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India generates record power

Taiwan probes chip smuggling attempt TAIPEI: Prosecutors here are investigating three people for allegedly smuggling Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China in violation of US export controls. The three defendants are accused of forging documents so they could ship “high-end” AI servers containing advanced Nvidia chips to China, Macau and Hong Kong, the Keelung District Prosecutors Office said in a statement on Thursday. The servers were made by US company Super Micro Computer. Some the roughly 50 servers cleared Taiwan customs and left the island, a spokesman for the prosecutors office said yesterday. The defendants, who were arrested on Wednesday, knew that the sale of AI servers was “strictly controlled” by the United States and “completely prohibited from being sold to the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau regions”, the statement said. Taiwan is a powerhouse in the manufacturing of semiconductors used to train and power AI systems, and is the home of chip production giants TSMC and Foxconn. The spokesperson said it was too early to know if the case was linked to a Nvidia chip smuggling case involving Super Micro Computer employees in the United States. – AFP Taipei unaware of arms sales pause TAIPEI: Taiwan’s presidential office said yesterday it had not received any information about the US adjusting military sales, after a senior US official suggested there was a pause due to the need to have enough arms for the war with Iran. Taiwan has been waiting for the US to approve a new arms sale package. On Thursday, US Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao was asked at a Senate Appropriations Defence Subcommittee hearing about future arms sales to Taiwan. “We have done some foreign military sales to them. It’s just right now we’re doing a pause to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury, which we have plenty,” he said, referring to the US operation against Iran. “But we’re just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary,”he said, adding it would be up to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on whether to approve the sales. Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo said they had noted the remarks. “However, we have not received any relevant information about the US adjusting military sales,” she said. – Reuters

reaching net-zero emissions by 2070, but remains heavily reliant on coal. Despite the power production, followers of the ministry’s X account reported that there had been cuts in their districts. The intense heat can overload old wiring and transformers, and cause localised blackouts. The South Asian country of 1.4 billion people is no stranger to scorching summers, with routine heatwaves between April and June. Years of scientific research has found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense. The India Meteorological

Department said the highest maximum temperature recorded on Thursday was 47.6ºC in the city of Banda in Uttar Pradesh state, 450km southeast of New Delhi, moderately cooler than the 48.2ºC earlier in the week. The country’s highest officially recorded temperature is 51ºC, measured at Phalodi in Rajasthan in 2016. In April, international air-quality monitoring platform AQI said its daily heat index made up of six measurements – temperature, solar intensity, wind, precipitation and humidity – recorded that all of the world’s top 50 hottest cities were in India. – AFP face was painted to represent the mythical giant. “We get whatever we ask for from him, so we celebrate the festival every year,” he said. Residents of Phum Boeung village on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh, said they have been marking the occasion for generations. A few hundred people on Thursday joined a parade through the village to the shrine of Pring Ka Ek. With black-and-white stripes painted across his face and chest, and his teeth painted with black nail polish, Sem Pov, 30, joined the procession on horseback, saying the crowd was praying for “a lot of rain so our crops and rice will be abundant”. Among the crowd, a group of boys used charcoal residue from a cooking pot to paint themselves black, drawing inspiration from local folklore, while women dressed in elegant traditional clothing. Several men beat drums and others carried a large prop knife to represent the weapon of slain warriors. Ath Srey Oun, 22, lit incense sticks and knelt before the shrine, its front filled with plates of fruit, soft drink bottles and other offerings. “I prayed and asked the spirit to make sure Cambodia does not have war,” she said. – AFP

o Demand surges in severe heatwave

NEW power producers have set a record for electricity generation as swathes of the world’s most populous nation swelter in an intense heatwave. Thursday was the “fourth consecutive day when the peak power demand (solar hours) reached a new all-time high”, the Ministry of Power said. It said at 3.45pm on Thursday, when temperatures sizzled at 45.3ºC in New Delhi, the country’s peak power demand of 270.82 gigawatts (GW) was “successfully met”. DELHI: India’s

“This represents a new high in peak demand met,” the ministry said, surpassing Wednesday’s high of 265.44 GW. “The surge in demand appears to be linked to the greater usage of cooling appliances,” the ministry said late on Thursday. Thermal power, largely coal, accounted for 62% of generation, with solar making up 22%, wind and hydropower taking up 5% each, and the rest coming from other sources. India, the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has committed to

Cambodians pray for rain, peace PHNOM PENH: Wearing leaf skirts and with brightly painted faces depicting mythical spirits, Cambodian revellers danced through village streets, praying to an ancient guardian for rain, good fortune and peace with Thailand. The two countries agreed to a fragile ceasefire in December after two rounds of border clashes killed dozens of people. Both countries still have military forces stationed along their disputed frontier, with the two

sides trading accusations of truce violations. “We don’t want any more war. We want it to end. So we pray to the guardian spirit Pring Ka-Ek to make sure our troops at the front line stay safe,” said Tum Vannak, 24, whose

A Khmer man with a painted face performs in front of students, as he takes part in a ceremony to invoke rain in Pring Ka-ek village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. – REUTERSPIC

Delhi motor-rickshaws get Trump makeover NEW DELHI: New Delhi’s iconic auto rickshaws have received a Donald Trump-themed makeover to mark the United States’ 250th Independence celebrations and the upcoming visit of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. said “thousands of rickshaws will be sponsored to showcase messages celebrating America’s 250th birthday”. Some include the Statue of Liberty.

In sweltering heat at a fuel station, 24-year-old Tushar wielded a hammer as he fitted a Trump face cover to a three-wheeled rickshaw. “We get around 60 to 70 of these covers every day from a supplier,” said Tushar, who earns around 50 rupees (RM2) to fit each one.

The US embassy said it is providing thousands of vehicle covers emblazoned with Trump’s face and the US flag for the ubiquitous three-wheeled taxi rickshaws plying the sprawling megacity. “Happy Birthday America”, the cover reads, fitted to the back of the rickshaws. “250 years old”. US Ambassador Sergio Gor launched the campaign last month. The US embassy in New Delhi

He was busy persuading drivers to fit the free covers as they sat in queues for compressed natural gas, sweetening the deal with tea. “The gifts keep changing,”Tushar said. “Sometimes, it is pickles.” – AFP A worker fixes a Trump poster on an autorickshaw in New Delhi. – AFPPIC