Kuldeep, Ashwin summit peak Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul and R Ashwin’s four helped hosts India skittle out England for 218 runs on Day One at Dharamsala on Thursday. This is fourth fivewicket haul for Kuldeep. Playing his 100th Test, Ashwin cleaned up the tail while Ravindra Jadeja took one. Fifties by openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal took India to 135 for one | PTI | P13 KANNUR l friday l march 08, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l 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 Cabinet clears L10K cr to boost AI ecosystem Centre hikes DA, DR to 50% of basic pay; extends H300 LPG subsidy through FY25 M o n i k a Ya d a v @ New Delhi Close on the heels of the Centre’s plan to regulate AI tools deployed in India by big tech companies, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved an outlay of `10,371.92 crore for the national-level IndiaAI Mission to boost the artificial intelligence ecosystem in the country . The IndiaAI Mission encompasses various components. It includes the IndiaAI Compute Capacity to build a scalable AI computing ecosystem with 10,000 or more graphics processing units through public private partnership for startups and researchers. Next, the IndiaAI Innovation Centre will focus on developing indigenous large multimodal models and foundational models in critical sectors. The IndiaAI Datasets Platform will streamline access to quality non-personal datasets and the IndiaAI Startup Financing pillar will support deep-tech AI startups and provide them access to funding to enable futuristic AI projects. The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made a few populist announcements ahead of the 2024 general elections, including the release of additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to 49.18 lakh Central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to 67.95 lakh pensioners with effect from January 1, 2024. This represents an increase of 4% over the existing rate of 46% for basic pay/pension to compensate against price rise. This will set the exchequer back by `12,868 crore per annum. “This increase is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission,” the government said. The Cabinet also gave nod to the continuation of targeted subsidy of ` 300 per 14.2 kg LPG cylinder (and proportionately pro-rated for 5 kg cylinder) for up to 12 refills per year for 10.27 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana during FY25. The total expenditure will be `12,000 crore for FY25. The subsidy is credited directly to bank accounts of the eligible beneficiaries. The Centre also cleared the commerce ministry’s proposal for `10,037 crore outlay for the UNNATI industrialisation scheme aimed at developing the northeastern states. PM guarantees efforts to win more J&K hearts F aya z W a n i @ Srinagar In his first visit to Kashmir after the reading down of Article 370 in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said J&K is the head (mastak) of India, which is breathing freely after the removal of its special powers. “I am happy and grateful for your love today Modi will not leave any stone unturned . to return this love and affection,” the PM said. In his outreach, he said, “I am doing this hard work to win your hearts. I believe I am on the right path and will continue my efforts to win more hearts. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said. J&K, Modi said, is not just a region but is the head of the country . “And a head held high is a symbol of development and respect.” He said this is the new (naya) J&K the country was waiting for since decades. VCs of Calicut, Sanskrit varsities shown the door E x p r e s s New s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Exercising his powers as Chancellor, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has ordered M K Jayaraj and M V Narayanan, the vice chancellors of Calicut and Sanskrit universities respectively, to step down from their posts. They were shown the door on the grounds that their selection as VCs was not in accordance with UGC regulations. However, the order will not take effect for 10 days, as per an earlier High Court order. Regarding the continuance of Digital University V-C Saji Gopinath and Sreenarayanaguru Open University V-C P M Mubarak Pasha in office, the governor has referred the matter to the UGC, Raj Bhavan sources said. Last month, the governor had conducted a hearing of four V-Cs after issuing showcause notices. The hearing was conducted ● More on P6 on the directions of the HC. EXPRESS READ Cong promises right to employment for youth Jaipur: The Congress on Thursday promised right to employment as well as apprenticeships for youths in a series of assurances made by Rahul Gandhi. If the party is voted to power in the LS elections, 30 lakh vacant government posts will be filled, he said at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara. P10 Padmaja Venugopal joins BJP, hails Modi T’Puram: Veteran Congress leader K Karunakaran’s daughter Padmaja Venugopal joined BJP on Thursday. Padmaja, who had been keeping aloof from Congress ever since her defeat in 2021 polls, said she was looking forward to working under PM Narendra Modi, who has proved to be a “powerful leader”. P6
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