“University research support is extremely important. In the US, there is a clear linkage between research and innovation, but in India, those linkages were not there earlier,” said Nikhil Agarwal, managing director, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer, IIT Delhi. 

“The Nvidias and Googles of the world have built products with the help of US university research. Innovation in the US came from organisations like the National Science Foundation, whose grants have been found to be extremely beneficial.”

According to Agarwal, India’s establishment of Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act 2023, which aims at regulating research and development in areas such as natural sciences, agriculture, technology, and health tech, can help the country see a similar trajectory in research funding. 

“With the Indian government, through ANRF, committing £5 billion (INR 538 billion) for straightforward research at Indian universities, it’s going to be a really transformational phase.”

Though research and development remains pivotal in India, consecutive governments have been criticised for keeping its expenditure abysmally low compared to other countries. 

With the Indian government, through ANRF, committing £5 billion (INR 538 billion) for straightforward research at Indian universities, it’s going to be a really transformational phase
^{_{Nikhil Agarwal, IIT Delhi}}

As of 2020/21, India’s expenditure on R&D was approximately 0.64% of its gross domestic product, compared to China (2.4%), South Korea (4.8%), US (3.5%), and Germany (3.1%). 

The calls for more allocation has now led to India’s finance ministry  allocating INR 20,000 crore (£1.8bn) to the Department of Science and Technology to initiate a private sector-driven R&D development fund. 

“The fund will operate in an interesting fashion – private firms can now request financial support from the government for their R&D efforts,” said Agarwal. 

“The repayment period is set at 50 years. This is a remarkably positive approach to supporting research, something we haven’t seen in the country for the last five decades.”

Moreover, the speakers emphasised that building a strong network between faculty researchers and entrepreneurial initiatives is essential.

One example being from the Indian government’s partnership with institutions like Indian Institutes of Information Technology. 

“We are providing domain-specific mentors at IIITs and supporting faculty in their journey to becoming entrepreneurs,” said Imran Yusuf, COO, STPI – Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 

“There is a clear pathway for faculty to access funding to develop their entrepreneurial ideas.”

“At my department in IIT Delhi, we distribute nearly£10-£50m pounds annually as grants, supporting faculty researchers, scholars, and startups applying to us,” added Agarwal. 

According to Madhu Vasepalli, managing director, Yira Healthcare Pvt Ltd, who is also the founder of Bespoke Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd, which is helping build capacity building in healthcare, it’s important to create a bridge between technology and its applicability in healthcare in India. 

With many of the medical tools requiring engineering expertise, Vasepalli highlighted some benefits of partnerships between engineering and medical institutions. 

“My organisation Bespoke Healthcare Services is helping with developing robots in healthcare and this idea was incubated at IIT Kanpur,” said Vasepalli. 

“You can now see that IIT Kanpur is set to establish a medical college on its campus, while IIT Kharagpur already has one focused on biomedical sciences.

Though initiatives like Make in India are aiming to project the country as a future manufacturing powerhouse, it still has a long way to go. 

India’s Index of Industrial Production grew by 3.2% year-on-year in December last year, according to quick estimates from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, signalling broader challenges in its dreams to overtake countries like China and other Southeast Asian nations in the global manufacturing landscape. 

“Eighty-five percent of medical equipment used in India is imported. A coalition between engineering and medical schools is now underway to drive innovation in medtech,” stated Agarwal. 

More opportunities in India’s research and innovation space have also led to a reduction in “brain drain” from the country, as per Agarwal. 

“Earlier we used to see over 75% of our graduates in India move abroad but that number has reduced now,” said Agarwal. 

“We are in a time where over 90% of the IIT graduates are staying back in India as they see more opportunities in the country.”

NEW DELHI: The government is providing all assistance to the family of Nimisha Priya, an Indian on death row in Yemen after being convicted of murdering a Yemeni national, minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Singh was responding to questions from Communist Party of India lawmaker John Brittas, who contended that the government had washed its hands off the matter by arguing that the release of Priya would have to be settled by her family and the family of the Yemeni victim.

Priya was arrested in July 2017 for murdering a Yemeni man who was her business partner. She was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2020 and this was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023. She is currently in a jail in Sana’a, which is under the control of Houthi rebels.

The case has been complicated as the Indian side has no formal contacts with the Houthi rebels, and because efforts to secure Priya’s release through the payment of “blood money” to the victim’s family have run into complications.

In a written reply to a question from Brittas, Singh said the government attaches the highest priority to the welfare of Indians abroad and provides all possible support to those in distress, “including in the instant case”. The government is “providing all possible assistance” in Priya’s case, though the “matter regarding any consideration towards the release of Ms Nimisha Priya is between the family of the deceased and Ms Nimisha Priya’s family”, he said.

Brittas, while asking supplementary questions, said he was “shocked and taken aback” by Singh’s written answer as it contradicted the stand taken by the external affairs minister by leaving the matter to be settled between the families of Priya and the victim. He added that the people of Kerala were “agitated” because of the plight of the “hapless woman”.

He added, “The government of India has washed off its hands. Can the government of India be that insensitive in a matter which agitates Keralites?”

Responding to the supplementary questions, Singh reiterated that the government is providing all possible assistance in the case. The government arranged for Priya’s mother to go to Yemen despite a travel ban on the country, and the transfer of $40,000 to Sana’a at the request of her family to facilitate negotiations.

“This is a very serious and sensitive matter. It deals with the life and death of an Indian national and I would like to underline this – it would not be conducive to discuss the matter further as the matter is highly sensitive and it can also impact the outcome of the case,” Singh said.

The total figure includes 2,684 Indians who are facing trial in foreign countries, minister of state for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

“As per the information available with the ministry, the number of Indian prisoners, including under-trials, in foreign prisons at present is 10,152,” Singh said.

According to details provided by Singh in response to a question from Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Saket Gokhale, the highest numbers of Indian prisoners were in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Nepal.

There were also sizeable numbers of Indian prisoners in Qatar (611), Kwait (387), Malaysia (338), the UK (288), Pakistan (266), Bahrain (181), China (173), the US (169), Italy (168), and Oman (148).

Saudi Arabia also had the highest number of under-trial Indian prisoners with 1,226, and other countries with sizeable under-trial prisoners were the UAE (294), Bahrain (144), Qatar (123), and Malaysia (121).

Singh said in response to another question from Indian Union Muslim League lawmaker Haris Beeran that 54 Indian citizens had been given death sentences by foreign courts. The countries with the highest number of Indians on death row are the UAE (29) and Saudi Arabia (12).

Indian missions provide all possible assistance to Indians who have been sentenced, including with death sentences, by foreign courts, he said.

This assistance includes consular access by visiting jails and following up their cases with courts, jails, public prosecutors and other agencies of foreign countries. “The jailed Indian nationals are also assisted in exploring various legal remedies including filing of appeal, mercy petition etc,” Singh said.

In response to a question from Communist Party of India (CPI) lawmaker Sandosh Kumar P, Singh said that a total of 307 Indian fishermen were currently detained in foreign countries, including 217 in Pakistan, 58 in Sri Lanka, 28 in Saudi Arabia and four in Bahrain.

During 2024, Sri Lanka released 479 Indian fishermen, while Bangladesh freed 95, Bahrain 47, Qatar 29 and Saudi Arabia 27.

The government attaches high priority to the security and welfare of Indian fishermen, and takes up issues such as their early release and repatriation along with their boats with foreign governments through diplomatic channels, official interactions and established bilateral mechanisms.

“The matter of early release and repatriation of Indian fishermen is consistently raised with respective countries at all levels and it is conveyed that this issue may be considered purely on humanitarian and livelihood grounds,” Singh said.

Indian officials regularly visit jails and detention centres to ascertain the condition of Indian fishermen and provide help and support, including legal aid. They also provide travel documents to facilitate the repatriation of released fishermen.

Latest news on February 13, 2025: A woman married a loan shark, allegedly after getting fed up with her abusive husband.

PM Narendra Modi US visit Live: Rousing welcome before Donald Trump meeting

Ahead of his visit, the prime minister remarked that he was looking forward to meeting his “friend” Donald Trump and recalled working together in Trump’s first term to build a global partnership.

PM added that the trip was an “opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen our partnership.”

PM Modi US visit | Key points

– Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to land in Washington DC in the early hours of Thursday (late Wednesday EST), kicking off his two-day US visit, during which he is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump seeking to shore up bilateral cooperation.

– PM Modi’s Washington visit comes nearly three weeks after the January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump and amid tariff threats issued by the US leader in the recent past.

– The White House announced that President Donald Trump would reveal his reciprocal tariff plans before PM Modi’s visit to Washington DC. The tariffs could mean duties levied on Indian imports to the US, which Trump had earlier stated would be equal to the taxes charged by other nations on their products.

– PM Modi is expected to meet members of the Indian community during his visit as well and discuss the strengthening of “people-to-people relations” between the two countries.

– PM Modi is also expected to discuss the crackdown on illegal immigrants in the country.

India will open their Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai on February 20 against Bangladesh, who have warned all their opponents that they mean business and can’t be taken lightly.
India, who are placed in Group A alongside Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand, will play all their matches in Dubai, while Pakistan remains the official host of the tournament.
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After India’s refusal to send the team to Pakistan, the tournament was made hybrid following an agreement between the Pakistan Cricket Board, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
In Pakistan, the matches will be played in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
While the India vs Pakistan encounter on February 23 remains the most awaited game of the tournament, Rohit Sharma & Co would want to begin the tournament on a rousing note, continuing from their 3-0 mauling of England in the ODI series at home.
However, Bangladesh captain Shanto said his team has all the arsenal to shock the big teams, including the favourites.
“We are going to the Champions Trophy to become champions,” Shanto said while talking to the ICC website. “All eight teams deserve to be champions in this tournament. They are all quality teams. I believe our team has the ability. No one will feel extra pressure.
“Everyone genuinely wants (to become champions) and believes in their capabilities. We don’t know what Allah has written in our fate. We are working hard and doing our best. I believe we can achieve our goal.”
After playing India in their opener, Bangladesh will take on New Zealand in Rawalpindi on February 24 and Pakistan on February 27.
Since March last year, Bangladesh have won just one bilateral ODI series, a 2-1 win against Sri Lanka at home, but Shanto is confident to do well and believes in the skills of the players at his disposal.
“I am very happy and confident with the 15 players in the squad,” Shanto said. “Anyone who plays has the ability to win a match single-handedly.”
He highlighted the team’s growing bowling resources, lending balance to the makeup of the squad.
“Not too long ago, we didn’t have quality pace bowlers, but now we have a strong pace bowling unit. We didn’t have wrist spinners before, but now we do. Overall, we have a balanced team,” the skipper said.
“If everyone fulfills their responsibilities properly, we can defeat any team at any time.”

In 2024, the advertising industry grew by a mere 9% to reach `1.08 lakh crore, falling short of the agency’s 12% growth prediction.

Traditional ad expenditure, which spans TV, print, radio, cinema and outdoor advertising, grew by 6% last year, while digital advertising grew by 14%. Traditional continues to dominate the ad market for now, with a 58% share, compared with global spending where traditional gets only 25% of the pie. However, the report notes that TV has lost almost 2,500 advertisers to digital, influencer marketing and e-commerce advertising.

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The report notes that the audio-visual medium (encompassing linear, connected TV and OTT) accounts for 37% of the ad market in 2024. Within this, linear TV still takes the biggest share with 34,453 crore, while CTV earned1,453 crore and OTT took home `4,397 crore. Last year saw a strong performance in H1 with a 16% growth on the back of the ICC T20 World Cup and general elections. However, H2 saw a rather dismal 1% growth, which resulted in the muted 9% figure, said Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World.

Digital continues to be the largest contributor to the ad market, with a 42% share, adding `45,292 crore. Video advertising and social account for 50% of digital spends. Social, e-commerce and search advertising have contributed to the growth, growing at 21%, 17% and 15%, respectively.

Expectedly, digital will continue to be the key driver in 2025, with the highest growth estimate of 17% and will further increase its share to 44%. CTV too has shown a remarkable 35% growth in the past year.

There is no change among the top three advertisers of 2024 since the previous year — HUL, Reckitt and RIL continue to reign supreme.

Speaking at the report’s unveiling, Balsara added, “We anticipate that 2025 will bring some relief to the Indian advertising industry, particularly following the current union budget. The relief from the budget is expected to drive growth in categories like retail, FMCG, auto, real estate and travel, which are traditionally the biggest contributors to advertising in India.”

India and France adopted a roadmap for cooperation in AI and concluded nine other agreements, including three to boost civil nuclear cooperation, as PM Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron held bilateral talks, reaffirming their strong commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Among the major takeaways was an agreement for jointly developing and producing advanced and small modular reactors that could hold the key to powering the energy-intensive AI industry in both countries. The heads of state discussed the West Asia situation and Ukraine war and enhanced their Indo-Pacific partnership with a pact for triangular cooperation to promote sustainable development in third countries in the region.
While no agreement was signed in defence, Modi and Macron welcomed cooperation in building air and maritime assets. The two travelled toget her in the French presidential air

India, France agree to work on IMEEC corridor, bat for a free, open and peaceful Indo-Pacific

Paris reiterates support for India’s permanent UNSC seat
Four of the agreements signed were in areas related to technology and innovation. While the leaders didn’t address the media, they acknowledged in a joint statement India-France civil nuclear ties and efforts in cooperation on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, notably in relation with the Jaitapur nuclear power plant project. They welcomed the partnership for co-designing, codeveloping and co-producing advanced modular reactors (AMR) and small modular reactors (SMR). India has been in touch with the US, Russia and France for the past couple of years for jointly developing the technology and the issue is likely to figure in Modi’s engagements in the US too on Thursday.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said cooperation in SMR and AMR was important also for AI, recalling International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol’s remark that AI essentially means electricity. “And the amount of electricity that will be needed, if it is going to be sustainable, then it has to be something like nuclear power-driven electricity. And that is the area in which SMRs and AMRs can play a key role. It can also help us tackle complications in conventional projects,” Misri said.
The leaders also agreed to work closely on implementing the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEEC) initiative, stressing its importance for connectivity, sustainable growth and access to clean energy. In this regard, they acknowledged the strategic location of Marseille on the Mediterranean Sea, the joint statement said.
Modi and Macron underlined their common commitment to a free, open, inclusive, secure and peaceful Indo-Pa cific region, where France is a resident power. On trilateral cooperation in the region, Misri said the choice of projects will be driven by host countries. “These are demand-driven initiatives and not supply-driven initiatives. And we feel that it is important for us to provide choices to countries, among our partners, with regard to development cooperation pathways. And I think India and France have a certain alignment in their thinking about this kind of cooperation,” he said.
There was focus also on skill development and vocational education as Modi and Macron welcomed the operationalisation of the Young Professionals Scheme (YPS), under the India-France Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement (MMPA), which is expected to facilitate two-way mobility of youth and professionals.
France reiterated its firm support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council as Modi and Macron emphasised the urgent need for reform of the Council. “The two leaders agreed to strengthen conversations on regulation of use of the veto in case of mass atrocities. They held extensive discussions on long-term global challenges and current international developments and agreed to intensify their global and regional engagement, including through multilateral initiatives and institutions,” the joint statement said.
France joined India in unequivocally condemning all forms of terrorism, including, importantly for India, cross-border terrorism, and called for the disruption of terrorism-financing networks and safe havens.
“They further agreed that no country should provide safe haven to those who finance, plan, support or commit terrorist acts. The leaders also called for concerted action against all terrorists, including through designations of individuals affiliated with groups that are listed by the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee,” the joint statement said.