IT industry’s apex body Nasscom on Thursday announced the selection of 37 Generative AI (GenAI) startups and 30 per cent of them have women in their founding teams.

The startups, which include Fluid AI, Sivi, DaveAI, OnFinance and others, have been chosen for the second cohort of the Nasscom’s 'Generative AI Foundry' programme.

The average startup in the cohort is two-year-old and has already raised $750,000 from institutional investors.

“Homegrown Generative AI startups are revolutionising industries not only in India but for the world, showcasing India's rapidly growing expertise in AI on the global stage,” said Ankit Bose, Head of AI, Nasscom.

Chosen from a pool of more than 130 applicants, these startups are pushing the boundaries of GenAI in India. They offer solutions that generate text, audio, code, video/image, and multimodal output with strong use cases for retail, banking and financial services, healthcare and life sciences, and for various functions of the enterprise.

As the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) surges worldwide, India is set to play a pivotal role in its use to accelerate social and economic progress, the government said on Thursday.

Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), said that globally, AI and GenAI are evolving rapidly and the world is witnessing their remarkable potential.

“This year, India will host ‘World Telecom Standardization Telecom Assembly (WTSA-2024)’ along with India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2024 in New Delhi, where WTSA-2024 will play a critical role in shaping the standardization practices of evolving technologies including AI,” said Mittal.

IMC 2024, from October 15-October 18 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, is expected to have over 50 global and Indian speakers for discussion on multiple facets of AI and GenAI, spanning across 11 diverse discussions.

The income tax department's efficiency has rapidly increased in the last decade as refunds out of direct tax collection crossed the Rs 2 lakh mark in the financial year (FY) 2024-25, according to government data.

According to the data, direct tax collection in the current financial year (From April 1 to September 17) was Rs 9.95 lakh crore, up 16.12 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Tax refunds also jumped during this period and have increased by 56.49 per cent to Rs 2.05 lakh crore compared to last year.

Securities Transaction Tax (STT) collection has increased to Rs 26,154 crore.

India rose to third place in the list of global cross-border capital destinations for land and development sites in the first half of 2024, a report showed on Thursday, adding that investments in Indian real estate sector will remain steady.

With $3.5 billion of inflows in the January-June period, institutional investor interest in Indian real estate has remained firm.

While 70 per cent of investments during H1 2024 were focused on ready assets, India’s fast-paced growth and infrastructure development will continue to offer numerous opportunities in developmental assets over the coming years, according to the report by Colliers.

In yet another feat to India’s growing clout in the world economy, the country has become the sixth-largest market in the MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI), surpassing China.

The global index tracks capital market performance across the world. The index includes large- and mid-cap stocks and is a more inclusive version of the widely tracked MSCI ACWI Index.

India’s weight in the MSCI ACWI IMI stood at 2.35 per cent in August, 11 basis points higher than China’s 2.24 per cent. India trails France marginally, by just three basis points. China's weight has fallen by half since peaking in early 2021, while India’s weight has more than doubled during this period.

Cambodia is committed to achieving 40 per cent of electric cars and 70 per cent of electric motorcycles by 2050 in order to reduce carbon emissions, Minister of Public Works and Transport Peng Ponea said here on Wednesday.

He made the remarks during a dissemination workshop on the National Policy for the Development of Electric Vehicles (EVs) 2024-2030, news agency reported.

"The EV sector is one of the high potential sectors, as it has not only enhanced environment and improved public health, but also contributed to the momentum of economic base diversification as well as strengthened energy security," he said.

ब्लैक बॉक्स, डिजिटल बुनियादी ढांचे में वैश्विक नेता और एस्सार प्रौद्योगिकी में एक प्रमुख निवेश, भारत में अपनी उपस्थिति को महत्वपूर्ण रूप से बढ़ाने के लिए तैयार है। एक साक्षात्कार में, ब्लैक बॉक्स लिमिटेड के पूर्णकालिक निदेशक संजीव वर्मा ने कंपनी की महत्वाकांक्षी विस्तार योजनाओं के बारे में विस्तार से बताया।

बेंगलुरु उत्कृष्टता केंद्र, जिसने पहले ही अपने कार्यबल को 300 से दोगुना कर 600 कर दिया है, अब और भी बढ़ने की राह पर है। ब्लैक बॉक्स का लक्ष्य निकट भविष्य में अपने कार्यबल को 800-1,000 कर्मचारियों तक बढ़ाने का है। यह विस्तार लोगों, प्रक्रियाओं और प्रौद्योगिकी में पर्याप्त निवेश से प्रेरित है।

Black Box, a global leader in digital infrastructure and a key Essar technology investment, is set to significantly enhance its presence in India. In an interview with IANS, Sanjeev Verma, Whole Time Director of Black Box Ltd, detailed the company's ambitious expansion plans.

The Bangalore Center of Excellence, which has already doubled its workforce from 300 to 600, is now on track to grow further. Black Box aims to increase its workforce to between 800-1,000 employees in the near future. This expansion is driven by substantial investments in people, processes, and technology.

Verma explained that the company's strategy involves comprehensive recruitment and training programmes, process optimisation, and the deployment of cutting-edge technology to advance data centre management.

Hiring for niche qualifications such as chartered accountant (CA) and chartered financial analyst (CFA) continues to see growth in India as companies take a cautious approach to campus hiring, a report showed on Wednesday.

Hiring volume for CAs and CFAs increased by 47 per cent in the fiscal year 2024, followed by interns at 46 per cent and lateral hiring at 40 per cent, while 38 per cent of MBA graduates and 30 per cent of diploma holders, including those who have completed vocational courses saw the least increase compared to the fiscal year 2023, according to the report by Aon, a leading global professional services firm.

India’s mobile phone manufacturing in value has risen to Rs 4.1 lakh crore in India in the last 10 years due to strategic government policy measures like product-linked initiative (PLI) and phased-manufacturing programme (PMP) schemes, a report showed on Wednesday.

The electronics sector experienced rapid growth and local production nearly doubled from $48 billion in FY17 to $101 billion in FY23 and is around $115 billion in the current fiscal to date -- driven primarily by mobile phones which now constitute more than 43 per cent of total electronics production.

As the country becomes the second largest mobile manufacturer in the world, global manufacturing companies like Samsung, Apple and Google are making their latest generation smartphones in India.