HYDERABAD l wednesday l December 10, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l LATE CITY EDITION Australia bans under-16s from social media in novel crackdown A raft of the world’s most popular apps and websites face US$33 million in fines if they fail to purge Australia-based users younger than 16 onus on internet firms to check user age new zealand, malaysia may follow suit The Australian government said unprecedented measures are needed to protect children from “predatory algorithms” filling phone screens with bullying, sex and violence. The laws came into effect on Wednesday across Australia. Social media companies bear the sole responsibility for checking users are 16 or older, with some saying they’ll use AI to detect a user’s age ■ ■ YouTube has attacked the laws as “rushed” and said they would only push children into deeper, darker corners of the internet Australia’s efforts will be closely watched by all those worried about the dangers of social media. Already, New Zealand and Malaysia are mulling similar restrictions on teenagers as per news reports | P9 3.5 lakh users between age of 13 and 15 in australia, says instagram 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 CM unveils Vision Document-2047 SIR: SC asks ECI to report intimidation of BLOs Revanth releases his government’s strategy for Telangana growth with a promise to bridge gaps between plan & implementation dry port to Machilipatnam, @ Hyderabad high-speed rail links to Bengaluru and Chennai via AmaChief Minister A Revanth ravati, and new manufacturing Reddy on Tuesday unveiled the corridors between the ORR Telangana Rising Vision Docu- and RRR. The roadmap also ment–2047 at the closing ses- lists development of the Resion of the Telangana Rising gional Ring Road and its radial Global Summit, outlining his links, a Regional Ring Railway, government’s strategy to build integrated townships and use a $3 trillion state of green energy in economy by 2047. agriculture. As reported earlier, Linking the state the strategy rests on plan to the Union goveconomic expansion, e r n m e n t ’s Vi k s i t inclusive developBharat goal of a $30 ment and sustainabiltrillion national econity, and proposes a omy by 2047, Revanth new economic map disaid Telangana, deviding the state into spite accounting for three growth zones — about 2.5% of India’s CURE (Core Urban population, already Re gion Economy), Telangana’s growth contributes 5% to PURE (Peri Urban Re- is a promise to the GDP and intends to future. It has gion Economy) and scale its role further. RARE (Rural Agri Re- reimagined itself as Referencing Jawaa powerhouse of gion Economy). harlal Nehru’s focus technology, Speaking shortly on ir rigation and agriculture, and before unveiling it, higher education, inclusive growth Revanth described Revanth said his priand has become a the document as “an model for the world ority is to strengthen agreement with the education, irrigation Tony Blair, former people”, saying it is and connectivity — UK prime minister aimed at lifting rural including digital and urban communilinks, roads, ports and ties alike through better educa- airports — to attract global intion, employment and equita- vestment. He cited China, Jable access to state resources. He pan, Germany, Singapore and said the lack of long-term plan- South Korea as development ning after state formation left benchmarks. many still seeking social and Revanth said he grew up witeconomic opportunity and that nessing poverty and discrimi, the new framework is intended nation, and that his governto course-correct. ment’s policies would be Large-scale infrastructure directed at reducing these gaps. forms the foundation of the He noted the rise in national life blueprint. Major proposals in- expectancy from 32 years in 1947 clude Bharat Future City River to 72 years today adding that Te, , Musi rejuvenation, a dry port, langana would work to push it a 12-lane expressway from the towards 100.  Continued on P4 S U CHIT R A K A LYAN M O HANTY @ New Delhi M a n d a R a v i n d er R e d d y Rahul Gandhi speaks during a discussion on poll reforms in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday | PTI The Vision Document truly astonished me with its people-centric and ambitious approach — one of the most inspiring frameworks I’ve seen, not just in India but globally Anand Mahindra, Industrialist Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy receives the Telangana Rising Vision Document before unveiling it, at Bharat Future City on Tuesday | SRI LOGANATHAN VELMURUGAN For big business, TG is truly rising On Tuesday, the second day of the Telangana Rising Global Summit, Telangana received investment commitments worth `2.96 lakh crore, taking the total to `5.75 lakh crore. Multiple domestic and global firms signed agreements with the state government in the presence of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy A total of 350 cricketers — 240 Indians and 110 overseas players — will go under the hammer in Abu Dhabi. There are 77 slots. KKR have the biggest purse | P11 Summit cumulative D Subba Rao, former RBI governor R A K E S H K U M A R @ New Delhi @ Hyderabad on list for dec 16 ipl mini-auction `5.75 lakh cr Telangana is rising as India’s No. 1 growth state. With exceptional progress, skilled youth, and a Viksit Telangana vision, the state is truly unstoppable. Unbeatable! Microsoft to invest $17.5 bn in India over 4 yrs E x p ress Ne w s S er v i c e big names Day-two investments Investor magnet Godrej dairy expansion `150 crore; 300 jobs Fertis India R&D + rare sugars `2,000 crore Data-centre proposals exceed multiple GW capacity Infrakey DC Parks proposal `70,000 crore Hetero Group 9,000+ jobs expected Biological E cumulative `4,000 crore Major push in pharma, data infra & FMCG Tourism/hospitality projects also lined up Bomb threat at Lok Bhavan, CMO found to be hoax The Governor’s residence, Lok Bhavan (formerly Raj Bhavan), and the Chief Minister’s Office received an email threatening a bomb explosion. The police conducted thorough searches before confirming that the email was a hoax. The Governor’s office received the email on December 3, following which a complaint was filed on December 6. Panjagutta police registered a case based on a complaint from L Srinivasa Rao, the Chief Security Officer to the Governor. The complaint stated that the threat email, allegedly sent by one Vasuki, was addressed to both the Governor’s office and the CM’s office. Police evacuated the premises and carried out searches with a bomb disposal team. No explosives were found. A case has been registered and investigation is under way . `2.96 lakh crore Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in New Delhi | pti To support India’s ambitions, Microsoft is committing $17.5 billion to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI-first future — Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft US tech giant Microsoft has announced $17.5 billion (`1.58 lakh crore) investment in India over the next four years to help build the infrastructure, skills, and capabilities needed for the country’s AI future. The firm’s CEO Satya Nadella, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called , it “the largest investment ever in Asia”. Modi and Nadella discussed India’s AI roadmap and growth priorities, Microsoft said. The US firm’s investment in India focuses on three pillars—scale, skills, and sovereignty—aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of building a comprehensive ecosystem that drives AI innovation and access at a national scale. Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia, said the new investment will be used to continue scaling the company’s cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling initiatives, and ongoing operations across India. How Air India managed to avert crisis S L a l i t h a @ New Delhi PLANNING in advance helped Tata-owned Air India Group to ensure that both Air India and Air India Express sailed through smoothly after DGCA’s revised crew roster came into effect from November 1. This is in stark contrast to the shoddy management by IndiGo, which resulted in 1,232 cancellations last month that cascaded into a full-blown crisis from December 1. Back in October, when the Union civil aviation ministry finalised the winter schedule (October 26, 2025 to March 28, 2026) for all domestic airlines, IndiGo was permitted to oper- ate 15,014 departures per week, the maximum permitted for any airline. Air India and Air India Express were allotted 4,277 and 3,171 flights, respectively, per week. Sources in Air India said the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) were a huge challenge as literally everything had to be changed. Also, Air India was trying to rebuild its image after the Ahmedabad disaster. Air India began recruitment of Captains and Flying Officers quite early, said a source. “We went all out to recruit pilots ...we understood the new roster would require a massive increase in operational crew,” sources said. IndiGo on Monday told DGCA that a software glitch was also a contributory reason for the crisis. Air India had figured this two months ago. “When it was made known clearly to all of us that the new rules will fully come into effect by November 1, we began work on it by October. The software involved in it is a very complicated one. It took us two months to ready it,” an AI source said. 58 flights cancelled at RGIA IndiGo cancelled 58 flights to and from Hyderabad on Tuesday, including 43 departures and 15 arrivals. The RGIA saw fewer travellers, with many opting to stay back or choose other travel options Rahul: Vote theft anti-national act P R E E THA NAI R @ New Delhi Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a sharp attack against the ruling party accusing it of committing the “biggest anti-national act” by orchestrating ‘vote theft’ in collusion with the Election Commission and undermining the idea of India. Participating in a discussion on election reforms, Gandhi also outlined a slew of electoral reforms to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process. Making suggestions, he called for providing machine-readable voter lists to all The biggest parties one month before elections, anti-national taking back the law that allows de- act you can struction of CCTV footage after 45 do is vote days, giving access to EVMs, and ‘chori’. changing the law that allows the elec- Because tion commissioners “to get away with when you destroy the whatever they want to do”. In his 30-minute speech, he posed vote, you three questions which he claimed destroy the fabric of this show the BJP is “directing and using” country EC to damage India’s democracy . “The biggest anti-national act you Rahul Gandhi, can do is vote chori (theft). Because LoP in LS when you destroy the vote, you destroy the fabric of this country you destroy modern , India, you destroy the idea of India. Those across the aisle are doing an anti-national act,” Gandhi said, gesturing towards the treasury benches. He cautioned the election commissioners that law can be changed retroactively to hold them accountable. “Let me remind them: don’t worry, we are going to change the law, and that too retroactively And we are going to come and find you,” the . Leader of Opposition said. Expressing concern over reports of Booth Level Officers (BLO) being threatened in West Bengal and other states, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India to protect BLOs. While issuing directions on the security of ground-level electoral staff, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also warned states against non-cooperation in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “Bring to our notice instances of lack of cooperation, hindrances to work of BLOs and we will pass appropriate orders,” the bench told senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission. “Deal with the situation or it will cause anarchy CJI Kant said. ,” The bench said the directions regarding the protection and management of BLOs will apply on a pan-India basis. The bench was hearing a batch of pleas by various states over challenges faced during the voter roll revision. E x p r e s s Re a d 107 MPs submit notice to impeach HC judge Chennai: As many as 107 INDIA bloc MPs submitted a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday, seeking impeachment of Madras High Court judge GR Swaminathan for directing Subramaniya Swamy temple authorities to allow lighting lamps on a pillar (deepathoon) near a dargah | P5