The Indian government has notified the Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026, establishing IST as the sole reference for all official purposes nationwide. These rules, effective in 180 days, aim to synchronise digital systems, reduce reliance on foreign time sources, and enhance coordination across critical sectors like banking, railways, and telecommunications.
Minister of State for Telecom Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani urged BRICS nations to collaborate on building institutional capacity and advocating for fair standards in international telecom and ICT bodies. He highlighted India's willingness to share its modular, open-source digital public infrastructure frameworks like Aadhaar and DigiLocker, emphasising their role in sustainable development and economic growth across the Global South.
Experts highlight India's significant market potential for assistive technologies, estimated at Rs 75,000-95,000 crore by 2030. They advocate for a National Assistive Technology Policy to address current gaps in access and service delivery, fostering inclusion, independence, and economic participation for persons with disabilities and the elderly.
Technopark-based space-tech startup HEX20 has been selected by the UAE Space Agency to develop a spacecraft for an asteroid probe, marking the first time an Indian private company has been chosen for a deep-space mission by the Gulf nation. HEX20 is contributing its expertise in developing the spacecraft bus and software for the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, which is scheduled for launch in March 2028 to study asteroid 269 Justitia.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called upon Indian industry to prioritise not just scale but also resilience, better governance, and deeper technological capabilities to achieve the 'Viksit Bharat' goal by 2047.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for enhanced accountability and safeguards for artificial intelligence, particularly as it integrates into critical sectors like finance. Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest, she highlighted the dual nature of AI, capable of accelerating transactions but also amplifying fraud and cyberattacks. Sitharaman stressed the need for human and institutional responsibility in AI-driven decisions, urging regulators and companies to scrutinise high-risk AI applications. She also proposed a federated industry platform for Indian tech companies to navigate international regulations and ensure tax compliance globally.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has requested the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to gather data on IT infrastructure and available space from government institutions. This initiative aims to establish new testing centres for the computer-based NEET-UG examination, which is set to be implemented from 2027 following a recent paper leak and NTA's ongoing overhaul.
"With the leverage available, I believe the scheme remains reasonably attractive," said P D Singh, India and South Asia Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, regarding the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR (B) deposits.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) has moved to a new office and deployed CISF security to safeguard confidential areas, following a major controversy over the NEET paper leak and administrative lapses. This move aims to implement foolproof security arrangements and restore public trust in the examination system.
IICT and Netflix are offering scholarships to 100 students and working professionals, with up to 80 per cent financial support for courses in animation, VFX, gaming and creative technologies.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is reportedly 'close' to approving the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) initial public offering (IPO) draft documents, with an expected market debut by early next month. Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey also emphasised the regulator's focus on enhancing market resilience against evolving risks, including technology failures and the impact of artificial intelligence.
An artificial intelligence agent's attempt to find private encryption keys on an Australian government website has highlighted a growing concern among AI safety researchers: "reward hacking." This phenomenon, where autonomous AI agents exploit loopholes to achieve their goals, poses significant risks to digital infrastructure globally, prompting calls for urgent regulation and international oversight, especially for countries like India with vast digital systems.
'When a glacier collapse or a major flood event does occur, the water will simply reclaim its original path, and anything built in that path will be swept away.'
Over 14,000 members of the academic and scientific community have petitioned Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking intervention against Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's "gau mutra expert" remark concerning IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti during parliamentary proceedings. The petition calls for the withdrawal of the derogatory expression, arguing it undermines the dignity of an eminent scientist and the institution he leads, and urges for respectful democratic discourse.
The search for N Chandrasekaran's successor as Tata Sons Chairman has reportedly narrowed to Tata Steel CEO T V Narendran, Tata Sons Executive Director Saurabh Agrawal, and NSE MD & CEO Ashish Chauhan, with Chauhan emerging as a potential 'dark horse' candidate.
For India, the goal is not simply to host another grand diplomatic gathering. It is to prove that a diverse coalition of emerging powers can still deliver.
Researchers have successfully demonstrated the transmission of quantum information over commercial fibre-optic infrastructure, a significant step towards building practical quantum networks. This breakthrough addresses the challenge of cost and maintaining fragile entangled states outside laboratory settings.
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has completed a decade since its launch, becoming the backbone of India's digital payments ecosystem. It has seen exponential growth in transaction volume and value, expanding financial inclusion and setting a global benchmark for real-time payments.
Education sector experts agree that using the "best technology" was essential to ensure students did not have to sit for an examination all over again because of a question paper leak.
HCLTech, India's third-largest IT services company, announced plans to establish a global technology centre and an AI-optimised data centre in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, with a total investment of approximately Rs 15,000 crore, marking its entry into the AI infrastructure business.
Indian researchers from ICMR-National Institute for Research on Women's Health and IIT Bombay have developed an indigenous "placenta-on-chip" platform. This microphysiological system mimics the human placental barrier, reproducing essential functions like hormone production and nutrient transfer. It offers a simple, scalable tool for studying placental biology, pregnancy complications, and drug effects, aiming to reduce reliance on animal experimentation.
'Improved law and order and transparent governance have helped change UP's investment image.'
IIT Madras is hosting the 3rd Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) Symposium 2026 in partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and RISC-V International. The symposium aims to unite stakeholders from government, industry, and academia to advance India's semiconductor innovation, focusing on indigenous processor technologies, secure computing, hardware innovation, and AI, aligning with the government's vision for India as a global semiconductor hub.
The National Health Authority (NHA) is promoting the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) to standardise and simplify health insurance claims processing in India, aiming for a seamless and reliable digital infrastructure similar to UPI.
The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) within four weeks to deal with bank accounts linked to cyber frauds, including mule accounts. This directive is part of a broader effort to strengthen responses to cyber-enabled financial frauds, with the court also urging states and UTs to adopt and operationalise grievance redressal and money restoration modules.
'You have to get private investment to somewhere between 35% to 36% of GDP. It is hovering about 30%-31%.'
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
Why the industry's public position changed is difficult to say. What the developments did establish, though, is that ethanol-blended petrol has become one of the country's most politically and commercially sensitive policy issues.
The recipe for Indian higher education institutions to succeed in the global markets is excellence in academics, promoting contemporary socially relevant material, and enabling individuals (learners) to realise their full potential, suggests N Ravichandran.
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.
Andhra Pradesh has launched India's first quantum reference facility, aiming to build a sovereign hardware ecosystem and boost indigenous manufacturing of advanced computing systems.
Through his commitment to democratic norms, debate, dissent and constitutionalism, Jawaharlal Nehru helped ensure that parliamentary democracy took deep root in independent India. Utkarsh Mishra evaluates Nehru's 17 years as India's first prime minister, examining his role in nation-building, democratic institution-building, economic planning, scientific advancement and foreign policy.
Onestruction Inc and DataKaveri Systems have signed an MoU to establish a framework for strategic and technical collaboration in urban and built environment data exchange.
Andhra Pradesh is set to launch India's first indigenously built, open-access quantum computers, marking a significant step towards building a sovereign quantum hardware ecosystem. The initiative aims to position the state as a global hub for quantum technology and enable applications in various sectors.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reports a decline in traditional financial crimes due to sustained investigative actions and government initiatives, while highlighting emerging challenges like cryptocurrency fraud and terror financing.
The outreach comes amid a drop in Indian student enrolments in management programmes at American universities last year, following changes to US student visa policies.
'Markets never fully lose hope. But an important shift could come if the Strait remains closed -- moving from high prices to no prices.'
University College London has recorded a 19 per cent and 26 per cent rise in undergraduate and postgraduate students from India for the 2026 term, indicating a preference for the UK over the US at a time when Indian students are facing visa uncertainties in US-based institutions.
In a region increasingly shaped by competition and coercion, such collaboration strengthens security without confrontation, builds capacity without dependency and promotes order without domination, points out Dr Kumar.
'Government officials use Gmail and ordinary phones without basic security consciousness.' 'Interoperability, especially in joint exercises with countries like the US, worries me.' 'It often means we open our systems to them, but they don't reciprocate.' 'They could have kill switches in their systems and might even be able to affect ours.'
