaks. It also follows talks between Union ministers and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which has been leading the agitation. CJP leaders said the Centre had sought time until Saturday afternoon to respond to its demand for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while agreeing in principle to compensate families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide and to withdraw cases against protesting students. Late on Friday evening, PM Modi shared another video on Instagram thanking Gen Z for watching his earlier video and offering “insightful suggestions” to help the Centre tackle the paper leak issue. day’s developments 1 Centre asks GitHub to remove Bitchat, which enables peer-to-peer communication over Bluetooth without mobile networks 2 SC said it will ensure end of ad-hocism in NEET and institutionalise the exam system, and sought govt’s response on online exam mode 3 SC to hear on Monday two pleas alleging police excesses on students during Sansad march on July 20 protesting the NEET paper leak 4 About 47 officials of the National Testing Agency have been sacked, with the Centre saying it will overhaul the testing body 5 Centre directs airlifting of 10 more CRPF companies from Chhattisgarh to be deployed in Delhi in view of the student protests 6 Delhi Police cancels all routine leaves of its personnel with immediate effect in view of the prevailing law and order situation yield on Pradhan R a j e s h K u m a r T h a k u r a n d A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi At their second round of talks on Friday, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) told the government that its three demands — exit of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, `1 crore compensation for NEET-UG victims, and no legal action against protesters — were non-negotiable. Union ministers J P Nadda and Dr Jitendra Singh, the interlocutors who spoke to the CJP delegation at Vithalbhai Patel House, said they had heard the demands and will get back on Saturday “They had three . main demands and five reform suggestions for exams. We told them we will meet again tomorrow afternoon and share the government’s perspective,” Nadda said. The deliberations, described as cordial by the ministers, reportedly saw the government agree to two demands — adequate compensation for the families of those who allegedly died by suicide following the paper leak, and the withJ P Nadda after a meeting with a drawal of cases against CJP delegation, at Vithalbhai Patel the protesting youth. House in New Delhi on Friday | PTI However, indications are that the government will not ask Pradhan to quit. Instead, it intends to shift the focus towards sweeping reforms of the examination system through legislation and administrative measures. “The priority is to restore confidence of the students by introducing measures to prevent future exam paper leaks, strengthen safeguards within the exam process and ensure those responsible for the leaks are brought to justice,” several wellplaced sources said. The Centre has already taken a slew of steps, including a top bureaucratic reshuffle and sacked many NTA officials as part of a wider overhaul. It’s the NTA that runs national competitive exams like NEET. In the event of a Cabinet reshuffle, Pradhan’s portfolio could change, the sources said. But no such exercise appears to be on the horizon in the short run. e n s @ Hyderabad Educational institutions across Telangana remained closed on Friday in response to a bandh call given by student organisations demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET question paper leak, the abolition of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the introduction of a transparent mechanism for conducting national entrance examinations. The bandh was called by SFI, AISF, NSUI, PDSU, AIFDS, SIO, AISB and AIPSU. In Hyderabad, nearly 500 students marched from Narayanguda crossroads to Himayatnagar crossroads carrying flags and banners, demanding Pradhan’s resignation. They also demanded an ex gratia of `1 crore each for the families of 21 students who allegedly died by suicide following the question paper leak. “For NEET aspirants, the controversy has also raised concerns over the time and money invested in preparing for the exam. We spend one or two years preparing for NEET, and many families spend lakhs of rupees on coaching. When allegations of paper leaks emerge, students begin to question whether all their hard work has any value,” said Anil Rao, a NEET aspirant who joined the protest. “Every mark can decide whether we get a medical seat. Students cannot afford to lose an academic year because of failures in the examination system. Those responsible for any wrongdoing should be punished,” said T Ravi, another student. HC again raps HYDRAA chief, seeks his apology T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad The Telangana High Court has once again expressed serious displeasure over the conduct of HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath, observing that his actions were “unprecedented” in the history of the court and warning that stringent action would follow unless he tendered an unconditional apology . Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, while hearing contempt cases filed by Shanta Sriram Constructions Private Limited in connection with a 40-acre land dispute at Lothkunta village in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, directed the HYDRAA commissioner to remain personally present before the court on July 27 and file a detailed affidavit explaining his actions. The judge also made it clear that the order passed by the court on Thursday directing the deployment of Army personnel to protect the land would be considered after the HYDRAA chief files his affidavit on July 27. The court further directed Ranganath to give a categorical undertaking that neither he nor HYDRAA officials would enter the disputed property again and to explain why officials allegedly entered the land on July 18 despite subsisting judicial orders.  CONTINUED ON P5 `740 cr released to improve medical infra in rural areas OpenAI can use copyrighted content to train ChatGPT: HC Interim order E x p r e s s N e w s S e rvi c e @ Hyderabad The state government on Friday released `740 crore to the Health department to strengthen primary healthcare services and improve medical infrastructure in rural areas across Telangana. The funds were released following the directions of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. Orders issued by Finance Department Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania stated that the funds would be utilised to construct 1,569 new health sub-centres in rural areas to strengthen grassroots healthcare infrastructure and improve access to medical services. The government will also introduce free diagnostic services at the village level, enabling rural residents to access basic medical tests locally without having to travel to towns. Officials said the initiative aims to ensure early detection of diseases, facilitate timely treatment, and reduce the financial burden on poor and middle-class families. UDAYAN K I SHO R E @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Friday refused to restrain artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT from using published news material, saying it does not amount to copyright infringement. In an interim order, Justice A m i t B a n s a l r u l e d t h at OpenAI’s use of retrieved copyrighted works to train its large language models (LLMs) falls under “fair dealing” provision of the Copyright Act. The court was hearing a petition filed by news agency Asian News International (ANI) in Copyright laws vs technological innovation The HC observed that copyright law and technological innovation enjoy a dynamic relationship. When technologies evolve, they enable new forms of creative expression and disrupt settled copyright arrangements. “Some of these technologies are player pianos, radio broadcasting, cable TV, photocopying, digital downloading and streaming, and, more recently, AI,” it said 2024 against Open AI Inc and Open AI OpCo LLC, raising issues of infringement of its copyrighted material for LLM training by OpenAI. Justice Amit Bansal said that prima facie, the outputs generated by ChatGPT using retriev- al-augmented generation (RAG) technique did not amount to infringement under Section 51 of the Copyright Act, since the outputs generated were not substantially similar to ANI’s ‘original literary works’. “Further, ANI has failed to satisfy this court that any memorisation and regurgitation of ANI’s original literary works has happened through the responses generated by ChatGPT,” the judge said, while refusing to restrain ChatGPT from using the content pub- lished by ANI. The bench said that irreparable injury would be caused not only to OpenAI but to public interest also if any interim injunction was granted in favour of ANI at this stage. According to ANI, merely because its news content is publicly available, OpenAI does not get a right to exploit it or create copies of it to store. On its part, OpenAI argued that there cannot be a monopoly on facts and that if any news platform does not want its website accessed by OpenAI, then it can get itself included in the blocklist.