Chinese products showcased at AI summit; irreparable damage caused to image of country: Cong
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dubbed the AI Summit a "disorganised PR spectacle" and alleged that Chinese products are being showcased there.
"Instead of leveraging India's talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle - Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased," Gandhi said in a post on X.
The former Congress president's remarks came amid a controversy over Galgotias University allegedly showcasing a robotic dog labelled "Orion" at the AI Summit expo that critics said was actually a Chinese-made Unitree Go2 and not an in-house innovation.
According to sources, Galgotias University has been asked to vacate ts stall at the AI Summit Expo immediately.
Gandhi also tagged a post of the Congress which alleged, "The Modi government has made a laughing stock of India globally, with regard to AI. "
In the ongoing AI summit, Chinese robots are being displayed as our own, he charged.
"The Chinese media has mocked us. This is truly embarrassing for India.What is even more shameful is the fact that Modi's minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is indulging in the same falsehood, promoting China's robots at the Indian summit," the Congress said.
"The Modi Government has caused irreparable damage to the image of the country - they have reduced AI to a joke - a field in which we could be world leaders given our data power. Brazenly shameless," the Congress said on X.
Instead of leveraging India’s talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle - Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased. https://t.co/5liaoX0XXp
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 18, 2026
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Rohit Pawar seeks Civil Aviation Minister's removal till probe into Ajit Pawar crash ends
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday demanded that Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu be removed from his post until the probe into Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's plane crash is completed.
The legislator, who is the nephew of the late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, also claimed that the VSR company, whose Learjet plane carrying his uncle crashed in Pune's Baramati town last month, was being protected.
The civil aviation minister and his party (Telugu Desam Party) are close to the VSR company owners, he charged at a press conference.
"Some former ministers from Maharashtra and top TDP ministers from Andhra Pradesh attended the marriage of Rohit Singh, son of the VSR owner VK Singh. The company is allowed to operate and top politicians are still using the Learjet planes of the company," he claimed.
Naidu should not continue as civil aviation minister on moral grounds, Rohit Pawar said.
There is not even a preliminary probe report yet, and there is reason to believe that efforts are being made to save the VSR company, the NCP (SP) leader added.
He said it was good that the NCP leadership, including his aunt and Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar, met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded a CBI probe into the January 28 air crash that killed Ajit Pawar.
Sunetra Pawar, accompanied by senior NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, Hassan Mushrif, and elder son Parth Pawar, met Fadnavis on Tuesday and handed over a letter seeking a CBI probe.
"Many issues that I raised have been included in the letter," Rohit Pawar said.
The probe needs to be impartial and the report needs to be submitted to a committee which includes aviation experts, political leaders, he opined.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar and four others were killed in a plane crash at Baramati in Pune district on January 28.
The aircraft accident probe agency, AAIB, on Tuesday said that special support has been sought for the retrieval of data from the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of the Learjet 45 plane involved in the fatal crash.
Rohit Pawar said his family has expressed concern for his safety since he has taken on the "high and mighty".
"I wonder why BJP trolls were criticising me for demanding justice for my uncle. One troll with a verified handle had posted about a political earthquake in the state two days before the plane crash," he claimed.
The MLA also said that if there was a political angle to the accident, it involved two possibilities: one, speculation that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) might join the NDA after merging with the NCP; and two, that Ajit Pawar could quit the NDA following the merger.
Some groups were unhappy with either scenario, he claimed.
