India's UPI International payment system is now playing a crucial role in humanitarian efforts, enabling seamless disaster relief donations from Indian users to Nepal's Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund, showcasing its growing global acceptance and utility beyond tourism. UPI IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Unsplash Key Points UPI International, initially for Indian tourists, is now facilitating disaster relief donations to Nepal's Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund. The embassy of Nepal in India is actively encouraging Indian users to utilise their UPI apps for these contributions. This marks a significant shift, expanding UPI's cross-border use case beyond tourism to include inbound collection for foreign governments. The move positions UPI International alongside global payment giants like Alipay+ and UnionPay for international aid. Donors need to activate the UPI International feature on their apps to transact, with amounts converted from INR to NPR.
Google aims to complete the first phase of its 1 gigawatt artificial intelligence (AI) data centre hub in Visakhapatnam by late 2028, with full operations across all phases expected within five years, according to Alexander Smith, Principal of Global Infrastructure and Energy for Asia Pacific at Google.
India has launched the ~62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) to incentivise domestic production and strengthen Indian mobile phone brands, offering production-linked incentives and additional benefits for local component sourcing.
Phishing sites mimicked SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank to steal card details and OTPs.
'ChatGPT for Teens brings together learning and safety features in one unified experience, supporting active, collaborative learning outside the classroom while enabling more intentional and age-appropriate use of AI.'
Microsoft has announced the activation of its latest data centre in Hyderabad, significantly expanding its Cloud infrastructure in India and enabling organisations to leverage AI-era services with enhanced local choice and security.
The biggest challenge to widespread deployment is no longer AI. It is the financial and commerce infrastructure that was built decades ago for deterministic software and human interactions -- not autonomous AI agents.
Indian crypto exchanges and companies have expressed strong support for the Central Board of Direct Taxes' (CBDT) new Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), which mandates reporting and due-diligence obligations for crypto service providers on all transactions starting 2026.
Experts urge internet platforms to adopt prevention-by-design and stronger AI systems to curb child sexual exploitation material and improve online child safety.
India's exports of printed circuit boards (PCBs) to China dramatically increased over 40-fold to $1.5 billion in FY26, indicating a significant shift where China is increasingly importing simpler electronic assemblies from India as it focuses on higher-value manufacturing domestically.
'The government has to act as one unit since the threat from these newer models will soon scale up.'
'...A new challenge has emerged in the form of Mythos.'
'There has to be a safe harbour for licensed entities, which have followed all the norms prescribed by the RBI.'
ICICI Bank is seeking recoveries of at least 100 crore from fintech firms, alleging merchant misclassification of their business, a practice that has eroded the bank's interchange income. The dispute, lodged with global card network Visa, highlights growing discomfort among banks and intensified scrutiny from the Reserve Bank of India.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that two more semiconductor chip packaging units, part of the India Semiconductor Mission, are expected to be operational by July and December, respectively. He also highlighted India's focus on becoming a beneficiary of AI technology, expanding data centre infrastructure with significant investments, and developing new subsea cable networks for global connectivity.
India's newly formed Artificial Intelligence Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG) is set to advocate for a unified legal framework for AI companies, including developers of large language models and chatbot systems, alongside broader operational rules.
IRCTC is expanding its payments arm, IRCTC Payments, to handle transactions across its ticketing platform and tap government clients, aiming to scale its annual payment processing to approximately 1 trillion.
'It is a tradeoff between convenience and fraud prevention.'
The updated content settings will mean that teenagers in India will be able to view only content similar to what they would likely see in an age-appropriate movie.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has expressed concerns that India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, particularly the lack of a deemed consent mechanism for credit information companies, and the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2021, along with frequent internet shutdowns, could negatively impact the ability of US companies to operate and trade in India.
