Reliance Jio Infocomm, India's largest mobile operator, will land the multi-terabit India-Asia-Xpress (IAX) undersea cable system in the Maldives’ Hulhumale, a reclaimed island south of North Male, the company confirmed in a statement on Monday
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
India, US in talks to boost economic ties beyond FTA
India and the US are in dialogue to look at ways beyond a free trade agreement to promote economic ties by providing better market access and enhanced engagement on investments, India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Sunday
No cash, severe fuel shortage inevitable, says Sri Lankan energy minister
Sri Lanka's state-owned petroleum company has run out of cash, the country’s Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said, warning a severe fuel shortage is inevitable if tariffs aren’t increased or the government doesn’t provide another bailout
Sri Lanka’s energy crisis threatens revival of its prized tourism industry
What began as a forex crisis, primarily because of the collapse of the tourism industry, blew up into an energy crisis, and now seems to jeopardise the revival of the same tourism industry.
Hit by MCC row, time running out for Nepal’s energy-export ambitions
Despite being a net energy surplus country, Nepal still imports electricity from India to supply to some regions which remain off the national grid
Growing Bangladesh-India trade and economic ties creating new opportunities in both countries
Bangladesh’s holistic development is viewed positively by New Delhi, with new opportunities arising along India’s northeastern region
Maiden voyage of Tata Steel shipment from eastern to northeastern India - via Bangaldesh; logistic chain for feedstock movement also established
In a move to demonstrate the effectiveness of multi-modal cargo movement in eastern South Asia, the maiden voyage of a steel cargo-laden barge from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Bengal's Haldia to Pandu Port in Guwahati was flagged off by India's Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal through what is being called in official jargon the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR)
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
