Recent Current Affairs related to AI

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has unveiled two AI-enabled weather forecasting models to provide hyperlocal monsoon and rainfall data. The models were collaboratively developed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).

The “AI-Enabled Monsoon Advance Forecasting System” provides subdistrict or block-level forecasting for the first time, covering 3,196 blocks across 15 states and 1 Union Territory (UT) in the rainfed monsoon core zone of India. It is to be noted that the system predicts monsoon progression up to 4 weeks in advance with an error margin of 4 days.

The “High Spatial Resolution Rainfall Forecast” is a pilot project in Uttar Pradesh that uses the “Mithuna” weather model to downscale 12.5-km grids to a 1-km resolution. It generates specific rainfall forecasts for up to 10 days in advance.

OP Jindal Global University (JGU), located in Sonipat, Haryana, has become the first Institute of Eminence (IoE) in India to receive accreditation from the Data Science Council of America (DASCA). The accreditation was granted under the “World Data Sciences & AI Initiative” (WDSAI) and remains valid until 2031.

OpenAI has launched a cybersecurity-focused initiative named “Daybreak” to assist software developers and security teams in detecting vulnerabilities, validating fixes, and accelerating system patching using AI tools.

It is to be noted that the launch follows the introduction of “Mythos” by Anthropic, which is an advanced cybersecurity AI system developed under the “Project Glasswing” initiative.

The SEBI has constituted a specialized task force named ‘Cyber suraksha.ai’ to assess cybersecurity risks associated with advanced AI tools and enhance cyber resilience.

The task force consists of representatives from Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), Qualified Registrar and Transfer Agents (QRTAs), and Regulated Entities (REs), along with other relevant stakeholders.

The Bihar government has approved a $500 million (around ₹4,750 crore) loan from the World Bank (WB) for the ‘Bihar Urban Transformation Programme’. The state cabinet has also sanctioned the transfer of 1.85 acres of land and authorized enhanced subsidy support under the PM Electric (e)-Bus Sewa for the operation of 400 electric AC buses.

Furthermore, ₹15,967.03 crore was sanctioned for the monitoring and maintenance of roads using AI based technologies.

IndiaAI, a flagship initiative of the Government of India (GoI), has signed an MoU with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to enhance healthcare outcomes through the responsible and scalable application of AI.

The collaborative framework is built on three primary pillars: the ‘AIKosh’ dataset platform, compute access, and the development of collaborative AI use cases.

The Bengaluru City Police has launched a multilingual AI integration within the ‘Namma 112’ Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) to enhance accessibility and inclusivity. This is the first-of-its-kind initiative in India.

The integration utilizes the Multilingual Voice AI for Nationwide Key Interventions (VANKI) system, which was developed in collaboration with technical partners Monday Ventures and Aeos.

Bengaluru-based GalaxEye has launched “Mission Drishti”, the largest and heaviest privately developed Earth observation satellite (EOS) of India to date. The 190 kg satellite was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX from California, USA. It is the world’s first operational “OptoSAR” satellite, which combines Electro-Optical (EO) sensors and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on a single platform. This allows for 24/7 all-weather surveillance through clouds, rain, and darkness, providing high-resolution imagery at 1.5-meter.

It is to be noted that the EOS uses the NVIDIA Jetson Orin platform for onboard AI to process data in orbit for faster results. This mission is the first step toward a planned constellation of 8 to 12 satellites by 2029 to 2030 for real-time global coverage.

Sikkim has become the first fully paperless state judiciary in India, marking a milestone that coincides with the 50th anniversary of the statehood of Sikkim. The declaration was made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a two-day national conclave on technology and judicial education held in Gangtok. The transition to a digital system incorporates AI tools to assist judicial officers. These include the Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency (SUPACE) for legal research and the Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software (SUVAS) for language translation.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a $70 billion connectivity initiative to integrate power and digital networks across the Asia-Pacific region by 2035. The initiative includes a $50 billion programme named “Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative” to transition from bilateral energy links to a regional power trade framework.

ADB will contribute $25 billion (50% of the funding). By 2035, the project aims to integrate 20 Gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, construct 22,000 circuit-km of transmission lines, and reduce regional power sector emissions by 15%. It will improve electricity access for 200 million people by focusing on infrastructure.

The “Asia-Pacific Digital Highway” involves a $20 billion investment to bridge the digital divide and facilitate growth driven by AI. By 2035, it targets providing first-time broadband access to 200 million people and enhancing service quality for 450 million others.

The programme aims to reduce connectivity costs by 40% for remote areas. Additionally, a “Centre for AI Innovation and Development” will be established in Seoul, South Korea. The announcement was made during the 59th Annual Meeting of the bank in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the Google Cloud India AI Hub in Tarluvada, Visakhapatnam. Valued at $15 billion (₹1.35 lakh crore), it is the largest single Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project in India.

The facility will be managed by Raiden Infotech India Pvt Ltd (a subsidiary of Google) in collaboration with AdaniConneX (a Joint Venture (JV) between Adani Enterprises and EdgeConneX) and Nxtra by Airtel. The project will be completed over 5 years with a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW), making it one of the largest AI focused data centers in India.

The Maharashtra Cabinet has approved the ‘AI Policy 2026’ to foster technological growth and infrastructure development in the state.

The policy aims to attract an investment of ₹10,000 crore and generate 1.5 lakh employment opportunities by 2031. The initiative focuses on the establishment of innovation centres and the implementation of skill training programs to support AI driven economic expansion.

Pixxel has partnered with Sarvam to develop and operate the first orbital data centre satellite of India named “Pathfinder”. The 200 kg-class spacecraft is projected to be deployed in orbit by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2026.

It is to be noted that Pixxel will handle the design, construction, and launch of the satellite, while Sarvam will integrate an AI framework to facilitate on-orbit training and inference through full-stack language models.

Parminder Singh has been appointed as the CEO of Reliance Enterprise Intelligence Ltd (REIL) with immediate effect. It is to be noted that REIL is a joint venture (JV) between Reliance Intelligence Ltd and Facebook Overseas Inc of Meta.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that the Government of India (GoI) has established a high-level panel to evaluate systemic threats posed by “Mythos”, an advanced AI model developed by Anthropic. The announcement was made after a meeting with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and senior banking executives.

The committee is chaired by CS Setty, the Chairman of the SBI and leader of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The primary objective of the panel is to assess “AI-born” risks to the financial sector and identify strategic technology investments required to enhance national resilience.

Lee Jae Myung, the President of the Republic of Korea, accompanied by First Lady Kim Hea Kyung, has visited India at the invitation of PM Narendra Modi. During a bilateral summit at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, both nations announced a “Joint Strategic Vision” to expand the India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership (SSP) for the 2026-2030 period.

The visit resulted in the establishment of an Industrial Cooperation Committee (ICC) and the formulation of a framework for the “India–Korea Digital Bridge” to facilitate collaboration in AI, semiconductors, and Information Technology. Both countries also agreed to resume negotiations for upgrading the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

Srikanth Velamakanni, the Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive of Fractal, has been appointed as the Chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) for the 2026-2027 term. He succeeds Sindhu Gangadharan.

Kishor Patil, the MD & CEO of KPIT Technologies, has been elected as the Vice Chairperson of NASSCOM.

BharatGen Technology Foundation has signed a 5-year MoU with L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) and L&T-Vyoma, subsidiaries of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), to develop the first end-to-end sovereign AI compute platform in India.

The partnership aims to establish a completely indigenous AI ecosystem to reduce dependency on international supply chains and imported hardware, thereby fostering domestic technological self-reliance.

DataKaveri Systems, the commercial arm of the Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG) of the IISc Bengaluru, has signed an MoU with the Japan-based ONESTRUCTION Inc to integrate construction data into AI-ready urban data exchange systems across Indian and Japanese cities.

The collaboration involves connecting the openIBM platform of the latter with the Intelligent Universal Data Exchange (IUDX) of the former. It is to be noted that the IUDX platform is currently operational in 55 smart cities in India.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has received ‘Prajna’, an indigenously developed satellite imaging system designed to provide real-time decision support for security agencies. The system, an AI-enabled platform, was developed by the Centre for AI and Robotics (CAIR), a laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It utilizes advanced imaging to enhance the technical and operational capabilities of security forces.