India on Tuesday extended a $500 million line of credit to Sri Lanka for the import of fuel as a couple of power plants in the island country ran out of fuel amid a severe foreign exchange crisis
Navigating the Intelligent Tide: How AI and Generative AI are Reshaping Maritime Mobility in South Asia
The integration of AI and Generative AI is not a distant aspiration — it is an active investment already reshaping how ports operate, how cargo moves, and how supply chains absorb shocks. For India and its neighbours, the imperative is clear: build the data foundations, governance frameworks, and human capabilities that allow intelligent mobility to reach not just the terminal gate, but every link in the maritime supply chain.
The Splinternet and Fractured Digital World: Will Sovereignty Serve People, or the State, or Whoever Owns the Server?
Companies like Google, Meta, and X constantly shape public opinion and thoughts, and store public data for commercial usage. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google host the cloud infrastructure on which states and businesses depend. These are not ordinary companies anymore; they have access to critical intelligence and data. And now AI companies like Palantir use this data for surveillance, intelligence, monitoring, and on battlefields.
Non-Material ‘Presence’ in the Age of AI: A South Asian Reclamation of the Spirit Against the Machine
While TiME FLiES travels from 18th-century Boston to 20th-century Michigan and 21st-century Provence, its soul remains anchored in South Asian philosophy. It argues that while AI may simulate the "heart and mind," the true "presence" of consciousness—the Turiya—cannot be reduced to code.
Fighting Fire With Fire: How South Asia Can Use AI to Fight Cybercrime
The same generative AI that allows criminals to craft perfect phishing emails in Sinhala (or Hindi, Bangla and Urdu) or clone a Chief Financial Officer's voice from a YouTube clip, can also detect those emails before they reach an inbox and flag that voice as synthetic before a payment is authorised. The technology exists. The question is whether South Asia's institutions will deploy it in time.
More on AI and Innovation
Amid economic crisis, Sri Lanka seeking fuel from India to run power plants
Sri Lanka has been exploring the option of procuring fuel, required for the operations of power plants, from India as regular supplies are affected amid a severe foreign exchange crisis
India to extend $1.5 billion lines of credit to Sri Lanka; Jaishankar dials Finance Minister Basit
India will extend $1.5 billion in additional lines of credit to Sri Lanka, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed on Saturday, assuring the island country of its continuous “support in all possible ways for overcoming economic and other challenges”
IMF Board approves $395 million credit assistance for Nepal to mitigate Covid-19 impact
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board has approved a $395.9 million extended credit facility (ECF) for Nepal to help it mitigate the pandemic’s impact on health and economic activity, supporting sustained growth and poverty reduction among others
India extends $900 million ‘facilities’ to ailing Sri Lankan economy
India has extended $900 million facilities to Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said, as the island country has been going through its worst economic crisis, with record low foreign exchange reserves and food shortages
Sri Lanka may see sovereign default, says S&P, downgrades rating to 'CCC' with negative outlook
After Fitch Ratings, Standard and Poor's has now downgraded Sri Lanka’s sovereign ratings to ‘CCC’ with a negative outlook from an earlier ‘CCC+’ as its currency continued to be under pressure, indicating the island country may see a sovereign default scenario this year, a prospect the country’s central bank denied
UK announces start of FTA negotiations with India; Johnson lists Scotch whisky on top of sectors to benefit
The UK government on Thursday announced the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India, describing it as a "golden opportunity" to put British businesses at the "front of the queue" of "India's booming economy" and its fast-growing segment of "250 million shoppers"
Nepal Telecom to begin delayed 5G trials in June
Nepal will begin its first 5G internet services trial in June, almost after a delay of over a year, which will cover both urban and rural areas, officials said
Rape, abduction derail tourism in Bangladesh’s beach town of Cox’s Bazar, local economy impacted
In any normal new year, hotels and guesthouses in the beach town Cox’s Bazar would be booming with tourists and visitors
Indians topped Sri Lanka’s tourist arrivals in 2021
Tourists from India dominated Sri Lanka’s tourism market last year, contributing almost 23 percent of the total 194,000 tourists who visited the island country in 2021
PM Imran Khan launches Pak-China Business investment forum to fast-track investments
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday launched the Pakistan-China Business Investment Forum to fast-track project approvals and investment proposals from Chinese investors
Inflation wrecks havoc in Pakistan; touches 12 percent in December
The inflation rate in Pakistan reached a new level last month, recording 12.3 percent in December— the highest in the last two years, as experts warn of more trouble in the weeks ahead of the government’s mini-budget
Sri Lanka finalizes Trincomalee oil farm deal with India, agrees to extend lease of 14 oil tanks for 50 years
In a deal with considerable strategic significance for South Asian geopolitics, Sri Lanka will extend the lease of 14 oil tanks in Trincomalee oil farms to India for 50 years, Lankan Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said on Friday, adding the deal, which will also include the joint development of 61 other unused tanks, will be signed next week
India needs a precise startup policy for defence manufacturing
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted India's growing involvement of youth in defence-related startups
Sri Lanka’s forex increases to $3 billion; former PM urges government to approach IMF
Sri Lanka’s foreign reserve exchange reached $3.1 billion dollars in December, up from $1.5 billion recorded last month, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka informed on Wednesday
