In essence, the total number of followers of the next five major global leaders is lower than PM Modi’s individual follower count.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday became the first world leader and politician to cross the historic milestone of 100 million followers on Instagram.

The prime minister joined the Meta-owned platform in 2014, and his account has evolved as one of the most engaging digital spaces among world leaders over the past decade.

PM Modi has twice as many Instagram followers as US President Donald Trump.

In essence, the total number of followers of the next five major global leaders is lower than PM Modi’s individual follower count.

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PM Modi has twice as many Instagram followers as US President Donald Trump.

In essence, the total number of followers of the next five major global leaders is lower than PM Modi’s individual follower count.

The data reflects PM Modi’s global outreach and appeal among youth worldwide.

Within India as well, the gap in the number of followers between the prime minister and other politicians is massive.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath stands in the second spot with 16.1 million followers, miles behind PM Modi’s count. Congress MP and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stands at the third spot with around 12.6 million followers.

PM Modi most popular world leader

As of December 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the highest approval rating among select world leaders. According to Statistsa, PM Modi has an approval rating of 70 per cent, coming on top in the list among other global leaders.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ranked second with a 63 per cent approval rating, and Argentina’s Javier Milei stood at the third spot with 60 per cent.

US President Donald Trump ranked 11th with a 43 per cent approval rating, according to Statista.

According to the latest data released by a US-based business intelligence firm, Morning Consult, PM Modi ranked first with a 67 per cent approval rating.

The intelligence firm’s finding was based on data collected from February 2 to February 8, 2026.

Czech Republic’s Andrej Babis held the second rank with a 59 per cent rating. Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi ranked fifth with 56 per cent, while US President Donald Trump ranked 11th with a 40 per cent approval rating.

According to Morning Consult’s 2025 data, PM Modi had topped the global list of ‘Democratic Leader Approval Ratings’ with a 75 per cent approval score, followed by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at 59 per cent.

Trump, meanwhile, had ranked eighth with an approval rating under 45 per cent.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INS Anjadip, as part of the Arnala-class, is purpose-built for defensive operations, specifically sub-hunting in coastal areas, enabling high-value platforms to concentrate on broader strategic objectives.

The Indian Navy will commission its latest sub-hunter, INS Anjadip, on Friday, as part of a 16-ship indigenous programme to strengthen coastal anti-submarine warfare.

The warship will be inducted into the Eastern Naval Command at Chennai with Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi presiding over the ceremony.

Sources in the Navy said INS Anjadip’s relevance is heightened in the regional context, particularly vis-à-vis Pakistan, which is expected to rely more heavily on its submarine fleet given its limited surface combatant strength and lack of dedicated anti-submarine warfare platforms.

In this context, the class is expected to secure near-shore waters, allowing larger Indian naval assets to operate with greater flexibility.

“Since there is a possibility of the adversary’s submarines being required to navigate littoral zones with depths as shallow as 50 to 60 metres to achieve effective torpedo firing positions, Anjadip is engineered to detect, track and engage such threats at stand-off ranges, mitigating risks to high-value surface assets operating in proximity,” sources in the Navy said.

While frontline warships such as frigates and destroyers are equipped with anti-submarine capabilities, their primary roles remain offensive, focused on anti-air and anti-surface warfare.

In contrast, INS Anjadip, as part of the Arnala-class, is purpose-built for defensive operations, specifically sub-hunting in coastal areas, enabling high-value platforms to concentrate on broader strategic objectives.

The Navy has termed INS Anjadip a “dolphin hunter” for its role in coastal anti-submarine operations.

“The ship is equipped with an indigenous, cutting-edge anti-submarine warfare weapons and sensor package, including the hull mounted sonar ‘Abhay’ and is armed with lightweight torpedoes and ASW rockets. In addition to its primary ASW role, the agile and highly manoeuvrable warship is capable of undertaking coastal surveillance, low-intensity maritime operations and search and rescue operations,” the Navy said in a statement. 

“The 77-metre-long ship features a high-speed water-jet propulsion system, enabling it to achieve a top speed of 25 knots for rapid response and sustained operations,” it added.

The vessels have been designed and built by Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in partnership with Larsen & Toubro, marking a shift from the earlier practice where the Navy itself provided warship designs.

INS Anjadip follows the commissioning of INS Arnala in June last year and INS Androth in October. The Navy plans to deploy all 16 vessels across key ports to create a layered anti-submarine shield along India’s coastline.

The vessels will replace the ageing Abhay-class corvettes which are modified Soviet-origin Pauk-class platforms that have been long used for coastal anti-submarine operations. The new class marks a significant upgrade in size, survivability and onboard combat systems as the Navy moves towards more specialised and indigenously designed platforms.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

The resolutions moved by the Kerala government sought to alter the name of the state from Kerala to ‘Keralam’ under article 3 of the Constitution of India.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal for renaming Kerala to ‘Keralam’.

After approval of Union Cabinet, the President of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under proviso to article 3 of the Constitution of India. After receipt of the views of the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala, Government of India will take further action and the recommendation of President will be obtained for introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 for alteration of name of State of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’ in Parliament.

The name change comes ahead of the assembly polls in the state, the dates of which is yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

In 2023 and 2024, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, had moved the resolution to change the name from “Kerala” to “Keralam” in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of the country. The resolution was passed twice by the assembly, after the Union Home Ministry, after reviewing the first resolution, suggested some technical changes.

The resolutions moved by the Kerala government sought to alter the name of the state from Kerala to ‘Keralam’ under article 3 of the Constitution of India.

“The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam Language. States were formed on the basis of language on the 1st day of November, 1956. The Kerala Piravi Day is also on the 1st day of November. Since the time of National Independence Struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking Malayalam language. But in the First Schedule to the Constitution the name of our State is recorded as “Kerala’. This Assembly unanimously appeals to the Central Government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as ‘Keralam’,” the resolutions read.

In 2016, when Gurgaon was renamed Gurugram, the RSS suggested that the Union government should rename Kerala as ‘Keralam’, Ahmedabad as ‘Amaravati’, Hyderabad as ‘Bhagyanagar’, and Aurangabad as ‘Sambhajinagar’.

Gurgaon was changed to Gurugram as homage to Guru Dronacharya , a teacher in the epic Mahabharata, who was given the land in fee by his disciples.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Tracing the soul of a city through its homes, this column looks at houses as living archives of the millions of people who make Delhi.

In the 1940s, the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri was a jungle – an extension of the ridge. A young Indian Foreign Service (IFS) family bought a patch of land near Kautilya Marg, sceptical that anything would come up around them, yet they took the plunge. In 1954, architect Karl Malte von Heinz was commissioned to build them an Indian bungalow. Thus came a Heinz treasure in Chanakyapuri.

There is something cinematic about a Heinz house. The most typical feature is the glorious staircase, moulded most often by temple workers. Every time I walk into a Heinz house, I look for the staircase. The thick railing.

The ornate balustrade, floriated or indented with the fauna of South Asia. It is almost impossible not to picture the lady of the house gliding down the generous staircase with its wide, short steps, letting her make a proper entrance. This staircase appears in many houses by the architect. If the staircase was the cherry on the cake, the cake would be the house exterior – patterned or modulated to suit the Indian summer.

The house is organised with wide verandahs wrapping portions of it, columned and well-spaced to let light pour in. Air moves through the structure. Light enters without heat. The plan follows function. Rooms remain cool in the north Indian summer. Terrazzo floors run through the interior. A fireplace anchors the drawing room and the study. In some houses, below, sits a wine cellar – rare for Delhi at the time.

From the outside, the form is cubic. The walls carry subtle surface work – sometimes pinched, sometimes patterned, sometimes textured. A dotted motif marks sections of the facade. Inside, the geometry softens through curves in the stair and ceiling edges. This contrast between exterior restraint and interior modulation defines the house. This Indian bungalow becomes even more interesting when one delves into the history of its architect. Austrian-origin Karl Malte von Heinz was born in 1904. Trained in the climate of German modernism.

He arrived in India after the upheaval in Europe, when the Bauhaus and modernist culture came under attack by the Nazi regime. Modern architecture had stood for internationalism, experimentation, and industrial life. The regime demanded nationalist art, classical form, and tradition. Many architects dispersed. Heinz was among those who moved east.

Accounts of his early years in India differ. One narrative places him in Hyderabad, travelling with a Turkish prince, Abdul Karim, and staying with an Osmania University professor. Another situates him in Indore, working with the Maharaja.

By the time he approached Delhi, he was designing for patrons connected to the emerging Indian state. This house in Chanakyapuri belongs to this phase.

A localised modernism, informed by a global transition – modernism not as a fad but as resistance, as a futuristic decision by thinkers of the 1940s who had seen a world ravaged by ideology. Solutions were sought in cultural shifts on their own, without state sanction, and were adopted worldwide, even if in small measure. Sometimes you hear stories like these and think about how many people and communities India has given refuge to, and how successful a safe space this has been for them.

His method followed the principles of German rationalism. Function before ornament. Planning as structure. Light, air, and circulation treated as architectural elements. In India, he adapted quickly. Heat had to be deflected. Shade had to be built. Verandahs became instruments of climate. Walls carried mass. Openings controlled glare. The modern house was reworked for the subcontinent.

Heinz also designed diplomatic buildings for Pakistan, Thailand, Yugoslavia, and the Vatican. Concrete and planning served diplomacy. Yet his residential work remained closer to what Delhi wanted as a house – homes for civil servants, diplomats, and families who sought modern life without abandoning climate logic. The Chanakyapuri house stands as one such example.

When it was built, the district was still forming. The foreign service family expected the area to grow. During construction, a friend purchased the adjoining plot, then returned it, believing development would not come. The house was larger than the family required. It was later leased to prominent residents, including the Nawab of Rampur. The rent stood at 1,500 rupees in the 1950s.

The house is organised with wide verandahs wrapping portions of it, columned and well-spaced to let light pour in. (HT)

Today, the house remains part of the early layer of Delhi’s modernism. A record of a moment when the city was rebuilding itself after Independence and Partition. Local material met international thought. Architects, planners, government, and citizens together shaped new neighbourhoods and new identities. Through this house, one can trace the journey of an émigré modernist and the making of a modern capital.

Anica Mann works on archaeology and contemporary art in Delhi. The views expressed as personal.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Award recognition highlights rising global reach of regional storytelling and boosts visibility for independent children’s cinema.

Indian cinema notched a global milestone as Boong won the Bafta for best children’s film, marking a rare win for an Indian production in the category and drawing attention to the growing global footprint of regional storytelling.

The award was announced at the British Academy Children’s and Family Film Awards, where Boong competed against productions from Europe and North America. The jury praised the film for its emotional authenticity, universal appeal and sensitive portrayal of childhood, calling it a “deeply humane story told with simplicity and heart”

Directed by Lakshmipriya Devi and produced by a collective of independent filmmakers, Boong follows the journey of a spirited 10-year-old boy, Tomba, who lives in a small hill town in northeast India. Lonely after his father leaves to work in a distant city, Tomba invents an imaginary friend — Boong, a mischievous forest spirit only he can see. Through playful adventures across rivers, markets and misty hills, Boong helps Tomba navigate school bullies, family struggles and the ache of growing up.

#ThisIsManipur
As the Manipuri film “Boong” wins the 2026 British Academy Film Award in the children and family category, the director Lakshmipriya speaks from the podium with a message for all those in the conflict torn land that we call home.
“let the children regain their… pic.twitter.com/bAMR5lRHbF

— Just Another Meitei Dragon (@ju_ac_s) February 22, 2026

The film had earlier built momentum on the festival circuit, picking up audience awards and critical acclaim for its intimate storytelling and naturalistic performances. The Bafta win is expected to open wider international distribution avenues, including streaming and educational screenings.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

With the formal launch of the Td vaccine, it has now been introduced for supply under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Saturday (February 21, 2026) launched the indigenously manufactured tetanus and adult diphtheria (Td) vaccine at the Central Research Institute (CRI) in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh.

Describing the indigenous launch of the vaccine as a momentous occasion, he said the launch marks a significant step towards safeguarding national health security and strengthening India’s public health infrastructure.

55 lakh doses by April

With the formal launch of the Td vaccine, it has now been introduced for supply under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). The Central Research Institute will supply 55 lakh doses through UIP by April this year, with production expected to scale up progressively in subsequent years to further strengthen the programme implemented by the Government of India, said Mr. Nadda while addressing the gathering.

Highlighting India’s global standing, the Minister also stated that the country is widely recognised as the “pharmacy of the world” and is among the leading vaccine manufacturers globally. “Historically, vaccine and drug development timelines were long, tetanus vaccine development took decades globally, tuberculosis medicines took nearly 30 years to evolve and the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine took almost a century of scientific effort,” he said, adding “In contrast, during the COVID-19 pandemic, India developed two indigenous vaccines within nine months and administered over 220 crore doses, including booster doses.”

Done under GMP standards

Mr. Nadda said that CRI is the first government institute to manufacture vaccines under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards, reflecting the modernisation and revitalisation of public sector vaccine manufacturing units.

He said the Universal Immunization Programme is the world’s largest immunisation programme, which currently provides 11 vaccines protecting against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, in which CRI has made substantial contributions.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The Indian-American legal star tells US Supreme Court ‘tariffs are taxes’, scoring dramatic win against presidential overreach.

It’s the biggest judicial defeat that US President Donald Trump has suffered in his second term – a ruling that strikes at the heart of the sweeping tariff regime he has cast as the centrepiece of his economic policy. And the key player who fought Trump to the death is Indian-American lawyer Neal Katyal, who is regarded as the greatest courtroom star of his generation.

Trump is not the first US President whose policies Katyal has fought and won against. Almost 20 years ago, Katyal had argued in the US Supreme Court on behalf of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni man who had been a chauffeur for Osama bin Laden. In that trial, Katyal had challenged and defeated George W. Bush’s policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay.

Trump’s reaction was fast and furious on hearing the news of his lost court case and the collapse of the great tariff wall that he has erected – a web of import duties he argued would help rebuild US manufacturing and rebalance trade.

He immediately held a combative press conference, calling the ruling “ridiculous”, denouncing the judges who ruled against his tariff actions as a “disgrace” and branding the group of small-business owners who brought the suit before the Supreme Court “sleazebags”.

The US President declared that he had tried not to make comments before the judgment came out. “I wanted to be well-behaved because I didn’t want to do anything that would upset the decision of the court,” he said, adding, “Because I understand the court. I understand how they are very easily swayed. I want to be a good boy.”

But this time the spotlight shifted away from Trump and on to the bespectacled 55-year old Katyal, who fought the case for the business proprietors, many of whom said the tariffs were crippling them with higher costs.

When the ruling was handed down, Katyal posted a one-word triumphant tweet: “Victory.” Later, when facing the cameras, he spoke about the rule of law, and dismissed what he said was the US President’s outrageous behaviour.

“The President can’t do this ridiculous ‘I’m the President [routine]. I can do whatever I want.’ Today, the Supreme Court stood up for the rule of law. Stood up for Americans everywhere. Presidents are powerful, but our Constitution is more powerful still,” Katyal said.

At the core of the ruling was a basic principle of the US Constitution: “Only Congress can impose taxes on the American people and that’s what tariffs are. Tariffs are taxes,” Katyal stressed. One commentator reckoned that the Supreme Court ruling could be summed up in those three words: tariffs are taxes.

Katyal is no stranger to the justices of the Supreme Court. He has argued 54 cases before the court, a remarkable tally given that America’s highest court hears only a limited number of cases each year. Over the course of his career, he has handled cases spanning civil rights, federalism, separation of powers and national security. He has scored major wins before, but this ranks as his most politically significant.

“The Supreme Court hasn’t struck down such an important policy initiative in about 90 years, since 1935 when they struck down FDR’s first New Deal,” Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman told Bloomberg.

Feldman also noted that this is the first time the Supreme Court has stood up to Trump. Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, known as FDR, introduced the New Deal, which was a sweeping programme of economic relief measures to combat the Great Depression.

Katyal’s resume is formidable. As the acting solicitor general during the Obama administration, he successfully defended the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare reform known as Obamacare, and also the Voting Rights‘ Act. It was also during his time that the US Department of Justice offered a full apology to ethnic Japanese and others who had been interned during World War II, a landmark reckoning. Besides that, he also took on cases arguing against the holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Like Hamdan.

From the start, Katyal seemed destined for great things. He studied at Dartmouth College and then Yale Law School. Afterwards, he went on to clerk for US Supreme Court judge Stephen Breyer. Along the way, he also did a project for President Bill Clinton on the need for expansion of pro bono legal work. He returned to teach at Georgetown University Law Center and became a partner in a law firm. He’s currently with a leading law firm Milbank.

Katyal’s parents are both professionals. His father’s an engineer and his mother is a paediatrician, He effusively praises the American way of life, where the son of immigrants has been able to rise to the level that he has been able to.

Speaking to reporters he framed his legal win in personal terms. “I was able to go to court, the son of immigrants, and say on behalf of American small businesses, ‘Hey, this President is acting illegally’.”

It was, he said, proof of something “extraordinary” about the American system, “the idea that we have a system that self-corrects… you might be the most powerful man in the world, but you still can’t break the Constitution.”

His opposition to Trump has been clear for a long time. In 2019, he co-authored with Sam Koppelman a book titled Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump, laying out a legal precedent for removing the President from office.

What’s next for Katyal? When he became acting solicitor general under Obama, he replaced Elena Kagan, who became a Supreme Court judge. In a future Democratic administration, he would surely be a top candidate on the shortlist for the country’s highest bench.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

India signed the pact to join the coalition at a ceremony during the AI Impact Summit, attended by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and US envoy to India Sergio Gor, among others.

India on Friday formally joined the US-led strategic alliance ‘Pax Silica’, a coalition aimed at building a secure and resilient supply chain spanning critical minerals, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), marking a significant step in deepening India-US economic and technology cooperation.

The pact was signed at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, among others.

The move comes amid efforts by New Delhi and Washington to finalise a proposed trade deal and advance broader initiatives to stabilise and strengthen bilateral ties following a period of strain.

What is Pax Silica?

Launched in December last year, Pax Silica seeks to create a secure, innovation-driven supply chain across the full “silicon stack” — from raw materials and mineral processing to semiconductor manufacturing and AI infrastructure.

The Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington on December 12, where partner nations signed the declaration. Current members include Australia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Gor had last month announced an invitation to India to join the coalition.

The declaration states: “We recognise that a reliable supply chain is indispensable to our mutual economic security.”

It further adds, “We also recognise that artificial intelligence (AI) represents a transformative force for our long-term prosperity and that trustworthy systems are essential to safeguarding our mutual security and prosperity.”

“We believe that economic value and growth will flow through and across all levels of the global AI supply chain, driving historic opportunity and demand for energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, technological hardware, infrastructure, and new markets not yet invented,” it said.

One of its key pillars is establishing a durable economic order to drive AI-powered prosperity across partner nations.

‘Say no to weaponised dependency’: Jacob Helberg

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Jacob Helberg said the declaration marked a “historic milestone” in India-US ties.

Helberg said, “It is a profound honour to be here in Delhi at the India AI Impact Summit to mark a historic milestone in the partnership between the United States and India. Today, we signed the Pax Silica Declaration, a document that is not merely an agreement on paper, but a roadmap for a shared future. There is a line from antiquity attributed to ‘Alexander the Great’, who famously said that the peoples of Asia were slaves because they had not yet learned to pronounce the word ‘No’. Alexander saw himself as a conqueror addressing a world of subjects. After travelling 11,000 miles over eight years, it was in India that he finally met his match and turned back. He did not know India, and India said no. The truth is that both our nations were forged by that very word. Both claimed their freedom by learning to say no…So today, as we sign the Pax Silica Declaration, we say no to weaponised dependency, and we say no to blackmail.”

He further asserted, “Together, we say that economic security is national security. But we must be precise about what that means. Some use words like global governance and sovereignty in the same breath, just as Orwell used freedom and slavery interchangeably. America and India are not deceived. Sovereignty does not come from a global bureaucracy. It comes from builders—from the very builders present in this room today. It comes from those who build smelters and oil wells, airplanes and expressways, and from the hardworking people who lay the rails of the future. Through the joint statement we are signing today, the United States and India affirm our embrace of a pro-innovation approach to AI, standing against those who would constrain or set us back.”

India eyes semiconductor leadership

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw underlined India’s semiconductor ambitions, linking them to long-term economic compounding.

“If this spirit had persisted since 1947, we can all imagine how much compounding would have occurred in India’s growth. No problem, even if it’s from 2014. Now, your generation will reap the benefits of this compounding…,” Vaishnaw said.

Highlighting India’s growing chip design capabilities, he said, “Today, our talented engineers are designing the most complex, most advanced 2-nanometer chips here in India. We all know that the semiconductor industry will need about 1 million more talented people. Where will that talent come from? This will come from here. Today, students have access to the world’s best semiconductor design tools and they’re absolutely free. And it’s yielding results…When we say chips, some people think of potato chips. Forget it, they will keep crying. Sometimes they cry in Parliament, sometimes somewhere else. All this will continue, we have to move forward. The country has a direction, a clear goal, and we have to take global leadership in the semiconductor industry and the electronics industry.”

Strategic coalition for 21st century: Sergio Gor

US Ambassador Sergio Gor described Pax Silica as a framework to reshape the global technology order.

“A strategic coalition is being formed to shape the 21st-century economic and technological order, securing the full silicon stack—from critical minerals and chip manufacturing to AI deployment. Called ‘Pax Silica’, it aims to replace coercive dependencies with trusted industrial partnerships that empower free markets. India’s participation is described as strategic and essential, citing its engineering talent, mineral processing strides, and role in strengthening U.S.-India tech cooperation. The partnership seeks to advance trusted AI globally, emphasising that peace comes through strength,” Gor said.

Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology, said, “…the Pax Silica initiative will bring the technology collaboration closer between the US and India…”

US-India role critical in AI future: Sundar Pichai

Google CEO Sundar Pichai stressed the importance of collaboration in shaping AI’s global trajectory.

“Yesterday, at the opening session, I shared some thoughts on this profound moment of AI. I said we are on the cusp of an era of hyper progress and new discoveries, but the best outcomes are not guaranteed,” he said.

He further added, “We must work together to ensure the benefits of AI are available to everyone and everywhere. The US India partnership has a critical role to play.”

Google is proud to serve as a connection point between the two countries “both figuratively and literally”, he said.

Elaborating, he noted, “We have teams across both countries working seamlessly together on some of our most important initiatives, innovations that start in India, like Google Pay are making products better for people all over the world.”

Bullish on India’s AI trajectory, Pichai said, “I believe India is going to have an extraordinary trajectory with AI, and we are supporting it with a full stack commitment, including product scaling and infrastructure.”

India’s entry into Pax Silica signals its intent to position itself at the centre of the next-generation technology and semiconductor supply chain, even as Washington seeks trusted partners to counter coercive dependencies and secure AI-driven economic growth.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

This is part of a package of infrastructure, skilling, and partnership initiatives unveiled by chief executive Sundar Pichai at a limited-access event in New Delhi.

Google on Wednesday announced a new undersea cable investment linking India to the US, Singapore, South Africa, and Australia as part of a package of infrastructure, skilling, and partnership initiatives unveiled by chief executive Sundar Pichai at a limited-access event in New Delhi.

The announcements position India as a central node in Google’s global AI infrastructure ambitions and come amid intensifying competition among American technology companies for influence in the country, especially as New Delhi hosts world leaders and tech leaders for the India AI Impact Summit.

The centrepiece of Wednesday’s announcements is the America-India Connect Initiative, which Google said will deliver new subsea cable routes linking the US and India to multiple locations across the southern hemisphere. In a statement, the company said the initiative is anchored by its existing five-year, $15 billion AI infrastructure investment in India.

The network will establish Visakhapatnam, on India’s east coast, as a major new international subsea gateway — the digital backbone has historically been concentrated in Mumbai and Chennai.

New fiber-optic paths will connect Vizag to South Africa and Singapore, creating redundant high-capacity routes to American east and west coasts respectively, the company said in a statement separately. Another path will connect Mumbai to Western Australia.

These routes do more than move bits and bytes — they honour a long history of global connection by turning maritime merchant shipping routes between the New World and India into digital trade routes between two countries,” the company said in its statement.

Pichai framed the infrastructure push in explicitly strategic terms. “AI is the biggest platform shift of our lifetime,” he said at the Delhi event. “For countries like India, AI presents a chance to leapfrog age-old gaps and create new opportunities.”

Beyond infrastructure, Google announced a new AI Professional Certificate programme to be rolled out in India in partnership with a government skilling initiative, available in English and Hindi with additional Indian languages to follow.

The company also announced a cloud partnership with Karmayogi Bharat, the Indian government’s civil service training mission, under which Google Cloud will serve as primary infrastructure provider for the iGOT platform, supporting over 20 million public servants across 800 districts in 18 Indian languages.

A new $30 million Google.org AI for Science Impact Challenge was also announced, aimed at supporting researchers globally using AI to drive scientific breakthroughs. The fund connects to DeepMind’s scientific tools, including AlphaFold, which Pichai noted is being used by more than 200,000 researchers in India.

Google additionally announced a partnership between Google DeepMind and the Indian government under what it described as a Global National Partnerships Programme, which Pichai said would broaden access to frontier AI capability for national partners. Details of the arrangement were limited.

The company also said it was partnering with Tata Tinkering Labs to bring generative AI tools to more than 10,000 Indian schools and 11 million students, with a focus on robotics and coding.

On the consumer product side, Pichai said Google would in the coming weeks launch Search Live, a real-time voice and camera search tool, noting that Indian users are already among the highest global adopters of voice and visual search.

Pichai was careful to frame the announcements as part of a longer-term partnership rather than a one-off investment push. “India is an architect of the AI future where adoption is responsible, rapid, and grounded in practical innovation,” he said. He described India as having the potential to be a “full-stack player” in AI — encompassing research, infrastructure, and mass adoption — and said the measure of success would be whether the technology reached the country’s most marginalised populations.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

Bengaluru philatelist Piyush Khaitan highlights rare Black Cachet covers, underpaid letters, and the lasting legacy of Henri Pequet’s 1911 Allahabad-Naini flight.

Exactly 115 years ago, on a crisp February morning, 23-year-old Frenchman Henri Pequet climbed into the open cockpit of a fragile Humber biplane. As he cleared the banks of the Yamuna River, the roar of his engine announced the birth of a global revolution. It was the day when India became the “Ground Zero” of global airmail.

Today, February 18 is celebrated as World Airmail Day, marking that historic 13-minute hop from Allahabad to Naini. While we live in an era of instantaneous digital pings, the world of aerophilately is turning its eyes back to India to honour the moment communication truly took flight.

For Bengaluru-based Piyush Khaitan, an avid collector and Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, these 13 minutes represent a lifetime of forensic pursuit.

Khaitan, Founder & Managing Director of fintech firm NeoGrowth Credit Pvt. Ltd, has spent nearly 20 years conducting a detailed census of material from this flight — particularly, the “Holy Grail” of Indian philately, the Black Cachet.

“To an untrained eye, the Black Cachet may appear to be just a different ink impression, but it is the rarest and most selectively used marking of the 1911 First Aerial Post,” Khaitan told PTI.

While most of the 6,500 letters carried that day were struck with magenta ink, Khaitan’s census has confirmed only 22 unique Black Cachet items.

“Earlier research suggested only nine examples, but documentation was scattered across auction records and private collections without verified details,” he said.

The evidence suggests these were likely reserved for prominent personalities, indicating a controlled use at the very birth of airmail.

In high-stakes collecting, perfection is often less interesting than a well-documented error. Khaitan points to a “unique” item in his collection: the first known underpaid airmail cover in the world. A sender in 1911 franked a letter to France with the rate for Britain, falling short of the international requirement.

“A so-called ‘mistake’ reveals how the postal system truly functioned at the very birth of airmail,” Khaitan said.

The letter was franked with 1 anna, the Imperial rate to Britain, but as it was addressed to France, the rate was 2½ annas. Khaitan’s research uncovered that the deficiency was charged at double the shortfall. The cover was marked with a “T” cachet in Bombay and traveled to Paris, where French postage-due labels were applied.

“What makes this extraordinary is that the letter was still accepted and flown on the historic February 18 flight before the underpayment was even processed,” Khaitan noted.

“What makes this extraordinary is that the letter was still accepted and flown on the historic February 18 flight before the underpayment was even processed,” Khaitan noted.

According to him, the choice of Allahabad was not a grand imperial design but a result of practical opportunity.

“The United Provinces Exhibition provided an ideal platform to demonstrate powered flight,” Khaitan pointed out.

Captain W Windham of the Humber Motor Car Company, said Khaitan, was keen to promote his aircraft, and a mail flight offered both publicity and prestige.

“There was also a philanthropic heart to the flight; proceeds from the special airmail cess supported the construction of the Oxford & Cambridge Hostel in Allahabad,” Khaitan said.

Khaitan also believes that despite his youth, Pequet understood the significance. “Aviation was in its infancy, and every organised flight was pioneering,” he pointed out. Pequet’s achievement was later recognised by France, which issued a commemorative stamp in 2011.

For collectors, the chase includes ‘Pequet Cards’ signed by the pilot. “They were estimated at 63 just 25 years ago; my census now has the number at 118,” Khaitan said.

The physical condition of these 115-year-old letters tells its own story. “India’s heat and humidity are not ideal for preserving paper; very few examples survive in pristine condition,” Khaitan added. This rarity attracts forgers “like moths to a flame,” requiring specialised equipment like the VS-6000 series for forensic analysis, Khaitan added.

To promote global awareness, the Air Mail Society India Foundation (AMSI) — where Khaitan serves as chairman — is organising AMSIPEX-26, a virtual exhibition from February 14–22. Featuring 185 frames from 12 countries, the event includes a day-long webinar on Wednesday and the release of a Souvenir Book. Simultaneously, a standing display is being held at the Royal Philatelic Society London, featuring award-winning airmail exhibits.

Reflecting on his study of these 13 minutes, Khaitan noted that the experiment was the catalyst for the global networks we depend on today.

“The 1911 experiment demonstrated that mail could move through the air, cutting time and reshaping possibilities. It also led to the development of civilian air transport with bigger, faster and safer aircraft, modern airports and navigational facilities,” Khaitan said.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)