Kohli, Rohit in good touch as India go through rigorous training session ahead of 1st ODI
Vadodara (PTI): Senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma looked in good touch as India went through a rigorous training session here on Friday, ahead of their three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
The ODI series starting here on Sunday will be followed by a long T20 season, which includes a five-match series against the Kiwis, the T20 World Cup and then the Indian Premier League.
Both Kohli and Rohit spent nearly one-and-a-half hours against Indian pacers, spinners and throw down specialists after playing two matches each in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Having struck 77 and 131 in the two matches of the premier domestic competition, Kohli went hard against the Indian spinners and pacers alike. Some variable bounce against the throw down specialists in one of the nets did challenge the batting superstar further.
However, India’s middle-order mainstay Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, as well as pacer Mohammed Siraj weren’t a part of the three-hour training session, having played for their respective state teams in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Thursday.
The trio will be linking up with the team late in the evening on Friday.
India captain Shubman Gill also went through his training drills and batting in the nets with comfort, having missed the last two T20Is against South Africa late in December due to a toe injury.
The team had trained at the BCA Stadium at Kotambi here on Thursday as well at the venue set to host its first-ever men’s international game.
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86 nations, two int'l organisations sign AI Impact Summit declaration: IT Min Vaishnaw
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 countries and two international organisations have signed the AI Impact Summit declaration, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said, adding that the US, UK, Canada, China, Denmark, and Germany are among the signatories.
The strong global backing for the declaration comes at the conclusion of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw told reporters that nations across the world have formalised and upheld principles of 'welfare of all, and happiness of all'.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's human-centric AI vision been accepted by the world. Democratising Artificial Intelligence resources so AI facilities, services and technology can reach everyone in society has been accepted by all," the minister said.
Balancing economic growth with social good has been prioritised, he added.
"Not just economic growth, even social harmony has to be kept in mind. Safety and trust are at the centre, they have been brought among the main points," Vaishnaw said, adding that a secure, trustworthy and robust AI framework has been focused on.
Other major areas of thrust include innovations and development of human capital, he noted.
"For all these areas, all countries have agreed to work together. Almost all countries that participated, including the US, the UK, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, and Germany... everyone has participated," the minister said.
The mega AI Impact Summit secured investment commitments of over USD 250 billion in infrastructure alone, with Vaishnaw on Friday terming it a "grand success".
Vaishnaw had said participation at the summit crossed five lakh visitors, reflecting strong domestic and global engagement with India's AI push.
The India AI Impact Summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, positioning India as a key player in shaping international AI governance and infrastructure development.
"More than five lakh visitors participated in the exhibition, learnt a lot, and interacted with many experts from around the world. We had practically every major AI player in the world participating in large numbers. We had so many startups getting the opportunity to showcase their work. Overall, the quality of the discussion was phenomenal," he had said.
Be it the ministerial dialogue, the leaders' plenary, the main inauguration function, or the Summit overall, the quality of participation and dialogue was phenomenal, Vaishnaw had pointed out.
The investment pledges have crossed USD 250 billion for infra-related capital and around USD 20 billion on VC/deep tech investments.
Vaishnaw had said that the Summit reflected the world's confidence in India's role in the new AI age.
Delhi played host to a lineup of global tech heavyweights this week - Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Microsoft's Brad Smith and Anthropic's Dario Amodei - as discussions spanned most intensely debated global topics in the tech universe, from AI's opportunities and risks, all the way to AGI, governance and the future of jobs.
