Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Though the oldest Alphas are just turning 15 in 2025, they're already more digitally fluent than any generation before, points out Sandeep Goyal.
Within weeks of announcing his exit as executive chairman of the global software-as-a-service (SaaS) company Freshworks, its founder Girish Mathrubootham appears to be on an investment spree.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday exhorted the fledgling fintech ecosystem to focus on the underserved sections of the society to deepen financial inclusion. Speaking at the annual Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, Malhotra accepted that serving the "privileged" will be a lucrative business, but urged the smaller companies to focus on the underserved.
With Google announcing the milestone of Willow - a state-of-the-art quantum computing chip that can solve complex problems in under five minutes, a computation so complex it would have taken a supercomputer around 10 septillion (10^25) years to complete - tech experts believe this breakthrough could impact artificial intelligence (AI), particularly by making it more accessible to the masses. However, industry players caution that it may take several years for this innovation to become commercially viable.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in no rush to launch the central bank digital currency (CBDC) nationwide, as its most promising use case - cross-border payments - depends on other countries rolling out their own CBDCs simultaneously for the system to work effectively. That said, the CBDC pilot is progressing well, with the user base in India expanding to about seven million, said RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar.
Here are ten human-forward skills that will quietly but decisively shape professional growth in 2026.
'The Indian consumer is moving so quickly and they have so many options.'
Budget 2025 lays down a transformational roadmap for India's digital and economic future, focusing on AI-driven enterprise modernisation, workforce skilling, and sustainable innovation. With bold investments in AI, digital infrastructure, and ease of doing business, the government has set the stage for businesses to scale, innovate and compete on a global level.
Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old Indian-origin former employee of OpenAI, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26. The medical examiner's office ruled the death a suicide, and police say there is no evidence of foul play. Balaji was known for publicly accusing OpenAI of violating US copyright law while developing ChatGPT, a generative AI program that has become a global sensation. His death comes amid a wave of lawsuits against OpenAI from creators who claim their copyrighted material was used without permission to train ChatGPT.
Railways ramps up project to instal AI-based cameras that can recognise faces.
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
Renewables sector stole the show as Andhra Pradesh bagged investments to the tune of around Rs 13.25 trillion during the three-day CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam. The sector accounted for the bulk of Rs 5.33 trillion out of the memorandum of understanding (MoUs) signed during the summit.
ISRO Chairman V Narayanan announces ambitious space program goals, including landing Indians on the Moon by 2040 and launching the 'Gaganyaan' mission in 2027. The agency is also working on a national space station and uncrewed missions.
'What we are seeing today is India stepping into its digital confidence, not as a follower but a leader.'
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday said the central bank has developed an innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) based model MuleHunter.ai to address the growing issue of mule bank accounts that are often used for committing financial fraud. Developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, the new initiative is piloted with two public sector banks.
Tech giant Microsoft has unveiled a blueprint for India on artificial intelligence (AI) governance, and proposed a regulatory architecture to oversee safety protocols, according to a whitepaper released on Thursday. The whitepaper titled "Governing AI: A Blueprint for India" comes amid Microsoft raising its stakes in its artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. The proposed AI regulatory architecture includes regulations prescribing safety and security requirements, then license deployment for permitted uses in a licensed Al data centre with post-deployment safety and security monitoring and protection.
The platform has seen a growth of 70% in watch time for South content, which is more than the national average.The South has outperformed the rest of India in subscription depth, retention and connected TV adoption.
DeepSeek is a case in point on how economic interdependence between nations are utilised for geopolitical ambitions and global domination efforts, observes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
'What we see now is a much stronger need for data sovereignty.'
An initiative of Nandan Nilekani's EkStep Foundation, people+ai on Tuesday unveiled its vision for the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, dubbed 'Adbhut India' (Amazing India). It aims to harness AI as a powerful tool to enhance the lives of all Indians. The event marked the rollout of several initiatives by people+ai that are focused on discovering, demonstrating, and disseminating population-scale AI use cases for India.
These losses increase insurance premiums for customers and reduce insurer margins on the other.
'Employers increasingly want candidates who can take AI pilots from proof-of-concept to production-ready systems.' 'That requires governance, monitoring, and ROI measurement -- skills that go beyond coding and into business impact.'
'...not merely in managing fiscal mathematics, but in demonstrating conservatism and prudence within that framework.' 'Looking forward, we believe sufficient growth drivers exist -- ranging from government reforms to revival in consumption to favourable monsoons. Numerous factors support the Indian economy.'
The Indian government has introduced a next-generation e-passport with enhanced security features, including an embedded RFID chip, to combat forgery and impersonation. The rollout follows successful pilot testing and implementation across India and abroad.
'The world now realises that semiconductors are not just important for national security, but also for economic prosperity.'
US lawmakers have urged President Donald Trump to reconsider his proclamation on H1-B visas, including the USD 100,000 fee, asserting that Indian nationals are central to American leadership in IT and AI, and the restrictions will negatively impact US-India ties.
rediffGURU Nayagam PP, career counsellor and the founder of EduJob360, counsels students and aspiring professionals about how they can make the right career decision.
Jobs requiring AI skills carry a significant wage premium, with some roles offering up to a 25 per cent increase in wages, notes Manoj Nagpal, vice president, professional services, OpenText, an information management company.
Deep-tech now forms over half of VC portfolios in India as firms like Cornerstone, Unicorn India Ventures and All in Capital back startups combining research with scalable models
ChatGPT-5 has been trained to minimise hallucinations and avoid deception.
'It flows through families, caste groups, and local WhatsApp communities where trust is personal.' 'Children are taught to defer to elders, so if a parent or uncle forwards something, you don't question it.'
'Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft have large operations in India and rely on smooth trade and data flows.' 'Restrictions could raise their costs, limit AI chip exports, and complicate their India strategies.'
If the Indian government is indeed serious about reversing brain drain, it needs to put much more emphasis on research and innovation, especially in areas that will determine the future, asserts Prosenjit Datta.
'Don't look at Russia only as a place to earn quickly and then leave.' 'Try to build experience in serious companies, skills and certifications that will serve you anywhere in the world.'
'The race is now on for Indian IT firms to develop their AI prowess and focus on a software-first approach to services as the people element becomes more complicated with Trump's expected new regulations.'
'BSE has facilitated nearly Rs 35 trillion in capital raising across multiple segments.'
South Korean consumer electronics major Samsung, which on Wednesday launched its latest smartphone Galaxy S25 in San Jose, US, will also be manufacturing it at its Noida plant in India, J B Park, president & CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia, said. Moreover, the Bengaluru-based R&D centre of Samsung, the biggest outside South Korea, has "contributed significantly" for developing the S25 series of Galaxy AI.
Currently, India has five publicly listed Reits: Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, Embassy Office Parks Reit, Mindspace Business Parks Reit Nexus Select Trust, and Knowledge Realty Trust.
'The heat shield technology for re-entry vehicles was first mastered in DRDO for the Agni missile.' 'This is why the Americans were so opposed to Agni in the 1980s, unlike other missiles -- it was a re-entry vehicle.'
