Deepfakes ❌ Deeptech ✅

India’s AI policy is a W.I.P.—a push-pull strategy — if you may — that aligns with its “light touch” approach towards a technology can potentially reshape the economy and the society.

That push-pull strategy shows up in two key policy decisions.

• The Ministry of Electronics & IT has notified the amended Information Technology Rules, 2026, which tightens compliance requirements for social media platforms to tackle deepfakes and harmful online content.
• The Ministry of Commerce & Industry has revamped startup recognition rules, which, among other things, introduces a new deeptech category that recognises the sector’s longer product cycles and capital needs.

The moves tie in neatly with how Union Budget 2026 sees AI—from treating it as “standalone experiment” to embedding it as a foundational layer for Viksit Bharat. That begins with fixing social media and building startups.

THE MAIN STUFF

India’s orange economy gets a policy spotlight

The Economic Survey 2025-26 and Union Budget 2026-27 place India’s “orange economy” firmly on the growth map, recognising creativity, culture and intellectual property as economic drivers.

A ₹250-crore allocation for animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) talent signals this shift. The orange economy earns value not just from products, but from experiences—think gaming, live entertainment and experiential tourism.

Fast-growing segments such as online gaming and live events already spill over into travel, hospitality and jobs. With a young population, rich cultural material and rising demand for immersive experiences, India has a timely opportunity to turn creativity into sustained economic growth. Read more.

Laptops power India’s largest-ever PC sales year

India’s PC market hit a record in 2025—with 15.9 million devices sold—including 11.4 million laptops, surpassing the pandemic peak.

The sales surge reflects replacement demand for hastily bought covid-era machines and fresh buys by students, gamers, creators, small businesses, enterprises and government programmes.

Laptops now make up about three-fourths of PC sales, led by HP, Lenovo and Dell. This revival contrasts with sluggish smartphone demand, which remains below its 2021 high.

Analysts say buyers are upgrading to better, pricier laptops, though rising component costs could temper growth in 2026. Read more.

A key fault line emerges in India-US trade talks

Digital trade has surfaced as a sensitive issue in the latest India-US trade discussions. A White House factsheet on the interim framework says India has committed to removing digital services tax and to negotiating rules to address “discriminatory or burdensome” barriers to digital trade.

These talks would include a long-standing US demand to prohibit customs duty on electronic transmissions such as software downloads, apps and cloud services. India, however, maintains that the jointly issued statement remains the primary reference point.

The issue matters because such rules could constrain India’s future tax and regulatory space, even as broader tariff relief is negotiated. Read more.

Why ‘Hyderabad - 500075’ is India’s hottest pincode

What was barren, rocky land on Hyderabad’s outskirts has turned into one of India’s most active real estate zones. Neopolis, a 530-acre mixed-use layout in west Hyderabad’s Kokapet area, is being pitched as the city’s answer to Mumbai’s BKC, with unlimited FSI enabling vertical growth.

Premium homes, offices, hotels and even a World Trade Centre are coming up, attracting developers such as MyHome Group and Godrej Properties.

This surge helped pincode 500075, covering Neopolis, Kokapet and Narasingi, record the highest residential sales value in India in 2025, at over ₹24,000 crore, driven by strong housing and office demand. Read more.

CHART OF THE DAY

Over 70% of Jammu & Kashmir's population is of working age (15-59) — the highest share among major states and union territories. Bihar, despite a low elderly share, ranks at the bottom because of a high share of children.

NEWS IN NUMBERS

$20 billion: The amount Google-parent Alphabet raised to fund AI ambitions, in its largest-ever US dollar bond sale, according to reports.

19%: The reduced US tariff rate Bangladesh secured under a new trade agreement that also grants zero-tariff access for select textile and garment exports made with US materials.

₹1,072.27 crore: The consolidated profit reported by Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd. for Q3 FY26, up 9% from ₹984.35 crore in the year-ago period.

24.8%: The share of Nifty50 holdings owned by domestic institutional investors as of December 2025, surpassing foreign investors’ 24.3% and marking a structural shift in India’s equity market.

450 million: The number of page views garnered by Jmail, a web tool mimicking Gmail that lets users browse millions of recently released documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s case.

₹454.95 crore: The value of an order RailTel Corporation of India received from West Central Railway, set to be completed by September 2028.

₹24,040 crore: The inflows into gold ETFs in January, nearly double that of December’s ₹11,647 crore, as investor demand for precious metals surged, according to AMFI data.

LOUNGE RECOMMENDS

Inside Aranyani's pavilion

A spiral structure comes into view in the middle of Sunder Nursery. The chaos of the traffic leading up to this heritage neighbourhood in Delhi gets left behind as you approach the pavilion.

Sacred Nature, designed to invoke the essence of ancient sacred groves, lies at the intersection of architecture and conservation. A canopy of indigenous plants such as jasmine, neem, tulsi and bakul rests on a textured outer shell of repurposed lantana wood. Read more.

WHAT THE FACT

Cheesecake: A dessert with ancient roots

One of the earliest recorded versions of cheesecake dates back to the 1st century and was called “libum”. It was made using crushed cheese mixed with flour and egg, baked under hot bricks.

In ancient Greece, a honey-based version was served to Olympic athletes for energy. When Rome conquered Greece, the recipe travelled with them and became known as “placenta.” These cakes were often offered to gods and gifted at weddings, making cheesecake one of the world’s oldest celebration desserts.

Edited by Alokesh Bhattacharyya. Produced by Tushar Deep Singh.

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