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
AI for Every Nepali: Jobs, Prosperity and Nepal’s Next Development Leap
Nepal does not need to become Silicon Valley. It does not need to copy India, China, Singapore or Canada. Nepal needs an AI strategy rooted in its own realities: young talent, hydropower potential, local problems, growing IT services, tourism, agriculture, small businesses and a global diaspora.
The Hidden Tax: Road Accidents Drain Over 3% of GDP From India and Sri Lanka Every Year; Generative AI Could Win it Back
The core data architecture — a national road safety data lake, AI-powered enforcement, multilingual public awareness — is replicable at any scale, in any South Asian language, in any South Asian urban or rural road environment. The technology does not need to be reinvented for Dhaka, Kathmandu or Karachi. It needs to be validated in Colombo and Delhi first.
Why the Global South Must Become AI Creators: Need to Take a More Leading Role in AI Governance and Economy
However, 118 countries, mostly developing ones, do not participate in international discussions on AI governance, according to UNCTAD. This means that billions of people may live within rules they were not involved in making.
AI's Hidden Appetite: Power, Cooling and the New Geography of Infrastructure
What we are witnessing today may only be the opening chapter. The next breakthroughs in AI may not emerge from software laboratories alone, but from nuclear reactors, cooling technologies, offshore infrastructure, advanced materials, and energy networks. The race to build intelligence has quietly become a race to master power and heat.
More on AI and Innovation
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
Air India gets privatised, goes back to Tata Group after nearly seven decades
Nearly 70 years after the Indian government took over Air India from a reluctant Tatas, the flag carrier returned to its founder, the salt-to-software conglomerate Thursday
