Sovereign AI

Sovereign AI: Why It Must Become a Strategic National Priority for India

For a Viksit Bharat, data, computation and intelligence will become strategic resources. Protecting them is not protectionism; it is prudent nation-building. India should remain globally connected, internationally collaborative and technologically ambitious but sovereign enough to protect its citizens, institutions and national interests.

AI: The Race Without a Finish Line

The real significance of AI, therefore, may not be about who is the first to cross some hypothetical finish line called AGI. It may be about who is able to diffuse AI most rapidly through the real economy, into factories, services, logistics, research and everyday business

AI Evolution and Consequences: Is Mankind Playing With Fire?

But a plausible scenario about fear of AI could result when a rogue human coder may put in a malicious code (out of mischief ) in this far-from-equilibrium AI system and start a chain of events which may destroy the system. 

ISRO! Don’t Privatise Yesterday’s Rockets: Build Tomorrow’s With Industry

The purpose of privatisation, therefore, should not be to find a private buyer for every government-developed rocket. It should be to create an industry capable of designing, manufacturing, operating and eventually improving India's future launch vehicles. 

More on AI, Tech and Innovation

Bangladesh seeks India’s assistance in developing its railway and power infrastructure

India has agreed to supply locomotives, passenger carriages, and technology for railway signaling systems to Bangladesh as Dhaka sought New Delhi’s assistance in developing and modernizing its railway infrastructure

Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basit Rajapaksa to visit India to sign deal on economic assistance

Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa will visit India soon for the signing of important deals on economic assistance to the crisis-hit country, Foreign Minister G L Peiris confirmed

Sri Lanka to tap destination wedding segment to revive its tourism sector

Sri Lankan authorities are planning to promote the picturesque Indian Ocean island country as an option for global couples looking for a destination wedding on a reasonable budget

Doing business in India: Hyundai, KFC, Pizza Hut learn it doesn't pay to cause offence

Following a social media outcry in India, and calls for a boycott of Hyundai, which has a major presence in India's large consumer market, the South Korean government on Tuesday was forced to firefight and said it "regretted the offence caused to the people of India" after a Pakistan dealer of Seoul-headquartered automobile manufacturer Hyundai posted a social media message  - now deleted - indicating support for separatists in Kashmir

Nepal may lose a $500 US grant under the MCC compact

Nepal may lose the 500 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent US foreign-policy aid agency, if it fails to ratify the MCC-Nepal Compact in the Nepali Parliament by 28 February, the MCC Headquarters has warned in a letter to the Nepali government, which has been delaying the process now for over four years

ADB disbursed loans worth $4.6 bn to India in 2021; a third of it for pandemic response

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) disbursed loans worth a record $4.6 billion to India in 2021, including $1.8 billion towards coronavirus response

India’s budget envisions a technology-enabled economy for 25 years

The Indian Finance Minister announced the introduction of ‘digital rupee’, using blockchain and other technologies in 2022-23 to give a big boost to the digital economy

India's budget is reflective of a distorted political economy

The budget shows that the government’s commitment to the bottom 30-40 percent of the Indian population seems to be very limited

Sri Lanka seeks IMF support amid worsening economic crisis; signs agreement with India for $500 million line of credit

Amid the worsening economic crisis, Sri Lanka has written to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking “technical support” in tackling the ongoing crisis, confirmed Finance Minister Basit Rajapaksa, after the government kept avoiding the IMF option for months amid domestic pressure

IMF approves $1 billion for Pakistan, revives $6 billion package

In what comes as a big relief to Pakistan’s struggling economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $1 billion for Pakistan after the latter implemented reform measures suggested by the former, thus reviving the $6 billion package, which was stalled since June last year

India reduces development assistance to neighbors in budget 2022

Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, see cuts in their allocations in the financial year 2022-23, while Bangladesh, Maldives, and Myanmar receive higher funds in comparison to the last year.  

Amid fuel shortage, Sri Lanka to purchase diesel from Indian Oil Corporation

Amid the growing fuel crisis exacerbated by a foreign exchange crisis, the Sri Lankan government has decided to purchase diesel from India’s state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), and a proposal for the purchase has been cleared by the Cabinet on Tuesday

Sri Lanka seeks market access for its goods in crisis-hit Turkey

Sri Lanka has sought market access in Turkey for its goods when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited Sri Lanka for the promotion of the bilateral trade between the two countries

How Iranian apples via Afghanistan are ruining Kashmir’s horticulture industry

The advent of Iranian apples has resulted in a drop of over 50 percent in demand for Kashmiri apples, write Suhail Bhat and Sameer Mushtaq for South Asia Monitor

Nepal’s self-sufficiency in cement, with a little Chinese help, costs the environment and people

Nepal has become self-sufficient in cement production, with close to 55 plants having an annual production capacity of 15 million tonnes operating across the country