The Paris AI Summit 2025, held on February 10-11 at the Grand Palais, convened global leaders, tech industry titans, and policymakers to explore AI’s transformative potential, discuss governance frameworks, and emphasize Europe’s strategic approach to artificial intelligence development.

Highlights of the Summit

• Global Collaboration: 61 countries, including France, India, and China, signed a joint declaration for ethical and inclusive AI. The U.S. and UK declined, favoring innovation over regulation.
• AI Safety & Ethics: Experts like Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio warned of AGI risks, advocating for stricter regulations.
• Environmental Impact: A Coalition for Sustainable AI was launched to address AI’s energy consumption.
• Investments: France secured €109 billion in AI sector investments.

The NITI Aayog's report "Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities (SPUs)," highlights major challenges and proposes reforms to improve India's higher education system.

Key Issues Identified:

• Faculty Shortages: Over 40% of faculty positions in SPUs remain vacant, impacting student-teacher ratios and research quality.
• Outdated Infrastructure: Only 10% of SPUs have adequate research facilities, and 32% possess fully functional digital libraries.
• Financial Constraints: Lower tuition fees in SPUs make education accessible but hinder financial sustainability and infrastructure improvements.

Recommendations:

• Increase Public Investment: Allocate 6% of GDP to higher education as per NEP 2020.
• Performance-Based Funding: Link financial support to academic and research performance.
• Autonomy & Governance: Strengthen decision-making powers for SPUs and improve recruitment processes.
• Enhance Employability: Promote industry collaborations, internships, and entrepreneurship programs.
• Boost Research & Innovation: Establish Centres of Excellence and introduce a National Research Policy.

The report emphasizes the crucial role of SPUs in India's education system and calls for urgent reforms to enhance quality, inclusivity, and global competitiveness.

India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have inaugurated the India-EFTA Desk. This follows the recently concluded India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), which comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, positioning EFTA as the first European bloc to formalise a trade pact with India.

Highlights

• India and EFTA have launched the India-EFTA Desk following the TEPA agreement, marking EFTA as the first European bloc to formalise a trade pact with India.
• The Desk will support EFTA businesses in investing and expanding in India.
• Officials from all four EFTA nations attended, highlighting TEPA's role in boosting trade, investment, and sectoral collaborations across key industries.

The India-United Kingdom (UK) strategic partnership took another major step forward with the formal launch of Defence Partnership–India (DP-I) and the signing of multiple defence agreements at Aero India 2025, including a major contract between aerospace and defence major Thales UK and defence public sector undertaking (DPSU) Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

• UK Defence Minister Lord Vernon Coaker inaugurated the UK-India Defence Partnership Pavilion, marking the establishment of a dedicated programme office within the UK’s Ministry of Defence. 
• This office will act as a one-stop hub for enhancing bilateral defence collaboration between the two nations, according to an official release by the British Deputy High Commission in Bengaluru.
• The UK and India have today (Monday) agreed to expand their collaboration on next-generation weapons with Thales and BDL. Thales and BDL have signed a contract that will deliver Laser Beam Riding MANPADs (LBRM).

The Minister of Panchayati Raj S. P. Singh Baghel released a report on the “Status of Devolution to Panchayats in States” in Delhi. The Panchayat Devolution Index report is an evidence-based ranking of states and UTs based on six frameworks.

• The report was prepared by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and the study covered 34 states and UTs in which 172 Panchayats of 68 districts were taken as samples.
• A total of 1,594 respondents were interviewed across the states.
• The study ranked states and UTs based on their performance, as measured by a devolution index.
• The states and UTs were ranked by each of the following six dimensions– framework, functions, finances, functionaries, capacity enhancement and accountability.
•  The first five states in the ranking were, Karnataka, followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh.

Recently, a non-governmental organisation Transparency International released the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index 2024 which ranks 180 countries "on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt)" based on the situation between 1 May 2023 and 30 April 2024.

Highlights of the report

• The index is published annually since 1995.
• India saw a decline in its ranking, dropping to the 96th spot from 93rd last year, with a score of 38 out of 100.
• Denmark has emerged as the least corrupt country in the world for the second year.
• The global average corruption score remains stagnant at 43, with over two-thirds of countries scoring below 50.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar launched Karnataka’s Industrial Policy 2025-30, outlining a roadmap for sustainable and balanced industrial growth across the state, at the GIM Invest Karnataka 2025 event in Bengaluru.

• The new policy aims to reposition the State and make it the top destination for high technology manufacturing investments in Asia.
• The new policy focuses on equitable and sustainable development while aiming to attract Rs. 7.5 lakh crore in investments and generate 20 lakh new jobs during the policy period.
• It will also provide an additional 10% incentives to companies converting their R&D into manufacturing units.

Bharat Biotech group company, Biovet, has received approval from the national drugs regulator to market a vaccine against lumpy skin disease (LSD) in dairy cattle and buffaloes, the company announced recently, adding that it will help save hundreds of thousands of cattle in the country.

• Biolumpivaxin, is the world’s first Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) marker vaccine.
• It will help in disease surveillance as it means the experts will be able to distinguish between vaccinated and naturally infected dairy cattle.
• The vaccine got approval by the central drugs standard organisation (CDSCO).

About Lumpy Skin disease

Lumpy skin disease is a transboundary animal disease that has gained significant attention in India due to its severe impact on cattle health and the dairy industry. The disease is characterized by the development of skin nodules across the body, fever, swollen lymph nodes, decreased milk yield and difficulty in movement. LSD virus transmission is largely attributed to vector bites, with mosquitoes, ticks, and other biting insects playing an essential role.

Over the past two years, approximately 200,000 cattle have died, and millions more have lost their milk production capabilities due to the viral disease.