The Chanakya Imagine Atelier showcased curated contemporary art and global luxury design in an intimate two-day experiential format.
The Chanakya Imagine Atelier 2026 was a private, two-day gallery-style art and design experience that paired contemporary art galleries with global luxury design and home brands, combining daytime workshops and curated engagements with evening entertainment to create an intimate, participatory environment focused on craftsmanship, curation and experiential luxury for collectors and design-forward audiences.

CIO CHOICE 2026 Trust Seal recognizes ICT brands trusted by CIOs for AI first, cloud, cyber resilience and sustainability.
CIO CHOICE 2026 awarded the Trust Seal to 34 ICT brands across 39 categories based on pan India online referral voting by CIOs and IT decision makers, emphasizing trust, security by design, scalability, AI first strategies, cloud native architectures, cyber resilience, and sustainability. The process was overseen by a nine member Advisory Panel with KPMG as Knowledge Partner and culminated in a Mumbai felicitation attended by over 300 CIOs; listed winners include Lenovo, Kyndryl, Tata Communications, Tech Mahindra, Freshworks, Rubrik India, NetApp, Vodafone Idea, and Anunta.

CKK Retail Mart completed anchor allocation of 6,00,000 shares at Rs. 163 ahead of its public IPO opening.
CKK Retail Mart Limited allotted 6,00,000 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs. 163 per share (aggregate Rs. 9.78 crore) ahead of its IPO. The proposed issue is up to 54,00,000 equity shares, price band Rs. 155-Rs. 163, face value Rs. 10, IPO size Rs. 88.02 crore at upper band, with an anchor portion of 6,00,000 shares; issue opens January 30, 2026 and closes February 3, 2026, and prospective investors are referred to the Red Herring Prospectus for risk disclosure.

Centre fiscal deficit at 54.5% of annual target; receipts, transfers and expenditure trends keep fiscal trajectory on track.
The central government's fiscal deficit was Rs 8.55 lakh crore (54.5% of the annual target), with receipts of Rs 25.25 lakh crore-comprising Rs 19.39 lakh crore tax revenue, Rs 5.39 lakh crore non tax revenue and Rs 46,047 crore non debt capital receipts-and expenditures of Rs 33.8 lakh crore split into Rs 25.93 lakh crore revenue and Rs 7.87 lakh crore capital; interest payments were Rs 9.11 lakh crore, subsidies Rs 3.17 lakh crore, and tax devolution to states Rs 10.38 lakh crore.

Stock markets snap rally as heavy selling in metal and IT, plus FII outflows and rupee weakness, hit sentiment ahead of Budget.
Equity benchmarks fell as heavy selling in metal, information technology and commodity stocks, combined with foreign institutional selling and a weaker rupee, triggered volatility ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27. Select blue-chip buying limited losses, while sectoral performance was divergent: metal, commodities and energy lagged and telecommunications, consumer staples and healthcare outperformed. The market moved on pre-Budget positioning, global growth concerns, currency weakness and commodity price shifts.

Health hackathon driving scalable tech solutions for equitable healthcare access, with datasets, mentorship, and cash prizes.
VIT Bhopal University, in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, is organising Health Hack 2026 (February 10-12, 2026) to accelerate scalable, technology-led prototypes improving healthcare access for rural and underserved communities in areas such as telemedicine, predictive analytics, AI-driven chronic disease management, mental health accessibility, early detection, personalised medicine, and secure health data systems, providing datasets, APIs, mentorship, campus facilities, and cash prizes with ongoing mentorship support.

Compensation benchmarking study for India's tech sector launched to standardize pay and guide employer compensation strategies.
The study establishes a standardized compensation framework for India's technology sector, analysing pay data for over 200 unique job roles from entry-level to senior leadership across four sub-sectors (e-commerce, fintech, large tech/product companies, and media and gaming) to provide market-positioning benchmarks and granular role-level insights that support design of competitive and equitable compensation programmes.

Zenith School of AI launches B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence with embedded mini-MBA and a ?100 crore commitment to industry-integrated training.
Zenith School of AI launched a four-year B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence awarded by KR Mangalam University that integrates an embedded mini-MBA and is supported by a ?100 crore commitment to infrastructure, global partnerships, and industry integration. The AI-native curriculum requires students to undertake hands-on AI development, live externships, and paid internships from year one, producing production-ready portfolios while guided by industry mentors and an international Board of Academics to align training with current research and industry standards.

Vedam School of Technology launches a UGC approved B.Tech AI program with merit based VSAT admissions and project-driven curriculum.
Vedam offers a four-year Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence program awarding a B.Tech degree through Ajeenkya DY Patil University, a UGC-approved institution. Admissions are merit-based, selecting the top 5% via the VSAT online proctored exam (2 hours, 50 questions, two attempts), followed by an online interview; exceptional candidates may receive up to 100% scholarships. The curriculum emphasises project-driven learning, industry mentorship, hackathons, and an Innovation Lab pathway for top student projects.

India-Chile FTA talks to conclude, opening critical minerals access and expanding trade in digital services and investment.
Negotiations to upgrade the 2006 preferential trade agreement with Chile into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement aim to open access to critical minerals and expand coverage to digital services, investment promotion, and MSME cooperation; the pact targets Chilean reserves of lithium, copper, rhenium, molybdenum and cobalt as inputs for electronics, automotive and solar sectors.

Statewide ECCE teacher training launched to strengthen early childhood pedagogy across 23 districts through a virtual collaborative program in three batches.
A statewide virtual ECCE capacity building program, partnered between ECHO India, the School Education Department and SCERT, will run in three batches engaging teachers from all 23 districts. It delivers continuous professional development on early childhood development, early years pedagogy, inclusion and diversity, learning environments, ICT use in ECCE, and collaborative storytelling, using a virtual collaborative learning model and district level participation to strengthen educator capacity and scalable classroom practice.

WazirX integrates Fireblocks to secure digital assets with MPC wallets and enhanced transaction controls for users.
Integration of Fireblocks establishes institutional-grade custody controls for WazirX through an MPC-based wallet infrastructure that eliminates single points of compromise, and implements granular transaction policies, multi-level approvals, and governance controls to enhance risk management, operational resilience, and scalable support for settlement, trading operations, and additional blockchains.

Trump nominates Kevin Warsh as Fed chair, potentially politicizing monetary policy and prompting Senate confirmation.
Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh to the Fed chair requires Senate confirmation and could reshape the Fed's governing board and leadership. Warsh's prior service (2006-2011), recent public support for lower rates and criticism of Fed engagement on nontraditional issues are noted. Institutional constraints are emphasized: the chair is one participant in a multi-member rate-setting body, and political or market reactions could limit aggressive rate cuts and affect longer-term borrowing costs.

Step-up SIP calculators model how planned periodic increases in SIP contributions affect long-term accumulation, not guaranteed outcomes.
A step-up SIP allows scheduled periodic increases in contributions chosen at the outset to align with income growth; a step-up SIP calculator models how starting amount, step-up rate, and tenure affect aggregate contributions and projected accumulation, but its outputs are indicative projections based on inputs and do not account for market fluctuations or guarantee outcomes; selecting modest, sustainable increments and re-testing scenarios supports affordability and long-term continuity.

India's forex reserves rose to USD 709.413 billion, led by gains in foreign currency assets and gold.
India's foreign exchange reserves reached USD 709.413 billion for the week ended January 23, with foreign currency assets at USD 562.885 billion, gold reserves at USD 123.088 billion, SDRs at USD 18.737 billion, and the IMF reserve position at USD 4.703 billion; movements reflect valuation effects from non US currencies and recent deployment of reserves to address rupee volatility.

Budget presentation likely to be led by government head after finance minister's death, ahead of the next legislature session.
Following the death of deputy finance minister Ajit Pawar, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to present the Maharashtra Budget 2026-27 at the upcoming legislative session, reflecting a practical substitution due to the vacancy in the finance portfolio and the Chief Minister's prior experience presenting the state budget.

Government finances: receipts, devolution to states and expenditure through December 2025 show revenue and capital composition.
Total receipts up to December 2025 were Rs.25,25,156 crore (72.2% of BE 2025-26), comprising Tax Revenue (Net to Centre) Rs.19,39,254 crore, Non Tax Revenue Rs.5,39,855 crore and Non Debt Capital Receipts Rs.46,047 crore. The Government transferred Rs.10,38,164 crore to states as Devolution of Share of Taxes, Rs.1,37,014 crore higher than the previous year. Total expenditure was Rs.33,80,998 crore (66.7% of BE 2025-26), with Revenue Expenditure Rs.25,93,063 crore (including Interest Payments Rs.9,11,059 crore and Major Subsidies Rs.3,17,490 crore) and Capital Expenditure Rs.7,87,935 crore.

Fasal unveils FasalJet irrigation automation to scale precision farming, resource efficiency, and traceability for farmers.
Fasal launched FasalJet and FasalJet Pro to automate irrigation and fertigation, extending its modular FasalOne farm IoT platform into on farm execution; products are commercially validated, deployed across multiple Indian states and institutional programmes, and intended to scale regionally to improve reliability, resource efficiency, traceability, and farmer resilience.

IAIRO launches as India's execution engine to build sovereign AI capability and domain-specific, deployable models.
IAIRO is an execution-first public-private partnership established to convert foundational and applied AI research into deployable systems and sovereign intellectual property. Focused on mission-scale delivery across governance, healthcare, climate resilience, language inclusion and digital public infrastructure, it prioritises compact, domain-specific, neurosymbolic models and translational mechanisms-entrepreneur-in-residence programs, applied labs, and venture-creation pathways-to retain talent, attract capital, and scale research into global products.

ETCIO Annual Conclave 2026 brings CIOs together for deployable AI, cyber clinics, workshops and sector playbooks.
The Economic Times CIO will host the 8th ETCIO Annual Conclave, 21-24 May 2026, a residential summit for CIOs and IT decision-makers focused on converting insight into action through outcome-oriented workshops, sector tracks that end in deployable playbooks, production-grade AI and cyber clinics, hands-on masterclasses, and structured networking. The programme builds on prior edition metrics and the ETCIO AI Playbook 2025, which reports 67% partial AI deployment and 8% full-scale deployment among surveyed leaders.