Amazon Opens Its Second Largest Office in Asia in Bengaluru

• Campus officially inaugurated by Dr. MB Patil, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka.

Amazon today announced the opening of its second largest office in Asia in Bengaluru. The 1.1 million square feet, 12-storey campus will support over 7,000 employees across ecommerce, operations, payments, technology, and seller services in India. Built on a five-acre site approximately 15 kilometres from Kempegowda International Airport, the corporate building was officially inaugurated by Dr. M.B. Patil, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka.

The new corporate building has been thoughtfully designed to bring teams together at scale and enable collaboration, flexibility, learning, and wellbeing. The launch of this new campus is part of Amazon’s continued investments in India. The company has already invested over $40 billion in India and has committed to invest an additional $35 billion in India by 2030.

According to Dr. M.B. Patil, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, Government of Karnataka, “Amazon’s continued investment in Bengaluru reflects India's growing role as a global technology and innovation hub. Large-scale campuses like Amazon’s new campus create high-quality jobs, strengthen local ecosystem, and support India's digital economy. We welcome investments that build long-term capability and create opportunity for our workforce.”

According to Samir Kumar, Country Manager Amazon India, "India continues to be a long-term priority for Amazon, and Bengaluru has played a central role in our journey here. Over the years, the city has been home to some of our earliest technology and business teams, and today it remains a key hub for innovation and talent. We are grateful to Dr. M.B. Patil for joining us to inaugurate this campus and for Government of Karnataka’s continued support. As we build for customers in India and around the world, we remain committed to investing in infrastructure, technology, and talent for the long term."

The campus brings together adaptable workspaces and collaborative zones organised into self-sustaining neighbourhoods with meeting rooms, huddle spaces, breakout areas, and event spaces that can host more than 200 people. Employees have access to dedicated recreation facilities including basketball and pickleball courts, an amphitheater, landscaped lawns, and outdoor community spaces. Cafeterias across two floors serve a range of global cuisines.

Amazon’s new campus represents progress in our effort to reduce carbon across our corporate office portfolio, aligned with Amazon’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon by 2040 under The Climate Pledge. The project incorporates strategies such as responsible material sourcing, reuse of office assets, and high-efficiency systems that are intended to reduce embodied and operational carbon.

Amazon in Karnataka

Amazon has significant presence in Karnataka with ten corporate offices, seven fulfillment centers, three sort centers, over 130 last mile delivery stations, and a robust network of micro-FCs for Amazon Now across Bengaluru. Additionally, over 80,000 sellers from Karnataka are already selling on Amazon.in.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.aboutamazon.in

Noida’s Leads Connect Unveils ICCRI and KEDAR–PARVATI, Next-Gen AI Platforms for Agriculture Risk Intelligence

Launch of Kedar-Parvati AI infrastructure for agriculture by Leads Connect Services

• The launches are aligned with India’s expanding focus on Artificial Intelligence and digital public infrastructure for agriculture coinciding with the ongoing India AI Impact Summit
• Strengthens India-Brazil relationship amidst Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s five-day state visit

Noida-headquartered Leads Connect, India’s leading agritech firm that provides full stack solutions to farmers, inaugurated its AI-Enabled Integrated Command Centre for Risk Intelligence (ICCRI) and AI-powered large-scale intelligence platform, KEDAR–PARVATI in the presence of a high-powered Brazilian delegation marking a significant milestone for agri-collaboration during Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva five-day state visit.

Leads Connect today hosted a high-level Brazilian delegation led by H.E. Mr. Paulo Teixeira, Hon’ble Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Government of Brazil, here at its Noida headquarters. Mr. Teixeira was accompanied with Mr. Arnaldo Manuel de Souza Machado Borges, President, ABCZ (Associação Brasileira dos Criadores de Zebu); Mrs. Roberta Bertin Barros and Mr. Rogerio Barros of Fazenda Floresta; Diplomat Eduardo Braga; and Mr. Maurício Polidoro (International Advisory).

H.E. Mr. Paulo Teixeira, Hon’ble Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Brazil & Navneet Ravikar, CMD, Leads 

Mr. Teixeira inaugurated the AI-Enabled Integrated Command Centre for Risk Intelligence (ICCRI) and witnessed the global launch of KEDAR–PARVATI, a next-generation AI-powered large-scale intelligence platform for risk management. The launches are aligned with India’s expanding focus on Artificial Intelligence and digital public infrastructure for agriculture, coinciding with the ongoing India AI Impact Summit. LLMs & SLMs are part of Kedar-Parvati as modules for strengthening risk management solutions for Agriculture & Climate analytics at planet scale.

Commenting on the programme, Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director, Leads Connect and CEO of BL Agro (parent company of Leads Connect) said, “It was an honour to showcase to H.E. Mr. Paulo Teixeira how we are leveraging AI in different aspects of agriculture. This comes at a time when India is celebrating the biggest festival of AI, India AI Impact Summit, that has put India on the global AI map. Our innovations with AI in agriculture and its effective implementation in the international market is a testament to India’s growing prowess in AI.”

Delighted at hosting the high-profile Brazilian delegation, Ashish Khandelwal, Managing Director, BL Agro, said, “This launch showcased our depth in AI proficiency and also highlights how we are effectively using it in agriculture. KEDAR–PARVATI represents applied AI at planet scale and brings together satellite intelligence, field analytics, financial risk modeling, and cross-domain learning into one coherent system that can support governments, financial institutions, and farmers alike.”

“As we celebrate the biggest festival of AI in the world, I am proud to see how Leads Connect have leveraged AI in one of the most important sectors, agriculture, that contributes the most to India’s GDP. Under the leadership of Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, we are actively transforming India's agricultural sector by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) to boost productivity, sustainability, and farmers' income as part of the vision for a Viksit Bharat 2047. Today is a significant milestone towards our goal”, adds, Navneet.

In his special address, H.E. Mr. Paulo Teixeira reaffirmed the commitment to deepening bilateral collaboration in agricultural technology, digital transformation, and climate-resilient farming systems.

The AI-Enabled Integrated Command Centre for Risk Intelligence (ICCRI) is a live, in-house command centre delivering hyperlocal real-time analytics across the entire agriculture, climate risk, financial inclusion, and disaster management spectrum. At ICCRI, the delegation witnessed live demonstrations of proprietary intelligence frameworks, including: Operational geoportals including AGRANI, PixStack, DEVI–Saptashati, Maatri, and Kedar–Parvati was demonstrated in real time.

KEDAR–PARVATI is a next-generation large-scale intelligence platform for risk management. KEDAR stands for Knowledge Engineering & Deviation Analytics for Risk Intelligence and Parvati for Phenomics Analytics & Risk Value Assessment for Transferring Intelligence. It was developed by Varahi-NexTech, Leads NexTech India Pvt. Ltd. and operationalised on-ground by Leads Connect.

A special interaction session during the visit brought together smallholder farmers and representatives of cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), who shared real-world use cases demonstrating how AI-driven advisory and risk intelligence tools have enhanced productivity, improved access to finance, and strengthened climate resilience at the grassroots level.

The visit also highlighted an upcoming 360° India–Brazil Agri-Tech and Agri Value Chain Corridor initiative, beginning with the cashew value chain in collaboration with EMBRAPA and Amazonika Mundi. The initiative aims to integrate plantation science, value-chain analytics, AI-enabled advisory, financial services (credit & insurance), sustainable processing, and structured market integration in Brazil, with potential replication in India.

India Launches $445M Chip Plant with HCL-Foxconn Partnership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for India Chip Pvt. Ltd., a ₹3,700 crore semiconductor facility being developed in Jewar, Greater Noida by a joint venture between HCL Group (60%) and Foxconn (40%). The plant will function as an Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility, with a planned capacity to process 20,000 wafers per month. It is expected to be operational by 2028.

Key Highlights

• Investment: ₹3,700 crore
• Partnership: HCL Group (India) and Foxconn (Taiwan)
• Location: Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), Jewar, Greater Noida
• Timeline: Operational by 2028
• Capacity: 20,000 wafers/month
• Jobs: Estimated 3,500 new employment opportunities

Strategic Importance

• Strengthens India’s semiconductor ecosystem and reduces dependence on imports
• Supports the government’s “Techade” vision of technological self-reliance
• Positions India as a competitive player in the global chip supply chain

This project is being seen as a milestone in India’s push to become a hub for advanced electronics manufacturing, especially amid global supply chain realignments.

Notably, the distinction between an OSAT facility and a semiconductor fabrication plant (fab) is central to understanding India’s chip strategy.

Aspect	OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly & Test)	Fab (Fabrication Plant)
Role in supply chain	Handles post-fabrication processes: cutting wafers into chips, packaging, assembly, and testing	Manufactures chips from raw silicon wafers using advanced processes like lithography, etching, deposition
Complexity	Less capital-intensive; focuses on packaging and quality assurance	Extremely complex; requires cleanrooms, precision tools, and multi-billion-dollar investments
Investment scale	Hundreds of millions of dollars (e.g., India’s ₹3,700 crore plant)	Tens of billions of dollars (TSMC, Intel fabs often exceed $10–20B)
Technology focus	Ensures chips meet specifications, reliability, and performance standards	Actually creates the semiconductor devices (transistors, circuits)
Strategic value	Builds ecosystem resilience, supports fabless companies, and reduces dependency on foreign packaging/testing	Core of semiconductor sovereignty — enables full control of chip design and production
Examples	ASE Group, Amkor, JCET	TSMC (Taiwan), Samsung (Korea), Intel (US)

In short: OSAT = finishing school for chips; Fab = birthplace of chips. India is starting with OSAT to build capacity before attempting full-scale fabs.

Satellite Technology Helps Detect ₹217 Crore Fake Crop Insurance Claims in Maharashtra

Representative Image

Authorities in Maharashtra uncovered a massive irregularity in crop insurance claims worth nearly ₹217 crore by using satellite imagery to verify farmland data, reported Lokmat, a Marathi-language publication. Lokmat published its report on February 13, 2026, highlighting how satellite checks exposed fraudulent banana crop insurance claims in Jalgaon district. Below are key details - 

Key Details

• Location: Jalgaon district, Maharashtra
• Scheme: Weather-based fruit crop insurance for the Ambiya Bahar season (2025–26)
• Discovery: Claims were filed for about 44,041 hectares supposedly under banana cultivation. Satellite checks revealed no banana crops on those lands.
• Trigger: An unusual surge in insurance applications for banana crops prompted the probe in February 2026.
• Significance: This was the first large-scale satellite-based verification of crop insurance in the state, exposing fraudulent claims and saving public funds.

Why It Matters

• Transparency: Satellite monitoring adds a strong layer of accountability to agricultural insurance schemes.
• Prevention of fraud: Detecting false claims helps ensure that genuine farmers benefit.
• Policy impact: This case may push for wider adoption of remote sensing and geospatial technology in crop insurance across India.

The Satellite Technology 

Satellite imagery is a powerful tool for detecting fraud in crop insurance because it provides objective, time-stamped evidence of what is actually growing on the land. Here’s how techniques like NDVI analysis and seasonal crop mapping are applied:

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)

• Principle: NDVI measures plant health by comparing how vegetation reflects near-infrared (NIR) light versus absorbing red light.
• Formula: (NIR - RED) / (NIR + RED)
• Interpretation:
  • Values close to +1 → healthy, dense vegetation.
  • Values near 0 → stressed plants or sparse vegetation.
  • Values below 0 → bare soil, water, or non-vegetated surfaces.
• Application in fraud detection: If insurance claims say banana crops are present, but NDVI values show bare soil or non-vegetation, authorities can flag false claims.

Seasonal Crop Mapping

• Method: Multi-spectral satellite images are collected over time to track crop growth stages.
• Crop signatures: Each crop has a unique spectral and temporal growth pattern (e.g., banana vs. wheat).
• Verification: By comparing claimed crop type with actual spectral signatures, mismatches can be detected.
• Example: In Jalgaon, satellite mapping showed no banana growth cycles across 44,041 hectares, despite claims.

AI & Deep Learning Enhancements

• Yield prediction: Models trained on historical weather, soil, and crop data can forecast expected yields.
• Claim validation: If reported yields or crop presence deviate sharply from satellite-based predictions, fraud is suspected.

Why It Works

• Scalable: Covers large areas quickly, unlike manual surveys.
• Tamper-proof: Satellite data is time-stamped and independent.
• Cost-effective: Prevents massive financial losses by catching fraudulent claims early.

This combination of NDVI analysis, spectral crop mapping, and AI-driven yield prediction is transforming crop insurance verification in India, making fraud detection faster and more reliable.

IDFC First Bank Probes Suspected ₹5,900 Cr Fraud

IDFC First Bank has announced it is investigating a suspected fraud of about $65 million (₹5,900 crore) involving accounts of Haryana government entities. The issue surfaced when one of the departments attempted to close its account and discrepancies in balances were discovered.

The first outlet to report the IDFC First Bank suspected fraud case was PTI (Press Trust of India). Multiple publications including The Hindu BusinessLine, Rediff, and Times of India later carried the story, but they all cited PTI as the original source of the disclosure.  

Key Details

• Branch involved: Chandigarh
• Employees suspended: Four staff members pending investigation
• Nature of fraud: Discrepancies in reconciliation of balances in government accounts
• Actions taken:
  • Police have been alerted
  • A Special Committee was convened on February 20, 2026
  • The Audit Committee and Board of Directors met on February 21
  • An independent forensic audit will be appointed
  • Recall requests sent to beneficiary banks to lien-mark suspicious balances

Why This Matters

This case highlights vulnerabilities in internal controls at banks, especially when handling large government accounts. It also raises questions about oversight mechanisms in public sector financial management.