Foundational models, which form the basis of AI systems such as ChatGPT, are algorithms that train on vast amounts of data.

India’s gold imports rose 5% at 802.8 tonne on a year-on-year basis in 2024 due to high investment demand and big purchases by the Reserve Bank of India, according to the latest data by the World Gold Council.

However, high prices dented jewellery demand by 2% to 563.4 tonne.The total investment demand for 2024 increased by 29% to 239.4 tonne and in the December quarter up 14% to 76 tonne.

Gold investment gained momentum due to “rising gold prices and relatively lacklustre performance of other assets, with domestic stock markets generating mediocre returns in first half of the year and ending the year with a notable downward correction after touching record highs in the September quarter”, the report said.

What is notable is at high prices customers are encashing gold with cash which has increased 16% to 29.6 tonne in the December quarter. The Reserve bank of India (RBI) added a whopping 73 tonne – four-and-a-half times higher than 16 tonne in 2023 – to its foreign exchange reserves. The share of gold in forex reserves rose to its highest ever at 11%.

Gold jewellery demand in 2024 has to be seen from the perspective of record-high gold prices. The international spot gold price is around a record high of $2,866 per ounce. In Mumbai’s wholesale market, standard gold (995 purity) was Rs 83,985 per 10 grams. Pure gold (999 purity) was trading at Rs 84,323 per 10 grams while silver was `95,421 per kg.

India’s fourth quarter jewellery demand was 5% lower at 189.8 tonne as against Q4FY23 due to continued strength in the gold price. Full-year demand was 2% lower at 563 tonne. The report stated that demand in the fourth quarter was concentrated between late October – the peak Diwali festival buying season – and November, when the gold price saw a notable correction coinciding with the onset of the wedding season.

Sachin Jain, regional CEO, India, World Gold Council said, “The increase in India’s gold investment demand, the highest since 2013, is reinforcing gold’s status as a safe-haven asset. This was further enhanced in major metropolitan cities by e-commerce platforms offering rapid delivery of small gold investment bars and coins. Our outlook for 2025 gold demand is between 700-800 tonne. Gold jewellery demand is expected to recover due to wedding-related purchases, provided there is a price stability. The trend of robust gold investment demand is anticipated to continue, with retail investors showing growing interest in gold ETFs, digital gold, and coins and bars

Imports under control

Interestingly in 2024, total net gold import decreased by 4% to 712.1 tonnes. According to sources, even after a steep cut in import duty in last week of July 2024, there wasn’t any material increase in gold imports.

Following the duty cut,  demand (and imports) in August increased sharply but, didn’t maintain momentum. Unofficial import of gold was rampant prior to the duty cut. However, after the duty reduction some unofficial imports are estimated to have come through official channels, fuelling some increase in imports.

Central banks keep adding gold

Global Central banks added 1,045 tonnes to global gold reserves in 2024, said the report. Buying ramped up significantly in Q4, reaching 333 tonnes. The National Bank of Poland led the charge with 90 tonnes. The RBI was bought gold every single month till November.

India overtakes China

The demand report stated that “By far the largest contributor to the weakness in volume was China.” On an annual basis, the review of past gold demand reports suggest that for the first time after 2012, India’s gold demand was higher than China’s. Since the last three quarters from the April-June quarter of 2024 onwards, China’s gold jewellery demand has been lagging behind India’s following overall economic weakness there. Although Chinese Investment demand has been higher than India since last two quarters China’s consumer demand (jewellery and investment) has been lower than India. In December 2024 quarter China’s consumer demand was 189.9 tonnes while India consumer demand in the period was 265.8 tonnes.

Panaji: Space on Wheels—a hands-on science exhibition aboard a specially designed mobile bus packed with interactive exhibits—aims to take off in Goa. With plans to launch later this year, the bus—measuring approximately 3.4m in height, 2.6m in width, and 12m in length—intends to travel across rural areas, offering school students an opportunity to interact with models related to India’s space missions.
“We are planning to initiate this activity after Ganesh Chaturthi vacations in the upcoming academic year,” said Vijnana Bharati council member Manasi Malgaonkar. “Space on Wheels mobile science exhibition brings space science directly to communities, schools, and educational institutions, making learning more engaging and accessible,” she said.
The mobile science exhibition, a collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Vijnana Bharati, was on display at the recently concluded science film festival (SCIFFI) in Panaji. After launching from Bhopal in 2023, the bus toured several cities across the country before ending up in Goa for SCIFFI last week.
During their upcoming tour in Goa, they are intent on sharing ISRO’s journey from its first satellite-launching vehicle in 1979 to the recent success of Chandrayaan-3, highlighting key missions, challenges, and breakthroughs along the way.
“Space on Wheels is a part of the broader effort by Vijnana Bharati to bring scientific knowledge to the masses, especially to young students who may not otherwise have easy access to such resources,” Malgaonkar said.
“This mobile exhibition aims to bring space education directly to schools, colleges, and communities across Goa, offering a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity. The school registration process will be shared shortly. Meanwhile, schools interested in hosting the exhibition at their campus can write to us,” she added.

The US Agency for International Development halted all operations in India this week amid a funding review by the Donald Trump government. The newly inducted Republican leader may soon bring the agency under State Department control — days after he imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance.

What happens now?

USAID has been one of the agencies hardest hit as the new administration and Elon Musk’s budget-cutting team target federal programs they say are wasteful or not aligned with a conservative agenda. 

Staffers around the world were left scrambling Wednesday for answers and starting to pack up households or pull their children from school after a sudden Trump administration order yanking almost all of them off the job and out of the field.

Is India affected?

Economic aid from the US has been used to improve infrastructure and address health concerns in India for several decades. This includes the establishment of numerous educational institutions as well as strengthening national programs on on immunisation, family planning, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, polio and more. 

Indian dependency on US support has declined over the years — especially in the wake of a 2004 decision that rejected conditional foreign aid. Reports citing ForeignAssistance.gov indicate that the total US aid obligations to India in FY2024 stood at $141 million. 

According to reports, India has received around $1.5 billion from USAID between 2015 and 2024 — with fluctuations over the years. The top programmes funded by USAID in India over the past year was in the health sector. An initiative focused on ending maternal and child deaths in India received the highest funding — amounting to $10.2 million — from USAID. The Department of State provided with $7.2 million under USAID to Project Accelerate which looks to prevent HIV/AIDS in India. The agency has also reportedly disbursed $6.6 million for the socio-economic development of Tibetan communities living in South Asia.

(With inputs from agencies)

Delhi exit poll 2025 LIVE: Exit poll projections for Delhi election 2025 will be released by pollsters after 6:30 pm today

According to Election Commission of India (ECI) rules, publication or publicising of exit polls is banned between 7.00 am and 6.30 pm today, the duration when votes are being cast for the Delhi assembly and two bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Delhi exit poll results 2025 | Key points

-Delhi election voting: Voting for Delhi assembly election 2025 took place across all 70 seats from 7 am till 6 pm today. The counting of votes for Delhi election 2025 will take place on Saturday, February 8.

-Delhi election exit poll time: Pollsters started rolling out exit poll projections for Delhi assembly poll 2025 from 6:30 pm today. Several exit polls have given an edge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi assembly election, while the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is projected to give a tight fight.

-Delhi election majority mark: With the total number of assembly seats in Delhi being 70, the majority mark a party or an alliance needs to be able to form the government is 36.

-Delhi election | Top contenders: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are the main contenders of Delhi poll 2025, with the AAP eyeing to hit a hattrick this time.

-Exit poll rules: According to a notification issued by the EC issued on January 22, in lines with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, displaying any election matter, including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media would be prohibited during the 48-hour period ending with the time fixed for the conclusion of the poll.

-Bypolls: Besides Delhi assembly poll, by elections to Milkipur assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh and Erode (East) from Tamil Nadu are going for elections.

Amritsar:

A US military aircraft carrying first batch of 104 illegal Indian immigrants, with the highest number of 30 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, reached Amritsar in Punjab on Wednesday.

A total of 30 deportees were residents of Punjab. The US military C-17 aircraft landed at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport amid tight security.

Two people each were from Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh, while three from Maharashtra. The deportees include 25 women and 12 minors, with the youngest passenger being just four years old.

Forty-eight people are below the age of 25. The flight, which took off from Texas on Tuesday, also carried 11 crew members and 45 US officials overseeing the deportation process.

A senior Punjab official said that most deportees from the state belong to Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Patiala, Mohali and Sangrur. Some of them had entered the US illegally, while others overstayed their visas.

They were deported on the C-17 plane that took off from San Antonio, Texas. This was the first round of deportation of illegal immigrants that coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington next week.

This will be PM Modi’s first visit after Donald Trump took over as US President for the second time. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar had earlier said that New Delhi is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living illegally abroad, including in the US.

India has expressed readiness to accept these migrants, post-verification, EAM Jaishankar conveyed this to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month.

“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came,” President Trump told reporters last month.

Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal has expressed disappointment over the US decision to deport the Indians, saying they have contributed to the US economy and should have been granted permanent residency, instead of being deported.

Approximately 7,25,000 illegal immigrants from India live in the US, making it the third-largest population of unauthorised immigrants after Mexico and El Salvador, according to data from the Pew Research Centre.

Many people from Punjab, who are now facing deportation, had entered the US through the “donkey route” or other illegal means by spending lakhs of rupees. The US administration has launched a crackdown against illegal immigrants after Trump became the President.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Delhi Election 2025 LIVE: 19.95 per cent voter turnout recorded till 11 am

There are 13,766 polling stations in all 70 assembly constituencies which will decide the fates of 699 candidates. Around 1.56 crore citizens are eligible to vote in the city, including 83.76 lakh men, 72.36 lakh women, and 1,267 individuals from the third gender.

More than 30,000 police personnel and 220 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed across Delhi to ensure a fair and smooth voting process.

Key updates

– Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal has been booked in connection with his remarks alleging that the Haryana government had “poisoned” the Yamuna water.

– Arvind Kejriwal will be facing off against BJP’s Parvesh Varma and Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit in a high-octane battle. The Kalkaji constituency also features a competition between heavyweights Delhi CM Atishi, Congress’ Alka Lamba, and BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.

– The Election Commission of India has introduced a Queue Management System (QMS) app, which will enable voters to check crowd levels in real-time. Special provisions have been made for senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

– The ECI has issued a notification banning the conduct, publication, or publicising of exit polls between 7 am to 6.30 pm on February 5

The counting of the votes will take place on February 8.

NEW DELHI: In the first such operation of its kind involving India since the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the US despatched a C17 military aircraft carrying an unspecified number of illegal Indian migrants to India. Anonymous US officials were quoted as saying dozens had been deported, and unconfirmed reports put the number of deportees north of 200, but there was no confirmation about the same by either country.
In fact, there was no official acknowledgement at all of the flight by Indian authorities till late in the evening. The American embassy here, without sharing any details about the flight, said the US is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants. “These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk,” said the spokesperson.
Official sources here said India’s position on illegal migration had not changed and it will continue to accept those who illegally entered the US, after verifying their Indian origin. The people who are returning, all verified Indian nationals, are among the thousands of Indians identified for deportation under the Biden administration.

An early morning report by Reuters from Washington said the C-17 aircraft had departed for India with migrants aboard but would not arrive for at least 24 hours. The Punjab government was preparing for its landing in Amritsar on Wednesday morning. The Indian government did not confirm if the plane was going to land there but American journalists quoted US officials as saying that the aircraft was on its way to the Indian border city after a stop in Guam.
The development also comes days ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US for his first bilateral meeting with Trump since the latter’s inauguration on January 20. Trump had raised the issue of illegal migration with Modi and later said the India PM would do what’s right on the issue.
While India has been accepting illegal migrants from the US for years, including under the first Trump administration, it has rarely, if ever, used a military aircraft to deport Indian nationals to India. The last time US authorities deported a significant number of illegals to India was in October last year but that was carried out through a large frame charter flight. Colombia recently turned away 2 US military deportation aircraft, saying the US was treating its nationals like criminals, but quickly backed down after Trump threatened to retaliate with punitive trade tariffs.
While India is unlikely to be as sensitive as some of the Leftist Latin American leaders about receiving citizens in a military aircraft from the US, a country it has robust defence cooperation with, the Indian government will closely follow how Indian nationals returning are handled by American authorities in deportation flights. This is also the farthest that a US deportation plane has travelled since Trump’s return as such flights were limited till now to central and South American countries. Many of these illegal migrants were reported to have landed in their respective countries in handcuffs. While Mexico has insisted on accepting its citizens only in civilian planes, Brazil complained about “flagrant disregard’’ of human rights in US deportation flights.
A New York Times report on January 3, quoting defence officials, said military planes have rarely been used in the past by the US for deportation. Most deportations in the past couple of weeks have been through nonmilitary planes and only 6 military flights have been used for the same till the end of Trump’s second week in office. Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Peru are the only countries to have received military flights till the end of the last week.

Emerging cities in India are rapidly becoming the driving force behind the country’s real estate boom, offering a rare mix of affordability, luxury, and high returns away from the crowded metropolises. According to a PropEquity report, residential property launch prices across India’s top 10 Tier II cities – including Goa, Chandigarh, Mohali, Lucknow, and Jaipur — have witnessed a rise up to 94% in new launch projects in the last five fiscal years ending 2023-24 due to growing consumer confidence, a buoyant job market and robust infrastructure development.

Among these realty hotspots, the Tricity region — comprising Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula — has emerged as a thriving realty hub for homebuyers and investors alike, especially in the post-pandemic era.

The shift to remote and hybrid work models has spurred demand for larger homes, making Tricity a favoured destination for NRIs and professionals seeking a high quality of life without the chaos of major metros. The Tricity region, with its blend of serene environments and modern infrastructure, has successfully positioned itself as a key player in India’s evolving real estate landscape.

The Tricity region’s real estate market is witnessing a surge in interest from both domestic buyers and NRIs. A report by PropEquity revealed that some Tier-II cities have experienced price hikes of up to 65% in new launch projects over the past year. Adding to this trend, a single luxury independent floor unit in DLF The Valley Gardens in Panchkula was recently sold for over ₹4 crore, reflecting the growing appetite for high-end properties in the region.

Commenting on the rise of real estate in emerging cities, Shashank Vashishtha, Managing Director of Exp Realty India, said, “Offbeat cities, particularly in the Tricity region, have evolved beyond being affordable alternatives to metros. They are now emerging as sought-after destinations for modern, aspirational living. The combination of amenities, quality of life, and strong investment potential draws buyers and investors alike. The impressive property price appreciation and robust demand underscore the growing confidence in Tricity’s real estate market.”

In Panchkula, buyers are drawn to the city’s lush green spaces and excellent connectivity, making it a perfect blend of nature and urban convenience. Developers like DLF have been instrumental in transforming the city’s real estate profile. As per sources, DLF’s luxury offering, The Valley Gardens, has witnessed remarkable success, with nearly 97% of its inventory sold and a significant price appreciation of over 26%. This aligns with the broader trend across India’s Tier-II cities, where retail and residential real estate sectors are witnessing unprecedented growth.

Panchkula, part of the Tricity region alongside Chandigarh and Mohali, has seen its real estate market evolve significantly, with property prices now rivalling those in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Another prominent developer that has launched its projects in Panchkula is Trident. Trident Realty’s Trident Hills, a 200-acre integrated township at the foothills of the Shivaliks in Panchkula, includes a mix of residential and commercial offerings such as low-rise independent floors, group housing, and plots.

S.K Narvar, Group Chairman, Trident Realty, said, “The luxury residential market in Panchkula is experiencing remarkable growth, driven by the evolving preferences of homebuyers seeking spacious and well-designed living spaces. This surge in interest reflects not only the region’s strategic location and excellent connectivity but also its commitment to providing a lifestyle that combines modern amenities with serene surroundings.”

Mohali, another crucial part of Tricity, has established itself as a hub for NRIs and IT professionals. The rapid development of Aerocity, IT City, and the upcoming metro connectivity has further elevated it as a prime real estate destination. These developments are supported by the region’s stellar physical and social infrastructure, which sets a new standard for urban living in Tier-II cities.

Highlighting the evolving homebuyer preferences, Madhur Gupta, CEO of Hero Realty, said, “The concept of home has evolved significantly, transforming into multifunctional spaces that seamlessly integrate work, family, and personal well-being. This shift has led to a growing demand for spacious, thoughtfully designed residences in the Tricity region. Among these, Mohali stands out as a premier destination with its strategic location near Chandigarh.”

Located in the premium Sector 88 of Mohali, Hero Homes spans 18.5 acres and features 16 towers with 927 residential units, offering configurations like 2BHK, 3BHK, and penthouses, ranging from 1,095 sq. ft. to 4,670 sq. ft.

According to industry reports, Tier-II cities outperform metro areas in terms of return on investment (ROI) and livability. Their real estate markets are primed for further growth. Strategic infrastructure development, rising demand for luxury housing, and changing buyer preferences are turning cities like Chandigarh, Mohali, and Panchkula into benchmarks for success in India’s Tier-II real estate sector.