Calling the people of India "trendsetters and trailblazers" Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, urged the world to invest in India.

Sharing a tweet by Indian American entrepreneur and investor Balaji S. Srinivasan who wrote that "Investing in India is improving India," Modi said India won't disappoint those who invest in the country.

Tweeting a graph that shows the GDP per capita of India and the UK, Srinivasan wrote: "If you see a startup growing, does that mean it doesn't have any flaws? That it's the best in the world? That you're going to use it for everything right away?

No, of course not. But you might start using it, and putting money into it, and talking about it to your friends. And that's how I think about India — an ancient civilization that's simultaneously like a startup country, as you can see from the graph below."

He then listed out his reasons for investing in India in a long post.

"...I see the growth potential, because it helps build up Bharat, and because a strong and self-sufficient India is good for the world," he wrote, adding, 'Now, let me address a few common arguments."

Here is his post:

1) Civilizational Reincarnation. First, note that I used the phrase "ancient civilization" above. Of course I'm well aware that the Indus Valley civilization is one of the oldest in human history. But India is still analogous to a tech startup, because the country experienced a civilizational rebirth in 1991 after liberalization, just as China did in 1978. Whenever we use the term "leapfrogging" we acknowledge this. Why could India jump straight over landlines straight to mobile, or from cash to UPI? Because it was reborn recently, after centuries of colonialism and occupation. And reincarnation is something we are familiar with.

2) Underdog Millionaire. Second, observing that something is improving doesn't mean saying that it's already number one. In fact, one of the most important things about India is that Indians think of themselves as underdogs. Not starving "slumdogs" like the regrettable epithet, nor overconfident overdogs, but underrated underdogs — with a chance to win but certainly no guarantee.

That's the message of movies like Super 30 which couldn't be more different than Black Mirror. Indians know they aren't #1, or even #2, because they aren't. But the diaspora helps show that Indians can be world class, and that India itself could become world class, which is part of why India is now rising to the occasion.

Image

3) Decentralized Diaspora. Third, that brings us to one of India's greatest strengths: its diaspora. In this century China may end up playing the world's best home game, but India is on track to play the world's best away game. So India's development will look different than China's.

For one thing, Indians are willing and able to move anywhere. Westerners mostly aren't willing to move, because they still think their societies are the only places that are "First World". And the Chinese increasingly aren't able to move, because they're restricted from any countries where the Chinese state lacks hard power.

That leaves Indians to fill the gap. As Chinese emigration drops off, Indian emigration picks up to fill the holes in tech talent. As individual Indians become wealthier, more are financially able to emigrate. And as India as a whole becomes stronger, the passport improves, and more people are diplomatically able to emigrate. All this means the age of Indian emigration is just beginning. If China is the centralized state, India is the decentralized diaspora.

4) Special Economic Zones. Putting that all together, that means (a) India is reborn, (b) Indians know they are rising-yet-underdogs, and (c) Indian development is going to be quite different from Chinese development, with much more focus on the diaspora.

So, that's one of the reasons I think so much about special economic zones. Indians thrived in Dubai and Delaware, in Singapore and the Anglosphere — once they got out into a different economic system. And they're now starting to thrive in India itself — once India itself changed its economic system in 1991.

So, it's all about changes to the economic system. And with every investment we make in India or Indians, we build up a feature list of things to change.

Because there are a series of conceptually simple things India can do to be as good a place to do business as Dubai or Singapore. For example, you need to be able to send money into and out of the country for investment without hassle. You need to get a better passport so Indians can attend conferences. You need to rank higher on the economic freedom index (http://heritage.org/index/country/india). And so on.

At India's current rate of improvement, I think much of that will eventually be possible in a place like GIFT City, as a kind of special economic zone, even if not for all of India at once.

Put another way: India's internet connectivity, digital payments, and basic infrastructure has dramatically and visibly improved in the last 10 years. But while it's improving, it doesn't yet have certain "power user" features for international business that Singapore, Dubai, and Delaware do.

Once it does, it'll get even more of my business — and more importantly the world's. But it's already investable, and improving — which is why I'm writing about India, putting money into Indians, and regularly meeting founders on the ground.

5) Investor, not cheerleader. In summary, that's what the quoted tweet gets wrong.

It's not about being a "cheerleader" who has to "stay" in a place to invest in it — imagine if every business had to be funded solely by neighbors down the street.

Instead, it's about being an international investor looking for the best talent around the world — and finding quite a lot of it in India.

Reacting to the tweet, Modi wrote: "I love your optimism and will add- the people of India are trendsetters and trailblazers when it comes to innovation."

Further, he welcomed the world to invest in the country saying, "India won’t disappoint."

Communications are on between the West Bengal government and the Adani Group over the Tajpur deep-sea port project in the state, which is to be developed by the business conglomerate headed by industrialist Gautam Adani, state minister Shashi Panja said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference on 'West Bengal Day' at the India-International Trade Fair being held in New Delhi, Panja said the project is on.

She was asked about the deal and the Adani Group's absence from the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

"There was a provisional LoI (letter of intent), which was granted to the highest bidder for the development of Tajpur. The requisite permissions were then sought from four departments of the government of India—the departments of shipping, defence, home affairs and external affairs," Panja said.

"The ministry of home affairs has given a conditional security clearance and made certain observations. The state government and the Adani Group are working on this. We have sought clarifications, communications are on," she added.

Asked about the Adani Group's absence from the recently held BGBS, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader said, "I suppose you can ask them ... invitations were there."

The absence of the business group from the BGBS had raised questions about its role in the Tajpur port project.

Panja said there are 16 stalls from West Bengal at the trade fair, including eight put up by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Talking about the BGBS, which was held on November 21-22, Panja said more than 400 delegates from 17 countries participated in the summit.

A total of 188 memoranda of understanding (MoU), LoI and expressions of interest (EoI) towards investment proposals of Rs 3,76,288 crore were signed at the summit.  

Ace investor Ajay Bagga, on Sunday, recounted the horrors of 26/11 attacks 15 years ago when Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan opened an indiscriminate fire that killed 166 people and injured several others during a 60-hour siege in Mumbai.

Sharing a photo of him and his wife running out of the Taj Hotel the next morning after the attacks, he wrote on the social media platform X that five times they came face to face with death that night.

"Photo of my wife @RajitaBagga

and I , as we were running out of the @TajMahalMumbai

the next morning, after being at the Chambers for the past 12 hours .

Firing started again as we ran out.

5 times we came face to face with death that night," he wrote.

He recalled that they were having dinner at Masala Kraft restaurant at the Taj Mumbai when the firing started at 9.30 pm.

"Got out the next morning around 10.30 am after the NSG reached the Taj and created a corridor for us to leave," he wrote, thanking Indian Army, NSG, Mumbai Police and the staff of Taj Mumbai.

Bagga's wife Rajita Bagga too took to X to say she spends every moment in gratitude for the "gift of life."

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch, on Saturday, said the market regulator is planning to introduce same-day settlement of trades on stock exchanges by March 2024.

Eventually, there will be instantaneous settlement of trades.

"Sebi wants the T plus zero (T+0) settlement norm to be in place from March-end 2024 and T plus instantaneous settlement 12 months from thereon," Buch said.

T+0 refers to the same-day settlement of trades and instantaneous settlement means settling the transactions on a real-time basis.

Sebi had recently reduced the settlement timelines to one day. The changes from T+2 to T+1 and T+ 1 hour have been eventless from an infrastructure point of view, she said.

She said market markers are of the view that it makes better sense to move directly from T+1 hour to T+instantaneous as there is no benefit to be drawn from the middle ground which is T+0.

"We had said that we would move optionally to one-hour settlement and then move to instantaneous. Now what the market infrastructure and the brokers together have come back and told us is that the technology path that they need to take to get to instantaneous settlement will be much better if the first step we take is not a one-hour settlement but T+0. So, there is an in-between step that has undergone a change based on the consultation," Buch was quoted as saying.

The short span of settlement helps investors to make better use of their capital.

She said that the new settlement will be parallel to the existing settlement system and will fully be optional.

After a bumper subscription of 69.43 times on the final day of the initial public offer (IPO) on Friday, the grey market premium (GMP) of Tata Technologies increased to Rs 412, suggesting a listing gain of 82 per cent over the issue price of Rs 500.

The grey market is an unofficial over-the-counter market where the buying and selling of IPO shares happen without the involvement of stock exchanges, and hence the GMP is subject to rapid changes.

The grey market is highly bullish on Tata Technologies as the investors have shown much interest in the IPO. The IPO was fully subscribed within minutes of opening for bidding on Wednesday. According to a Mint report, ahead of the IPO opening on Wednesday, the GMP was Rs 340.

On Saturday, Tata Motors said Tata Technologies finalised the offer price at Rs 500 per equity share. "...Tata Technologies Ltd in consultation with book running lead managers to the IPO, has finalised the offer price, including the anchor investor offer price, at Rs 500 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 each," Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.

The Tata Technologies shares are likely to be allotted on November 28, and the listing on NSE and BSE is expected to happen on November 30.

Tata Technologies, which provides engineering and product development digital services, is the first company from the Tata Group to float an initial public offer in nearly 20 years.

Stock markets will be largely driven by global trends and macroeconomic data announcements in a holiday-shortened week which may see volatility amid monthly derivatives expiry, say analysts.

Equity markets will remain closed on Monday on account of Gurunanak Jayanti.

Trading activity of foreign investors and the movement of the rupee against the dollar will also be tracked by investors.

"While global cues are relatively muted, market participants will closely monitor movements in crude oil prices, US bond yields, and the dollar index," said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd.

From the domestic macroeconomic front, the GDP data for the July-September quarter will be released on Thursday and the PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) data for the manufacturing sector is scheduled to be announced on Friday.

Auto companies would remain in the limelight amid monthly sales data announcements.

"Markets will focus on the global and domestic macroeconomic data. Auto stocks will be in focus as companies will start announcing monthly sales numbers for November starting from December 1. On the macro front, India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter (July-September) will be released on November 30. The infrastructure output data for October will be released on the same day.

"The market will take further cues from US GDP data, crude oil inventories, US PMI data and Eurozone core CPI data," Arvinder Singh Nanda, Senior Vice President, Master Capital Services Ltd, said.

Last week, the BSE benchmark climbed 175.31 points or 0.26 per cent, and the Nifty advanced 62.9 points or 0.31 per cent.

The markets were largely quiet in the past week, with no significant changes in the headline indices, Meena said.

"There are some important developments that might influence FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) inflows into India. The better-than-expected decline in inflation in the US has given the market confidence to assume that the Fed is done with rate hike.

"Consequently the US bond yields have declined sharply with the 10-year benchmark bond yield correcting from 5 per cent in mid October to 4.40 per cent now. This has forced the FIIs to slow down their selling. Importantly, they were buyers on four days this month with a big buying of Rs 2,625 crore on Friday," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

BSE has introduced new guidelines for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) choosing to move from its SME platform to the main board. The fresh norms will be effective from January 1, 2024, according to a circular released by BSE.

A total of 464 firms have been listed on BSE's SME platform, which was set up in 2012 to help these enterprises raise equity capital and grow in a cost-effective manner. According to the bourse, 181 SMEs have migrated to the main board so far. 

A listing on the SME platform gives the firm more credibility and enhanced financial status leading to demand in the company's shares and higher valuation of the company, BSE says. NSE also has a similar platform dedicated to SMEs.

New BSE guidelines for SMEs

• The applicant SME must have at least Rs 15 crore net worth for the preceding two financial years.

• The firm must be listed on BSE's SME platform for at least three years

• The SME must have 250 public shareholders before migrating to the main board

• The SME firm must have a positive operating profit for at least any two out of three financial years

• The company must have a positive profit after tax (PAT) in the immediate financial year of making the migration application

• The paid-up equity capital of the SME must be more than Rs 10 crore

• The market capitalization of the company must be at least Rs 25 crore

• The applicant firm should not have received any winding-up petition submitted to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

• The firm and its promoters should not be facing any material regulatory action such as trade suspension by any stock exchange in the past three years

• The SME, its promoters and its subsidiary should not be debarred by Sebi

Tata Motors, on Saturday, said its arm Tata Technologies has finalised the offer price, including the anchor investor offer price, at Rs 500 per equity share for its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The Rs 3,042.5 crore IPO of Tata Technologies, which provides engineering and product development digital services, was subscribed 69.43 times on the final day of subscription on Friday, driven by remarkable participation from institutional buyers.

"...Tata Technologies Ltd in consultation with book running lead managers to the IPO, has finalised the offer price, including the anchor investor offer price, at Rs 500 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 each," Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.

The public issue had a price band of Rs 475-500 per share.

Accordingly, the size of the IPO aggregates to Rs 3,042,51 crore comprising an offer for sale of 4.63 crore equity shares by Tata Motors amounting to Rs 2,313.75 crore, 97.17 lakh equity shares by Alpha TC Holdings Pte Ltd amounting to Rs 485.84 crore and 48.58 lakh equity shares by Tata Capital Growth Fund I, amounting to Rs 242.92 crore, subject to finalisation of basis of allotment, the filing added.

The initial share sale of Tata Technologies received bids for 3,12,64,91,040 shares against 4,50,29,207 shares on offer, as per NSE data.

Tata Technologies is the first company from the Tata Group to float an IPO in nearly two decades. Tata Consultancy Services was the last IPO from the group in 2004.

Markets watchdog Sebi, on Saturday, approved a slew of proposals, including providing flexibility to Not for Profit Organisations (NPOs) in raising funds through the social stock exchange and also decided to introduce a regulatory framework for index providers.

Besides, the regulator will put in place a new regulatory framework for facilitating Small and Medium Real Estate Investment Trusts (SM REITS) apart from amending norms to strengthen the protection of investors who have pumped in money into Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).

The decisions were taken by the board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) during its meeting held in Mumbai.

On SM REITS, Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said the objective is to help expand the market significantly so that more retail investors can have fractional ownership in REIT units.

Sebi is open to looking at creating more such products, Buch told reporters after the board meeting.

In a release, the regulator said flexibility will be provided for fundraising by NPOs through the social stock exchange.

In this regard, the minimum issue size in case of public issuance of Zero Coupon Zero Principal Instruments (ZCZP) for NPOs on the social stock exchange will be reduced to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 1 crore.

Among other decisions, a regulatory framework will be introduced for the index providers to foster transparency and accountability in governance and administration of financial benchmarks in the securities market.

With respect to AIFs, the regulator said, "The mandate for appointment of custodian, currently applicable to schemes of Category III AIFs and to schemes of Category I and II AIFs with corpus more than Rs 500 crore, shall be extended to all AIFs."

Buch said the decision to have regulations for index providers was mainly driven by increasing inflows into passive funds, which have taken off in a big manner in the West.

Finland's Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Ville Tavio, expressed keen interest in fostering collaboration with India in high-tech sectors such as 6G, quantum computing, and green hydrogen. Tavio, who headed a business delegation to attend the India Nordic-Baltic Business Conclave, met Union Power Minister R.K Singh and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to discuss potential partnerships.

"We have a good trade going on already between Finland and India, and we see lots of potential for growing that trade. Finland is happy to work with India, and we already have some big companies well established here," Tavio stated during his visit.

Finland places a significant emphasis on clean technology, biofuels, waste-to-energy solutions, and sustainable practices. Tavio discussed the 'Desi' program, an initiative facilitating networking between Finnish and Indian companies with a sectoral approach, focusing on digitalisation, education, sustainability, and innovation.

Furthermore, the minister mentioned about the meeting with Invest India, the counterpart for new businesses, and expressed hopes for startup collaborations.

Tavio spoke about the importance of more trade and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the European Union and India. "It would be mutually beneficial if it succeeds," he said.

As a representative of Finland, he urged both India and the European Union to keep the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations going on. When asked about the timeline, he said 'I don't have a timeline to give, but negotiations are probably the answer to this question'.

Excerpts from the interaction:

India has set an ambitious goal of establishing 6G technology by 2030. Finland has got expertise in this domain.

Nokia is our flagship enterprise. Apart from cellphones they have the networks. I think Nokia is already well established in India in the network space. It is a very special and reliable company. So I think the best way to go forward is actually to keep on working with Nokia networks.

Have you had any discussions with Indian government officials regarding 6G? What is the way forward?

The topic of 6G was acknowledged, but there was no in-depth technical discussion.

But you will be aiming for a collaboration with India on 6G?

Absolutely, yes. I think that is obviously an important sector. Another sector that we touched up on this trip is quantum computing. Finland is the world leader in quantum. And that is something we have developed through efforts that took us 40-50 years. The products will be fully functional in a couple of years. That is like a big opportunity for any country. I know India is also interested in this.

Last year, Finland doubled the number of work visas for the nurses and skilled labourers. Can you comment on the present inflow pattern?

We have an upcoming talent boost program, and we want skilled professionals to have opportunities to work for the Finnish companies in Finland. We have lots of research and development with regard to the tech companies, specifically.

What are the specific skills you are looking at?

The skills would be coding, ICT (Information and Communications Technology), and engineering, which are the very foundation of our emerging technologies. They could also include physics, quantum computing, and all sorts of tech. We have some [related to] gaming industry as well. But most of all, I would say it's biofuels. We have the IT sector as well.

What is your take on the opportunities for nurses in Finland?

Yes, probably that is also an important sector. I think the main concern is that, in technology sector, in ICT, in engineering, and in biochemistry you can manage very well with English language. So India would be strong. But when it comes to nursing, some level of Finnish language proficiency would be required.

Finland aims to increase the number of students by threefold by 2030. What are your thoughts?

I do not think the number of Indian students in Finnish universities is as big as in some of the other countries in Europe. So I think there is room for growth. We have a high level of education like India does. It might be a good opportunity for a growing number of Indian students. We will be welcoming more skilled professionals and students from countries like India.

The RBI on Friday superseded the board of Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank for one year over poor governance standards and appointed an administrator to manage the affairs of the lender.

Satya Prakash Pathak, former Chief General Manager of State Bank of India, is the 'Administrator' to manage the affairs of the Mumbai-based bank during the one-year period, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

A committee of advisors has been appointed to assist the administrator to discharge his duties.

"The action is necessitated due to certain material concerns emanating from poor governance standards observed in the bank," the RBI said.

However, no business restriction has been placed by the RBI and the bank will continue to carry on its normal banking activities, under the guidance of the administrator, it added.

The members of the 'Committee of Advisors' are Venkatesh Hegde, former General Manager, SBI, Mahendra Chhajed, Chartered Accountant, and Suhas Gokhale former MD, COSMOS Co-operative Bank Ltd.

Aviation watchdog DGCA has issued a circular to airlines and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on measures to deal with threats from jamming and spoofing of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) amid reports of such interference in the Middle East.

The circular provides comprehensive mitigation measures and action plans for aircraft operators, pilots, Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) and air traffic controllers. This includes the development of contingency procedures in coordination with equipment manufacturers and assessing operational risk by conducting a safety risk assessment.

AAI is the country's ANSP, and air traffic controllers also come under it.

In a release on Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it has released an advisory circular on GNSS interference in the airspace.

The watchdog said the circular highlights the emerging threats of GNSS jamming and spoofing, the various geographical areas where it has been observed, and its potential impact on aircraft and ground-based systems.

Generally, GNSS spoofing and jamming refers to attempts to manipulate a user's navigation system by giving false signals.

In the wake of the reports of GNSS interference over airspace in the Middle East in the recent past, DGCA formed an internal committee on October 4.

The committee took stock of the situation, sensitised operators, and started discussions with leading experts from around the world on the subject.

After taking the inputs into account, DGCA said recommendations have been included in the circular for tackling the emerging threat considering the best practices, latest developments and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) guidance on the matter.

Besides, the circular provides a mechanism for ANSP to establish a threat monitoring and analysis network in close coordination with DGCA for preventive as well as reactive threat monitoring and analysis of reports of GNSS interference to generate valuable insights with data and new developments to have a robust and immediate threat response.

According to DGCA, the aviation industry is grappling with uncertainties due to new threats and reports of GNSS jamming and spoofing.

The circular gives the much-needed guidance and clarity to all concerned with a practical roadmap and action plan to deal with the threat of GNSS interference in airspace in an effective manner, it added.

GNSS is vital for aircraft navigation.

The rupee depreciated 2 paise and fell to its all-time low of 83.36 against the US dollar in the morning session on Friday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.33 against the dollar. It touched a low of 83.36 in initial deals, registering a fall of 2 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee settled at 83.34 against the American currency. Asian shares were dragged lower by China on Friday amidst little guidance from Wall Street which was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

"Rupee opened flat as the market continues to grapple with US dollar buyers on one side and the Reserve Bank of India sitting on other side. Trading will be also range-bound and with lower volumes as cash inflows would be absent due to Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday," Bhansali added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.12 per cent at 103.79.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.06 per cent to USD 81.37 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex was trading 40.84 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 65,976.97, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 2.75 points or 0.01 per cent to 19,799.25.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 255.53 crore, according to exchange data.

In a fresh revelation, it has now surfaced that several researchers at OpenAI wrote to the board of directors warning of a powerful AI discovery that could threaten humanity, said a report, citing sources.

The letter and the discovery of the AI algorithm were the major developments at the San Francisco-based startup before the board pushed out Sam Altman on Friday, Reuters reported, quoting two sources familiar with the matter.

Altman was reinstated as OpenAI CEO on Wednesday after pressure from the company's biggest financial backer Microsoft and its CEO Satya Nadella as well as warning from over 700 employees who threatened to quit in support of the fired chief.

Talking to the news agency, the sources said the letter was one important factor that prompted the board of director to fire Altman amid concerns over commercialising the AI discovery without gauging the aftereffects.

Project Q*

OpenAI, in an internal message to staffers, acknowledged a project called Q* (pronounced Q-Star) and a letter to the board before the weekend's events, one of the people said.

An OpenAI spokesperson said that the message, sent by long-time executive Mira Murati, alerted staff to certain media stories without commenting on their accuracy. Murati, who was appointed interim CEO on Friday after Altman's firing, quit OpenAI two days later after initial talks to bring back the ousted chief failed.

A section of OpenAI staff believe that Project Q* could be a breakthrough in OpenAI's search for artificial general intelligence (AGI), according to a source cited by Reuters. According to the company, AGI are “autonomous systems that surpass humans in most economically valuable tasks.”

The AI algorithm could ace grade-school math and researchers at OpenAI were optimistic about the future success of Q*, the source told Reuters.

Generative AI is currently good at writing and language translation where the answers can vary widely. However, the ability to solve math problems where there is only one correct answer indicates that AI is capable of performing close to the level of human intelligence, according to the new agency.

In the letter sent to the OpenAI board, staff researchers warned of this powerful algorithm's potential danger to humanity, the sources were quoted as saying. However, the specific safety concerns noted in the letter were not revealed.

OpenAI's board of directors wanted Dario Amodei, CEO of rival Anthropic, to replace its ousted chief Sam Altman, according to a report. OpenAI is backed by Microsoft while Google and Amazon have investments in Anthropic.

The San Francisco AI startup's board approached Dario seeking a potential merger between the two companies following which he will take over as the CEO of the new company, reported The Information, citing two people familiar with the matter.

However, Dario declined both the offers – for the merger and the CEO position, the sources told the outlet. Anthropic co-founders – CEO Dario, his sister and President Daniela Amodei, Jack Clark and Jared Kaplan – were all former executives at OpenAI. They quit the firm in 2020 over disagreements regarding safe development and governance of AI.

OpenAI board, which fired CEO Sam Altman on Friday, replaced him with Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati as interim chief. However, on Sunday, Murati invited Altman to meet OpenAI executives at the company's San Francisco headquarters to discuss his possible return.

Soon after, reports surfaced that Murati is leaving OpenAI along with several other employees and that the board appointed Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear as interim CEO.

Later in the day, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed that Altman and former OpenAI president Greg Brockman, who resigned after he was removed from the board, will join his firm to lead a new advanced AI research team. Microsoft is OpenAI's biggest investor with 49 per cent stake.

On Monday, more that 700 OpenAI staffers threatened to resign if Altman is not reinstated. 

India’s lab-grown diamond (LGD) industry’s coming out parade actually happened not in India, but across the seven seas. When PM Modi gifted US First Lady Jill Biden a 7.5 carat diamond made in Surat, Gujarat, back in the summer while on his first state visit to the global superpower, it had a ripple effect in the fortunes of the LGD industry back home, mainly in Gujarat.

While LGDs had found a steadily growing market among youngsters and the socially and sustainability conscious, many believe the Modi move helped the crossover into mainstream that much more faster, as evinced by the spurt in LGD business this Diwali festive season.

“There was a significant spurt in the sale of grown diamond (another terminology used for lab-grown diamonds) jewellery sale this festive season,” said Lisa Mukhedkar, founder and CEO of Aukera Jewellery, which reported a spike of 20 per cent month-on-month.

And estimates suggest the growth of LGD, which is presently minuscule compared to that of natural diamonds, will grow at an impressive CAGR of 14.8 per cent in the next decade in the country, hitting a market size of 1.1 billion dollars, from the present valuation of just under 300 million dollars. Globally, the LGD market presently clocks in at 12 billion dollars.

“(LGDs) are 100% carbon, mirroring the elemental composition of mined diamonds,” vouched Mukhedkar. Where they differ is that they are not mined from the bowels of the earth, but by replicating the atmospheric conditions, temperature and pressure akin to the earth’s core—tiny diamond seeds are placed within a plasma reactor (a vacuum chamber) where temperatures soar to 6,000 degrees, leading to carbon atoms to rain down on the seed, layer by layer, mimicking the process that occurs under the earth’s surface. So, what takes millions of years to produce naturally, science expedites to a mere few weeks.

What has made the tide turn in favour of LGDs have been a few unrelated incidents. In 2018, the US Federal Trade Commission ruled that grown diamonds were as legitimate as natural diamonds. This was followed by certification by other bodies like IGI, GIA and others. Diamond industry behemoths like de Beers, Swarovski, Cartier and LVMH also started using LGDs in their collections, further accelerating the category’s growth.

Another factor has been the significant enhancement in the quality of LGDs, which now offer the best of cut, colour and clarity, and larger sizes—all at a significant cost advantage. For example, the 7.5 carat LGD that Modi gifted Jill Biden would cost around Rs 15 lakh, while it would have spiralled upwards of Rs 40 lakh if it was a natural diamond.

With natural diamonds on the decline for the last few years—production has come down since the mid-2010s while the Ukraine war has brought down the supply line from Russia down to a trickle—India’s Surat-centred diamond industry is slowly training its eyes on LGDs. While it controlled 90 per cent of the cutting and polishing of natural diamonds, India now has a decent one-fourth of the total LGD business, exporting more than what is sold within the country.

However, from the looks of it, that may change fast. IIT Madras was sanctioned Rs 242 crore to research on indigenous production of LGDs in this year’s budget. “Lab-grown diamonds is a technology and innovation sector with high-employment potential. Customs duty on the seeds used in lab-grown diamond manufacturing will be reduced. These are environmentally-friendly diamonds which have optically and chemically the same properties as natural diamonds,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her budget speech.