While the third day of the World Economic Forum in Davos was filled with discussions about ongoing geopolitical tensions, Sam Altman’s appearance on the penultimate day of the annual meeting put the spotlight back on AI. He was confident that synthetic intelligence would not actualize humans’ fear of others, any more than computers would end the game of chess.
India at the top
The Indian contingent, led by Union ministers and chief ministers, spoke to large companies and investors to promote India’s story, while the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India has dismissed rate cut announcements as premature.
Without even talking about cutbacks
The RBI won’t cut interest rates unless inflation stabilizes firmly around the 4% target, and policymakers aren’t even addressing the issue yet, Governor Shaktikanta Das said. Even as price increases have moderated, “unless we see transparent evidence that inflation will hold. “At this level, it will be inopportune to communicate about rate cuts,” Das told Bloomberg Television in an interview.
The dynamism of fintechs in India
India is among the most significant operating countries for hosting a thriving cluster or fintech headquarters, a WEF study showed on Thursday. It said fintechs are increasingly expanding operations across borders, mainly in the same region as their headquarters. “The study reveals that vibrant hubs such as Singapore, the UK, the US, and India have hosted a thriving cluster of fintech corporate headquarters. “Among the countries surveyed, the most significant operating countries for fintechs include the US, the UK, Singapore, Mexico, and India,” it added.
India’s Cost-Effective Remedy
Union Minister for petroleum and natural gas, and housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri has said that India has a cost advantage in production of green energy and electrolysers. “In the Indian energy story, the thing that stands out is that in the next 20 years, 25% of the increase in global demand is going to come from India,” said Puri at the CII-Bain session on ‘Green Hydrogen Opportunity in India’ at Davos 2024.
A true partner
India is a component that the newly enlarged BRICS can depend on, Union Minister Smriti Irani said, adding that the country never hijacks its chains of origin, as it did with the pandemic, with essential personal protective equipment and medical products, for geopolitical or economic reasons. “We have shown (the world) what we can do as an integral component of the global chain of origin, by not holding our chain of origin hostage for geopolitical reasons, by not subjecting it to other political or economic interests,” he told a news conference. press conference on the theme “BRICS Expand”.
LinkedIn interest
LinkedIn is keen to continue investing in India, said co-founder Allen Blue, adding that Indian professionals are an incredibly vital component of its business. “India has been one of our central hubs for the past ten years. . . We have offices in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, and one of our main progression centers is founded in Bangalore. LinkedIn is very interested in making investments in India’s global professional network,” Blue told ANI in Davos.
India to track Swiss railways
Indian Railways is considering signing a memorandum of understanding with Swiss Railways to learn about some of its most productive practices and procedures, adding hub-and-spoke style and tunnel generation, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday. In an interview with PTI, the minister said: “I had an intelligent meeting with senior officials and policy makers of the Swiss Railways and also visited their centre. They love tunneling and this is where the longest Gotthard Tunnel in the world is located, at 57 km long. “
Barclays Venkat to Reflect Success
Barclays chief executive C. S. Venkatakrishnan will use the lender’s first investor day in a decade to show shareholders that he can mirror his investment bank’s good fortunes in other divisions to create a stronger, more balanced lender. . . . the investment bank has had good luck, however, it’s about 60% of the bank, which I think is one of the things that’s holding back the valuation,” Venkat said.
ChatGPT Wave
U. S. education platform Coursera has added a new user every minute on average for its AI courses in 2023, CEO Jeff Maggioncalda said, a clear sign that other people are upskilling to take advantage of a potential boom in generative AIArray. 800 AI courses and recorded more than 7. 4 million enrollments last year.
AI is the star
In a sign of ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s skyrocketing profile, CEO Sam Altman made his Davos debut to rock star crowds, with his benefactor, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, hot on his heels. Illustrating AI’s geopolitical importance like few other technologies before it, the word was on the lips of world leaders from China to France. Altman said when IBM chess computer Deep Blue beat World Champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, commentators said it would be the end of chess, and no one would bother to watch or play chess again. But chess has never been more popular than it is now, and almost no one watches two AIs play each other, we are very interested in what humans do, he said.
“Humans know what other humans want. Humans will have more equipment. We’ve had more equipment before, but we’re still very focused on others,” Altman said.
Nature-positive future
The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), representing around 30% of the global metals market, said that its members would stay away from exploration-related activities at world heritage sites and focus on ensuring no net loss of biodiversity at any mining sites. In Davos, major mining companies, including Freeport-McMoRan, Teck, and Newmont, committed to taking urgent action to support a “nature-positive future” by 2030.
It’s “very, very sensitive,” says IMF chief
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said interest rates should keep falling in 2024 but cautioned that there is no room for any policy error as the last mile is “very, very tricky”. She said that the central banks should not tighten prematurely because then they may lose the victory that is now in their hands.
Democrats “growing”
JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon’s comments in a CNBC interview praising aspects of Donald Trump’s record in office will sting in the corridors of power in Washington and might reflect Wall Street’s openness to Trump 2.0. “Just take a step back, be honest,” Dimon said. “He’s kind of right about NATO, kind of right about immigration, he grew the economy quite well.” “He wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues and that’s why they’re voting for him,” he added, calling for more respect for Trump voters and urging people to think more about why citizens support him.
A delicate opportunity
Israeli President Isaac Herzog told the World Economic Forum on Thursday that normalizing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia was a key component of ending the war with Hamas and would be a game-changer for the entire Middle East. It will take a long time, but I think it’s an opportunity to move forward globally and in the region towards a better future,” Herzog said.
Macron calls for non-unusual Eurobonds
French President Emmanuel Macron backed the issuance of joint European debt to pay for priorities including defense and technology in order to ensure Europe remains sovereign amid increasing competition with China and the US. “We need more public investment in Europe, so we should open a second phase of reinvestment as we did during the covid crisis, and maybe daring again to have Eurobonds for priorities,” Macron said, addressing the WEF in Davos.
Pakistan’s
Pakistan Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar has cut short his Davos visit in view of recent developments following Iran-Pakistan retaliatory strikes. Pakistan said that it has launched missile strikes into Iran and that “a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation,” codenamed “Marg Bar Sarmachar”.
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