India and China Agree to Resume Direct Air Travel After Nearly Five Years

Sam Altman, the CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is reportedly planning a visit to New Delhi on February 5, according to Reuters, citing three sources. This marks his first visit since 2023, when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the prospects of artificial intelligence in India's technology sector. The specifics of Altman's itinerary remain unconfirmed and may vary. The anticipated visit comes as OpenAI faces intensified competition from Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, whose AI Assistant recently surpassed ChatGPT to become the leading free app in the U.S. Apple App Store. Additionally, OpenAI is navigating legal challenges in India, where a lawsuit was filed last year accusing the company of copyright infringements related to news articles. While OpenAI has stated that it utilizes publicly available data under fair use principles, it has yet to issue comments on the ongoing legal matters or Altman's upcoming trip. India has emerged as OpenAI's second-largest market after the U.S., underlining the significance of this visit.

India has successfully launched a regional navigation satellite, NVS-02, aboard its GSLV-F15 rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The launch, which occurred at 6:23 a.m. IST on Wednesday, marks India's 100th space mission, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The NVS-02 satellite is part of India's Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) system, designed to offer positioning services across India and nearby regions. This development positions NavIC as a competitor to established systems like the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), China's BeiDou, and the European Galileo, and is seen as crucial as global competition in satellite technology escalates. Jitendra Singh, India’s Minister of Science and Technology, emphasized the significance of this launch in advancing the country's capabilities in space-based technologies. Amid increased international rivalry in the space sector, ISRO aims to conduct 30 missions by March 2025, reflecting India's growing role in the global space arena.

Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is set to pilot the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), scheduled to launch no earlier than spring 2025 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission marks a significant milestone, as Shukla will become the second Indian to fly into space, following Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma's historic journey in 1984, officials announced on Thursday. Shukla, currently serving in the Indian Air Force, has undergone extensive training for the private mission to the International Space Station (ISS). He was selected for Ax-4 by the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is also preparing him for India's Gaganyaan Mission. In a statement, Shukla expressed his excitement about experiencing microgravity and hinted at performing yoga aboard the ISS, similar to Sharma. Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, will command the mission, emphasizing the importance of teamwork among the diverse crew. Axiom's previous missions have successfully paved the way for private astronauts at the ISS since the inaugural Ax-1 flight in April 2022.