'There are certain sovereign AI domains where we must build capabilities using our own data, our own language models, and make our own attempts at global models.'
Budget 2026 is an intentional and ambitious one - From manufacturing growth to services supremacy, from technology consumption to AI-powered transformation. This is the blueprint for a $7 trillion economy built on intelligence, not just scale.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
From April 1, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India's new authentication directions modernise how every digital payment you make must be verified -- and place the burden of security squarely on your bank, not on you.
A three-year-old girl in Rajasthan has received an artificial intelligence-based smart cochlear implant, marking a first for government hospitals in the state and offering new hope for treating hearing impairment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the importance of democratizing artificial intelligence to ensure its benefits reach the Global South, speaking at the India AI Impact Summit.
Platform-style partnerships between global investors and Indian developers are expected to gain further traction over the next few years. This comes as institutional capital increasingly shifts from one-off asset acquisitions to scalable, long-term strategies.
'The reality is that every one of us will be pushed to learn and relearn faster than ever before. Some people will rise to that challenge. Some may not. But the opportunity itself is massive,' says Noshir Kaka, senior partner, McKinsey.
Macroeconomic data, global geopolitical developments and rising concerns over AI-related disruptions are likely to dictate sentiment in the stock market next week, even as investors may remain cautious amid ongoing volatility, according to analysts.
'We are profoundly energy-dependent on the Gulf. That dependency must now be redirected towards the United States, because we require American permission to procure oil.' 'We additionally require Iranian permission to acquire oil from that source. So India now has to seek two separate permissions merely to secure its energy supply.' 'Should we be compelled to source from America, or from Venezuela -- which is, in effect, American-controlled supply -- that will inevitably carry a price premium, an elevated shipping cost, and a considerably extended delivery timeline, given the distances involved.'
There is record underperformance and under-ownership. Some of this is cyclical and will turn on its own. However, we also need to regain our growth credentials. For this, both the government and companies have a role to play, as do investors, points out Akash Prakash.
'When a technology is this fundamental, a country should have its own version of it, rather than relying on whether someone else chooses to build it for you.'
The artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem is opaque and needs to be made transparent and accountable, said Competition Commission of India's (CCI) Chairperson Ravneet Kaur at the Business Standard Manthan Summit on Wednesday.
We cannot simply have a 60-65 per cent import dependency in LPG, the bulk of which comes from just one volatile region -- West Asia, points out R Jagannathan.
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 saw investment pledges of USD 240 billion from major players like Reliance, Adani, Google, Lightspeed Ventures, and Tata, signalling a significant boost to India's AI infrastructure and development.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah emphasized the importance of ethical AI usage, intellectual property protection, and fair compensation in the AVGC-XR sector, advocating for AI to enhance human creativity rather than replace artists.
Delhi Police are increasing security measures, including intensified border checks and crackdowns on traffic violations, to ensure peaceful Holi celebrations.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
Infosys on Tuesday unveiled its AI First Value Framework, positioning itself to capture an estimated $300-400 billion incremental AI services opportunity by 2030, as global enterprises accelerate adoption of generative and agentic AI.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
India launches AI-driven SPEEED platform to track athlete performance, predict injuries, tackle age fraud and revolutionise sports science nationwide.
A senior health expert warns against the growing trend of using AI for self-diagnosis and treatment, emphasizing that these tools should not replace human clinical judgment.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) globally presents significant opportunities for Indian companies and will not adversely impact their businesses, Nasscom AI head Ankit Bose said on Tuesday.
The Chinese military claims significant progress in drone warfare, reporting that a single soldier can control a swarm of 200 drones using AI technology. Tests conducted by the PLA-affiliated National University of Defence Technology showcase the potential of AI-enabled drone swarm warfare.
A fall in the Nifty 50 to around 19,000 is not impossible, but that would likely require nuclear options to be exercised.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a side conversation for Indian pharma. It is fast becoming central to how drugs will be discovered, made, and supplied. Along with that shift comes a sharper focus on innovation, on the one hand, and quality and trust, on the other.
The Iran conflict led to a sharp correction in Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL's) share price, which has been partially reversed by a rebound.
Multiple terror attacks in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during Ramazan have resulted in the deaths of security personnel, while security forces in Balochistan have killed several rebels in response.
Delhi Police have arrested 204 people and taken preventive action against 973 individuals under 'Operation Aaghat' ahead of the Holi festival. The operation targeted habitual offenders, bootleggers, drug peddlers, and other miscreants across the southern range of Delhi.
The message is becoming clearer: Employees who fail to meaningfully integrate AI into their work risk falling behind in performance assessments.
India should resist knee-jerk responses to tariff volatility in the US and instead use the current geopolitical churn to build manufacturing scale at home, former G20 Sherpa and former chief executive officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption has led firms to moderate hiring, primarily at the entry-level, according to a report.
The court is hearing appeals against a CCI order imposing a penalty on Meta and WhatsApp.
Fears around artificial intelligence (AI) sparked a global selloff in information technology (IT) stocks, dragging down domestic software shares and prompting the heaviest foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows since the second half of July 2025.
'The real risk is not that AI will fail to transform India's economy.'
'The risk is that it already is -- while our measurement systems continue to look the other way,' observes Nishant Sahdev, a theoretical physicist at the University of North Carolina.
Replacing over a third of India's oil imports at competitive rates is going to be a challenge, said traders from State refiners, even though some progress was made in the last two months.
...on par with oil, power, and defence, and to restrict its storage under foreign control.
Hyderabad is rapidly emerging as a strategic hub for multinational companies (MNCs) deepening their focus on artificial intelligence (AI), life sciences, and global capability centres (GCCs), supported by the city's strong pharmaceutical (pharma) base, deeptech talent pool, and a policy environment that encourages high-value investment.
'The day that the market realises that they've overspent (on AI) and there's a sudden collapse in the capex, then India can start outperforming again.'
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