Episode Details

Tata Communications to invest $400-450 million for India’s AI fibre network

Tata Communications will invest close to $450 million to build a high-speed, low-latency AI network fabric connecting India’s key AI data-centre corridors.

The company plans to lay around 10,000 kilometres of long-haul fibre across the country, creating one of India’s largest AI-ready connectivity networks. Dubbed the “AI Super Highway”, the network is designed to support next-generation AI workloads.

The rollout is expected to take place over three to five years. Phase 1 will focus on the Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad-Chennai corridor, linking major data-centre clusters and subsea cable landing stations. Later phases will expand connectivity to Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Gujarat, GIFT City and Jamnagar.

Centre includes E100 in emission framework for flex-fuel vehicles

The Centre has updated the vehicle emission framework to include E100 fuel alongside E85 for flex-fuel vehicles, paving the way for greater ethanol use in specially designed automobiles.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, references to E85 in specific emission norms have been replaced with “E85 or E100”. E100 refers to near-pure ethanol fuel, while E85 contains up to 85 per cent ethanol blended with petrol.

India’s current nationwide standard fuel remains E20, which contains 20 per cent ethanol. The government has clarified that no decision has been taken to raise the national blending target beyond E20 at this stage.

Private logistics players tap India Post to expand last-mile reach

India Post’s vast delivery network is increasingly being used by private logistics companies looking to expand into smaller towns and remote regions without building costly new infrastructure.

Recent partnerships with Blue Dart, DTDC and Flipkart highlight the growing demand for India Post’s extensive reach to bridge last-mile delivery gaps.

Blue Dart signed an agreement with the Department of Posts earlier this month to extend services into Tier-III and Tier-IV cities and remote areas. Meanwhile, Flipkart has partnered with India Post to provide last-mile delivery, cash-on-delivery services, OTP-based authentication and real-time tracking across urban, semi-urban and rural markets.

Backdoor attacks on Indian SMB systems jump 52% in H1 2026: Kaspersky

Backdoor malware attacks targeting Indian small and medium businesses surged 52.1 per cent year-on-year during the first half of 2026, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

Data from the Kaspersky Security Network showed that 4.52 lakh backdoor threats were detected between January and June 2026, compared with 2.97 lakh during the same period last year.

A backdoor enables attackers to bypass authentication systems and gain hidden access to a computer or network. Once installed, it can be used to steal data, move deeper into systems and launch additional cyberattacks.

While backdoor malware detections rose sharply, attacks targeting Remote Desktop Protocol, or RDP, fell 26.3 per cent year-on-year to 37.38 lakh attempts. Exploit detections also declined 35.1 per cent to 4.63 lakh during the period.

(Research and VO: Siddharth Mathew Cherian)