Russia accuses Ukrainian nationalists of forcibly holding over 3,700 Indians
United Nations (PTI): Russia on Friday accused "Ukrainian nationalists" of "forcibly" holding over 3,700 Indian citizens in various cities, while saying the Russian military is doing everything to ensure the peaceful evacuation of foreign nationals.
Russia's Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia told an emergency UN Security Council meeting following the attack on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in Ukraine, that radicals and extremists in Ukraine were and are under the close guardianship and protection of Western nations.
"We urge you to calm down your mentees who in the worst traditions of ISIL terrorists and their Idlib associates are hiding behind civilians, placing heavy weaponry and multiple rocket launchers in residential areas.
He said these terrorists are preventing civilians wishing to leave the cities from doing so and this practice is affecting not only Ukrainians, but also foreign citizens.
The number of foreign nationals who are being forcibly held by Ukrainian nationalists is shocking. In Kharkiv, this includes 3,189 citizens of India, up to 2,700 citizens of Vietnam, 202 citizens of China. In Sumy, this includes 576 Indian citizens, 101 Ghanaian citizens and 121 Chinese citizens.
The Russian military is doing everything to ensure the peaceful evacuation of foreign nationals, he said adding that at various checkpoints 130 comfortable buses are standing ready in order to leave for Kharkiv and Sumy to rescue Indian students and other foreign citizens.
He said checkpoints have been equipped with temporary accommodations, rest facilities and hot meals and mobile medical stations have been deployed with stocks of medications. The evacuees will be later transported to Belgrade and subsequently brought home by air.
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FM Sitharaman launches 'VijAIpatha' labs in govt schools in Karnataka
Hampi (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday launched Cyient AI Labs (CyAILS) -- 'VijAIpatha', aimed at democratising access to Artificial Intelligence, STEM and Robotics education in government schools here.
In a series of posts on 'X', the minister's office shared pictures of the initiative launched at a girl's government school in Hosapete taluk and said that under the pilot phase, five world-class AI, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Robotics laboratories are being established in government schools.
Each lab will be equipped with high-performance computers, AI-ready software, robotics kits, IoT devices, sensors and secure broadband connectivity.
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"Aligned with NEP 2020, Digital India and Hon'ble Prime Minister @narendramodi's mission of Viksit Bharat 2047, the programme integrates CBSE's AI curriculum and strengthens technology-enabled learning in public education," it said.
Focusing on rural and semi-urban India, the initiative introduces future technologies at the school level, helping build early digital fluency, computational thinking and innovation capacity among students, the minister's office said.
"Benefiting over 2,000 students and training more than 200 teachers, 'VijAIpatha' is a scalable CSR model fostering innovation, career readiness and grassroots digital empowerment," it added.
According to the office, the initiative has been designed as a scalable, replicable and sustainable model that can be adopted across districts and states in collaboration with government education departments, positioning it as a benchmark CSR model for a national AI education rollout.
