Technology

New Delhi, March 16 (IANS) IDBI Bank on Monday said it could neither confirm nor deny media reports that the government may scrap the proposed majority stake sale in the lender.

According to an exchange filing, the bank said the strategic disinvestment process is confidential and being handled by the Government of India and that it was not privy to such information making it incapable to comment on news reports referenced by the stock exchange.

The filing was made after the exchange sought the bank’s response to media reports suggesting the sale might be called off because of low price bids.

The Exchange had sought clarification from IDBI Bank Ltd on Monday, with reference to news appearing in national media saying "IDBI Bank stock crashes over 13 per cent after reports that government may scrap majority stake sale due to low price bids."

On query from the exchange if negotiations were taking place, the lender said the disinvestment is being conducted through a competitive bidding process in line with the government’s disinvestment guidelines.

“Such bidding processes do not entail negotiations and accordingly, IDBI Bank has had no role to play in the negotiations,” the bank said in the filing.

The bank further said it had not received any communication from the government regarding the scrapping of the strategic disinvestment process and that it was not aware of any information that would have led to the referenced reports.

"The bank shall promptly disclose to the Stock Exchanges any material information, if and when received," the filing said adding that it has promptly intimated the stock exchanges of all events and information having a bearing on the operations and performance of the bank, including all price-sensitive information.

The Centre had earlier invited financial bids for the disinvestment of IDBI Bank and was likely to announce the winning bidder by the end of March, though the final closure of the transaction could extend beyond the current financial year.

Under the proposed plan, the government aimed to divest a 30.48 per cent stake in the lender, valued at around Rs 36,000 crore at current market prices.

—IANS

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Patna, Feb 19 (IANS) Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) President Chirag Paswan has taken a strong stand on the controversy surrounding a robot displayed by Galgotias University at the AI Summit, terming the incident extremely damaging to the country’s image.​

Reacting to allegations that a Chinese-made robot was showcased at the summit as an indigenous product, Chirag Paswan said it was a grave error.​

“It is completely wrong for any university to display and claim ownership of something that is not Indian. Some people attempted to mislead during the summit. Presenting foreign technology as indigenous is a serious matter and can tarnish India’s image at the global level,” he said.​

He expressed confidence that once the summit concludes, the government will take strict cognisance of the matter and act appropriately.​

Commenting on demands by certain Muslim organisations to keep liquor shops closed during Ramazan in Delhi, Chirag Paswan firmly defended personal freedom and choice.​

Referring to his role as Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, he stated: “The government’s responsibility is to ensure the quality and hygiene of food and beverages. But forcing closures in the name of any festival - be it Hindu or Muslim - is not our party’s ideology.”​

He cautioned against politicising religious festivals and stressed that personal liberty should be respected in all circumstances.​

Chirag Paswan also raised serious concerns over the suspicious death of a NEET aspirant and the threats allegedly being received by the victim’s family.​

“If the family of the victim is being intimidated, it is the government’s duty to ensure their complete security so that justice can be delivered without fear,” he said.​

He reiterated his stance on accountability for examination-related irregularities, recalling that he has consistently supported strict punishment for those involved in malpractice.​

Through his remarks, Chirag Paswan sent a strong message on ethical conduct in innovation, the protection of civil liberties, and zero tolerance for intimidation in sensitive cases, calling for transparency, accountability, and justice.

​--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Bengaluru-based AI startup Sarvam AI on Wednesday unveiled two new large language models as part of India’s push to build sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities.

The announcement was made at the India AI Impact Summit here, where the company said both models have been trained from scratch using a mixture-of-experts (MoE) architecture to improve efficiency and performance.

The first model, called Sarvam 30B, has 30 billion parameters. However, the company said that for every output token it generates, only 1 billion parameters are activated.

Co-founder Pratyush Kumar explained that this MoE structure helps reduce inference costs while improving efficiency, especially for reasoning and complex workloads.

He added that the 30B model performs strongly on thinking and reasoning benchmarks at both 8K and 16K scales when compared to other models of similar size.

The Sarvam 30B model supports a 32,000-token context window and has been trained on 16 trillion tokens.

Kumar said efficiency remains central to the company’s vision, as it aims to make AI accessible at population scale across India.

The company also introduced a larger 105-billion-parameter model designed for more advanced reasoning and agent-based tasks.

This model activates 9 billion parameters and supports a 128,000-token context window, allowing it to handle more complex instructions and longer conversations.

Kumar compared the new 105B model with global frontier systems. He said that on several benchmarks, it outperforms DeepSeek’s DeepSeek R1, which was reported to have 600 billion parameters when it was released last year.

He also said the model is cheaper than Gemini Flash developed by Google, while delivering better performance on many benchmarks.

According to him, even when compared to Gemini 2.5 Flash, Sarvam’s model shows stronger performance on Indian language tasks.

The launch comes at a time when India is stepping up efforts to build its own foundational AI models tailored for multilingual and large-scale public use cases.

The government-backed IndiaAI Mission, supported by a Rs 10,000 crore fund, aims to reduce dependence on foreign AI systems and promote domestic innovation.

So far, the mission has disbursed Rs 111 crore in GPU subsidies. Sarvam AI has emerged as the biggest beneficiary, securing 4,096 NVIDIA H100 SXM GPUs through Yotta Data Services and receiving nearly Rs 99 crore in subsidies.

The startup was earlier selected as the first company to build India’s foundational AI model under the mission.

Sarvam AI was founded in July 2023 by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, who previously worked at AI4Bharat, an initiative backed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) Union New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said the government will push for artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions to tackle long-standing problems in the power sector, especially grid congestion and renewable energy curtailment.

Speaking on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit here, he said the Centre has already started working on AI-driven technologies to improve grid stability and ensure that clean energy generated is not wasted.

“Issues related to grid stability and curtailment will be addressed in the coming days,” Joshi said.

He explained that power capacity curtailment, which happens when renewable energy cannot be transmitted due to grid congestion, needs to be reduced.

“AI-based technology solutions will help manage the grid more efficiently and integrate renewable energy in a smoother way,” the minister noted.

The minister also said that the cost of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) is falling due to the government’s viability gap funding (VGF) scheme.

He added that India’s overall requirement for battery storage is expected to rise sharply to 411 gigawatt (GW) by 2032.

Joshi said that in recent bids floated by the government, the discovered tariff has come down from Rs 3.3 per unit earlier to Rs 3.1 per unit now.

He expressed confidence that battery storage prices will fall further as deployment increases, similar to the sharp fall in solar power costs over the years.

He said this trend will transform the country’s energy sector. The renewable energy ministry said the AI Summit also highlighted the Global Mission on AI for Energy, which aims to bring together solar power deployment and digital intelligence.

The goal is to enable real-time optimisation and smarter grid management through advanced technologies.

Joshi pointed out that innovative digital models are already being introduced to improve the power distribution system.

He mentioned the “One Solar” web application developed by BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, along with digital twin solutions for power distribution companies and GIS-based modernisation of distribution networks.

These measures, he said, will help strengthen grid stability and reduce disruptions. In a separate development, India launched a joint offshore wind taskforce with the United Kingdom.

The initiative was launched in the presence of UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS) In a major endorsement of India’s growing role in artificial intelligence, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has described India as a potential “full-stack AI leader” and announced plans to expand the company’s presence and partnerships in the country.

His remarks come ahead of the Global AI Impact Summit 2026, which begins on February 16 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

In a media article, Altman said India has become OpenAI’s second-largest user base globally, after the United States.

He revealed that India now has 100 million weekly active users of ChatGPT, with the country also having the largest number of student users worldwide.

India ranks fourth globally in the adoption of Prism, OpenAI’s free tool for scientific research and LaTeX-based collaboration.

Altman said OpenAI is committed to building AI “in India, with India, and for India.” He noted that the company has made its tools available for free to ensure access regardless of income, education or familiarity with technology.

Last year, OpenAI opened its first office in Delhi and plans to further expand its footprint this year.

He also shared that more than 200 nonprofit leaders across four Indian cities were recently trained to use ChatGPT to increase their impact and efficiency.

The OpenAI chief said he will be visiting India next week and hinted at new partnerships with the Government to widen access to AI and its benefits.

He outlined a three-part strategy to ensure AI reaches the grassroots. According to him, AI progress depends on “Access,” meaning tools must be available to everyone; “Adoption,” which involves integrating AI into schools, clinics and small businesses; and “Agency,” which empowers people with the confidence and skills to use AI effectively for decision-making and innovation.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) The Indian Railways has tripled expenditure on safety over the last decade, from Rs 39,200 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1,17,693 crore in 2025-26, prioritising passenger safety amid modernisation, the Parliament was informed on Friday.

"Safety is accorded the highest priority on Indian Railways. As a consequence of various safety measures taken over the years, there has been a steep decline in the number of accidents," Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to questions in the Rajya Sabha.

The indigenously developed hi-tech Kavach Automatic Train Protection (ATP), which requires safety certification of the highest order (SIL-4), has been installed along large sections of the Indian Railways network after successful field trials were carried out in 2016. Kavach aids the loco pilot in running trains within specified speed limits by automatically applying brakes in case the loco pilot fails to do so, and also helps to run trains safely during inclement weather.

The funds utilised on Kavach works so far, up to Dec 2025, are Rs 2,573.36 crore. The allocation of funds during the year 2025-26 is Rs 1,673.19 crore. Requisite funds are made available as per the progress of works, the minister said.

Based on the deployment of Kavach version 3.2 on 1465 route km on South Central Railway and experience gained, further improvements were made. Finally, the Kavach specification version 4.0 was approved by RDSO in July 2024.

Kavach version 4.0 covers all the major features required for the diverse railway network. This is a significant milestone in safety for Indian Railways. Within a short period, IR has developed, tested and started deploying the Automatic Train Protection System, the minister said.

After extensive and elaborate trials, Kavach Version 4.0 has been successfully commissioned on 1297 route kilometres, covering the high-density Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes. On the Delhi-Mumbai route, Kavach version 4.0 has been commissioned on the junction cabin–Palwal–Mathura–Nagda section (667 Rkm) & Ahmedabad–Vadodara–Virar section (432 Rkm) and on the Delhi–Howrah route on Gaya–Saramatanr (93 Rkm) and Bardhaman- Howrah section (105 Rkm).

Further, trackside Kavach implementation work has been taken up on 23,360 route km covering all important sections of the Railways.

Specialised training programmes on Kavach are being conducted at centralised training institutes of Indian Railways to impart training to all concerned officials. By now, more than 48,000 technicians, operators and engineers have been trained on Kavach technology. This includes about 45,000 Loco Pilots & Assistant Loco Pilots. Courses have been designed in collaboration with IRISET.

The cost for the provision of Track Side, including Station equipment of Kavac,h is approximately Rs 50 lakh/Km, and the cost for the provision of Kavach equipment on locomotives is approximately Rs 80 lakh/loco.

Indian Railways has also taken up the work of installing CCTV cameras in coaches and locomotives with the purpose of improving the safety and security of the passengers. The provision of CCTV cameras is expected to deter miscreant activities, vandalism, thefts and also assist in the investigation of the incidents. Accordingly, Zonal Railways and Production Units have initiated action for the procurement and installation of CCTV cameras in coaches and locomotives.

To date, approximately 12,300 coaches (including all operational rakes of Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains) and 460 locomotives, plying over the Indian Railways network, are equipped with CCTV cameras, the minister added.

--IANS

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Washington, Feb 13 (IANS) The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the first awards under a Quad-backed initiative to use artificial intelligence (AI) to modernise agriculture across the United States of America and the Indo-Pacific.

The program, called Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen AGriculturE, or AI-ENGAGE, will support six international research projects, officials said on Thursday.

The NSF is investing $2.4 million in the effort.

The initiative is being carried out with partner agencies in Australia, India and Japan.

It brings together the NSF, Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Japan Science and Technology Agency, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

NSF described the effort as "a signature achievement of the Quad, demonstrating how the four nations' shared commitment to critical and emerging technologies research can transform agriculture to address pressing global challenges".

The projects will apply artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to farming.

The goal is to help farmers increase crop yields, manage pests more effectively, and strengthen resilience.

"By integrating current and emerging technologies, like AI, into agriculture, we are advancing scientific frontiers to provide US farmers and their international counterparts with tools they need to increase crop yields, more effectively manage pests, strengthen agricultural resilience, and ensure a more secure food supply," said Brian Stone, performing the duties of NSF Director.

The six projects are spread across major US universities and involve researchers from at least three Quad countries.

Purdue University will develop autonomous aerial and ground robots for early disease detection in apple orchards.

Iowa State University will build "BRIDGE", an AI-based smartphone app and chatbot to help farmers identify and manage crop pests and diseases in real time.

Kansas State University will implement "Smart Scout", a computer vision system to estimate soybean yield and detect "lodging", or crops falling over.

Missouri University of Science and Technology and the University of Tennessee will develop the "HARVEST" system. It will use multimodal AI for pest and nutrient management in corn and rice.

Washington State University will advance AI-driven genomic selection models to develop more resilient and productive wheat varieties.

Cornell University will create image-based phenotyping tools to speed up breeding of high-quality tomatoes, onions and strawberries.

Each project must include researchers from at least three of the four Quad nations.

Each partner agency will fund its own researchers.

NSF is contributing about $2.4 million to US leads and leveraging about $4 million from the other Quad partners.

The total investment exceeds $6 million.

The Quad -- the United States, India, Japan and Australia -- has expanded cooperation in recent years beyond security to include critical technologies, supply chains and climate resilience.

Food security and agricultural innovation have become shared priorities as climate risks and supply disruptions increase across the Indo-Pacific.

--IANS

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Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS) Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a Navratna public sector company, on Thursday reported a 15.51 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in consolidated net profit for the October–December quarter of the financial year 2025–26 (Q3 FY26).

The company's net profit increased to Rs 395 crore in the third quarter, compared with Rs 342 crore in the same period last financial year, as per its stock exchange filing.

IRCTC’s revenue from core operations also showed strong growth. It rose 18 per cent to Rs 1,449 crore during the quarter, compared to Rs 1,224.65 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.

The increase in revenue was mainly driven by better performance across its key business segments, including catering services, internet ticketing, Rail Neer packaged drinking water, and tourism.

However, the company’s expenses also went up during the quarter. Total expenses for the October-December period increased by 21 per cent to Rs 1,001 crore, compared with Rs 824 crore in the same quarter last financial year.

Along with the quarterly results, IRCTC’s board of directors announced a second interim dividend for the current financial year.

The company declared a dividend of Rs 3.50 per equity share of face value Rs 2 each, which translates to 175 per cent for FY 2025–26.

Eligible shareholders will receive Rs 3.50 for every IRCTC share they hold.

According to the exchange filing, IRCTC has fixed Friday, February 20, 2026, as the record date to determine eligible shareholders for the dividend. Earlier in the current financial year, the company had paid one dividend in August 2025 and another interim dividend in November 2025.

On the stock market front, IRCTC shares closed 1.01 percent lower at Rs 622 on Thursday, compared to the previous closing price of Rs 628.35 on the NSE. The company announced its third-quarter results after market hours on Thursday.

In terms of long-term performance, IRCTC shares have delivered over 79 per cent returns to investors in the last five years. However, the stock has declined by more than 3 per cent over the past three years and has fallen over 18 per cent in the last one year. So far in 2026, the stock is down 9.28 per cent on a year-to-date basis, though it has remained nearly flat over the last five trading sessions.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the Union Budget 2026-27 has come at a rare moment for India’s economy, where strong growth and low inflation are being achieved together.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, FM Sitharaman described this phase as a ‘Goldilocks moment’ and said it was the result of sustained effort, careful planning and timely policy action, not chance.

“According to the first advance estimates released by the National Statistical Office, India’s real GDP growth is projected at 7.4 per cent for 2025-26, while nominal growth is estimated at around 8 per cent,” Finance Minister stated.

“At the same time, consumer price inflation has softened to nearly 2 per cent and has remained under control for a continuous period,” she mentioned.

FM Sitharaman further stressed that atmanirbharata remains a core principle of the government’s economic strategy.

“The budget focuses on building domestic manufacturing capacity and ensuring energy security, while also helping citizens become self-reliant in their own lives,” FM Sitharaman explained.

“Measures aimed at improving ease of living, generating employment, raising agricultural productivity and increasing household purchasing power are all part of this approach,” the Union Minister stated.

Highlighting steps to develop human capital, the Finance Minister said the government has set a target of creating one lakh allied health professionals over the next five years.

“An outlay of Rs 1,000 crore has been provided for this initiative in the current year. This move would not only create jobs but also strengthen health services and support the growth of medical tourism,” the Minister highlighted.

FM Sitharaman also announced the formation of a high-powered education-to-employment and enterprise standing committee.

The committee will focus on preparing India’s youth for the services sector, with the goal of capturing 10 per cent of the global services market by 2047.

“Key areas of focus will include IT, fintech, logistics, healthcare, tourism and creative services,” she stated.

“The panel will work on addressing skill gaps, infrastructure needs and credit constraints, while suggesting reforms in standards, accreditation and digital regulation. This would help expand exports in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud services and professional services, FM Sitharaman added.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 11 (IANS) Anil Rajput, Chairman of FICCI CASCADE, one of the country's top industry bodies, on Wednesday said the United Nations should declare February 11 as the 'International Anti-Smuggling Day' to raise awareness against smuggling globally.

Speaking to IANS during an event here, Rajput said that smuggling is increasing both in the country and globally.

Therefore, “we urge the United Nations to declare February 11 as 'International Anti-Smuggling Day' to raise awareness against smuggling worldwide and to encourage all countries to join forces to raise their voice against the problem of smuggling on this day,” he added.

At an event in the national capital, experts said that India has signed 42 mutual customs cooperation agreements and is negotiating 21 more with major trading partners. This has significantly strengthened the country's international enforcement framework against smuggling.

At the event, Mohan Kumar Singh, Member (Compliance Management), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), said that enforcement must move beyond incident-based seizures to network-based disruption.

He further stated that enforcement must shift to network-based disruption, targeting financial flows, logistics enablers, and international linkages that sustain the illicit ecosystem.

He stated that smuggling has evolved into an organized, technology-driven economic crime with a direct impact on national security and economic stability.

Referring to recent Union Budget announcements, Singh said that AI-powered image analytics and expanded container scanning at major ports will further strengthen enforcement capabilities, while GST simplification and customs reforms will continue to promote compliance and reduce incentives for illicit trade.

He highlighted the intensive enforcement results in the first three quarters of the current financial year, including the seizure of approximately 500 kg of gold, approximately 150 million illicit cigarette sticks, over 20 metric tons of red sanders, approximately 120 kg of cocaine.

In addition, approximately 50 kg of heroin, approximately 350 kg of amphetamines, and approximately 3,700 kg of hydroponic cannabis have also been seized at airports, the statement said.

-IANS

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