From algorithms to unicorn ambitions: The AI scale blueprint for India's startups to be unveiled at ET Soonicorns Summit 2025
India boasts 121 unicorns, ranking third globally in startup ecosystems. The ET Soonicorns Summit 2025 in Bengaluru will explore AI's role in scaling soonicorns to unicorn status. Discussions will cover AI investments, building Indian LLMs, the future of jobs, and ethical considerations, offering a roadmap for AI-driven startups.
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Indian Express
5 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Why bizman Sunjay Kapur's death has sparked a feud, corporate power struggle
Over a month after businessman and actor Karisma Kapoor's former husband Sunjay Kapur died of a heart attack while playing polo in London, his mother Rani Kapur has written to the board of directors of family-owned auto components firm Sona Comstar — a part of Indian conglomerate Sona Group — suggesting that she had been 'forced to sign documents behind locked doors' and 'left to the mercy of a select few for survival'. The letter was written by Rani Kapur hours before an annual general meeting (AGM) of the company was scheduled for Friday. The letter, in which Rani identified herself as the majority shareholder of the Sona Group, stated: 'I was approached multiple times and compelled to sign various documents without explanation or even having time to read and understand the same. Despite being under immense mental and emotional distress, I was coerced into signing such documents behind locked doors… the contents of such documents have never been revealed to me.' In the letter, which was also copied to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Rani also alleged that she has lost access to all her bank accounts. 'Please also take note that I have been totally denied access to my accounts and have been left to the mercy of a select few for survival. All this, in less than a month of my only son passing away,' she said. Rani further said that her late husband, Surinder Kapur — the founder of Sona Group, who had passed away in 2015 — had, via a will dated June 30, 2015, made her the sole beneficiary of his estate and also a majority shareholder of the Sona Group. 'It is unfortunate that while the family and I are still in mourning, some people have chosen this as an opportune time to wrest control and usurp the family legacy,' she wrote while requesting that the AGM be postponed by two weeks. She further alleged that in the AGM, a resolution would be passed to appoint certain directors in the company as representatives of the Kapur family, without her involvement. 'Unfortunately, once again, nothing has been told or explained, let alone discussed with me regarding the same by the company or people involved,' she said. Rani, who is being represented by senior advocate Vaibhav Gaggar and advocate Smriti Churiwal, added that she had 'not given any consent or officially nominated any person to come on the board of the company or any other Sona Group company after my son's demise or given any consent to any person to represent me in any capacity before the company and or any other Sona Group company'. The Indian Express has learnt that Sona Comstar, while denying all allegations, has said that it did not defer its AGM — which was 'scheduled in full compliance with the law' — despite the request from Rani Kapur, as she is not a shareholder in the company. On June 12, Sunjay Kapur died at the age of 53 following a heart attack. Some reports claimed that he had swallowed an insect while playing polo, which possibly sent his body into shock.
Deccan Herald
5 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
NISAR: Eyes wide open on Earth
The story of the world's most advanced and expensive earth observation satellite began nearly 15 years ago when the Indian Space Research Organisation turned down an offer from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to launch a radar satellite using an Indian rocket from Sriharikota spaceport. The US satellite was to use sweepSAR (sweep synthetic aperture radar) technology to provide wide area coverage and fine spatial resolution at the same time. New Delhi proposed an alternative: housing two radars in a single satellite. Both parties agreed, and an agreement was inked. The L-band radar, associated systems, and the antenna were made at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California, while the S-band radar was built at the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad. From next week, the two synthetic aperture radars aboard NISAR will detect changes in the planet's surface down to fractions of an inch. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth's surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 12 meters across. The satellite's ability to see through clouds and rain, day and night, will enable users to continuously monitor earthquake and landslide-prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are Exploring new frontiers in space cooperation.'NISAR can detect even small changes in the Earth's surface such as ground deformation, ice sheet movement and vegetation dynamics,' ISRO says. Other applications include sea ice classification, ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterisation, changes in soil moisture, mapping and monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response. 'It's a highly advanced satellite,' notes K Sivan, former ISRO chairman. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and ageing infrastructure can pose risks to lives and property. Able to see subtle changes in Earth's surface, NISAR can help with hazard-monitoring efforts and potentially give decision-makers more time to prepare for a disaster. For earthquakes, it will provide insights into which parts of a fault slowly move without producing quakes and which are locked together and could potentially slip. For the farm sector, it will help monitor the growth of crops from planting to harvest, generating crucial insights on how to time plantings and adjust irrigation schedules. The mission will have the resolution to see even small plots of farmland. The satellite's development path was a challenging one. The ISRO-NASA pact was signed in October 2014 with a target to launch the satellite by 2020. But developing the radar and antenna took more time, and the US could transfer the payload to India only in 2023-24. Unfortunately, within months, it was sent to the USA for repair. In March 2024, the radar antenna reflector of the satellite was transported back to a facility in California, where reflective tape was applied and other precautionary measures were taken to mitigate temperature increases that could have potentially affected the deployment of the reflector from its stowed configuration before beginning the science operations in space. The component returned to ISRO's clean room by October 2024, when the Indian space agency began preparation for a February launch, which didn't materialise. Ironically, a GSLV with a cryogenic engine will be used to launch the India-US satellite on July 30, even though the USA left no stone unturned for India to acquire the cryogenic technology. The mission's extraordinary capabilities come from the synthetic aperture radar. As the radar travels, its antenna continuously transmits microwave pulses and receives echoes from the surface. When the pulses hit something — a volcanic cone, for example — they scatter. The antenna receives those signals that echo back to the instrument, which measures their strength, change in frequency, how long they took to return, and if they bounced off of multiple surfaces, such as buildings. 'This mission packs in a wide range of science toward a common goal of studying our changing planet and the impacts of natural hazards,' says Deepak Putrevu, co-lead of the ISRO science team at the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad.
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
$565m credit line for Maldives, talks on free trade pact
PM Modi and President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu (Pic credit: AP) The turnaround in India-Maldives ties in the past 10 months - following the acrimonious removal of Indian military personnel from the strategically located country - seemed complete as India announced a fresh $565 million line of credit (LoC) for the Indian Ocean neighbour and signed an agreement to reduce its annual debt repayment burden by 40%. As President Mohamed Muizzu hosted PM Modi for the latter's first visit to the country under his presidency, receiving Modi at the airport, both sides affirmed their commitment to a bilateral investment pact and a free trade agreement, for which the terms of reference were finalised. Seven MoUs and agreements were signed. Muizzu had invited Modi as the guest of honour for the Maldivian independence day celebrations. India had extended an $800 million LoC in 2019 under the previous pro-India Maldivian Democratic Party govt but on this occasion the LoC is in Indian currency (Rs 4,850 crore). PM: India & Maldives will soon finalise an investment treaty The president said after his meeting with Narendra Modi it will be used for priority projects in defence, healthcare, education and housing. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said Muizzu reiterated the Maldives's condemnation of the Pahalgam attack. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like They Were So Beautiful Before; Now Look At Them; Number 10 Will Shock You Reportingly Undo Muizzu has been seen as a pro-China leader in the past because of his association with the India Out campaign while in the opposition, and his insistence on driving out Indian military from the archipelago after taking over as president in Nov 2023. Muizzu travelled to India in Oct last year for an official visit, during which he said Maldives would do nothing to hurt India's security interests and would prioritise the relationship. The leaders then launched a Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership to resuscitate the relationship. Modi said India is proud of the fact that it's Maldives's most reliable partner and that for India, it's always friendship first. "To give a new impetus to our development partnership, we have decided to provide a line of credit of $565 million, or approximately Rs 5,000 crore, to Maldives. It will be used for projects related to infrastructure development in line with the priorities of the people of Maldives," said Modi, calling the relationship older than history and as deep as oceans. One of the agreements signed is expected to bring down Male's annual LoC debt repayment from $51 million to $29 million. Modi said that both countries will soon finalise a bilateral investment treaty and their target now is "from paperwork to prosperity", adding a local currency settlement system under discussion will facilitate trade. There was focus on defence and security cooperation as the new defence ministry building built with Indian assistance was inaugurated. Asked whether there was any discussion about China, Misri said in a press briefing that India continued to work very closely with the Maldives on any issue that might "impinge on not just our security but our common security in this region that we share". Modi will participate in the independence day celebrations on Saturday and meet political functionaries. The visit saw the leaders virtually inaugurating a roads and drainage system project in Addu city and six high impact community development projects in other cities.
