New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The government on Thursday awarded seven new projects to startups under the Technology Development Fund scheme for various requirements of the Armed Forces and aerospace and defence sectors.

The move is aimed at nurturing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and startups in the defence and aerospace sectors, said the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

“The indigenous development of these technologies will strengthen the military-industrial ecosystem,” it added.

One such project aims to develop an indigenous toolkit for simulator training of pilots in realistic scenarios to help in full mission planning and large-force engagement. This project has been awarded to Noida-based startup Oxygen 2 Innovation.

Another project is for an underwater Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). It relates to versatile marine battlefield accessories which can be deployed in multiple combat roles.

“The objective is Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The project has been awarded to Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt Ltd, Pune,” said the DRDO, which comes under the Ministry of Defence.

Under the project titled ‘Long-range Remotely Operated Vehicles for Detection & Neutralisation’, the task is to build dual-use systems that will enable the detection, classification, localisation and neutralisation of underwater objects while keeping the key assets away from the suspected operational area.

This project has been awarded to IROV Technologies Pvt Ltd in Kochi.

Another project, ‘Ice Detection Sensor for Aircraft’, aims to develop detecting icing condition inflight, caused by super-cooled water droplets that freeze after their impact against the aircraft’s external surfaces and are utilised by the aircraft for turning on the aircraft Anti-icing mechanism.

“It has been awarded to Craftlogic Labs Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru,” the DRDO informed.

The ‘Radar Signal Processor with Active Antenna Array Simulator’ will enable the deployment of multiple target systems for test and evaluation of multiple short-range aerial weapon systems.

“It serves as the basic building block for larger radar systems. The project has been sanctioned to Data Pattern (India) Limited, Chennai,” according to the government.

The ‘Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-based Timing Acquisition & Dissemination System’ project has been sanctioned to Accord Software & Systems in Bengaluru.

It aims to enable the indigenisation of timing acquisition and dissemination system, the use of Indian Constellation for acquiring time & development of a customised and flexible timing system as per range requirements.

Coimbatore-based startup Alohatech has been awarded the project to develop conductive yarn and fabric-making processes using graphene nanomaterials and conductive inks.

The outcome will be advanced E-textiles, utilising the inherent advantages for practical clothing applications, the DRDO said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Elon Musk-run X Corp has banned 194,053 accounts in India between May 26 and June 25, mostly for promoting child sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity.

The microblogging platform, going through churning under Musk, also took down 1,991 accounts for promoting terrorism on its platform in the country.

In total, X banned 196,044 accounts in the reporting period.

The microblogging platform, in its monthly report in compliance with the new IT Rules, 2021, said that it received 12,570 complaints from users in India in the same time frame through its grievance redressal mechanisms.

In addition, the company processed 55 grievances which were appealing account suspensions.

“We overturned 4 of these account suspensions after reviewing the specifics of the situation. The remaining reported accounts remain suspended,” said the company.

“We received 61 requests related to general questions about accounts during this reporting period,” it added.

Most complaints from India were about ban evasion (5,289), followed by sensitive adult content (2,768), hateful conduct (2,196), and abuse/harassment (1,243).

Between April 26 and May 25, X banned 2,29,925 accounts in the country.

The microblogging platform also took down 967 accounts for promoting terrorism on its platform.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like Amazon’s AI voice assistant Alexa, Snapchat’s My AI, and Microsoft’s Bing have frequently shown signs of an “empathy gap” that puts young users at risk of distress or harm, according to a study on Thursday that proposes the urgent need for “child-safe AI”.

The research from the University of Cambridge calls on developers and policymakers to prioritise approaches to AI design that take greater account of children’s needs.

Children are likely to treat chatbots “as lifelike, quasi-human confidantes” but when the technology fails to respond to their unique needs and vulnerabilities, it can affect the kids, showed the study, published in the journal Learning, Media and Technology.

This is evident from the cases where Alexa instructed a 10-year-old to touch a live electrical plug with a coin, and My AI gave adult researchers posing as a 13-year-old girl tips on how to lose her virginity to a 31-year-old.

In a separate reported interaction with the Bing chatbot, which was designed to be adolescent-friendly, the AI became aggressive and started gaslighting a user.

“Children are probably AI’s most overlooked stakeholders,” said academic Dr Nomisha Kurian from the University of Cambridge.

She noted that while making a human-like chatbot can provide many benefits, “for a child, it is very hard to draw a rigid, rational boundary between something that sounds human and reality”.

Kurian said that kids “may not be capable of forming a proper emotional bond.”

Further, she argued that it can be “confusing and distressing for children, who may trust a chatbot as they would a friend”

To make AI “an incredible ally for children”, it should be designed with kids’ needs in mind.

“The question is not about banning AI, but how to make it safe,” she said.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) As many as 12.5 crore jobs have been created in the Indian economy during the financial years 2014-23, which represents an over four-fold jump from the 2.9 crore jobs created during 2004-14, according to a State Bank of India (SBI) study.

“Even if we exclude Agriculture, the total number of jobs created in Manufacturing and Services is at 8.9 crores during FY14-FY23 and 6.6 crores during FY04-FY14,” according to the report prepared by SBI’s Economic Research Department based on RBI data.

The total employment reported by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) registered with the MSME Ministry has crossed the 20 crore mark, data from the Udyam registration portal shows.

As of July 4, 4.68 crore Udyam-registered MSMEs reported 20.19 crore jobs, including 2.32 crore jobs by GST-exempted informal micro enterprises, up by 66 per cent from 12.1 crore jobs in July last year, showed ERD’s analysis.

“One interesting fact emerges by comparing EPFO (Employee Provident Fund Organisation) data with RBI’s KLEMS (Capital/K, Labour/L, Energy/E, Material/M and Services/S) data. When we took the share of EPFO with KLEMS, the FY24 share at 28 per cent was drastically lower than the average share of the 5-year period (FY19-FY23) at 51 per cent. As EPFO data capture primarily low-income jobs, the declining share is quite encouraging and indicate that possibly better paid jobs are getting available in the economy,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, SBI’s Group Chief Economic Advisor.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) Fueled by Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the data centre market in south India is projected to grow 65 per cent by 2030, a report showed on Thursday.

This surge is supported by substantial government incentives, strategic infrastructure investments and a rising demand for digital services, according to the report by Colliers India.

The combined installed data centre capacity in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad stands at nearly 200 MW.

“This foundation is set to be significantly bolstered, with 190 MW currently under construction and an additional 170 MW planned,” according to the report.

These developments are expected to increase the total capacity by 80 per cent over the next few years, underscoring the region’s strategic importance in supporting global digital infrastructure.

“With sustained government support and continuous infrastructure development, South India is set to become a global data centre hub,” said Swapnil Anil, Executive Director & Head of Advisory Services, Colliers India.

Chennai currently has an installed capacity of 87 MW, with 156 MW under construction and 104 MW planned.

Bengaluru leverages its strong IT ecosystem. The city currently has an installed capacity of 79 MW, with 10 MW under construction and 26 MW in the planning stages.

Hyderabad is rapidly emerging as a data centre hotspot. The city has an installed capacity of 47 MW, with 20 MW under construction and 38 MW planned.

The monthly recurring charges for data centres in South India are competitive, ranging between Rs 6,650 – Rs 8,500 per kW per month according to the usage, offering significant value for money, said the report.

–IANS

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