The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has set up a high-level expert committee to make Aadhaar technology future-ready, with focus on scalability, data security, and resilience against emerging cybersecurity threats, according to an official statement issued on Friday.The committee, chaired by UIDAI Chairperson Neelkanth Mishra, includes UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, Nutanix founder Dheeraj Pandey, MOSIP head of engineering Sasikumar Ganesan, Trilegal partner Rahul Matthan, Amrita University Professor Prabaharan Poornachandran, Michigan State University Professor Anil Jain, UIDAI Deputy Director General Abhishek Kumar Singh, Sarvam AI co-founder Vivek Raghavan, and IIT Jodhpur Professor Mayank Vatsa.“Recognising the rapidly changing technological and regulatory landscape, the UIDAI has embarked on a comprehensive strategic and technological review to shape the next decade of Aadhaar’s evolution through a new ‘Aadhaar Vision 2032’ framework,” the statement said.The Vision 2032 roadmap will not only sustain Aadhaar’s technological leadership but also reinforce its role as a secure, inclusive, and people-centric digital identity, the statement added.The expert panel will draft the Aadhaar Vision 2032 document, outlining a framework for next-generation Aadhaar architecture aligned with India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act and global privacy and cybersecurity standards.According to the UIDAI, the Vision 2032 framework will leverage advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Advanced Encryption, and next-generation data security systems to ensure that Aadhaar remains secure, scalable, and adaptable to the evolving digital landscape.

NEW DELHI: Apple’s operations in India shone once again for the US tech and electronics major, which set an all-time revenue record in the country just as it recorded an eight per cent growth in global revenues, at $102.5 billion, led by “a tremendous response” to the new iPhone 17 series and the previous-gen iPhone 16. Tim Cook, the global CEO of Apple, said the company is hoping for a further surge in the sales momentum during the Christmas and New Year’s season, even as it battles constraints in fulfilling customer demand, along with some delays in shipments to the crucial Chinese market. “Turning to retail, we’re heading into our busiest time of year with our best-ever lineup.”India stood out once again for its stellar performance, not just in the production of iPhones but also because of the strong revenues. “We also set a September quarter revenue record in emerging markets and an all-time revenue record in India,” Cook said while releasing global financial numbers.He attributed the surge to growth in the retail footprint of the company across geographies, including in India. “In the last few months, we’ve opened new stores in emerging markets like India and the UAE and new locations in the US and China.”Cook said the acceptance of the new iPhone series has seen the company register growth in the vast majority of markets. It had September quarter revenue records in dozens of markets, including the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Korea, and South Asia.Kevan Parekh, the CFO of Apple, also had words of praise for India, a market that was amongst the countries that saw the biggest surge in demand for iPhones. “iPhone revenue was $49 billion, up 6% year-over-year, driven by the iPhone 16 family. iPhone grew in the vast majority of the markets we track, with September quarter records in many emerging markets, including Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia, and an all-time record in India.”Apple said that the iPhone active installed base grew to an all-time high across the world, and it set a September quarter record for upgraders. “According to the recent survey from World Panel, the iPhone was a top-selling model in the U.S., urban China, the UK, France, Australia, and Japan. We continue to see very high levels of customer satisfaction in the U.S. at 98% as measured by 451 Research.”The company has said it does not intend to slow down expansion in India – both for production of iPhones or in broadening retail or business/sales operations – despite geopolitical tensions as diplomatic relations between India and the U.S. remain challenging over the Trump administration’s tariffs decisions and purchase of Russian oil by New Delhi.Apple management has told the Indian government that the company continues to actively pursue its expansion plans in India. Factories of Taiwanese Foxconn as well as the Tata group in India, are not only making iPhones for India but also for meeting the demands in the US market. The company has also been witnessing a strong growth in demand in the domestic consumption of iPhones in India.

Subscribers to YouTube TV have lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels, as the two companies struggle to negotiate a licensing deal.

Disney said the online pay-TV platform, which is owned by the tech giant Google and available only in the US, had refused to pay fair rates for the content, which also include National Geographic and the Disney channel.

In its own statement, YouTube TV said that Disney’s proposed terms “disadvantage our members while benefiting Disney’s own live TV products”.

After tense negotiations, the channels vanished from YouTube TV just before midnight on Thursday – the deadline to reach a new deal. The blackout affects roughly 10 million subscribers.

If Disney channels remain suspended for an “extend period of time”, YouTube TV said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit.

YouTube and Disney-owned Hulu are among the biggest online TV platforms in the US.

Their stand-off follows similarly contentious talks this year between YouTube and other media companies, which had also threatened to limit the shows available to YouTube TV subscribers.

Google struck a deal at the last minute with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal earlier this month to keep shows like “Sunday Night Football” on YouTube TV. It has also reached agreements with Paramount and Fox in recent months.

In separate statements, both Google and Disney said they were working toward a resolution to restore Disney content to YouTube TV.

Still, the companies remain divided on fees.

“With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.

But YouTube said in a statement that Disney was proposing “costly economic terms” that would lead to higher prices for YouTube TV customers and limit their options for content, benefiting Disney’s own live TV offerings like Hulu+ Live TV.