Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, known for her outspoken views, shared her perspective on what success truly means to her.

The actress, who recently headlined the curtain-raiser event for the 11th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Sydney (IFFS), emphasized that, for women, success is not just about achievements but about breaking free from stereotypes and societal boxes. Samantha highlighted the importance of embracing freedom, wearing multiple hats, and challenging outdated notions of what women can or cannot do.

The 'Kushi' actress shared, “I have said this before — success, for me, is freedom. I don’t wait for others to tell me that I am successful. Success is waking up with the freedom to do what you are passionate about. It is about not being put in a box and not being told what women can or cannot do. It is about wearing multiple hats and doing it well.”

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in collaboration with IIIT-Hyderabad has launched a large-scale competition to test fingerprint-based authentication solutions in biometric algorithms, said the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

The competition invites global researchers and developers to enhance their biometric models using UIDAI's unique, field-collected dataset to improve accuracy in real-world conditions.

The first phase of the Biometric SDK Benchmarking challenge focuses on fingerprint authentication. It calls for testing 1:1 matching algorithms for children aged 5-10 years, with updates after 5-10 years.

The competition will enable the participants to understand the performance of their algorithms -- evaluated against a large anonymised biometric dataset within a secured UIDAI sandbox.

Punjab Police have released several farmers, including Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) convenor Sarwan Singh Pandher and Abhimanyu Kohar, from jail on Friday after eight days of detention.

After coming out of Muktsar jail, Pandher said, "I am going to Patiala, where I will talk to my fellow farmers. We strongly condemn the government's removal of our protest from Khanauri and Shambhu borders. Today, we will discuss the next programme."

Farmer leader Kohar said the health of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, leader of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), who has been on a fast-unto-death, is critical.

"Dallewal has not taken even a drop of water since March 19. He is not even able to speak," he said.

About 20 per cent of the workforce in semiconductor design is in India and the country’s chip demand, currently at $45-50 billion, is expected to reach $100-110 billion by 2030, the government has said.

S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, underscored the critical role of Nano Centres in fostering innovation and talent development to build a semiconductor-ready workforce of 85,000 professionals to achieve the goal.

Speaking at the first ‘Nano Electronics Roadshow’ at the National Science Seminar Complex, IISc Bengaluru, he emphasised that the event represents a significant initiative by the ministry and the government, symbolising convergence and fostering industry-academia collaboration, with the government playing a catalytic role in shaping India’s technological and industrial future.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that he will have a phone call with US President Donald Trump to discuss the trade disputes in the next day or two.

The Prime Minister said on Thursday in a press conference that Trump's office reached out to him Wednesday night to schedule a call.

If it takes place, it will be the first between the two leaders, news agency reported.

Carney, after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Canada-US Relations and National Security, said Canada will respond to the US auto tariffs with retaliatory trade actions.

The response will "have maximum impacts in the US" and minimum impacts in Canada, said Carney, adding that nothing is off the table to defend Canada and its workers against the US tariffs.

Serbian great Novak Djokovic defeated Sebastian Korda 6-3, 7-6(4) in a quarterfinal clash that was postponed from Wednesday and became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 semi-finalist in the series history.

At 37 years and 10 months, Djokovic is the oldest ATP Masters 1000 semi-finalist in series history (since 1990), surpassing Roger Federer, who reached the last four in Indian Wells and Miami at 37 years and seven months in 2019.

Djokovic, into his eighth Miami semifinal and a record-extending 79th at Masters 1000 level, will next face 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov, whom he leads 12-1 in their ATP Head-to-Head series.

The Serb, who is seeking his record-breaking seventh title in south Florida and a 100th tour-level trophy, is aiming to break his tie with Andre Agassi for most titles at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The South Korean automotive industry on Friday called for measures to soften the anticipated fallout from the U.S. administration's plan to impose auto tariffs and reciprocal tariffs next week, according to officials.

Local industry representatives made the call during a meeting with First Vice Industry Minister Park Sung-taek, who visited Kia Corp.'s car manufacturing facility in Gwangmyeong, just south of Seoul, and a major export port in Pyeongtaek, about 65 kms south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The meeting came amid mounting concerns over the impact of the planned U.S. auto tariffs on the local industry, which heavily relies on export, reports news agency.

The domestic benchmark indices opened flat on Friday amid weak global cues, as selling was seen in the IT and auto sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.28 am, Sensex was trading 102.31 points or 0.13 per cent down at 77,504.12 while the Nifty declined 25.25 points or 0.11 per cent at 23,566.70.

Nifty Bank was up 209.20 points or 0.41 per cent at 51,785.05. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 52,443.65 after adding 604.25 points or 1.17 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,335.60 after climbing 215.75 points or 1.34 per cent.

According to market watchers, Nifty witnessed a strong buying of 213 points from lower levels before consolidating sideways, signalling sustainability in the uptrend.

Senior leader and spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party Punjab, Pawan Kumar Tinu, praised the Punjab Budget 2025-26 and thanked Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal for making special provisions for the Scheduled Caste community in the budget.

Addressing a press conference in Jalandhar on Thursday along with AAP leader Tarandeep Singh Sunny, Pawan Tinu said that this budget is the biggest in Punjab's history and, most importantly, does not impose any new tax.

Pawan Tinu particularly praised the decision to waive off loans amounting to ₹70 crore taken by Dalit families under the Scheduled Caste Finance Corporation until March 31, 2020. He said this decision has benefitted over 4,650 families who were unable to repay due to high-interest rates and financial difficulties. He criticized the Congress Party for this, stating that Congress leaders promised to waive these loans to gain Dalit votes during the 2017 Assembly elections but did nothing once in power.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Thursday said that with the concerted efforts of the government, the state will soon host several national and international level sporting events to give impetus to sporting culture in the state.

Addressing the gathering during a function to facilitate 1975 World Cup Winner Hockey Squad and cash prize to winners of National Games, Khedan Watan Punjab Dian and Para Kheda Watan Punjab Dian, the Chief Minister said that he has raised this matter at several platforms and now it has started producing desired results adding that soon Punjab will soon host four Nation Hockey League. Likewise, he said that several other prestigious events will also be organized in the state to give a boost to sporting culture in Punjab. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that in order to wean away youth from the menace of drugs, playgrounds and gyms will be opened in every village of the state.