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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: This month, India’s semiconductor push gathered momentum with Tata Electronics’ pact with Dutch major ASML and two new projects, a mini/micro-LED display fabrication unit in Dholera and an OSAT packaging facility in Surat.With nearly a dozen semiconductor initiatives now underway, how close is India to becoming self-reliant in chips?Tata Electronics’ pact with ASML, the world’s leading maker of chip lithography equipment, marks a key step in India’s entry into global semiconductor manufacturing by securing access to critical technology. Alongside the two projects announced in May—a micro-LED display fab in Dholera and an OSAT packaging facility in Surat with a combined investment of ₹3,936 crore—the move broadens India’s semiconductor base.The micro-LED fab positions India in advanced display manufacturing, while the OSAT unit helps plug a packaging gap, reducing dependence on Taiwan and Malaysia.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In prosperity, as in the hour of need, the thoughts of most Indians turn to gold. And with the steady drain on our foreign exchange reserves for over two years now, we have reached a stage as a nation when the question is being asked whether we could utilize the idle gold hoards of the people to see us through the critical years ahead. No less a person than the Prime Minister voiced this feeling at a recent meeting.” These words were written in 1958 by I.G.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Art has always been Neha Gupta’s quiet escape. She would spend hours sketching and painting, exploring her creativity as a little girl. Over time, she gained interest in a deeper understanding of spaces and buildings.“Architecture felt like art that people could actually live in and interiors were what made those spaces warm, inviting and personal,” says New Delhi-based Gupta, co-founder, principal designer and restaurateur at Beyond Designs.As a student of architecture and design, she first realised that functionality was as crucial as aesthetics.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In the history of literature, several outstanding novels have captured the personal and societal challenges associated with upward mobility. Once a man could make his fortune through intrepid adventure (R.L.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Several government committees, apart from the Niti Aayog, have asked for regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) to be institutionalized in India. The statutory backing of a legislative framework can ensure its meaningful use as a tool for assessing the costs and benefits of current and prospective regulatory measures. The inclusion of provisions related to RIAs in India’s recently concluded free trade agreements (FTAs) highlights the urgency to enact a central law on such study-based reports.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Investors are beginning to finance commercial lawsuits in India in exchange for a share of future settlements or court awards, as litigation funding— a niche alternative asset class long established in some global markets—starts to take shape locally.At least three entities, including alternative investment fund (AIF) Five Rivers, New Delhi-based LegalPay, a litigation funder, and Singapore-based ELF Partners, a litigation finance consultancy, are active in the space, marking early institutional entry into what is also known as third-party funding (TPF).Five Rivers, a Mumbai-based AIF, is in talks with investors to close its first fund of $25-50 million,according to Irfan Mughal, the managing director of Five Rivers. It positions itself as the first dedicated fund of its kind in India, offering investors exposure to returns linked to outcomes in commercial disputes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The Centre has amended rules to allow private, government-approved testing centres (GATCs) to inspect and certify petrol, diesel, and gaseous fuel dispensing machines, as it aims to reduce delays, ease compliance, and protect consumers, according to an official order reviewed by Mint.The calibration and verification certificate, which must be obtained every year, has become a massive exercise.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Problem-solving captured Sanjay Sudhakaran’s imagination during his student years. It’s what drove him towards pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Mumbai, where he could use logic and creativity to build something worthwhile. An important learning that has stayed with him from those days is the importance of perseverance.“Projects rarely worked on the first attempt.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Centre has approved a ₹5,659 crore Cotton Productivity Mission (Kapas Kanti) over five years to revive India’s cotton economy at a time when output has stagnated, imports are rising and textile exporters face intensifying global competition.The mission marks one of the most ambitious interventions in India’s cotton-textile value chain in recent years, linking farm productivity to manufacturing competitiveness and export growth.Mint explains how the scheme seeks to lift yields, improve fibre quality and strengthen India’s textile export competitiveness.The programme seeks to address multiple structural weaknesses at once—low farm productivity, inconsistent fibre quality, volatile raw material supply and rising import dependence.Unlike earlier schemes focused largely on cultivation, this mission adopts a value-chain approach, connecting farm-level reforms with textile manufacturing, exports and global sourcing competitiveness.Improving the availability of domestic raw cotton is critical. Textile manufacturers have increasingly struggled with supply shortages and quality inconsistencies.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: The Centre is set to adopt a more modest highway construction target for fiscal 2027 (FY27) as it focuses on clearing delayed projects while attempting to revive private investment through the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.The government is likely to target construction of 10,000 km in FY27, unchanged from the previous fiscal year, when actual construction fell short at about 9,400 km. The target marks a step-down from the record 13,814 km set for FY24 and about 12,500 km for FY25.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Despite the craze for Korean literature in India, you’d be hard-pressed to find an Indian fan who knows of Don Mee Choi. She writes poetry, not fiction.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.As part of a substantive change in rules, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has emphasized that only acting “demonstrably performed by humans” and “human-authored” writings will qualify for Oscar awards. The rules have been updated to address cases like that of an AI-generated version of the deceased actor Val Kilmer vying for an award.Note that AI usage in Oscar-nominated movies in 2024 and 2025 focused on augmentation—including voice cloning and enhancement and visual effects—rather than creation. For example, in The Brutalist, AI had enhanced actors’ Hungarian accents.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The government is considering awarding national highway contracts only after obtaining all critical clearances, a move aimed at curbing project delays and cost escalation, according to two officials aware of the development.Under the proposal being considered, road projects will be awarded only after at least 90% of the land required is acquired, a norm already being enforced more strictly in recent years. In addition, the ministry of road transport and highways wants prior approval to remove structures such as houses and buildings that fall along the project stretch, an issue that has emerged as a key source of delays, one official said.According to the second official, even after land acquisition and statutory approvals, pending permissions to remove or modify built-up structures have stalled several projects.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Dennis Robertson was not only one of the finest economic minds of the 20th century, but also an elegant writer who was known for his witticisms. In an essay written in 1956, Robertson quipped: “High-brow opinion is like a hunted hare; if you stand in the same place, or nearly the same place, it can be relied upon to come round to you in a circle.” Those words resonate while reading a new report by the World Bank on industrial policy, or targeted government intervention to shape the economic structure of a country by promoting, protecting or developing specific industries deemed vital to economic growth, export competitiveness, import substitution or geopolitical strategy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The shrill emergency alerts that lit up millions of phones across India on Saturday brings the spotlight on an ongoing legal battle on the award of this critical public safety network project.Germany-headquartered Utimaco Technologies has alleged irregularities in government’s selection of the implementation agency for the cell broadcast system to roll out a nationwide disaster alert mechanism, according to people in the know and a copy of the company's petition seen by Mint.A case on the matter has been pending before the Delhi high court since 2024, with the next hearing slated for 11 May 2026.Utimaco, which owns Israel-based emergency alert solution provider Celltick, said India's decision to assign the project to the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) lacked fairness and transparency. Citing the absence of an open tender, the petition said the move violated the principle of natural justice and fair competition.C-DOT is a research and development wing of the department of telecommunications (DoT).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In 1984, Siddharth Kak landed a ringside view into an expedition to Mount Everest as part of a film crew—at the heart of all the action, yet at a safe distance from it. Or so he thought.India was looking to put the first woman on the summit. The newspaper advert that Kak, then 36, stumbled upon seemed too good to be true.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Anthropic’s Mythos, a frontier artificial intelligence (AI) model, can outperform humans in detecting vulnerabilities across systems, including banks, telcos and utilities. While it can detect flaws faster and better than humans, global agencies warn it could be used as a potential cyberweapon too. Mint decodes.Claude Mythos or Mythos is US-based Anthropic's advanced AI model designed to handle complex cybersecurity tasks such as identifying bugs, analyzing systems and even generating exploits.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Lucknow-headquartered APCO Infratech is in talks with Alpha Alternatives to sell the strategic Z-Morh tunnel that provides all-weather connectivity between Gagangir and Sonamarg in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for $267 million, according to two people aware of the development.The 6.5-km- tunnel, which ensures uninterrupted military logistics and year-round civilian access to Ladakh by bypassing an avalanche-prone stretch, was built at ₹2,400 crore and inaugurated in 2025. Awarded by the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd (NHIDCL), the project has a 15-year concession, with investments to be recovered through biannual annuity payments of ₹295 crore.The deal will see Alpha Alternatives acquire APCO Amarnathji Tunnelway Pvt Ltd, the special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by APCO Infratech to execute the Z-Morh tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir.“APCO is in talks with Alpha Alternatives for the sale of Z-Morh tunnel for an enterprise value of $267 million,” said the first of the two persons cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.Queries emailed to APCO Infratech, Alpha Alternatives and NHIDCL remained unanswered till press time.Alpha Alternatives, founded by Naresh Kothari, is a Mumbai-based alternative asset management firm that invests across non-traditional assets beyond plain equities and bonds.The state-run NHIDCL awarded the project to the SPV in 2020 under the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) model, where a private entity handles the entire project lifecycle before transferring it back to the government.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: The Centre plans to buy 1 million tonnes of chana (gram) to build adequate buffer stocks to manage potential supply shortfalls and ensure steady availability in the open market, two officials said.The purchases through the Price Stabilisation Fund are part of graded measures to keep prices of essential food grains stable and prevent market volatility amid forecasts of a below-normal monsoon this year and the possibility of El Niño, a weather phenomenon that increases the risk of drought and reduced crop yields.“The procurement drive will be carried out under existing price support mechanisms, with agencies stepping in to buy from farmers both to support farm-gate prices and to maintain retail price stability,” one official said.India’s chana production climbed 6.2% to 11.8 million tonnes in FY26, with the yield up 1.6% to 1,238 kg per hectare.“Chana production has improved significantly this crop year compared to last year, largely due to the import duty on chana and yellow peas. This has supported domestic prices and encouraged higher sowing.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Centre is planning to roll back a significant number of quality control orders (QCOs) imposed on input materials, aiming to ease compliance burdens and support manufacturing amid US-Iran war-led disruptions.The exercise, being led by the consumer affairs department, will be completed in phases, and all line ministries have been asked to identify products that could benefit from the removal of quality controls, said two government officials familiar with the discussions.“The proposed rollback is expected to focus on input materials where domestic capacity remains limited or where mandatory certification has disrupted supply chains,” said the first government official, on the condition of anonymity.The move follows a NITI Aayog committee recommendation to ease QCOs to augment manufacturing and ensure the availability of raw materials at affordable rates.“As recommended by NITI Aayog, we have asked line ministries to identify all such QCOs that can be withdrawn without impacting quality and domestic industry,” said the second official, also on the condition of anonymity.This official, however, maintained that some important QCOs will be introduced, if needed, to protect against substandard imports of finished goods or raw materials.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India is considering creating a financial buffer for petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) to manage supply disruptions and global price volatility, according to two people aware of the development.The buffer would be similar in concept to the price stabilization fund (PSF) that exists to help manage inflation in select critical agricultural commodities, which was set up in fiscal year 2015 (FY15).The plan for a dedicated price stabilization fund for energy—being explored by the Union ministries of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and petroleum and natural gas—was mooted during a recent meeting of the empowered group of secretaries, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity, and follows the uncertainty over energy supply and price rise due to the West Asia war.“Drawing from the success of the PSF in containing inflation and cooling soaring prices of essential commodities such as pulses, onions, potatoes and tomatoes, the government is now looking to replicate a similar framework for key energy commodities like petrol, diesel and LPG,” said the first person, while adding that talks are in initial stages.The second person said discussions in the government are centred around how such a fund would be financed, the triggers for intervention, and the mechanism for deployment without distorting market signals.“The petroleum ministry is examining whether a dedicated buffer could provide a more predictable and transparent tool for price management,” the second person added.The fund would operate like the PSF for agri commodities, which allows the government to procure goods from farmers, farmer producer organisations and,