A vintage streetcar beside a driverless car on the Embarcadero, San Francisco / Photo by Surbhi Guha.

South Asian Talent Almost Everywhere; Missing is an AI Invention from the Region the World Depends on

The ambition exists across the region. Young Indian companies are building rocket engines and computer chips, products India has long bought from abroad. Pakistan sent a delegation to Silicon Valley to show what its technology industry can do

Where Is India's Apple? A Nation's Strategic Independence is Directly Proportional to its Economic Independence

A country can only be as independent in its diplomacy as it is in its economy. A nation that imports its phones, its chips and much of its energy, will always have less room to manoeuvre than one that makes what the world needs.

China's Open-Source AI Initiative and the Limits of BRICS Consensus

The difference between Xi's New Delhi proposal and the language of the declaration illustrates the distinction between China's ambitions for AI cooperation and the level of agreement achieved among BRICS members. The declaration did not reject China's AI diplomacy; it simply did not explicitly endorse the proposed open-source community.

AI on the Battlefield: The Mirage of Unlimited Capability

The AI revolution may indeed change warfare. But the laws of physics, engineering and economics have not been repealed. AI may be extraordinarily powerful in the data centre. The real challenge is carrying that capability to the battlefield.

More on AI, Tech and Innovation

Sri Lanka to invite investment from India for Colombo Port City

The Sri Lankan government would explore the possibility of attracting investments to the Colombo Port City Economic Zone from India in the near future, a minister said on Tuesday

US mum on lifting ban on vaccine raw-material exports, India concerned

President Joe Biden's spokesperson Jen Psaki has refused to say if the US will allow the export of COVID-19 vaccine raw materials to India, a shortage that could impact global supply, or set a timeline for dealing with the requests for relaxing the vaccine patent rights

GM India lays off all 1419 workmen at Maharashtra plant

General Motors India has laid off all workers--1,419 of them--at its Talegaon plant, located in the outskirts of Pune by invoking Section 25 of the Industrial Dispute Act

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin production to be ramped up to 100 million per month by September

Amid the steep rise in Covid-19 cases, the Indian government on Friday said it is taking steps to increase and accelerate the production of indigenous vaccines

Mukesh Ambani supplies oxygen from his refineries to help in Covid fight

Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, the country's richest man, will supply oxygen from his refineries to aid the tough battle against Covid-19, which currently has India under its grip

Air India sale to be concluded by September

The sale of national carrier Air India has reached the financial bidding stage and the transaction is likely to be concluded by September this year, said media reports

Larsen & Toubro begins constructing the 300MW Solar Plant in Saudi Arabia

The Renewables arm of Larsen & Toubro’s Power Transmission & Distribution Business has secured the go-ahed to begin constructing the 300MW Jeddah Solar PV Power Plant

COVID-19: Anthony Blinken slams China over lack of 'transparency'

A top US leader once again slammed China for showing lack of transparency in sharing information during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic

Tech War: US intensifies pressure on China with proposed new policy

The US Senate’s new legislation, the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, lays out a wide-ranging strategy for the first time to contain China's attempt to expand globally, media reports said

US climate envoy John Kerry to visit China soon

Special U.S. envoy on climate John F. Kerry might travel to China next week amid rising tension between the two nations, media reports said

Pandemic boosts a digital India; e-commerce sustains small businesses

According to a recent study, digital payment transactions in India have gone up by 76 per cent in the January-March period this year compared to what it was in the same period last year

Over 60,000 in Bangladesh earned digital skills through Microsoft initiatives

Over 60,000 people in Bangladesh acquired digital skills during the Covid pandemic through the initiatives of Microsoft, the multinational company has announced, The Daily Star reported

'India has record level of stockpiled coal'

India has achieved a new record high, for the first time stockpiling a total of 132 million tonnes of coal - enough to run India’s power plants for two months - greatly exceeding the average of the previous five years, finds a new briefing note by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)

UAE, India and Israel business potential may touch $110B by 2030

Strategic partnerships between the UAE, India and Israel have the potential to touch $110 billion by 2030, top diplomats and business leaders feel

Hyderabad-based organic food brands serving customers across 50 nations

An Indian organic food brand is trying to inspire people and change the lives of hundreds of farmers by working with 45,000 of them and even serving customers across 50 countries