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OpenAI, the creator of foundational artificial intelligence behind ChatGPT, announced on Friday that it has signed a deal with the Pentagon. It allows the US department of war (DoW), formerly the department of defense, to use the Sam Altman-led company's models in classified environments.That has raised eyebrows and questions over the use of the OpenAI technology stack in India, among the largest markets for AI and the fastest adopter of the technology worldwide.

Mint explores the best- and worst-case scenarios.On Monday the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran’s armed forces, announced that the Strait of Hormuz was closed and attacked a few ships passing through it. The announcement quickly caused panic.

Wipro Ltd faces an annual dent up to $100 million as American cosmetics brand, Estée Lauder, has shifted the Bengaluru tech services company's share of work in a half-billion dollar, five-year deal to Accenture Plc.This latest development raises questions on chief executive officer (CEO) Srini Pallia's turnaround plan and growth at Wipro, as outsourcers pivot towards generative artificial intelligence, or GenAI, solutions, analysts said.According to four people in the know, Accenture will now handle key IT functions of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc including finance, database management, and back-end management for the New York-based cosmetics company.Early in February, Estée Lauder had announced the Accenture contract but there was no information on that business moving away from Wipro.“In the second quarter, we've established our new Enterprise Business Services, selecting Accenture to transform how we deliver shared services globally as we accelerate the deployment of AI throughout the organization,” said Stéphane de la Faverie, chief executive of Estée Lauder, during the company’s post earnings conference call on 5 February.Emails sent to Wipro and Estée Lauder on Monday went unanswered.Mint learns that much of the work awarded to Accenture was part of a February 2021 deal won by Wipro. The Bengaluru company had reportedly bagged the $500 million contract with Estée Lauder, which was supposed to run for five years.

The American-Israeli attack on Iran raises a number of vital questions for India and the rest of the world, delving into which is necessary to make the best of a bad situation. The prices of oil and liquefied natural gas have begun to rise as Iran attempts to choke the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one in every fourth barrel of all seaborne crude oil moves. If this grip lasts, it will make energy imports dearer, weaken the rupee and give inflation a cost-push.

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Stock market recap: Indian equities witnessed a significant sell-off on Monday, 2 March, as escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia triggered a global "risk-off" sentiment. The Nifty 50 plummeted 312.95 points (1.24%) to settle at 24,865.70, while Sensex shed 1,048.34 points (1.29%) to close at 80,238.85 in a volatile session. India VIX, or the fear gauge, surged more than 20% to cross the 17 level.

Domestic equities tumbled under relentless selling pressure on Monday as the US-Israel and Iran conflict stoked fears of elevated crude oil prices and clouded India Inc’s earnings outlook for the coming quarters.India’s benchmark Nifty 50 fell 1.2% to 24,865.7, tracking weakness across Asian markets, though it fared marginally better than most emerging peers. Thailand led the declines, plunging nearly 4%, followed by Indonesia and Hong Kong, where benchmark indices slipped 2-3%.

aviation and maritime corridors that connect India with key West Asian markets, complicating travel planning for patients and increasing freight expenses for exporters.While companies have yet to report a sustained demand shock, hospitals and drugmakers say the disruption to mobility and logistics systems underpinning cross-border healthcare and medicine trade raises the risk of softer medical travel volumes and higher export costs if tensions persist.The aviation disruption is particularly significant for India’s medical tourism sector, which recorded approximately 644,387 foreign tourist arrivals in 2024. It is particularly exposed to West Asia, a region that accounts for nearly 18% of inbound patients, or about 115,000 travellers, seeking treatment ranging from complex surgeries to advanced clinical care.As regional airspace comes under heightened security scrutiny, industry leaders say travel uncertainty is beginning to influence patient decision-making.

MSMEs, accounting for about 45% of India’s total exports, any prolonged instability threatens not just margins but order continuity.“We are fortunate that our goods are not stuck in transit,” said Sushma Morthania, director at Shezar Technologies, which exports electronic components worth around ₹50 lakh each month. Nearly 40% of her shipments go to West Asia, Europe, and parts of Latin America via Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port.

drive up natural gas prices and freight costs, industry officials and analysts said.Although the government makes a provisional estimate of the fertilizer subsidy at the start of the financial year—based on sowing patterns, irrigated area and historical demand—it carries an implicit obligation to enhance the allocation if unforeseen developments arise.Currently, the fertilizer subsidy is projected at ₹1.71 trillion for the next financial year, slightly lower compared to the revised estimate of ₹1.86 trillion for the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal (FY26)."If the crisis persists for long, the fertilizer prices are expected to go up which might require higher subsidies," said an industry official on the condition of anonymity. In the past, the government has been making special financial provisions for additional subsidies in case of a spike in global prices.Natural gas, the primary feedstock and energy source for urea production, accounts for a bulk of fertilizer manufacturing costs, making the sector highly sensitive to price spikes.Research firm Zero Carbon Analytics has said that of the top countries that import oil and gas via the Strait of Hormuz, Japan faces the most direct risk of disruption, due to its high share of oil and gas trade through the shipping route and its reliance on imported oil and gas.

crude flows, has emerged as a flashpoint after US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory actions by Tehran. While there has been no formal closure, heightened uncertainty has been enough for carriers to alter schedules and pause sailings.Shipping majors including Mediterranean Shipping Company and A.P.

AI-focused data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, while the largest facilities under construction could consume 20 times as much.In 2024, data centres accounted for 1.5% of global electricity consumption, largely concentrated in the US, China and Europe. Global data-centre electricity consumption is expected to more than double to 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030, equivalent to more than half of India’s electricity consumption in 2023-24 (1,622 TWh).The IEA estimates data centres will account for about half of electricity demand growth in the US between 2025 and 2030.

In Indian boardrooms, ‘AI-enabled’ could overtake ‘digital transformation’ in its buzz quotient. If it’s new, app-based and comes with a valuation expressible in unicorns, it must be good, right? Well, India has always had a muscular pro-innovation bias. From UPI to ONDC, from Aadhaar to account aggregators, it has shown the world that technology can leapfrog infrastructure.

India is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest AI user bases. The question now is how it can turn that scale into superpower status rather than just training Silicon Valley for free.That will be a tall order for a country largely caught flat-footed by the boom. But let’s start with the basics: The three main building blocks of AI are talent, compute (including high-end chips and infrastructure) and data.

₹366/bag, said a Jefferies India report dated 1 March. One cement bag weighs 50 kilograms.“Dealers in Ahmedabad said that hike attempts are being made slowly by companies to revert to stronger pre-September levels,” added Jefferies.Infrastructure momentum is aiding demand.

Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Jerome Powell as US Federal Reserve chair has triggered a predictable frenzy of speculation centred on a single, narrow question: How hard will he push for interest-rate cuts? While such conjecture may be entertaining, it misses the forest for the trees. To focus solely on rate cuts is to misunderstand the Fed’s situation and the scale of the challenge awaiting its next leader.Warsh inherits an institution that, by any historical measure, is deeply fractured internally and lacks credibility externally.

Climate litigation often feels like a distant Western concern, unfolding in American federal courts or European tribunals. Yet, the legal foundations that make such cases possible are now firmly in place in India. The shift has been gradual, almost quiet, but is unmistakable.

It’s raining devaluations for credit card users. Major issuers such as HDFC Bank, American Express, SBI Card and ICICI Bank have reworked their credit card reward structures over the past two months, cutting back benefits on some of their most sought-after premium cards.Last week, HDFC Bank said that starting in the next financial year, Infinia cardholders must spend at least ₹18 lakh annually or maintain a total relationship value—the cumulative worth of all accounts, investments and loans with the bank—of ₹50 lakh to retain the card.This change came on the heels of American Express devaluing milestone-based rewards on one of its popular cards, Amex Platinum Travel.

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The US and Israel are betting on regime change in Iran through air attacks that began on Saturday. So far, bombardment has left Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Khamenei dead and sparked a retaliatory flare-up in West Asia. This is a gamble, although US air-strike precision has improved since its 2003 war on Iraq to end Saddam Hussein’s rule, an invasion that left countless civilians dead and inflamed the region.

Revised estimates of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) released on Friday by the statistics ministry show a slightly smaller output pie than previously estimated, but testify to the Indian economy’s resilience. The new GDP series with 2022-23 as its base year pegs growth in 2025-26 at 7.6%, higher than 7.4% estimated under the old series with base year 2011-12. The slowdown of 2024-25 also turns out far milder, with GDP expansion slowing to 7.1% from 7.2% the year before, instead of 6.5% from 9.2%.