Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on Budget 2023, chaos at Delhi airport, MCD elections, and much more

BS Views of the week: Budget 2023, chaos at Delhi airport, Census, and more

Agarwal expresses confidence of pick up in private capex and opportunities arising out of US president-elect Donald Trump's tariff war

The company will invest the funds in a sustainable expansion of production capacities at its Madhya Pradesh-based passenger car radial tyre facility, the tyre maker said in a statement

The IT ministry is working on a mechanism to assess safety and trust elements in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions but does not want to start with a regulation as it may hurt innovation in the AI space, a top official said on Thursday.
Speaking at CII's Global Economic Policy Forum, Ministry of Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government has broadly addressed key regulations barring a couple of the issues like copyright and existential crisis.
He said under the IndiaAI mission, the government has tried to make a subtle distinction between responsible AI as defined by the West -- which is not expected to be regulated by the government -- and safe and trusted AI.
"Safe and trusted AI is when you do the innovation, try and be responsible about it but there would be an assessment. We will try and see that it is safe and trusted in a manner that works for everybody. That is the other space that we are working on right now. We don't want to start with regulation, and 

There is a need for regulation around harms from AI, misrepresentation and deepfakes in the AI domain and there are enough laws in the country to act on misrepresentation

Second batch of Apple Intelligence rolls out. Google releases Gemini 2.0 model. Vivo X200 series launched in India. Google's new AI agents. Microsoft file sharing with iPhones. Google Pixel 9a

The Ministry of Culture has planned to set up and run a cultural village -- 'Kalagram' -- in Prayagraj to showcase the rich, spiritual and cultural heritage of the country during the upcoming Maha Kumbh in the holy city, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Thursday.
The Maha Kumbh will be held in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26.
Interacting with mediapersons at his residence here, Shekhawat, who holds the culture and tourism portfolios, said the Ministry of Culture aims to set up and run a cultural village -- 'Kalagram' -- in Prayagraj for which an area measuring 10.24 acres has been allocated at Nagvasuki.
"A Ganga Pandal with a capacity of 10,000 people will be set up by the Mela authority where celebrity performances would be held," the ministry said in a statement.
Three stage pandals with a 4,000 audience capacity each at Jhunsi, Nagvasuki and Areil as well as a 1,000 capacity amphitheatre at Kalagram will showcase the emerging Sangeet Natak Akademi awarde

A Ganga Pandal with a capacity of 10K people will be set up by the Mela authority where celebrity performances would be held, ministry said

Eighty-six Indian nationals were attacked or murdered in various countries in 2023, the government informed the Parliament on Thursday.
Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh shared the data in a written response to a query.
In his response, he shared country-wise data for the the last three years.
The figures were -- 29 in 2021, 57 in 2022 and 86 in 2023.
In 2023, out of the 86 Indian nationals who were attacked or murdered, the figures for the US stood at 12, while it was 10 each for Canada, the UK and Saudi Arabia, as per the data shared.
"The safety and security of Indians abroad is one of the foremost priorities for the government of India. Our Missions and Posts remain vigilant and closely monitor any untoward incident. Such incidents are immediately taken up with the concerned authorities of the host country to ensure that the cases are properly investigated and the perpetrators are punished," he said.
These issues are also raised during meetings with t

In 2023, out of the 86 Indian nationals who were attacked or murdered, the figures for the US stood at 12, while it was 10 each for Canada, the UK and Saudi Arabia, as per the data shared

Stakeholders from the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sought a reduction in GST, technology upgrade, and production-linked incentive scheme benefits for various segments in a pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.
The meeting aimed to seek inputs and suggestions for the Budget for 2025-26, expected to be presented on February 1.
Members from the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE); Karnataka SC and ST Entrepreneurs' Association; Plant-Based Food Industry Association (PBFIA); Ambala Scientific Instruments Manufacturers' Association (ASIMA); Rajasthan Footwear Manufacturers' Association were among the participants at the meeting.
The All-India Plastics Manufacturers' Association; All India Manufacturers' Association; Gujarat Chamber of Small Industries Association; Federation of Associations of Cottage and Small Industries (based in West Bengal); Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small and Medium Association; and Laghu Udyog 

The meeting aimed to seek inputs and suggestions for the Budget for 2025-26, expected to be presented on February 1

Call for reining in food inflation and raising investment in pre-Budget  talks

Russia-Ukraine War

The year 2022 is coming to an end and a lot has happened that shaped the world in the year. Let's have a look at some of these significant events

Google Messages

In January, Google rolled out end-to-end encryption in group chats for messages app users enrolled in the beta programme

Blend launches Blend Studio: AI tool for ecommerce photography

New Delhi [India], March 16 (ANI/PNN): Blend, an AI-powered design and photography application for DTC brands and ecommerce sellers, recently launched Blend Studio - the Chat GPT for product photos.

Celebrity and Travel Photographer Rahul Lokare from Flamingo Productions creates waves of change in the world of photography.

Xiaomi 13 Pro

Priced at Rs 79,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB on-board storage, the Xiaomi 13 Pro offers a novel imaging experience on top of a premium package

BS Views of the week: Budget 2023, chaos at Delhi airport, Census, and more

Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on Budget 2023, chaos at Delhi airport, MCD elections, and much more

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