Norwegian Cruise Line unveils revitalised ships and new itineraries for summer 2025, ET TravelWorld
While Southeast Asia remains a key growth market for NCL, the cruise line is particularly focused on tapping into India's fly-cruise segment. 'Our focus out of here is fly-cruise. We're looking to serve the Indian customer who's ready to vacation in Europe, America, Canada, Hawaii or Australia,' Borg said. He added that the upcoming launches of Norwegian Aqua and Norwegian Luna would open up more itinerary choices for Indian travellers.
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India Gazette
30 minutes ago
- India Gazette
AI-Native Telecom Networks take centre stage at International Telecommunication Union Focus Group meeting
New Delhi [India], June 12 (ANI): As part of the ongoing efforts to explore the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) native in telecommunication network, the third meeting of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence Native for Telecommunication Networks (FG-AINN) was inaugurated in New Delhi on Wednesday, Ministry of Communications said in a press release. This ITU event is being organised by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), technical arm of Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Addressing at the inaugural session of the three-day event, Sanjeev Bidwai, Member (T), DCC, emphasised that AI-Native Networks (AI-NN) represent a fundamental shift in telecom design. He noted the growing role of AI in Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, enabling intelligent orchestration across domains. Bidwai highlighted India's ongoing efforts in this space, including national initiatives like 'Bharat Gen'-India's first indigenously developed, government-funded, AI-based Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) for Indian languages, as well as other projects led by IITs and CDOT in AI-based network automation and digital twins. He also emphasised the importance of deploying AI in an ethical, inclusive, and secure manner, highlighting the need for explainability, digital sovereignty, and the evolution of regulatory frameworks. In a video address, Seizo Onoe, Director of the Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau, ITU, underscored the potential of AI-native networks to deliver next-generation performance through intelligent automation, self-management, and real-time optimisation. Atsuo Okuda, ITU Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, highlighted the region's pivotal role as a digital innovation hub, emphasising that AI-native networks are essential to building smart, secure, and responsive communication systems. She drew attention to the need for collaborative frameworks to bridge the digital divide and power emerging use cases in smart cities, healthcare, and education. During the event, India sought support of ITU members for its bid to host the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2030 (PP-30), continued membership in the forthcoming ITU Council (2027-2031) and for Indian Nominee, M Revathi, as the first woman and first Regional candidate for Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau (2027-30). The event witnessed participation of Niraj Verma, Administrator (DBN), Rudra Narayan Palai, Member (Designate), DoT, Deb Kumar Chakrabarty, Member (Designate), DoT, Shubhendu Tiwari, Advisor (Technology), Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, C-DOT, Tripti Saxena, Senior DDG, TEC and other senior officers of DoT, academicians, technologists, and industry representatives from India and abroad. This event marks a significant milestone in shaping the future of AI-native telecommunication networks, with the potential to revolutionise the global communications landscape. As AI continues to evolve, the work done by the Focus Group will be instrumental in laying the groundwork for more intelligent, adaptive, and efficient networks. (ANI)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Indian firms target overseas assets to fast-track semiconductor ambitions
Strategic overseas acquisitions by India's nascent semiconductor companies are set to emerge as a key enabler for the country's ambitions in chip manufacturing and assembly, ensuring access to proprietary expertise, precision equipment, and critical intellectual property, experts told ET. Indian firms including Tata Electronics and L&T Semiconductor Technologies (LTSCT) have recently made significant moves to acquire foreign assets even as they invest in greenfield facilities within the country. These acquisitions bring experienced engineering teams and operational know-how, which are essential for upskilling local workforces and establishing robust training pipelines, explained Kunal Chaudhary, partner and co-leader, inbound investment group, at EY India. LTSCT and Kaynes Semicon are jointly acquiring the power modules business of Fujitsu General Electronics, based in Japan, while opto-semiconductor maker Polymatech last year acquired US-based semiconductor equipment provider Nisene Technology Group to build an integrated chip manufacturing business. Tata Electronics is exploring takeovers of semiconductor fabrication and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facilities in Malaysia. Chaudhary said while India has already built a strong presence in chip design, moving into OSAT — a high-margin segment that includes advanced packaging and assembly — will be key to climbing the value chain. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories With advanced packaging technologies becoming critical to semiconductor innovation, India's entry into this space could enhance its global positioning, he said. After Kaynes and LTSCT announced acquisition of Fujitsu General's power modules business for Rs 118.34 crore on Monday, Kaynes CEO Raghu Panicker said the deal opens up new avenues for advanced semiconductor packaging excellence. 'This move strengthens Kaynes' OSAT capabilities, while aligning with our long-term strategy of supporting global original equipment manufacturers through best-in-class technology and scalable infrastructure,' he told ET. Kaynes is one of the four companies under the India Semiconductor Mission 1.0 building OSATs in the country, while Larsen & Toubro has invested more than $300 million to create its fabless chip company LTSCT. ET on June 3 reported that Tata Electronics is in talks with several global semiconductor companies to acquire a fabrication or OSAT plant in Malaysia. The move is aimed at bolstering the Tata Group company's knowledge and talent base ahead of its ambitious foray into semiconductor fab, assembly and packaging in India. 'Most acquisitions and partnerships at the moment are really about two things: gaining access to trained talent – essentially acqui-hires – and jump-starting work on cutting-edge technologies,' said Prithvideep Singh, general manager at Mohali-based Continental Device India Ltd (CDIL) that has a partnership with German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies. 'Gaining access to know-how is only half the battle,' he said. 'Transferring it to Indian operations and building capability within local teams…demand years of groundwork, deep technical maturity, and process discipline.' Infineon supplies high performance silicon wafers, and CDIL packages and distributes advanced power semiconductors like MOSFETs and modules specifically tailored for the Indian market, including for electric vehicles and renewables. 'All the JVs and strategic partnerships are a result of the need for Indian entities to build their core competency with best in class proven technology and manufacturing processes,' said Neil Shah, cofounder and vice-president, research, at Counterpoint Research. He noted that matured nodes foundry and back-end packaging OSAT/ATMP are low hanging opportunities for new entrants. 'Building fabs for advanced nodes is still a distant dream for Indian enterprises as there are just three big players like TSMC, the leader, and Samsung and Intel, which are still struggling versus TSMC,' Shah said. 'So, high value fab will take time if at all one of them decides to set up in India in future, if the other ecosystems develop handsomely,' he explained. Biswajeet Mahapatra, principal analyst at Forrester, said acquiring assets of foreign entities allows Indian companies to access advanced technologies like wafer-level packaging, 2.5D/3D integration, and chiplet-based designs, which are critical for modern semiconductors. By leveraging foreign expertise and infrastructure, Indian companies can reduce reliance on imports for high-end packaging solutions and meet the growing demand from global OEMs like Apple and Intel, he explained. For the broader ecosystem, overseas acquisitions and partnerships can help bridge critical capability gaps. Given the current talent crunch in India, they offer a smart and often necessary path for companies entering the sector, experts said. But the real challenge lies in how effectively that know-how is embedded into Indian operations and scaled with consistency and quality, they added.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
US on-site openings shrink for techies as IT hits pause button
Live Events Several Indian software services majors have hit the pause button on on-site deputations of their skilled workers to client locations in the US, preferring to "wait & see" amid continued business uncertainties and tighter immigration policies in the US, multiple people told companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have cleared hundreds of their workers to take up foreign assignments as far back as 24 months but are going slow on letting them apply for the visa stamping process and plan their travel."Our company is allowing US travel to client locations only in emergency cases. Regular deputations have been put on hold," a senior professional with Bengaluru-headquartered Infosys told ET, declining to be identified."The brakes have been applied despite clearing my entire documentation process in 2023 itself. Clients have also given the green signal, but there is no headway," another employee said, adding those picked up by the lottery system in 2024 are stuck at the documentation a rival tech major, about 600 employees selected in 2023-24 are on a wait list. The company abandoned the nomination process last year but has resumed it this year. The company has told those on the waitlist not to worry as their visa would be valid for three years and they would be sent US has a long waitlist for applications from India . They will get cleared once more clarity emerges from the US government, said a tech lead at companies did not respond to emailed requests for employee from Wipro said this is influenced more by the business dynamics than the regime changes in the US "which also may have played a small part. They may be waiting for some clarity to emerge on how prepared clients are to sustain or increase the budgets on compensating overseas workers on short-duration work visits."For technology services, hiring locals or even subcontractors at client locations, which are typically external specialists or consultants, usually spikes the employee expenses due to higher benchmark salaries overseas. Therefore, most Indian IT firms depute employees from offshore delivery locations such as India on projects for a temporary period to save demand has been slowing from clients and AI-led efficiencies are also reducing the need for such deputations. Besides, tighter visa regulations in the US for immigrants as well as push for employment of locals is leading companies to pause such decisions, analysts say.
