Recent Current Affairs related to AI

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN-backed agency, has launched the 'AI for Good Global Commission' in Geneva, Switzerland, to strengthen global AI governance, inclusion, and innovation frameworks.

The commission comprises 44 founding members and is co-chaired by Rwanda President Paul Kagame and Salesforce Chair and CEO Marc Benioff. India is represented on the commission by 3 founding members: Mukesh Ambani (CMD of Reliance Industries), Sunil Bharti Mittal (Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Ltd), and Lakshmi N Mittal (Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal SA).

Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi visited India to participate in the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit at the invitation of PM Narendra Modi. Both leaders held a bilateral meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

During the summit, both countries announced 16 key outcomes to expand bilateral cooperation. The leaders also attended the Japan-India Joint Economic Forum, hosted by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in New Delhi. The forum witnessed the inauguration of the 4th vehicle manufacturing facility of Maruti Suzuki in Kharkhoda, Haryana.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched an AI-enabled Rural Internal Audit portal.

The digital platform aims to enhance financial oversight, audit efficiency, and governance across various programmes under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

Amazon, a US-based multinational technology company, has announced an investment of $48 billion in India for the period between 2026 and 2030.

The investment aims to strengthen the e-commerce, AI, cloud computing, and logistics businesses of the company in India.

SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd has signed an MoU with the IIT Bombay to establish the 'Bharat AI & Cyber Innovation Hub for Insurance'. This joint research and innovation centre aims to develop indigenous deep-technology defence systems for the insurance sector.

IIT Bombay has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the State University of New York (SUNY) Old Westbury to collaborate in the fields of engineering, AI, multidisciplinary research, and higher education.

The 2nd Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington DC, USA. During the summit, 35 nations, including India, endorsed a Statement on AI, an initiative spearheaded by the USA to establish trusted and resilient supply chains for AI technologies.

The 2-day event was hosted by Jacob Helberg, Secretary of Economic Affairs at the US Department of State. The Indian delegation was headed by S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The summit marked the expansion of the US-anchored tech security ecosystem, with new signatories including Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands (Europe); Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama (America); and Kazakhstan (Central Asia).

According to the "QS World Future Skills Index 2027" released by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), India secured the 13th position globally with a score of 89.4. It is ranked 1st in the South Asia region and is the only country from the region to feature among the top 15.

The report evaluated 89 countries. India ranked 18th in Skills Alignment, 22nd in Academic Readiness, 5th in Future of Work, and 14th in Economic Transformation. The USA led the overall rankings with a score of 99.2, followed by Australia and the UK.

France-based Safran Electronics & Defence and the Indian Earth intelligence firm SatSure Analytics India Pvt Ltd have signed an MoU to collaborate on Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) solutions for the Indian market.

This partnership is established under the 'France-India Year of Innovation' initiative, which aims to promote cooperation in aerospace and defence technology.

jUMPP, an AI-driven fintech platform, has received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to operate as a Third Party Application Provider (TPAP). This authorization allows the platform to integrate UPI payment capabilities into its application.

Maruti Suzuki India has partnered with 5 startups under the fifth cohort of the Maruti Suzuki Incubation Program (MSIP).

The selected startups are MiniMines, Easework AI, Sarvam AI, Siftly, and CodeMate AI. These startups will develop solutions focused on operational efficiency, customer experience, and recycling of end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The MSIP is conducted in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has awarded the IndiaAI Fellowship to 7 Computer Science Engineering (CSE) students at Chandigarh University.

Each recipient will receive financial assistance of ₹1 lakh for innovative projects using AI and Machine Learning applications.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has launched an AI-enabled grievance redressal platform named 'PFRDA Pension Sahayak' for subscribers of pension schemes regulated by the authority.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group (WBG), has pledged $371 million to Sify Infinit Spaces Ltd (SISL), a subsidiary of Sify Technologies Ltd.

The financing will support the development of AI-ready, energy-efficient Data Centre (DC) infrastructure in Navi Mumbai and Chennai.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has constituted a 7-member Working Group on AI (WG-AI) to guide insurance companies regarding the adoption, governance, and oversight of AI technologies.

The WG-AI is chaired by Prof. Sandeep K Shukla, Director of the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad. Deepak Gaikwad, General Manager (GM) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at IRDAI, has been appointed as the member-convener of the group.

According to the "Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2026" (GSER 2026) released by Startup Genome, Bengaluru is ranked 15th globally among the top startup ecosystems. It has also emerged as the second-best AI-native cluster in Asia, positioned behind Beijing (China).

Silicon Valley (USA) topped the global rankings, followed by New York City (USA) and London (UK).

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) has signed an MoU with the Assam Innovation & Startup Foundation (AISF) to collaborate on promoting language technology and Generative AI solutions across the state.

The Maharashtra government has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Google for Education to train teachers in AI and digital technology.

The 18-month initiative aims to strengthen teachers' digital competencies, improve AI literacy, and promote technology-enabled learning in schools, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

PM Narendra Modi has visited France to strengthen the India-France Special Global Strategic Partnership, focusing on trade, technology, and security. He held bilateral talks with President Emmanuel Macron in Nice and participated in the 52nd G7 Outreach Summit as a guest partner.

PM Modi and President Macron co-launched the 'Bharat Innovates' initiative in Nice, featuring participation from over 120 Indian startups. At the VivaTech 2026 expo in Paris, the largest technology exhibition in Europe, India was designated as the 'AI Country of Focus'.

The visit resulted in 13 key outcomes, including the adoption of the 'India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030', the establishment of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on AI Governance, and the expansion of the UPI in France. PM Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora during the 'Bonjour Modi' event held in Paris.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has selected 3 Indian space startups as the first set of Non-Governmental Entities (NGEs) to receive funding under its Technology Adoption Fund (TAF) scheme.

The selected startups are Astrobase Space Technologies Pvt Ltd (Bengaluru), SatSure Analytics India Pvt Ltd (Bengaluru), and TM2SPACE Technologies Pvt Ltd (Hyderabad). Under this initiative, SatSure Analytics India Pvt Ltd will develop a Large Earth Observation Model (LOM) named "Dhaarini".