NEW DELHI: Govt on Friday directed Elon Musk-owned social media platform X to remove, without delay, all obscene, indecent, sexually explicit and unlawful content, especially that generated by its AI app Grok, failing which it might have to face legal consequences. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) issued a notice to the chief compliance officer of ‘X Corp’ (India operations) for failure to observe statutory due diligence obligations under the IT Act, 2000, and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and sought within 72 hours a detailed action taken report, to prevent generation and transmission of explicit content through the misuse of Al-based services like ‘Grok’ and xAlts. “Non-compliance with the above requirements shall be viewed seriously and may result in strict legal consequences against your platform, without any further notice, under the IT Act, the IT Rules, BNSS, BNS and other applicable laws,” MeitY said in its communication to X. The ministry highlighted that it has been reported from time to time, including through representations from Members of Parliament, that certain categories of content circulating on X platform may not be in compliance with laws relating to decency and obscenity. It has been especially observed that “Grok AI” service is being misused by users to create fake accounts that host, generate, publish or share images or videos of women that depict them in a derogatory or vulgar manner. Against this backdrop, the ministry has directed that X must immediately undertake a comprehensive technical, procedural and governance-level review of the Al-based application “Grok”. X has also been directed to “enforce its user terms of service, acceptable use policies and AI usage restrictions, including strong deterrent measures such as suspension, termination and other enforcement actions against violating users and accounts”. Copies of the notice have been sent to the ministries of home affairs, women and child development, information and broadcasting, and NCW, NCPCR and chief secretaries of all states and UTs.

SRINAGAR: J&K Police have initiated action against more than 100 people, including teenagers, for violating prohibitory orders on the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services.Cops Friday conducted a district-wide verification drive in south Kashmir’s Shopian, during which 15 people were identified using VPN services. According to police, detailed technical scrutiny and background verification did not reveal any terror-related links or adverse antecedents, so no FIR was registered in the matter.“However, as a preventive measure, security proceedings were initiated against 10 individuals, primarily belonging to the younger age group, for violation of the said orders,” a cop said. Under these security measures, they were warned to refrain from using VPN services in the future. “Out of the 15 individuals identified, five were minors who were counselled and advised in the presence of their guardians, with emphasis on awareness, lawful digital conduct, and the consequences of violating lawful orders,” he added.In south Kashmir’s Kulgam and Pulwama districts, cops have identified 101 people who used VPN services in violation of prohibitory orders. In Kulgam, police said security proceedings have been initiated against six persons. In Pulwama, 95 people were identified using VPN, but technical scrutiny of their devices and background verification found no terror-related links or adverse antecedents, so no FIR was registered. However, as a preventive measure, security proceedings have been initiated against 43 individuals, primarily in the 18–40 age group, for violating prohibitory orders.Earlier this week, police imposed a phased ban on VPN services across several districts in Kashmir Valley, issuing district-wise orders. VPN use was prohibited in Srinagar, Ganderbal, Kupwara, Shopian, Budgam, Pulwama, Kulgam and Anantnag, citing threats to national security and the possibility of their misuse to incite unrest.Following the imposition of restrictions, police have begun acting against violators. “How can I watch my favourite Irish and UK shows now? Is it only banned for illegal activity? I’m sure that The Graham Norton Show is not dodgy!” wrote a Facebook user in Srinagar in response.

Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman bowls a delivery during the Asia Cup cricket match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Sharjah: Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has urged everyone to play the “waiting game” on the controversy surrounding Bangladesh cricketer Mustafizur Rahman and his association with the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).“I am not so knowledgeable, I am sitting here in Dubai for 2-3 weeks. What will be the decision? Everything comes under the BCCI, the decision is in their hands,” said Kaif, a commentator in the ILT20, on the sidelines of the competition in the UAE.

“I will not sit here and share an opinion because it is a sensitive issue. You should play a waiting game because what is happening, what will be the movement, we may write (but in reality) there is no movement there,” he continued.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“So I think we should not just jump the gun. We should just wait and watch, whatever the decision will be, BCCI are sitting there, they run big leagues, they know what to do and how to do it,” stated the former India cricketer.Earlier, spiritual leader Devkinandan Thakur had launched an attack against Bollywood actor and KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan over signing Mustafizur in the IPL Auction, calling him a “traitor.”Thakur had controversially said, “The way Hindus are being persecuted in Bangladesh, women and girls are being raped, their homes are being burned, and anti-India slogans are being chanted there. Despite all this, traitors like Shah Rukh Khan, I’m calling him a traitor because everything he has is given by India, given by the people of India, but where do they invest this money? They invest it in players from a country that is working against India,” he had told news agency ANI.He clarified that these remarks were not driven by personal animosity, saying, “I have never met Shah Rukh Khan. I don’t know him. I’ve only seen his posters. I don’t watch films. I don’t do things that corrupt the character of the world.”He added, “I am a Hindu religious leader, and Hindus are being killed. Hindus are being killed in Bangladesh, and you have brought in a Bangladeshi cricketer in your team?”

The issue has triggered political reactions across the country, with leaders from the BJP, Congress, NCP, CPI(M), Samajwadi Party, and Shiv Sena (UBT) weighing in.The comments come in the aftermath of tensions over the safety of Hindus in Bangladesh. Dipu Chandra Das, a worker in a garment factory in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district, was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy charges, had his body hanged and set on fire.Another Hindu youth was lynched at Hosendanga village of Kalimohor Union in Rajbari’s Pangsha sub-district over an extortion allegation.

India is set to emerge as one of the world’s top four semiconductor manufacturing nations by 2032 and aims to become the best by 2035, driven by its talent base and expanding ecosystem, Union minister for electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday, reported PTI .Speaking on the sidelines of an event announcing approval of 22 projects worth Rs 41,863 crore under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), Vaishnaw said four chip companies will begin commercial production in 2026, with major automobile and telecom firms expected to source semiconductors domestically.“I think by 2032, we would be very significant among the top 4 nations of the semiconductor industry, and by 2035, we would be among the best. This direction is clearly visible. This can be clearly predicted,” Vaishnaw said .Under the Semicon India Programme, the government has so far approved 10 manufacturing units — including two fabrication plants and eight assembly, testing and packaging units — involving investments of about Rs 1.6 lakh crore, according to the minister.Detailing the production timeline, Vaishnaw said, “The plants which started pilot production last year, they are the ones that will get into commercial production earlier, which is Kaynes and CG Semi. Micron has also started pilot production very recently. They will also go next month. Tata plant in Assam will start pilot production by middle of the year, and by the end of the year they will start the commercial production,” he said .In parallel, India’s chip design capabilities are also expanding. Under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, 24 chip design projects are being supported through startups, representing a total project value of Rs 920 crore.Vaishnaw attributed India’s growing prominence in semiconductors to a strong focus on talent development. He said students across 298 universities in the country are now designing chips that are being validated.“We could not count more than 20 universities in the whole world, including the US, China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where students can design a chip, manufacture it, and validate the product. India has, because of our focus on silicon, 298 universities,” Vaishnaw said .The minister said this expanding talent pipeline, combined with large-scale manufacturing investments, is positioning India to play a decisive role in the global semiconductor value chain over the next decade.

The government on Friday announced a Rs 7,295-crore export support package aimed at improving exporters’ access to credit, comprising a Rs 5,181-crore interest subvention scheme and a Rs 2,114-crore collateral support measure, officials said.Both interventions will be implemented over a six-year period from 2025 to 2031 and form part of the Rs 25,060-crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM) approved by the Cabinet in November 2025, PTI reported.Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Ajay Bhadoo said the measures are designed to address trade finance challenges faced by exporters, especially at a time when global trade is under pressure.Under the interest subvention scheme, exporters will receive subsidy support on both pre-shipment and post-shipment export credit. The scheme will help exporters from identified sectors access rupee export credit at competitive rates.The government will provide interest subvention in the range of 2.75 per cent to eligible micro, small and medium exporters. The annual benefit under the scheme will be capped at Rs 50 lakh per firm, the commerce ministry said.The subvention rates will be reviewed twice a year, in March and September, based on domestic and global benchmarks. The Reserve Bank of India, in coordination with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), will be the implementing agency, and detailed guidelines will be issued separately.A pilot roll-out of the scheme will be undertaken initially, with scope for refinements based on implementation feedback.In addition, the government announced a Rs 2,114-crore collateral support scheme for export credit, under which credit guarantee cover will be provided to MSMEs for export-linked working capital loans.Under this support measure, collateral guarantee of up to Rs 10 crore per firm will be available. The guarantee coverage will be up to 85 per cent for micro and small exporters and up to 65 per cent for medium exporters.According to the DGFT, both the interest subvention and collateral support schemes will apply only to exports from a selected positive list of products. Defence and SCOMET (Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies) items are covered, while restricted products, waste and scrap, and goods covered under the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes will be excluded.The package complements existing credit-guarantee mechanisms and is aimed at boosting bank lending to export-oriented MSMEs, the ministry said. Guidelines for the collateral support scheme will be notified by the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), followed by a pilot phase and integration into a broader overhaul of export-promotion frameworks.

Tesla has lost its position as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker after deliveries fell for a second consecutive year in 2025, weighed down by intensifying competition and weakening demand in key markets, AP reported.The US electric carmaker said it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, a decline of 9 per cent from the previous year. Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million electric vehicles last year, has now overtaken Tesla as the world’s biggest EV manufacturer.Fourth-quarter deliveries stood at 418,227 vehicles, below the 440,000 units expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Sales in the quarter were also hit by the expiry of a $7,500 US federal tax credit that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.Tesla shares were largely unchanged in early trade on Friday at $450.27, as investors continued to look beyond near-term sales pressures. The stock ended 2025 up about 11 per cent, reflecting optimism around the company’s longer-term strategy.Despite declining vehicle sales, investors are betting on chief executive Elon Musk’s push to reposition Tesla as a leader in autonomous mobility and robotics. Musk has repeatedly said that future growth will be driven by robotaxi services, energy storage and humanoid robots designed for use in homes and factories.The fourth quarter marked the first full period of sales for stripped-down, lower-priced versions of the Model Y and Model 3, unveiled in early October to revive demand. The new Model Y is priced just under $40,000, while the cheaper Model 3 starts below $37,000. These models are expected to help Tesla compete more aggressively with Chinese EV makers in Europe and Asia.Looking ahead, analysts expect pressure on financial performance to continue in the near term. For the fourth-quarter results due in late January, Tesla is forecast to report a 3 per cent drop in revenue and a nearly 40 per cent fall in earnings per share, according to FactSet. Analysts, however, expect sales and profits to stabilise and begin recovering as 2026 progresses.Musk has argued that falling car sales are less critical to Tesla’s long-term outlook, as the company pivots towards new technologies and business lines. Supporting that vision, shareholders approved a potentially large new pay package for Musk at the company’s annual meeting in November.Musk, already the world’s richest individual, also received a boost last month when the Delaware Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling that had voided a $55 billion pay package awarded to him by Tesla in 2018.

Wall Street and major global equity markets began 2026 on an upbeat note on Friday, buoyed by optimism around artificial intelligence-led growth and strong gains in technology stocks, AP reported.In early trade, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent, extending gains after closing 2025 with a rise of more than 16 per cent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1 per cent, driven by advances in big technology names, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 60 points, or 0.1 per cent.Buying interest remained strong in AI-linked stocks, with Nvidia and Google-parent Alphabet rising more than 2 per cent each, amid expectations that expanding use of artificial intelligence will boost demand for chips, data centres and related infrastructure. US Treasury yields were largely steady.Global markets also opened the year on a strong footing. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1 per cent to an intraday record of 10,033.94, crossing the 10,000-mark for the first time. Germany’s DAX rose 0.5 per cent to 24,619.41, while France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.8 per cent to 8,213.59.The rally in London was supported by sharp gains in precious metals miners, including Fresnillo, which surged 5.7 per cent, and Anglo American, up 1.5 per cent, tracking strength in gold, silver and copper prices.“Exports from most countries have surged in recent months, and we think the near-term outlook for Asia’s export-oriented manufacturing sectors remains favorable,” Shivaan Tandon of Capital Economics said in a report, AP quoted. Asian markets were mixed to positive. South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.3 per cent to 4,309.63, led by a 7.2 per cent jump in Samsung Electronics, while SK Hynix gained 4 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rallied 2.8 per cent to 26,338.47, driven by tech stocks, with Alibaba rising 4.3 per cent and Baidu jumping 9.4 per cent after announcing plans to spin off its AI chip unit.Markets in Tokyo, Shanghai, Thailand and New Zealand were closed, while Australia’s ASX 200 edged up 0.2 per cent. India’s Sensex added 0.6 per cent, and Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.3 per cent.US stock futures earlier signalled a positive open, with S&P 500 futures up 0.6 per cent and Dow futures higher by 0.2 per cent.Wall Street ended 2025 with strong annual gains despite a weak finish, with the S&P 500 rising 16.4 per cent for the year, the Nasdaq up 20.4 per cent and the Dow gaining 13 per cent, supported by enthusiasm around AI, solid corporate earnings and multiple interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve.In commodities, silver rose 4.8 per cent after sharp volatility earlier in the week, while gold gained 1.4 per cent. US benchmark crude slipped 12 cents to $57.30 per barrel, and Brent crude eased 13 cents to $60.72 per barrel.In currency markets, the US dollar strengthened to 156.85 yen, while the euro slipped to $1.1733.

India’s largest institutional investor, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), has seen the value of its investment in ITC erode by Rs 10,445 crore over just two sessions, after the FMCG major’s shares plunged sharply following a steep hike in cigarette duties, ET reported.LIC held a 15.86 per cent stake in ITC, equivalent to about 199 crore equity shares, at the end of the September quarter. The sell-off was triggered after the finance ministry late Wednesday notified a revised excise duty structure on cigarettes, effective February 1.Under the new regime, duties will range from Rs 2,050 to Rs 8,500 per 1,000 sticks, depending on cigarette length, a move that sent shockwaves across the tobacco sector and sparked heavy selling in cigarette stocks.ITC shares crashed to a three-year low of Rs 345.35 on Friday before ending the session at Rs 350.10, down Rs 13.75, or 3.8 per cent, from the previous close. The stock has fallen 14 per cent over the past two trading days.The sharp correction has prompted multiple brokerage downgrades. Motilal Oswal Financial Services described the magnitude of the tax increase as “staggering”, noting that cigarette taxes will rise by about 50 per cent, ET reported.The brokerage said ITC would be forced to implement price hikes of at least 25 per cent at the portfolio level just to maintain current net realisation per stick, and downgraded the stock from ‘Buy’ to ‘Neutral’ with a revised target price of Rs 400.“To offset the tax burden, ITC will need to implement substantial price increases. Assuming no mix change, ITC requires a 40 per cent price hike just to pass on the impact,” Jefferies said in its downgrade of the stock from Buy to Hold.Jefferies added that if ITC passes on the full impact through price hikes, the effective tax hike would be around 70 per cent, pushing tobacco taxes per stick from 55 per cent to 65 per cent of the maximum retail price.The brokerage remained cautious, stating that “near-to-medium term upside now looks capped” and warning that the stock could face further pressure in the near term.ITC shares have already been under pressure, declining about 28 per cent over the past one year, even before the latest tax move added fresh uncertainty to the outlook.