Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from owning social media accounts, joining a global effort to tighten online safety protections for young users.

The rules require social media platforms to implement age-verification systems and block users under 16 from creating accounts. They apply to platforms with at least 8 million users, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million). But parents whose children manage to bypass the law will not be penalized.

In what can be considered as one of the most ambitious river-linking projects, the Centre plans to start work by August 1 this year on Rs 2,300 crore project that will divert surplus water from Chenab river to the Beas river basin, according to a report by News18.

Under the project, water from the Chenab river will be diverted into the Beas river through a tunnel. Because of the Indus Waters Treaty, Chenab water, despite belonging to India, used to flow to Pakistan. Following the suspension of the treaty, India is now expected to benefit from the water through the new project.

CNN-NEWS18, last week, was the first to report on this strategic project. The channel has now also accessed the project’s blueprint.

The India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) comes into force from today, marking a significant milestone in bilateral economic relations and providing Indian exporters with duty-free access across 98.08 per cent of Oman's tariff lines, covering 99.38 per cent of India's export value.

The trade pact is expected to boost merchandise exports from India by improving market access for key sectors including engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and processed food products, marine products, textiles, chemicals, electronics, plastics, gems and jewellery.

Under the agreement, several Indian products will enjoy immediate duty-free access to the Omani market. These include natural honey, cashew, boneless meat, bakery products, chocolate and sugar confectionery, mineral water, cheese, curd, milk, cream, frozen fish and butter.

Veteran singer Suman Kalyanpur, known for timeless hits such as Na Na Karte Pyar Tumhin Se and Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye, died on Sunday evening at her residence due to age-related health issues, a close friend said.

She was 89.

"Suman ji died at around 8 pm at her residence in Lokhandwala due to old age. She died peacefully. Over the last few days, she had been listening to her own songs," Mangala Khadilkar, who wrote the acclaimed Marathi biography Suman Sugandh on the singer, told PTI.

In a big push to Odisha’s vision for emerging as the semiconductor hub of India, the state government on Friday signed an MoU with the Intel Corporation and 3D Glass Solutions Inc. USA at Santa Clara in California for establishing an advanced packaging glass core substrate manufacturing facility here.

The project, with an estimated investment of around USD 3.3 billion, will be one of the largest high-technology manufacturing investments in the country. The facility is proposed to be located in the Bhubaneswar-Khurda region.

Official sources said that the project is planned to be implemented in phases over a period of five to six years. It will focus on producing advanced packaging glass core substrates, high-density interconnect substrates and associated semiconductor technologies, with Intel supporting technology know-how and process expertise.

Former Karnataka minister Venkataramanappa passed away following a heart attack at a private hospital in Bengaluru early Friday morning, according to family sources. He was 80.

Sources said the veteran Congress leader, who had been receiving treatment for age-related health issues, died at around 6 am, news agency PTI reported.

Venkataramanappa was a prominent political figure from Karnataka’s Tumakuru district and served four terms as an MLA during his political career. He also held ministerial positions twice.

Known for his grassroots connections, he was widely recognised as a leader of the oppressed sections and enjoyed significant popularity in the Pavagada region.

A fourteen-year-old Indian-American student, Shrey Parikh, from California won the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2026 on Friday after correctly spelling 32 words in 90 seconds. Parikh defeated New Jersey’s Ishan Gupta in the final round of the competition.

A finalist in the 2024 edition as well, Parikh walked away with several prizes, including USD 50,000, the Scripps Cup, a commemorative medal, USD 2,500 from Merriam-Webster, USD 1,000 in Delta flight credits and USD 400 worth of reference material from Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The three-day event began on Monday at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington and featured 247 participants representing all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Department of Defense schools in Europe and five other countries: Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.

The 71-country benchmarks reveal India outpaces Germany, France, Japan, the UK and Canada in AI race as 72 per cent of global AI users are now in developing countries, it said.

India has emerged as the fifth most digitalised economy and is placed fourth on the CHIPS-AI index, according to the State of India's Digital Economy (SIDE) 2026 report.

"The report documents a fundamental shift in the global digital landscape: 72 per cent of AI users are now in developing countries, with India and China together accounting for nearly two-fifths of worldwide AI adoption," it said.

India generated USD 328 billion in digitally delivered trade and is home to the world's second-largest AI talent pool.

In his first policy address at the inaugural session of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly here on Friday, the Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar announced two key policy decisions of the new government which can have significant impact on the State’s public health -- a new department for senior citizens’ welfare and a health insurance scheme which provides free annual health coverage of Rs. 25 lakh for every family under the “Oommen Chandy Aarogya Insurance Scheme”, one of the main guarantees under the five Indira Guarantees promised by the UDF government

The setting up of a dedicated department for senior citizens’ welfare carries much significance in a State already grappling with the crisIs of demographic transition, where 18.7% of the population is above 60 years and a chunk of whom suffer from chronic multimorbidities. A standalone department is expected to consolidate welfare, health measures which are currently fragmented across Social Justice, Health and Local Self Government departments, enabling its integration so as to provide a continuum of care for the elderly.

The Supreme Court has directed all states and Union Territories to fully operationalise a single emergency helpline number, 112 within the next three months. Right now, people across India use different emergency numbers like 100 for police, 101 for fire services, 102 and 108 for ambulances, 1033 for highways and 1091 for women’s safety. But during accidents or medical emergencies, this often creates confusion and delays in getting help on time.

The Supreme Court has now ordered that all these helpline numbers be integrated into one unified number, 112.

While hearing a petition filed by road safety organisation SaveLIFE Foundation, the top court observed that trauma care is directly linked to the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice AS Chandurkar said that in serious accidents or trauma situations, victims are often in shock and every second becomes critical.