In their talks, Modi and Merz are likely to deliberate on trade and investment ties as New Delhi is looking at deepening economic engagement with Europe against the backdrop of Washington's 50 percent tariff on Indian goods, people familiar with the matter said.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with families affected by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, met with the Chief Election Commissioner to voice their concerns and demand a halt to the revision process.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced that an interim trade agreement between India and the US is likely to be signed in March and operationalised in April, with chief negotiators meeting in Washington to finalize the details.
The government wants the AI Summit to give it an early start in becoming part of any global body setting policies for the emerging technology.
Among major engagements in 2026 is the visit of the European Union leadership, chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocated for a global framework for artificial intelligence (AI) based on open source, emphasizing the need for trust, transparency, and the elimination of biases. Co-chairing the AI Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, Modi highlighted the transformative potential of AI across various domains, including politics, economics, security, and society. He stressed the importance of democratizing technology, addressing concerns about cyber security and disinformation, and developing quality data sets free from biases. Modi also acknowledged the need for open-source AI ecosystems to foster trust and transparency, while emphasizing the importance of localized technology for effectiveness and usefulness. Recognizing the potential of AI to improve health, education, and agriculture, Modi proposed pooling resources and talent to leverage the technology for sustainable development goals. Addressing concerns about job displacement, he emphasized that while the nature of work may evolve, technology creates new opportunities. Modi highlighted India's leadership in AI adoption and data privacy solutions, emphasizing the nation's readiness to share its expertise and contribute to an AI future that benefits all.
'There is a challenge in repositioning yourself, maybe reinventing yourself.'
E-commerce giant Amazon plans to make a mega-investment of $35 billion, over Rs 3.14 lakh crore, in India by 2030 across its businesses with a focus on AI-driven digitization, export growth and job creation, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
OpenAI on Friday said it will set up its first India office in New Delhi later this year, underlining the swift uptake of its AI tools in a market that is ChatGPT's second-largest after the US and among its fastest-growing. OpenAI said it has officially established an entity in India and has begun hiring a dedicated local team.
Digital Connexion, a joint venture between Brookfield, Reliance Industries and Digital Realty, on Wednesday announced an investment of $11 billion till 2030 for building 1 gigawatt (Gw) state-of-the-art AI-native, purpose-built data centres in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Adani Group said on Friday it will invest around Rs 1 trillion in various sectors of Andhra Pradesh over the next ten years, deepening its commitment in the state where it will partner with Google for an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.
Trump signed three executive orders related to AI, including a White House action plan, an order that establishes a coordinated national effort to support the American AI industry by promoting the export of full-stack American AI technology packages.
The US Representative criticised the administration's new USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visas, observing that Indians hold 70 per cent of these visas and saying the change directly harms workers who have long supported US innovation across technology, science and medicine.
China has made serious inroads into Latin America, which the US may now be hinting is simply not ok: Stay in your lane, Xi! In simple terms, China will no longer have access to Venezuelan oil, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The return on investment (RoI) from technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) will take time to materialise, and the immediate priority should be to increase spending on building governance frameworks around AI, top bank executives said.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge denies discussing leadership change with Rahul Gandhi, stating the meeting focused on AI personal computers and 'vote chori' cases. He maintains the Congress high command will decide on any CM change.
'We are expecting investment, public and private, of around Rs 40 trillion by 2029.'
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.
The government is going to bring a regulation on deepfakes soon that will take help of technology for efficient implementation, Union electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.
Nitin Gadkari said AI will be used to detect landslides, waterlogging and accident-prone spots on highways, while highlighting logistics cost cuts and road safety initiatives
The 2025 US National Security Strategy marks a major pullback, with America turning backward and effectively allowing China greater dominance in Asia. while long-time partners like India are left to face an increasingly unstable global order largely on their own, observes Rajeev Srinivasan.
This was perhaps a missed opportunity for India to spotlight a core domestic challenge: The scale of workforce preparation required for a young, populous, rapidly growing country seeking to reach net zero, points out Radha Roy Biswas.
Under the India AI mission, supercomputing, comprising over 10,000 GPUs, will be made available to various stakeholders for creating an AI ecosystem.
Reaffirming India's stand against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged leaders of the G7 to galvanise global action against terrorism and underscored the need for strict action against those who 'promote and support' it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ethiopia on a bilateral visit, engaging with Ethiopian leadership to strengthen partnerships in various sectors. He was warmly welcomed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and participated in cultural events, highlighting the strong ties between the two nations.
'I think that kind of change is coming. We should stay prepared for that change, whichever industry or sector we are in, we must be prepared.'
'20 per cent of the global AI researchers are of Indian origin, and we should bring them back.'
'We're always looking at how we can keep improving, keep getting better, and keep learning.'
Amid speculation over leadership change in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the issue will be resolved after discussions with senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, while deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed there is unity in the party.
Lieutenant Colonel C Dwarakesh is the only completely blind officer to continue in the Indian Army after losing his eyesight while in service. In his remarkable journey after disability, he enhanced his education qualification, scaled the Siachen Glacier and found purpose in sport.
'I will not be surprised if there is a 7 per cent handle in front of the decimal place for the full financial year.'
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
60 per cent of hospitals are directing investments towards IT capability building, 50 per cent towards business intelligence tools and data lakes, and a significant share into AI-led use cases such as clinical documentation (72 per cent), decision support systems (64 per cent) and imaging (60 per cent).
The government is expected to outline a policy framework for artificial intelligence (AI) at the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2024, beginning Tuesday, officials said. Apart from industry participation, the four-day event will feature booths from over 15 ministries showcasing how AI is being integrated into their departments.
American chip behemoth Nvidia Corp and India's retail-to-refining giant Reliance Industries on Thursday unveiled their goal to build a formidable AI computing infrastructure in the country. Highlighting the tie-up, Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, made a broader appeal: India should focus on "manufacturing" AI, rather than racing to build semiconductor fabs. As part of this collaboration, Nvidia will reportedly supply its Blackwell AI processors to power Reliance's one-gigawatt data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The Indian government has released data detailing the expenses incurred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits from 2021 to 2025, including trips to the US, France, and other countries.
"The person who made the threat call to the Mumbai Police Control Room has been taken into custody from the Chembur area. He is mentally ill," the police added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his upcoming visit to India in December and expressed his intention to address the trade imbalance between the two countries, particularly concerning India's crude oil imports from Russia. He also lauded India's independent stance on international issues and highlighted the strong relationship between the two nations.
India should simultaneously prioritise domestic exploration and production of more oil and gas in the country, and ensure we retain diversified suppliers for imports, points out former foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai.
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