New Delhi (PTI): Senior India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj on Saturday made a comeback to the ODI side for the three-match home series against New Zealand while Shreyas Iyer was included subject to fitness clearance.

Siraj, who was overlooked for the home series against South Africa, is back in the ODI setup.

ALSO READ:  Congress and NCP (SP) to contest separately in Nagpur civic polls

Iyer, who was hospitalised during the ODI series in Australia in November for spleen laceration, will need to prove his match fitness in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this month to get fitness clearance from the Centre of Excellence (COE).

Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not cleared by the COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and therefore the selectors did not include him in the team for the series beginning in Vadodara on January 11.

The other two matches will be played in Rajkot and Indore on January 14 and 18 respectively.

Ruturaj Gaikwad could not get the selectors' nod after scoring a fine hundred during the South Africa series.

India ODI squad for NZ series: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC; subject to fitness clearance), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



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.