Is India ready for the AI revolution? The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, from generative AI tools to sophisticated machine learning algorithms, are transforming industries across the nation. From fintech's burgeoning use of AI-powered fraud detection to the agricultural sector's embrace of precision farming technologies, the impact is undeniable. This week saw a major breakthrough in indigenous 5G technology development, signaling India's growing prowess in the global tech landscape. But alongside this progress comes the crucial discussion surrounding data privacy, cybersecurity, and the ethical implications of AI deployment. How will India navigate these challenges and harness the transformative power of technology for inclusive growth? Explore the latest developments in Indian tech, from the rise of digital payments to the burgeoning startup ecosystem, and discover how innovation is shaping the nation's future. Stay informed with Abtak.com – your gateway to understanding the tech revolution reshaping India.
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), in collaboration with NITI Aayog and the World Bank as knowledge partner, successfully hosted a two-day National Workshop on 'Using Alternate Data Sources and Frontier Technologies for Policy Making' at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi on June 5-6, 2025. The event brought together over 450 participants, including government officials, statisticians, industry leaders, researchers, and representatives from multilateral organisations. The workshop focused on leveraging non-traditional data sources, including mobile phone records, scanner data, and geospatial intelligence, alongside emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, to improve the agility, accuracy, and timeliness of public policy and governance. Delivering the valedictory address, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, said: "While traditional data tells us where we've been, alternate data reveals where we are headed. The best policies blend both for a comprehensive and real-time understanding. Ethical deployment of AI and a techno-legal framework for data governance are essential as India pioneers digital public infrastructure for the world." Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, underscored the complexity of policymaking in today's data-rich world. He emphasized the need for an institutionalized hybrid data ecosystem where alternate sources are given equal weight alongside established methods like surveys and censuses. Dr. Saurabh Garg, Secretary, MoSPI, said that traditional survey data often comes with a time lag, and alternate data sources can bridge this gap for real-time policy interventions. He outlined MoSPI's plan to operationalize select use cases within the next 3-6 months and reaffirmed the ministry's commitment to building a robust, cost-effective, and inclusive statistical system. In his welcome remarks, PR Meshram, Director General (Data Governance), highlighted that the workshop deepened understanding of the challenges and solutions involved in integrating alternate data sources into India's statistical framework. Key Technical Sessions and Insights AI and Data Science for Official Statistics Discussions focused on transitioning from pilot projects to production-stage applications of AI in public data systems. Speakers included Abhishek Singh (India AI), Debjani Ghosh (NASSCOM), and global experts from the UK ONS and World Bank. Mobile Phone Data for Tourism Statistics Experts explored frameworks for using anonymized telecom data to estimate tourist flows and urban mobility, while addressing privacy and regulatory concerns. Speakers included officials from ITU, NDMA, and industry leaders such as Airtel. Geo-Spatial Data for Sampling and Ocean Accounting This session showcased how geospatial tools combined with AI can revolutionize sampling in urban areas, environmental monitoring, and marine resource management. Speakers included experts from ESRI, MapMyIndia, INCOIS, and World Bank. Scanner Data for CPI Compilation The session focused on integrating scanner and e-commerce data into Consumer Price Index (CPI) methodologies. International experts from Bank of Italy, JNU, IIT Bombay, and NielsenIQ shared best practices and implementation strategies. The workshop concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Ashutosh Ojha, Deputy Director General, MoSPI, who acknowledged the active participation of government departments, industry, academia, and international organisations. He expressed hope that the insights from the workshop would guide India's efforts to become a global leader in statistical innovation and evidence-based policy design.
New Delhi [India], December 2: The IVCA GreenReturns Summit 2024 commenced today in New Delhi, convening over 400 visionaries, investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to chart a transformative path for India's green economy. The Summit is dedicated to aligning India's climate goals with its trillion-dollar economic aspirations for a 'Viksit Bharat,' spotlighting high-impact investment opportunities, addressing funding gaps, and driving actionable solutions for net-zero and climate adaptation. Also Read | Mamata Banerjee Says West Bengal Yet To Get INR 14,000 Crore From Centre for Supply of ...Read More >
nion Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje cited statistics in the Lok Sabha on Monday to show that youth unemployment rates in India were lower than global levels. The minister cited a report by the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Institute for Human Development (IHD) which states that the worldwide youth unemployment rate was 15.6 per cent in 2021. Further, as per World Employment and Social Outlook Trends, 2024 by ILO, globally, in 2023, the youth unemployment rate was 13.3 per cent. On the other hand, the latest annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS ...Read More >
* Commoditisation and similarity of products and services with competitors will have the most significant impact on how businesses deliver customer experiences over the next two years, according to the latest IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Affinidi * However, businesses who are looking to hyper-personalise their products as a competitive differentiator are facing several obstacles in addressing the privacy-personalisation dilemma, with 56% of them highlighting data collection and management to be a key challenge. * To truly enhance customer experiences through more personalised insights, they m ...Read More >
New Delhi, Dec 3 (VOICE) White collar hiring in India grew 6 per cent in the festive season (October and November), driven by strong growths in key non-IT sectors, a report showed on Tuesday.The sectors like Oil and Gas (+16 per cent), Pharma/Biotech (+7 per cent), FMCG (+7 per cent), and real estate (+10 per cent), alongside sustained momentum in emerging domains like AI/ML (+30 per cent) and global capability centres (+11 per cent), according to Naukri JobSpeak Index. While the IT sector has historically been a dominant force in fresher hiring, the current trend shows a significant upsurge ...Read More >
Bengaluru, 4th December 2024- PURE EV, one of India's leading electric two-wheeler manufacturers, has unveiled an ambitious roadmap to strengthen its presence nationwide and expand globally while introducing innovative solutions for sustainable mobility. Over the next 30 months, the company aims to add 250 new dealerships, taking its total network to over 320 across India. The expansion will be driven by the growing demand for long-range scooters, electric motorcycles, large B2B contracts, and the company's entry into the house-hold brand space. Dr. Nishanth Dongari, Founder & MD of PURE EV, ...Read More >
Mumbai, Dec 17 (UNI) The BSE Sensex on Tuesday dropped another 1064.12 pts to settle at 80,684.45 as selling was witnessed in Telecommunications, Metal, and Energy stocks amid weak global cues. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped 332.25 pts at 24,336. The BSE Sensex fell 237 pts to open at 81,511.81. It remained negative throughout the session. During the day it tanked 1136 pts at 80,612.20, a day low, before closing at 80,684.45, sinking 1064.12 pts from its previous close. The Nifty registered days high and low at 24,624.10 pts and by 24,303.45 pts respectively. The stocks that ke ...Read More >
WarmUp Ventures Founders L to R - Rajendra Lora ,Yogesh Chaudhary , Sharad Bansal Athera Venture Partners has roped in HDFC AMC's fund of funds as an LP for its Fund IV, while Warmup Ventures is launching its second fund. HDFC AMC invests in Athera's Fund IV Tech-focused venture capital fund Athera Venture Partners, formerly known as Inventus India, on Wednesday said that HDFC's fund of funds has invested in its Fund IV, which is scheduled to close in 2025. HDFC AMC's Select AIF FoF I Scheme will be a dominant LP in Athera's Rs 900-crore fund to be invested into fast-growing tech startups ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and MD of telecom firm Bharti Airtel and Deputy Chair GSMA, has been appointed as the acting chair of the GSMA board, a release said on Monday. The appointment came following the resignation of Jose Maria Alvares-Pallete, Chairman and CEO of Telefonica, from the company. By virtue of the resignation, he was no longer able to continue in the position of the Chair of the GSMA. Airtel, in a release, announced that Vittal has been appointed as acting chair of the GSMA Board. ...Read More >
In an exclusive interview with FinTech Magazine at Money20/20, Matthew Van Buskirk, Co-founder and CEO of Hummingbird Regtech, discusses how the company is enabling data to be labelled at ease through the use of artificial intelligence. Hummingbird positions itself as an AI enablement company, addressing a critical challenge in the financial sector: the lack of well-labelled, clean training data. "From the day we launched, we saw that deploying effective machine learning or AI capabilities in this industry is incredibly difficult because we don't have clean training data. Instead, we have th ...Read More >
Lakhimpur Kheri, December 3: Talent knows no boundaries. A testament to this is 28-year-old Muneer Khan from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, whose innovations and technical skills have gained him global recognition. From a 'smart water bottle' to 'smart soil testing device,' and more recently, 'AI-enabled eye-glasses,' what makes his innovations stand out is their ability to improve everyday convenience for ordinary people. Born in a humble and poor family in Kheri's Gauriya village, Muneer lost his father when he was just one year old. His four older brothers and mother worked tirelessly t ...Read More >
With its competitive pricing, BSNL is now posing a stiff challenge to industry leaders such as Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and Sunil Mittal's Airtel. In a major setback for Reliance Jio -- India's largest telecom provider led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani -- it lost a whopping 7.9 million (79 lakh) subscribers in a single month this year as millions of users switched to state-owned BSNL after private telcos hiked mobile tariffs by a significant margin earlier in July 2024. According to data r ...Read More >
Tata Steel launched an all-women mining shift at its Noamundi iron mine in Jharkhand, a first in India. This initiative builds on their "Women@Mines" program and aims to empower women in mining. The company trained local women to operate heavy machinery through the "Tejaswini" initiatives, leading to this milestone. Tata Steel also achieved 20% diversity in its India workforce.In order to bring in more diversity, Tata Steel has rolled out an all-women shift at its Noamundi iron mine in Jharkhand. ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Recognizing the potential and challenges of AI, the Government of India constituted an advisory group, chaired by Principal Scientific Advisor Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, to undertake the development of an 'AI for India-Specific Regulatory Framework'. Under the guidance of the Advisory Group, a sub-committee on 'AI Governance and Guidelines Development' will provide actionable recommendations for AI governance in India. The sub-committee's report on AI Governance, now published for public consultation, aims to guide the development of a trustworthy and accountable AI ecosystem in India. ...Read More >
Trial conducted over a 118 km Boston metro route with 10 network hops and nine ROADMs. US wireless carrier Verizon has successfully tested the transportation of 1.6 terabits per second of data across a single wavelength on its live metro fiber network. Utilising Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optical solution, the trial, conducted in Boston, demonstrated data travelling farther and faster across Verizon's fiber network. This upgrade enhances the network's ability to handle the workloads generated by artificial intelligence (AI) applications, particularly Generative AI, according ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Broadband policy think tank and advocacy group Friday opposed the government's move to refarm 1100 MHz spectrum, to meet the growing needs of next generation (5G) services. The Delhi-based group said that it is alarmed by the refarming decision of the 1100 MHZ and earmarking the upper 6GHz spectrum for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) services, and urged the government to reconsider this (refarming) this move. "The IMT in the 6GHz band not only cannot meet the advanced requirements of digitalisation of the key sectors of the economy in manufacturing, agriculture, heal ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], January 31 (ANI): Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday that French President Emmanuel Macron has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit, and India has accepted the invite. While speaking at a press briefing, Jaiswal said that India is also developing its own AI program. "French President has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Artificial Intelligence Action Summit and we have accepted their invite. We will update you about further details," he said. On February ...Read More >
Melbourne: A celebrity and "public relations maven" from Australia Roxy Jacenko has said she regrets turning her daughter, Pixie Curtis, into a child social media influencer. The 13-year-old's Instagram account had long been used by her mother to generate income via brand sponsorships and online businesses such as Pixie's Bows and Pixie's Toys. But Jacenko is now saying the money wasn't worth the negative effects of Pixie's public persona, which included being bullied at school. This admission, along with the government's decision to ban social media for under-16s, is a timely reminder for p ...Read More >
Vodafone Idea has launched an AI-powered Spam SMS solution to protect users from unwanted messages and potential fraud. The technology uses machine learning to detect and flag spam in real-time, with over 24 million messages identified since its testing phase. The solution complements existing measures like a user-friendly mobile app for filing complaints and reporting spam. Vi is also working on reducing unwanted voice calls and uses customer feedback for further detection. This initiative aims to provide proactive protection and safeguard customers' digital experience. Vodafone Idea's stock ...Read More >
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], December 12: Navanc, a pioneering FinTech startup building India's first AI-powered property score and stack for secured lending and insurance practices, has successfully raised USD 1 million in a seed funding round. The round was led by Prarambh Ventures, with participation from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), Brigade REAP FirstPort Capital, and marquee angel investors Also Read | US: Joe Biden Commutes Roughly 1,500 Sentences and Pardons 39 People in Biggest Single-Day Act of Clemency. The funds will be directed toward expanding operations across India, with a ...Read More >
The books for class 9-12 will be available from 2026-27. New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has reduced the prices of books for classes 9 to 12 by 20 per cent. The decision was announced by NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani during an event held in the national capital on Monday. The reduction in the prices of books will be effective from the upcoming academic year. News agency PTI quoted the minister as saying that while the textbooks for classes 9- ...Read More >
New Delhi: Congress MP and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Monday made a rare praise for the 'Make In India' program, even commending the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing in the 'good idea' but then went to disapprove it by calling it 'damp squib'. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, Gandhi said 'Make in India' was conceptually good but the PM failed to deliver the results despite making a good effort. "Prime Minister proposed the Make In India program. I think it was a good idea, however the result is in front of you all, ...Read More >
Mumbai, November 29: The Indian stock market opened in green on Friday as buying was seen in the Media and Pharma sector in early trade. At around 09.44 a.m., the Sensex was trading at 79,369.57 after gaining 325.83 points or 0.41 per cent, while the Nifty was trading at 24,019 after rising 104.85 points or 0.44 per cent. The market trend remained positive. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 1345 stocks were trading in the green, while 876 stocks were in the red. Nifty Bank was up 224.45 points or 0.43 per cent at 52,131.30. Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 56,397.95 after gaining 97. ...Read More >
The Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2024, one of India's largest platforms for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, is set to culminate in its Grand Finale at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee from 11th to 15th December 2024. As part of its 7th edition, SIH 2024 continues to exemplify the vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji to make India self-reliant and globally competitive through youth empowerment and innovation. He will interact with young innovators at the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2024 on 11th December 2024, at around 4:30 PM, via video con ...Read More >
The Andhra Pradesh government inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google. The tech giant will launch its operations from Visakhapatnam in the State. Making the announcement at the district collectors' conference on Wednesday, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said HRD Minister Nara Lokesh's efforts have paved the way for this. The MoU was a significant development and would be a game changer. Visakhapatnam is poised for transformative growth, Mr. Naidu said. The chief minister, in ...Read More >
News 2 min read Indian IT industry to see 30-35 pc high demand for niche tech roles in 2025 The Indian IT industry is projected to see 30-35 per cent increased demand for highly-specialised tech roles in 2025, along with increased spending on upskilling in the coming years, according to a new report. New Delhi, The Indian IT industry is projected to see 30-35 per cent increased demand for highly-specialised tech roles in 2025, along with increased spending on upskilling in the coming years, acco ...Read More >
As businesses increasingly adopt AI, customizing large language models (LLMs) like GPT and Claude is key to meeting industry-specific needs. Techniques like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and in-context learning are gaining popularity. RAG enables real-time data retrieval, ideal for tasks requiring up-to-date information, while in-context learning provides guidance within the task prompt. Recent advancements in LLMs, such as larger context windows, offer new possibilities but also present challenges, including cost and efficiency. A hybrid approach combining RAG and long-context models m ...Read More >
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 10 (ANI): The stock market ended Tuesday's trading session on a subdued note, with the benchmark indices showing little movement. The Sensex edged up by 1.59 points, closing at 81,510.05, while the Nifty declined by 8.95 points to end at 24,610.05. Also Read | Parliament Winter Session 2024: Congress, INDIA Bloc Allies Move No-Trust Motion Against Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar; Alleges 'Proceedings in Upper House Conducted in Partisan Manner'. In the Nifty pack, 23 stocks advanced, while 27 ended in the red. Among the top gainers were Shriram F ...Read More >
NewsVoir Gurugram (Haryana) [India], December 12: Navanc, a pioneering FinTech startup building India's first AI-powered property score and stack for secured lending and insurance practices, has successfully raised USD 1 million in a seed funding round. The round was led by Prarambh Ventures, with participation from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), Brigade REAP FirstPort Capital, and marquee angel investors The funds will be directed toward expanding operations across India, with a focus on strengthening Navanc's presence in urban and semi-urban areas. Additionally, the startup will bolster ...Read More >
Bengaluru, India (OTE) - Leveraging Infosys Topaz and Google Cloud technology, the center of excellence will foster co-innovation to deliver transformative AI-powered solutions Infosys (NSE: INFY), (BSE: INFY), (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced the launch of a Google Cloud center of excellence, powered by Infosys Topaz, to foster enterprise AI innovation. The center will serve as a catalyst for co-creation and help businesses harness the power of generative AI to achieve transformative growth. Infosys and Google Cloud share a s ...Read More >
Hyderabad: Databricks, the Data and AI company, announced its Series J funding. The company is raising $10 billion of expected non-dilutive financing and has completed $8.6 billion to date. This funding values Databricks at $62 billion and is led by Thrive Capital. Along with Thrive, the round is co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners and WCM Investment Management. Other significant participants include existing investor Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and new investors ICONIQ Growth, MGX, Sands Capital and Wellington Management. The company has seen increased momentu ...Read More >