1.OpenAI to provide 500K free ChatGPT licences to govt teachers, students: Business Standard

Sam Altman-led OpenAI on Monday said it would provide 5 lakh free ChatGPT licences for six months to students and teachers in India across government schools from Classes 1 to 12, engineering and technical institutes, as well as K-12 educators.

“We believe AI (artificial intelligence) has potential to transform education for students. AI can be a personal lifelong tutor and learning agent. For educators, AI can free up time for them to focus more on the core part of teaching,” said Leah Belsky, vice-president of Education at OpenAI, at a media briefing.

The programme for students and teachers will be run under the OpenAI Learning Accelerator, an India-first initiative. The company is not looking to monetise through these free ChatGPT licences as of now, Belsky said, adding that the focus for now was “access and training.”

2.India to source online price data from Amazon, Flipkart to revamp inflation tracking: Mint

India is set to start sourcing the price data directly from e-commerce companies operating in the nation, like Amazon and Flipkart, as the country aims to revamp its benchmark inflation tracking systems, reported the news agency Reuters, citing the Head of the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday, 25 August 2025. 

The move could make India's retail inflation data more robust by accounting for prices on online platforms as their share in household spending rises. The shift mirrors a global trend, with countries from the U.S. to South Korea integrating scanner and online prices into inflation measures.

3.Japan's SMBC gets Indian central bank approval to buy up to 24.99% of Yes Bank: Reuters

Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SUMFDS.UL) has received Indian central bank approval to buy up to 24.99% of India’s Yes Bank (YESB.NS), opens new tab, the Indian bank said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday.

The Reserve Bank of India has also decided that SMBC would not be treated as a "promoter" of Yes Bank following the deal, which would have involved additional regulatory requirements, Yes Bank said.

4.Indian healthcare chains set their hearts on foreign patients: Economic Times

India’s healthcare providers are vying for a greater share of overseas patients amid a surge in foreign tourists arriving in the country for medical treatment, said industry executives.

It comes as foreign tourist arrivals in India for medical treatment shot up to nearly 650,000 in 2024 from just over 180,000 in 2020. In the first four months of 2025, the figure stood at 131,856, according to data recently released by the tourism ministry.

Moreover, India’s hospitals are no longer attracting patients from just South Asia, Africa and West Asia, but are also reporting increasing enquiries from Europe and the UK, where strained public systems are pushing patients abroad.

Leading healthcare chains in the country such as Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Fortis and Aster DM Healthcare are increasingly positioning themselves as global solutions providers to the mounting crisis in healthcare delivery worldwide, with many of them hoping to double their overseas revenue contribution by next year.

5.Cube Highways to Buy Reliance Infrastructure’s Pune Satara Toll Project for ₹2k crore - The Economic Times

Cube Highways and Infrastructure III Pte Ltd. (Cube Highways), a Singapore-based company, will acquire a 100% stake in Reliance Infrastructure Limited’s (Reliance Infra) Pune Satara Toll Road (PSTR) project, Reliance Infra said on Friday.

The enterprise value for the PS Toll Road transaction is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore. PS Toll Road Pvt. Ltd. is the special purpose vehicle (SPV) that operates the project.

As part of the transaction, Reliance Infrastructure is expected to realize equity proceeds of Rs 600 crore. The funds will be strategically deployed towards future growth initiatives in core business areas.

6.Apple Explores Using Google Gemini AI to Power Revamped Siri: Bloomberg and others

Apple is in discussions with Google about using its Gemini artificial intelligence model to power an improved version of Siri. Google has begun training an AI model that could run on Apple’s servers, Bloomberg reported.

The Information previously reported that Apple was evaluating outside models from Google, along with OpenAI and Anthropic, to power a new version of Siri. The company’s efforts to revamp Siri have been plagued by setbacks, which forced Apple to delay the release of the new assistant earlier this year. The problems also prompted it to reorganize the group overseeing Siri.

Apple is several weeks away from deciding whether or not to outsource the AI model for an overhauled Siri, according to Bloomberg.

7.The US is seeing net emigration for the first time since the 1960s: New York Times

 Pew Research analysis based on census data found that the country’s foreign born population declined by 3% in the first six months of the year, an outflow that the Trump administration has largely celebrated as a vindication of its push to cut immigration as part of efforts to strengthen the local job market and address domestic political concerns.

Yet the costs for the US could be considerable, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman warned: Because undocumented migrants are concentrated in industries such as agriculture, construction, and elderly care, a sudden loss of labor could hammer individual sectors, which will ultimately “make Native-American born substantially worse off.”

8.Don’t like joining in? Why it could be your superpower: The Guardian

In The Guardian, Dr Rami Kaminski, a psychiatrist and author of The Gift of Not Belonging, writes that disliking group activities does not equal introversion or pathology; it can reflect a distinct trait — otroversion. It is centered on a lack of communal impulse and a different social orientation.

Otroverts may be outgoing, confident, and energized by deep, one-on-one engagement while feeling disconnected or lonely in crowds or ritualized group settings. In polarized times, otroverts’ focus on individuals rather than tribes, and their independence from collective positions, fosters creative problem-solving and reduces group-based animosity.

9.Should you use a standing desk? The Economist

The benefits are real, but seem to vary with age

‘The human body evolved to forage and hunt on the African savannahs, not to sit in a cubicle all day. The risks associated with sitting—from increased blood-sugar levels to greater odds of dying from cancer—lead many health authorities to warn against spending too much time doing so. The sit-to-stand desk is a popular way of helping people get upright. But how effective is it?

Several arguments are made in its favour. As standing makes the heart work harder, proponents say it improves cardiovascular health, enhances attention and reduces fatigue. Physiotherapists claim that standing also improves posture, reducing lower back pain. Some studies even suggest that standing workers report lower stress and greater happiness than sitters do.‘

Dozens of studies have been run on the potential health effects of sit-stand desks. A recent review, led by María Eugenia Visier-Alfonso at University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and published in bmc Public Health in May, selected 17 for examination. Dr Visier-Alfonso limited her analysis to those that looked mainly at university students.

Of the four studies that looked at mental health, three confirmed that sit-stand desk use reduced anxiety and improved mood. Of the four on back pain, however, only one revealed significant pain reduction among sit-stand desk users compared with control groups. The one study Dr Visier-Alfonso found that looked at the cardiovascular and metabolic benefits of sit-stand desks suggested that they do result in users having lower blood pressure. (The remainder mostly looked at academic outcomes, which were mixed.)

Studies conducted on more varied groups reach different conclusions. A general review of over 50 papers on sit-stand desk use, led by April Chambers at the University of Pittsburgh and published in Applied Ergonomics in 2019, found only weak evidence that their use improves cardiovascular health.

The heart rates of sit-stand desk users were 7.5-13.7 beats per minute faster on average than those of people at ordinary desks, indicating that they might be working harder. But the studies that examined the question found no notable differences in blood pressure or vo2 (the efficiency with which the body transports oxygen to the muscles).

Analysis of other health-related biomarkers, like glucose, insulin and cholesterol, were also no different in most studies. This suggested that the desks were not providing metabolic benefits that might, say, stave off diseases like type 2 diabetes. Improvements in levels of energy and attention among those who used sit-stand desks were similarly difficult to spot. What’s more, Dr Chambers found no evidence that their use influenced mood.

However, notable benefits did emerge in the area of lower-back pain. Of 17 papers that studied this question, eight revealed evidence that giving participants the option to stand significantly reduced their lower-back pain (the remaining nine showed no clear effect). This suggests that standing may help some people with this condition, an effect that may be more noticeable among people past university age.

So what is the aching desk jockey to do? Both reviews agree that no significant harm is associated with the use of sit-stand desks. And although some of the differences between their conclusions may stem from chance or sample size, it is also possible that different benefits accrue to users of different ages.

10.New Beatles ‘Anthology’ projects will be released this fall: AP News

Beatles fans will be feeling some “real love” for this: New content from the iconic bandis coming this fall on screen, in music and in print.

“The Beatles Anthology” will be returning “in its ultimate form,” according to a release issued Thursday.

The famed 1995 “Anthology” music documentary, recounting the band’s journey beginning with its Liverpool roots through to its explosive stardom, has been restored and remastered, and will feature a new, ninth episode. It will stream on Disney+ beginning November 26.

The ninth episode features behind-the-scenes footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr coming together in 1994-1995 to work on the series and “reflecting on their shared life as the Beatles.” Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin who died in 2016, has created new audio mixes for the majority of the featured music.