visakhapatnam l thursday l june 11, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Anthropic releases version of its most powerful AI tool to public first Mythos class model open for all The model is the first to be made widely available from the company’s new Mythos class, its most advanced lineup of AI technology, unveiled in April but restricted over cybersecurity concerns. Anthropic said Fable 5 is exceptionally good at writing and debugging software code, answering complex research questions and analysing images Claude Fable 5 is now available to the general public, despite Anthropic previously saying the model was too powerful for a broad release ■ 10,000+ ‘Safeguards in place to prevent misuse’ ■ “Fable’s capabilities exceed those of any model we’ve ever made generally available,” Anthropic said. While the company acknowledged the risks, it said adequate safeguards are in place For instance, queries on sensitive topics will receive response from Claude Opus 4.8, the next-most-capable model, instead of Fable 5 Critical security flaws reported so far by mythos users 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 Last hurrah Watch out for the prodigies For Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, playing in their sixth WC, this is the last dance. Joining them there will be Luka Modric (Croatia), Manuel Neuer (Germany) and Neymar (Brazil) Lamine Yamal (18) is set to make his WC debut for Spain with huge expectations on his shoulders. He will be among the 891 WC debutants with the likes of Michael Olise (France), Florian Wirtz (Germany) and Nico Paz (Argentina) 1,248 TMC suffers fresh Record number of players from 449 domestic clubs in 71 countries World's biggest sporting carnival begins 104 matches, 48 teams Geopolitical tensions Even on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran’s infrastructure as a very fragile truce plays out in the backdrop on the eve of the 23rd installment of the World Cup. With travel bans and visa restrictions in the US, the stage is set for this being a very politically-charged event and three host countries make this the largest ever FIFA World Cup. A look... artist with kerala roots hits fifa goal with WC Song R o n n i e K u r i a k o se @ Kochi France, Spain bettors’ top picks France and Spain are the consensus favourites to win the World Cup, both listed at +450 at BetMGM and Caesars. DraftKings also lists Spain at that price with France close by at +475. England, Brazil, Argentina and Portugal are 9-1 or better at all three sportsbooks. Co-hosts US are anywhere between 40-1 and 60-1 Today's matches (IST) Group A: Mexico vs South Africa (June 12, 12.30 am) Group A: South Korea vs Czechia (June 12, 7.30 am) When the carnival of the beautiful game kicks off in Mexico City on Thursday, it will carry an Indian imprint unlike any before. Siir Siir, choreographed by Rajit Dev, a Mumbai-based artist with Kerala roots, is one of the 18 songs in the official World Cup album and is set to be played at the opening ceremony . Rajit becomes the first Indian, and the first Malayali, to be associated with an official FIFA World Cup album.Though born and raised in Mumbai, he traces his tryst with dance to his roots in Kerala. “My family hails from Shornur. And like every south Indian family, my parents too wanted my sister to learn dance. My connection with dance began almost by accident. When my mother enrolled my sister in Bharatanatyam classes, I had to accompany her,” Rajit told this newspaper. However, what began as a sibling responsibility soon turned into a passion. Rajit underwent formal Bharatanatyam training and completed his arangetram. He went on to collaborate with actors such as Ranveer Singh and Nora Fatehi. It is his decade-long creative partnership with the latter that has now led him to football’s biggest stage. According to Rajit, the FIFA opportunity presented a unique challenge. Featuring artists from diverse backgrounds, the song Siir Siir demanded a visual language that could resonate globally while retaining a distinctive identity . “I wanted to make it look global, yet the energy and soul had to be Indian,” he said. “When I listen to a song, I let my body react to it. The music dictates the moves. That’s what I’ve done here as well,” said Rajit. blow in RS; more exits in LS likely Sushmita Dev resigns as member of the Upper House, meets Assam CM Himanta Sarma P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The exodus in Trinamool Congress (TMC) continued with Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev resigning from the Upper House on Wednesday dealing another blow , to the embattled party Dev is the . second TMC Member of Parliament to step down within a week, following the resignation of Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, a close aide of party chief Mamata Banerjee. Dev’s resignation has been accepted by Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan. Adding to the uncertainty, names of Mamata’s loyalists including Saayoni Ghosh, Mala Roy, Mitali Bag, Yusuf Pathan and Shatrughan Sinha are being linked to the rebel bloc. Sources said Dev, who earlier quit the Congress 2021 to join the TMC, is likely to join the BJP as she met Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after tendering her resignation. Dev joined the TMC in 2021 after leaving the Congress. A former Lok Sabha MP from Assam’s Silchar constituency, she quit the Congress following her defeat in the 2019 general elections. The TMC later appointed her as its national spokesperson and subsequently nominated her to the Rajya Sabha. While she declined to comment on Mamata or her future political plans, Dev said, “It’s my individual decision, what kind of politics I want to do and who should be my leader. I have my reasons and that’s why I have made my decision.” On reports of her joining the BJP she said, “When I take a , decision I will let you know.” RA J E S H KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi The Union Cabinet passed a special resolution hailing Narendra Modi for becoming India’s longest-serving elected prime minister on Wednesday. Titled ‘Abhinandan Prastav’, the resolution described June 10 as a historic day in the country’s democratic journey It was . adopted hours before the ruling NDA met to celebrate 12 years of the government under Modi’s leadership. The Cabinet meeting began with a standing ovation to the prime minister for having completed 4,399 consecutive days in office, surpassing the record of Jawaharlal Nehru, who served continuously for 4,398 days between 1952 and 1964. The resolution described the occasion as “a symbol of India’s democratic consciousness, public trust, and the power of pub- Videograb of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his NDA colleagues at a felicitation event in New Delhi on Wednesday | PTI NDA, Cabinet hail Modi for crossing longest-serving elected PM milestone lic participation”. It said the milestone reflected the strong support of the people to a leader who is always guided by the ‘Nation First’ principle. The resolution pointed to another approaching milestone — Modi’s 25 years of continuous service as the head of government, adding his leadership has been marked by sensitivity, restraint, deter mination and decisiveness. At the NDA meeting, the ruling alliance resolved to continue working towards the goal of a Viksit Bharat under Modi’s leadership. A resolution was moved by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and seconded by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, congratulated Modi on reaching the milestone and de- Swapan Dasgupta gets finance portfolio West Bengal minister Swapan Dasgupta was on Wednesday handed the finance portfolio. Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari retained home along with law and judicial affairs, land, power, information and cultural affairs, personnel and administrative reforms, and hill affairs. While Jagannath Chattopadhyay was assigned higher education, Dipak Barman got charge of school education department | P8 The daughter of veteran Congress leader and former Union Cabinet minister Santosh Mohan Dev, Sushmita previously served as president of the All India Mahila Congress. Earlier, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy , TMC’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha for 13 years, cited widespread public dissatisfaction with the party while announcing his resignation. Mamata’s meeting with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Abhishek Banerjee’s meeting with Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday also , sparked chatter over the future course of the diminished Mamata-led TMC faction. However, Congress has dismissed reports of merger of the two parties. “Some news reports on what supposedly transpired in the meeting between Sonia and Mamata are completely inaccurate. The meeting was very cordial and many personal matters were talked about,” Jairam Ramesh said. scribing his leadership as the epitome of delivery, accountability and integrity . Naidu remarked that history’s most enduring leaders are those who confront the challenges of their era and convert them into opportunities for national resurgence. The NDA expressed its confidence in the PM’s leadership, noting that his government has pursued bold reforms. “As a result, India began to dream again and dream big. The spirit of enterprise found renewed energy ,” the resolution stated. In his address, Modi said the nation must always take precedence over political interests. “The nation is greater than any party, and when we work with the spirit of ’Nation First’ no decision is too difficult.” Several world leaders congratulated him, with Russia describing Modi as the “doyen of P7 all Indian PMs”.  safety push Draft standards out for vehicles that can talk to each other Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi The Centre on Wednesday released draft standards for vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) communication system to enhance road safety. It will review comments and suggestions from stakeholde r s b e fo re f i n a l i s i n g t h e standards. The v2v communication system allows vehicles on the road to exchange real-time information such as speed, location, and braking patterns over shortrange radio frequencies. It is designed to alert drivers to potential hazards, including stationary vehicles, sudden braking by vehicles ahead, and potential collisions. The draft standard specifies the minimum technical, functional, performance, environmental, and security requirements for the communication device and only covers factoryinstalled On-Board Units. The Department of Telecommunications has already allocated 30 GHz radio frequency for the development of the v2v system. According to the draft, the standard applies to vehicles of Vehicle-to-vehicle communication system can help reduce risk of collision | PTI categories L (motor vehicles with less than four wheels, primarily 2-3 wheelers and light quadricycles), M (motor vehicles with at least four wheels used primarily for the carriage of passengers) and N (motor vehicles with at least four wheels that are used primarily for the carriage of goods). The v2v communication system was discussed in the Transport Development Council meeting held earlier this year. Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadakri chaired the meeting, following which the government planned the installation of the device as mandatory by the end of this year to prevent collisions and improve safety by providing 360degree awareness beyond a driver’s line of sight. Gadkari called the initiative “revolutionary” and claimed it could reduce accidents by 80%. The cost of the equipment is between `5,000 and `7,000. As reported by this newspaper earlier, initially the mandate will apply to new vehicles, with provisions later being made for retrofitting older vehicles. express read Toll in steel plant explosion rises to nine Visakhapatnam: The death toll in the blast at Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited rose to nine after a worker succumbed to burn injuries at MGM Seven Hills Hospital on Wednesday | P3 AI-based screening for retinopathy Vijayawada: The State government has launched a pilot initiative to harness AI in detecting diabetic retinopathy, a serious eye complication among diabetics. Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav said the programme will be implemented at the government hospitals in Guntur, Kurnool & Vizag | P3 TTD Anna Prasadam for 4.4 cr in 5 months E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Tirumala The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), custodian of the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara, has achieved another rare feat. It has served free food to a record 4.4 crore pilgrims in just five months under Anna Prasadam, while maintaining the highest quality standards in preparation. Announcing the milestone on Wednesday the TTD au, thorities revealed that this relentless, round-the-clock spiritual engine — running under the aegis of the Sri Venkateswara Annaprasadam Trust — is backed by a newly consolidated financial corpus of over `2,460 crore in secure fixed deposits. Equipped with the newly integrated Vakulamatha Centralised Kitchen grid, the TTD is effectively transforming traditional temple charity into a globally recognised benchmark for institutional hospitality and advanced logistics. The sheer magnitude of this Akshaya Patra, which has been running without a single day’s pause since its humble inception on April 6, 1985, is vividly reflected in its staggering daily consumption metrics, where a single day’s operations require 15.8 tonnes of premium rice. P4 Centre clears two projects GPRA & CGGPOA to come up in Amaravati S Guru Srikanth @ Vijayawada In a historic first for Andhra Pradesh, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of the General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) in Amaravati, marking the State’s maiden residential complex for Central government employees. The `1,234.91 crore project, funded entirely by the Centre, is designed to provide modern housing close to workplaces, easing financial burden and strengthening the administrative ecosystem of the capital city . Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the clearance, thanking the Union Cabinet for approv- ing both the GPRA and the Central Government General Pool Office Accommodation (CGGPOA). In a post on X, Naidu described the Union Cabinet’s decision as a major boost for Amaravati’s g rowth, noting that it would reinforce the presence of Central institutions, improve inter-dep a r t m e n t a l coordination, and enhance service delivery . The Chief Minister emphasised that the project lays the foundation for Amaravati’s future as a premier hub of governance and public administration. Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications Pemmasani Chandrasekhar, speaking at AP Bhavan in New Delhi, said the GPRA approval is part of a broader administrative push. P4