Feb 18 News Live: India beat Netherlands by 17 runs

SA thrash UAE, finish group stage with all-win record

South Africa, riding on Ryan Rickelton and Dewald Brevis' fiery knocks, beat UAE by six wickets in a low-scoring Group D match in Delhi on Wednesday.

Chasing UAE's 122 for 6, built largely on young top-order batter Alishan Sharafu's gritty 45, the Proteas overhauled the target in 13.2 overs.

Rickelton smashed a 16-ball 30 while Brewis scored 36 off 25 balls as South Africa won with 40 balls to spare.

The Proteas, who are unbeaten, and New Zealand have already qualified for the Super 8s from the group.

Brief Scores

UAE: 122 for 6 in 20 overs (Alishan Sharafu 45; Anrich Nortje 2/28, Corbin Bosch 3/12).

South Africa: 123 for 4 in 12.3 overs (Aiden Markram 28, Ryan Rickelton 30, Dewald Brevis 36).

French President Macron concludes Mumbai visit

French President Emmanuel Macron, along with First Lady Brigitte Macron, left Mumbai for New Delhi on Wednesday after concluding his engagements here, including bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They were seen off at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

On Tuesday, Macron held discussions with Modi as part of efforts to further strengthen India-France strategic ties.

During the Mumbai visit, the French president and his wife also met some of India's top filmmakers and actors, and had an animated exchange with them about cinema, culture and collaboration.

President Macron is on an official visit to India from February 17 to 19 at the invitation of PM Modi to participate in the AI Impact Summit hosted by India in the national capital Delhi, besides the bilateral summit in Mumbai.

PM Modi will inaugurate the summit on February 19. As many as 20 heads of states, including French President Macron, will be present at the inaugural session, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said.

Artificial Intelligence not a replacement for expertise: Airbus executive

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a responsible enabler designed to augment human capability and not a replacement for expertise, Airbus India chief Jurgen Westermeier said on Wednesday.

The President and Managing Director for India and South Asia at Airbus also said that AI should be seen as a bridge that helps to be more efficient and optimise resources on the way to the net-zero goals. He was speaking at a session of the AI Impact Summit here.

Westermeier said Al is not a replacement for expertise, rather it is a responsible and ethical enabler designed to augment human capability.

"Whether through predictive maintenance, optimising logistics or streamlining complex engineering, Al allows us to move from abstract ambition to practical, high-impact results," he said.

He also stressed that for any industry to thrive in the coming decades, sustainability must be embedded into its design and governance from the outset, and not treated as an afterthought.

At Airbus, he said Al is used as a responsible enabler designed to support its people.

AI must be safe, inclusive and sovereign: AI4Bharat’s founder Mitesh Khapra

Artificial intelligence must be “safe, responsible and inclusive”, particularly in sensitive sectors such as healthcare, education and child-focused applications, said Mitesh Khapra, Founder of AI4Bharat, at the AI Impact Summit 2026. “AI has to be safe. It has to be responsible,” said Khapra, who is also an Associate Professor at IIT Madras, stressing that trust and reliability are critical when professionals and vulnerable groups use AI tools.

He underlined the importance of sovereignty in AI systems powering critical services. “If we do not have sovereignty, if we do not have control of what our AI is… then we have a bit of a challenge,” he said, cautioning against over-reliance on foreign-built models where India lacks control over training data and governance.

Khapra also highlighted inclusivity, arguing that AI should work uniformly “irrespective of demographic background and language”. Beyond the 22 scheduled languages, dialects such as Haryanvi, Maithili, Chhattisgarhi, Khariboli and Kanoji must receive mainstream support. Referring to the Bhashini initiative, he said its next phase aims to expand coverage to dialects, backed by regional data collaborations and a centralised standardisation framework.

Echoing the linguistic challenge, ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski said India’s diversity requires AI voice systems built from the ground up to support multiple languages. “You really need to build the architecture from the start to support it,” he said, adding that the company currently supports 11 Indian languages and aims to cover all 22, enabling users to experience content in original languages with accurate voice, intonation and emotion.

Sabarimala chief priest granted bail in gold misappropriation case

A vigilance court on Wednesday granted bail to Sabarimala senior Tantri (chief priest) Kandararu Rajeevaru in two cases linked to the alleged misappropriation of gold-plated copper encasings used on the doorway, stone carvings and sculptures of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.

Rajeevaru, arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on January 9, is the 16th accused in the case concerning the alleged loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the 13th accused in the case related to the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames. He is the sixth accused to secure bail in the case being monitored by the Kerala High Court.

The case centres on allegations that around 4.54 kg of gold went missing from sacred temple artefacts, including the Sreekovil door frames and Dwarapalaka idols. The alleged misappropriation is said to have taken place in 2019 under the guise of refinishing and re-gold-plating temple structures.

11 Bangladeshi women held in Pune for illegal stay

The Pune police on Wednesday detained 11 Bangladeshi women staying illegally in the city, officials said.

These women were found in possession of fake Aadhaar cards and other residential documents, they said.

Based on the tip-off, a search operation was carried out in the city's Budhwar Peth, a "red light area", Deputy Commissioner of Police Krushikesh Rawale said.

"We detained 22 women, out of whom 11 were found to be Bangladeshi nationals and staying illegally in our city for the past few months. We are investigating the matter further," he said.

India may be faster in AI adoption than America in 10 yrs: Sridhar Vembu

India may be faster in AI adoption than America in ten years with its youthful, more optimistic population embracing the new wave of technology, Zoho Corporation Co-founder and Chief Scientist, Sridhar Vembu said on Wednesday.

Like how UPI became mass-scale in India, AI could also be the same, Vembu said while speaking at the AI Impact Summit here.

Citing the example of fibre optics, he said back in 2000s American venture capitalists sold many "10s of billions (of dollars) into telecom companies, particularly fiber optics" and it is "everywhere in India" but not so in America.

"...in 10 years...India might be faster in terms of AI adoption than even America...," Vembu said.

French President Macron concludes Mumbai visit

French President Emmanuel Macron, along with First Lady Brigitte Macron, left Mumbai for New Delhi on Wednesday after concluding his engagements here, including bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

They were seen off at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

On Tuesday, Macron held discussions with Modi as part of efforts to further strengthen India-France strategic ties.

Crude oil futures fall to Rs 5,662 per barrel

Crude oil prices edged lower by Rs 20 to Rs 5,662 per barrel in futures trade on Wednesday, despite firm global trends, as profit-taking by participants capped gains.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil futures for March delivery slipped by Rs 20, or 0.35 per cent, to Rs 5,662 per barrel in a business turnover of 1,671 lots.

Analysts said the prices fell after participants offloaded their holdings amid weak demand in the spot market.

Globally, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading 0.27 per cent higher at USD 62.50 per barrel, while Brent Crude rose 0.34 per cent to USD 67.61 per barrel in New York.

Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai dominate AI job openings on Naukari.com with 70pc share: CBRE

Nearly 70 per cent of the job openings related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Naukari.com portal are concentrated in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, according to property consultant CBRE.

The findings, based on a comprehensive study of over 64,500 active job listings on online platform Naukri.com as of December 2025, the consultant said in a statement on Wednesday.

As per the report, Bengaluru, the primary hub for technology's evolution, commands a 25.4 per cent share of the total AI-related jobs, followed by Delhi-NCR with a share of 24.8 per cent and Mumbai 19.2 per cent.

Data was extracted from Naukri.com portal specifically focusing on open job listings tagged under AI. This does not represent the entire universe of AI-based jobs in India, the consultant clarified.

As per the CBRE, the job opening related to AI in Hyderabad stood at 12.5 per cent, Pune 9.6 per cent, Chennai 6.4 per cent and Kolkata 2.1 per cent.

The top three key domains for AI roles currently include: Engineering (Software and Quality Assurance); Data Science and Analytics; and Customer Success, Service and Operations.