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Civil society groups launch Urban Reforms Collective to push city policy reforms

URC will act as a platform aimed at pushing policy reforms in Indian cities through coordinated advocacy and engagement

L&T, Bharti discuss Assam growth with Sarma

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday held separate meetings with senior leaders of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Bharti Enterprises to review ongoing projects and discuss future investments in the state.The Chief Minister said he met S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director of Larsen & Toubro, at his official residence and reviewed the progress of various projects being executed by the engineering and infrastructure major in Assam."We discussed the various projects that L&T is undertaking in Assam and the roadmap for their timely completion," Sarma said in a post on X.Later in the day, the Chief Minister also held discussions with Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, at his official residence, focusing on the group's expansion plans in Assam, particularly in the telecommunications sector."We discussed the group's expansion plans in Assam, with a specific focus on covering dark areas so that more people can benefit from proper phone and internet connectivity," Sarma said.The meetings underline the Assam government's continued engagement with leading corporate groups to accelerate infrastructure development and improve digital connectivity across the state, especially in underserved regions.Sarma also congratulated Dr Ashok Lahiri on his recent appointment as Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog and expressed the state's commitment to strengthening its partnership with the national policy think tank.Sharing details of his meeting with Lahiri in the national capital, Sarma said the newly appointed Vice Chairman "brings with him extensive experience in public policy and finance", highlighting the expertise he is expected to bring to NITI Aayog's policymaking and reform agenda.The Chief Minister noted that the Assam government is keen to deepen its engagement with NITI Aayog in implementing reforms and development policies."The Assam government aims to deepen its partnership with NITI Aayog in implementing reforms and policies that will improve the ease of living of our people," Sarma said in a post on X after the meeting.The interaction comes as Assam continues to pursue governance reforms, infrastructure development and welfare initiatives with support from central institutions. Officials believe closer collaboration with NITI Aayog will help accelerate policy implementation and improve outcomes across key sectors.

India gets its first AI music company

India's first AI-powered music company PaRa Music launched on Tuesday, offering a model designed to help original Indian music reach larger audiences across the country and worldwide, but does not create its own music.The music venture combines human-created music with proprietary AI-led market intelligence to guide catalogue development, distribution, and monetisation of music. It is backed by a funding from a consortium of angel and institutional investors led by Apollo Growth Capital and plans to build a catalogue of 40,000 songs over the next four years across film and non-film music, spanning Hindi and regional languages.Tapping one of the world’s largest music markets, PaRa is aiming to bridge the gap between audience demand and effective discovery, particularly for regional and non-film music. With the industry projected to reach Rs 7,500 crore in 2028, estimates point to continued expansion in both streaming and recorded music revenues.Para Music has deployed a model "ParaMeter" as its in-house AI Chief of Music Intelligence who does not create music.This AI brain analyses audience signals across platforms and geographies to identify emerging demand, guide investment decisions, and support smarter catalogue and release strategies. The approach is intended to improve discovery and market fit while keeping music creation firmly in the hands of artists, composers, and songwriters.The venture is planning to build its business around the premise that original Indian music should have a stronger path to audience reach and long-term monetisation. It combines human creativity, institutional capital with data-led decision-making to support catalogue creation, targeted distribution, and diversified revenue opportunities for creators and rights holders.It further aims to partner with central and state governments to support music-led cultural, creative, and economic initiatives across India.PaRa Music is entering a broader market in which music rights and catalogues are increasingly viewed as long-term assets, with global investment activity expanding across recorded music and related rights. It adds volume to India’s national music arena through a technology-led approach and a professional team aiming to build Indian music IP for the world, ensuring creators achieve stronger commercial outcomes and capture greater long-term value.“India has one of the world’s richest and most diverse music ecosystems, yet much of its potential remains untapped. PaRa Music was founded to unlock this opportunity through technology, data, and strategic investment in Music IP," said founder Rashna Pochkhanawala.As the global recorded music market moves towards $200 billion by 2035, Pochkhanawala believes that India is poised to become a major growth engine.“We rarely encounter opportunities where a large market, a proven business model, and exceptional leadership converge so clearly. India’s music economy is entering a period of unprecedented growth, and we believe Music IP will be one of the defining asset classes of the next decade," said Johri, Company Spokesperson - Apollo Growth Capital.

Will CM DK Shivakumar Retain Urban Development? Why It Matters For Bengaluru

DK Shivakumar has been closely associated with Bengaluru's development plans and governance reforms over the past three years.

Coforge shares gain over 2% after unveiling agentic AI platform for insurance industry

Shares of Coforge rose more than 2% to their day’s high of Rs 1,495 on the BSE on Tuesday after the company announced the launch of its "Nexa Agentic AI Platform", a business platform that aims to cater to the global insurance industry.According to the company, the platform is designed to help insurers derive greater value from their existing insurance platforms and speed up time-to-market without replacing core systems. Instead, it layers AI orchestration capabilities over incumbent platforms while operating within the guardrails of leading platform providers.Built on the Coforge One AI platform, Nexa Agentic AI Platform offers a marketplace of more than 30 insurance AI assets covering underwriting, claims, product development, customer service and platform modernisation. The company said the platform is modular and composable, allowing insurers to deploy specific capabilities or adopt the full suite through an Insurance-in-a-Box model.Coforge said the platform is purpose-built for the global insurance market across Property & Casualty, Life & Annuities, Specialty insurance, as well as managing general agents (MGAs) and intermediaries. It incorporates human-in-the-loop oversight, full auditability and measurable outcomes.The platform includes six flagship orchestrators spanning the insurance value chain. These include an AI-enabled Submission Centre, which the company said can increase underwriting capacity by more than 30% through automated data extraction, validation and prioritisation.Another offering, the Agentic State Rollout Factory, is designed to automate rates, forms and filings across jurisdictions, enabling more than 25% faster realisation of new revenue. The AI-enabled Product Rollout Factory aims to accelerate product launches by 30% while improving quality and responsiveness to regulatory changes.Coforge also introduced an Agentic AI Global Expansion capability to support market entry across geographies, a Core Platform Modernisation capability that it said can reduce total cost of ownership by more than 30%, and an Agentic Claims Triaging Centre that can enable more than 35% faster claims triaging and higher straight-through processing.Rajeev Batra, Executive Vice President and Global Practice Head of Insurance at Coforge, said the platform combines the company's AI engineering capabilities with its insurance domain expertise to help clients scale AI adoption and business outcomes.Also read: Morgan Stanley says Indian stock market poised for strong year ahead. Here’s whyThe company said the platform is designed around key insurance stakeholders, including brokers, underwriters, claims adjudicators and customer service agents. Looking ahead, Coforge plans to progressively integrate insurance knowledge graphs into the platform to enhance insurance-specific reasoning across submissions, policies, claims and customer interactions.Coforge said Nexa Agentic AI Platform will form a key part of its insurance go-to-market strategy, helping clients accelerate AI adoption while preserving existing technology investments and complying with platform guardrails.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

NTA’s re-exam portal comes under cybersecurity spotlight; researcher claims data exposure

The National Testing Agency’s (NTA) re-examination portal has come under scrutiny after cybersecurity researchers alleged vulnerabilities that could expose administrative data and provide unauthorized access to portal functions. The claims, shared online, remain independently unverified, and NTA has yet to respond to queries seeking clarification. The allegations emerge amid heightened concerns over the security of examination-related digital platforms following the recent controversy surrounding CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.

CBI to soon submit report on NEET paper leak case

The CBI is finalizing its NEET-UG 2026 paper leak investigation, preparing a report to recommend systemic reforms to prevent future incidents.

CBI soon to submit report on NEET paper leak case

The CBI is finalizing its NEET-UG 2026 paper leak investigation, preparing a report to recommend systemic reforms to prevent future incidents.

Probe into NEET paper leak case almost complete: CBI

The CBI is finalizing its NEET-UG 2026 paper leak investigation, preparing a report to recommend systemic reforms to prevent future incidents.

No urgent SC hearing on PIL for computer-based NEET re-exam

The Supreme Court refused an urgent hearing for a PIL seeking a computer-based test for the NEET-UG re-examination. The bench noted past dismissals of similar pleas and posted the matter for July, citing authorities' challenges in conducting the re-exam quickly. The plea was tagged with other petitions seeking NTA reforms.

Lokesh highlights A.P. reforms, pitches Visakhapatnam to AirTrunk

IT Minister meets Maharashtra Chief Minister; says port city is poised to become a major AI and hyperscale data centre destination

Telangana CID forms Special Investigation Team to probe fund misappropriation in Hyderabad Cricket Association

No Instagram, no TikTok till 16: Malaysia bans social media accounts for teens

Malaysia has banned children under 16 from social media, requiring platforms to verify ages and remove underage users. This move aims to protect minors from harmful content and cyberbullying. While some parents support the restrictions, others worry about unintended consequences and the potential for children to bypass the rules.

EC reviews progress of SIR in Sikkim, asks BLOs to assist voters in filling up forms

The enumeration phase of the exercise commenced on Saturday (May 30, 2026) and will continue till June 28

Delhi HC recognises ‘right to be forgotten’, directs search engines to disable ‘name-based’ search in court orders, news

Delhi HC ordered authorities, search engine operators and legal database platforms to de-index and disable their "name-based search functionality" in respect of judgments, orders and news articles cited by the petitioners

‘Reforms to boost integration my top focus', says chief of defence staff General NS Raja Subramani

Before taking over as CDS, Subramani was the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat, headed by national security adviser Ajit Doval.

Malaysia Enforces Social Media Ban For Under-16, Platforms Must Verify Age

Parents whose children manage to bypass the law will not be penalized

Go back to people, find out how reforms have helped: PM Modi to minsters

Advice Comes Amid Govt's Renewed Push

UP woman dies after quack performs C-section at sealed hospital

A 30-year-old ASHA worker died in Sonbhadra after a quack allegedly performed a C-section at a hospital that had been sealed multiple times. The accused and associates fled after the botched surgery, leaving the woman's abdomen unsutured. The newborn survived. Authorities have launched a manhunt for the hospital operators, Naseem and Salma, who are now facing serious charges.

Enumeration phase of SIR begins in four States

Electors can submit their duly filled forms either through BLOs or online. Those whose forms are received by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) on or before June 28, will be included in the draft electoral rolls.