Tag Archives: reaction

AI Impact Summit: Long Queues, Brief Evacuation Create Confusion at Pragati Maidan

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What was billed as a landmark showcase of India’s AI ambitions descended into disarray on its opening day, with throngs of attendees facing interminable queues, sudden evacuations, and logistical nightmares at the Pragati Maidan venue in the capital.
The India AI Impact Summit, running through February 20, drew sharp online backlash as delegates, startups, and journalists reported overcrowding, inadequate signage, and conflicting access protocols. With an expected footfall of 250,000, the event aimed to position India as a voice for emerging economies in AI governance.
Instead, organizational hiccups threatened to eclipse the government’s narrative of technological prowess under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.Several participants described a frantic morning, with entry delayed until late, only for the exhibition hall to be abruptly cleared for security sweeps ahead of high-profile arrivals. “Unclear instructions had left many scrambling to reclaim possessions,” one delegate told Reporters, echoing sentiments shared widely on social media.

Venue Evacuated Briefly

The chaos peaked around midday when the venue was evacuated for hours of sanitization, stranding exhibitors and founders outside without water or updates. Punit Jain, founder of developer platform Reskilll, captured the frustration in a viral post on X: “An AI Summit that sidelines its own builders? • 7 AM queues • 9 AM entry • 12 PM full evacuation • Hours of sanitization • PM visit at 5 PM. Day 1 Ends here. Meanwhile, exhibitors, delegates, startup founders left outside. No water. No clarity.”

Jain, who tagged IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the Prime Minister’s Office, accused organizers of mobilizing the ecosystem only to displace it, calling it “not how we build India’s AI future.”

Journalists fared no better, grappling with mismatched digital QR codes and promised physical passes that never materialized. In a WhatsApp group for media covering the event, reporters lamented a lack of workspaces, with one noting the absence of seating to file stories or conduct interviews.
Sreenivasan R, an education and tech activist, highlighted the disorganization in real-time:

“@OfficialINDIAai

@IndiaAiExpo

chaotic entry,

@DiGiyatra

no use. Thousands in 5Queues and one bags scanner. Poor management across. No proper directions. People going in circles. Sessions cancelled, agenda vanishing from App. Labelling wrongly done at rooms.” Sreenivasan, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and Jawaharlal Nehru University, added that he was “helping wherever” possible amid the confusion.

International Visitors in Dismay

Even international visitors expressed dismay. Raj Vardhan, who traveled from the United States, described his ordeal: “Flew all the way from the US for the AI Summit, only to face chaos on Day 1. Overcrowded, poorly planned, and couldn’t get into a single session. To make it worse, endless political convoys blocking roads turned getting out into a nightmare.”

Vardhan’s post, hashtagged #AISummit and #AIIndia, voiced cautious optimism for Day 2, urging a demonstration of “true AI leadership.” The complaints echoed an earlier vent from Maitreya Wagh, co-founder of AI voice startup Bolna, who found himself locked out of his own booth: “Gates are closed so could not access my own booth at the AI Summit. If you’re also stuck outside and wanted to visit the Bola team, dm me. We may set up a mini-booth at some Connaught Place cafe.”

For now, attendees are bracing for Tuesday’s panels, where some speakers remain in limbo over session confirmations and agendas. Amid the glitches, the summit’s core message, amplifying Global South perspectives on ethical AI, hangs in the balance, overshadowed by the very disorganization it sought to transcend.

Budget 2026 Puts Technology At Heart Of Inclusive Growth, Says Nasscom

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Industry body Nasscom on Sunday welcomed the Union Budget 2026, saying it firmly positions technology as a central driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth under the government’s Viksit Bharat vision.

Reacting to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s ninth consecutive Budget, Nasscom described it as forward-looking and consultative, reinforcing the partnership between government and industry while strengthening India’s ambition to remain a global technology and services hub.

Tax Certainty, Ease Of Doing Business Boost For IT Sector

Nasscom said a key positive for the technology industry was the rationalisation of international taxation and transfer pricing rules, noting that tax policy has been effectively deployed as a competitiveness lever.

It highlighted the consolidation of software development services, IT-enabled services, knowledge process outsourcing and contract R&D into a single category of Information Technology services, along with a uniform safe harbour margin of 15.5 per cent. The move, coupled with the expansion of the safe harbour eligibility threshold from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, is expected to significantly widen access to certainty mechanisms for routine cross-border IT service models.

The industry body also welcomed steps to strengthen the Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) framework, particularly the proposal to fast-track unilateral APAs for IT services with a targeted two-year resolution timeline, addressing long-standing concerns over delays and uncertainty.

Cloud, Semiconductors And Digital Infrastructure In Focus

Nasscom said the Budget made a decisive intervention to strengthen India’s cloud and digital infrastructure ecosystem. It pointed to the proposed tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies providing global cloud services using Indian data centres, calling it a strong signal to attract long-term global investment and expand India’s compute capacity.

The industry body also welcomed the emphasis on building domestic capability in strategic technologies, including the launch of India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and the enhanced Rs 40,000 crore outlay for the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme.

Taken together, Nasscom said, the measures reflect a more mature policy approach that places technology, digital infrastructure and tax certainty at the core of India’s long-term competitiveness, setting a clear direction for sustainable growth driven by innovation and manufacturing depth.

NASA Denies Anonymous Video on Alien Life Discovery Announcement

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US space agency NASA has denied global hackers group Anonymous claim that it is going make announcement on the discovery of alien life, said a spokesman.

Last week, the hacking group Anonymous posted a video on YouTube that said NASA is about to announce the discovery of life in our galaxy but NASA scientist beyond Earth.

“Contrary to some reports, there’s no pending announcement from NASA regarding extraterrestrial life,” said NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen in a tweet.

“Are we alone in the universe? While we do not know yet, we have missions moving forward that may help answer that fundamental question,” Zurbuchen said.

In fact, Anonymous has put out its video based on Zurbuchen’s testimony to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Space in April this year. However, NASA has always maintained that there is no discovery of alien life and Anonymous video (see below) has surprised many.

Anonymous on their website said, “NASA says aliens are coming!” and  uploaded the above video citing alien-friendly comments made by NASA astronauts and space scientists.

Anonymous quoted Zurbuchen’s rendering before a Congressional hearing in April titled “Advances in the Search for Life” that said: “NASA`s recent advances, such as the discovery of hydrogen in Saturn`s moon Enceladus and the Hubble team’s promising results from the oceans of Jupiter`s moon Europa, are promising signs that we’re closer than ever to discovering evidence of alien life.”

“Taking into account all of the different activities and missions that are specifically searching for evidence of alien life, we are on the verge of making one of the most profound, unprecedented, discoveries in history,” Zurbuchen said. Perhaps the second part of the quote has made Anonymous see NASA forthcoming with an announcement.