New Delhi (PTI): IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said India is focused on practical applications of AI, including enterprise productivity, and solutions for population-scale challenges such as healthcare, agriculture, and climate change.

Speaking at a research symposium at the AI Impact Summit, the minister also expressed happiness over the strong participation and optimism shown by young people at an AI Expo on Tuesday.

He informed that about 2.5 lakh attendees, mostly under the age of 30, took part across the exhibition area.

"It was a phenomenal response when I interacted with the young minds. I was so surprised by the optimism that most of the young people expressed towards this opportunity which is coming for them," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said he was feeling hopeful for a totally new future for India and for the world.

"We, in India, are very focused on AI in the edge, AI for use cases, AI for solving real-world problems, AI for improving the productivity in the enterprises, for population-scale problems like healthcare, like agriculture, like climate change. These are things we are focussed on here in India. And the AI submit brings that opportunity," he said.

The minister asked participants of the symposium to come out with solid concrete suggestions on how to make AI safe. AI is a great tool and should be used for the benefit of humans.

The India AI Impact Summit, one of the country's largest global gatherings on artificial intelligence, has brought together policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, and deliberations are on around AI innovation, governance and real-world applications in New Delhi.

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Washington (AP): The US military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on three boats accused of smuggling drugs in Latin American waters, killing 11 people in one of the deadliest days of the Trump administration's monthslong campaign.

The series of strikes conducted Monday brought the death toll to at least 145 people since the administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in small vessels since early September.

Like most of the military's statements on the 42 known strikes, US Southern Command said it targeted alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It said two vessels carrying four people each were struck in the eastern Pacific Ocean, while a third boat with three people was hit in the Caribbean Sea.

The military did not provide evidence that the vessels were ferrying drugs but posted videos that showed boats being destroyed.

President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”