U.S. TRANSPORTS SMALL n-REACTOR ON PLANE A microreactor was flown on a cargo plane from California to Utah showing nuclear power can be deployed quickly. The US departments of energy and defence partnered with private firm Valar Atomics to fly one of the company’s microreactors on a C-17 aircraft. “This gets us closer to deploying nuclear power when and where needed to give our warfighters the tools to win,” a US official said visakhapatnam l tuesday l february 17, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION 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 Bill Gates lavishes Shaping solutions for the world praise on RTGS, Naidu’s tech push Modi opens India AI Impact Summit; Vaishnaw seeks global consensus on copyrights issue Being here among innovators, researchers and tech enthusiasts gives a glimpse of the extraordinary potential of AI, Indian talent and innovation S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) of the Andhra Pradesh government won appreciation from Bill Gates, Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The global technology leader visited the RTGS centre at the State Secretariat on Monday . During his hour-long stay at the RTGS centre, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu gave a detailed presentation on the functioning of RTGS in rendering civic services using Data Lake, AWARE 2.0, WhatsApp Governance, the Sanjeevani health project and Amaravati capital development. Bill Gates evinced keen interest and sought details on several subjects. When the Chief Minister explained the collection of public satisfaction levels on government services through RTGS, Bill Gates appreciated the system and asked about the steps being taken to protect people’s land records. Chief Minister Naidu said the government is using blockchain technology and QR codes to prevent tampering of land records in the State. Bill Gates also enquired about the implementation of the Sanjeevani health project in Kuppam constituency with Narendra Modi, Prime Minister the support of the Gates Foundation. When Naidu said that the State government maintains the health records of all citizens using AI, Bill Gates appreciated the effort and opined that diagnostic services should be made available to the poor at a low cost. He also enquired about Amaravati capital development, to which the Chief Minister replied that Amaravati would be developed as a green and blue city . In a separate meeting with ministers and officials, the Chief Minister said the visit of Bill Gates to Andhra Pradesh would pave the way for a further digital revolution. Recalling his first meeting with Bill Gates in 1997 as Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh and convincing him to set up Microsoft in Hyderabad, Chandrababu Naidu said that since then the Information Technology sector had witnessed rapid growth in HyP4 derabad.  global platforms like yours (Motion Picture Association) and Netflix should be aware of the cultural context of the country in which they are operating Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Sarvam AI stall at the India AI Impact Expo in New Delhi, as Sarvam’s co-founder Pratyush Kumar looks on | PTI Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister Long queues, packed sessions on Day One The opening day witnessed long queues and packed sessions across the venue. Heavy traffic congestion and confusion at the entry gates left many participants, dignitaries, exhibitors, and speakers stranded outside for extended periods. Several attendees took to social media to express their frustration. While some complained about long waiting times, others flagged the lack of UPI payment facilities at food counters, poor mobile connectivity, and inadequate signage and instructions. VIP security arrangements further compounded the inconvenience, with several areas of the venue cordoned off from 2 pm. The rush was visible at the food courts R a k e s h K um a r @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the India AI Impact Summit, the largest congregation of AI experts, bringing together heads of state and government, ministers, global technology leaders, researchers, multilateral institutions, and industry stakeholders in Delhi. The five-day summit from February 16 to 20, will deliberate on the role of AI in advancing inclusive growth, strengthening public systems, and enabling sustainable development. “Inaugurated the India AI Impact Expo 2026 at Bharat Mandapam. Being here among innovators, researchers and tech enthusiasts gives a glimpse of the extraordinary potential of AI, Indian talent and innovation. Together, we will shape solutions not just for India but for the world,” said Modi. In a separate social media post, Modi said the event, which will be attended by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and others, is themed “Sarvajana Hitaya”, reflecting a shared commitment to har- nessing Artificial Intelligence for human-centric progress. He welcomed the dignitaries — over 100 government representatives, including more than 20 heads of state and government and 60 ministers and vice ministers — along with more than 500 global AI leaders comprising CEOs, founders, academicians, researchers, CTOs, and representatives of philanthropic organisations. Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said India is engaging with industry stakeholders to identify appropriate technical and legal frameworks to ensure that AI does not infringe upon the copyrights of content creators. SC bench to hear pleas on bias S U C HIT R A K A LYAN M O HANT Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday said a nine-judge bench will from April 7 begin the final hearing on petitions relating to discrimination against women at religious places, including Sabarimala Temple, and on the ambit of religious freedom. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, said, “The nine judge bench shall begin hearing the review case on April 7, 2026 at 10.30 am.” In September 2018, a fivejudge Constitution bench, by a 4:1 majority verdict, had lifted the ban that prevented females between 10 and 50 from entering the Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala in Kerala and held that the Hindu religious practice was “illegal and unconstitutional.” On November 14, 2019, another five-judge bench headed by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, by a majority of 3:2, referred the issue of discrimination ag ainst women at various places of worship to a larger bench. However, the order was silent on any stay of the September 28, 2018 judgment which allowed entry of women of all age groups to the hilltop shrine in Kerala.