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The agreement was signed on Tuesday during the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, where External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks covering economic security, energy resilience and Indo-Pacific cooperation. The pact gives both countries a structured route to work together across the full minerals value chain, from exploration and extraction to refining and downstream industrial use.

Critical minerals and rare earth elements have become central to the global contest over clean-energy technologies, semiconductors, electric vehicles, defence systems, communications equipment and advanced manufacturing. For New Delhi, the agreement offers access to US capital, technology partnerships and supply-chain coordination at a time when domestic demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, copper and rare earth magnets is expected to rise sharply.

China’s dominance remains the main strategic driver behind the pact. Beijing controls a large share of global rare earth refining and magnet production, giving it leverage over industries that depend on high-performance permanent magnets, battery inputs and specialised industrial materials. Export restrictions and licensing measures imposed by China on select critical minerals have added urgency to efforts by major economies to diversify sourcing and processing.

New Delhi’s gains could come in several layers. The first is supply security. India’s electronics, defence, renewable energy and electric mobility sectors need stable access to minerals that are often mined in one region and processed in another. A bilateral framework with Washington can help identify viable projects, link producers with manufacturers and create longer-term offtake arrangements that reduce price and availability shocks.

The second benefit lies in processing. India has mineral-bearing resources, a large manufacturing base and expanding demand, but it lacks sufficient refining and separation capacity for several high-value critical minerals. Collaboration with US companies and research institutions could support technology transfer, pilot processing facilities, environmental safeguards and recycling systems. That is particularly important because rare earth value chains are not only about mining; separation, purification and magnet-making often determine strategic control.

A third advantage is financing. Critical mineral projects are capital-intensive, slow to develop and vulnerable to volatile prices. The new framework is expected to encourage coordinated investment, risk-sharing and policy support. For India, this could help attract patient capital into mineral exploration, processing parks, recycling ventures and specialised manufacturing units linked to batteries, magnets and electronics.

The agreement also fits into New Delhi’s wider industrial strategy. The government has launched auctions for critical mineral blocks, expanded exploration and moved to build partnerships with resource-rich countries. State-backed and private companies have shown growing interest in lithium, rare earths and battery materials, while domestic manufacturers are seeking greater localisation of supply chains for electric vehicles, solar power, wind equipment and semiconductors.

Washington’s interest is equally clear. The US wants trusted partners that can help build alternatives to China-centred mineral flows. India offers scale, engineering capacity, a large market and geopolitical alignment through the Quad. A stronger minerals partnership can also support US efforts to diversify clean-energy and defence supply chains beyond a narrow group of suppliers.

The pact follows earlier India-US cooperation in technology, defence, semiconductors and clean energy. It also complements Quad-level initiatives designed to strengthen supply chains and energy security across the Indo-Pacific. Australia brings mining strength, Japan brings advanced materials and manufacturing capacity, the US brings capital and technology, and India brings market scale and industrial ambition.

Challenges remain substantial. New mining and processing projects often face long approval timelines, environmental scrutiny, land acquisition issues and high upfront costs. Rare earth separation involves complex chemistry and waste management concerns. Recycling can reduce dependence on fresh extraction, but collection systems and processing capacity remain underdeveloped. India will also need a skilled workforce, stable regulation and clear pricing signals to convert diplomatic agreements into viable industrial projects.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the currency opened weaker than Monday’s close of 95.26, losing 17 paise as importers and oil companies stepped up dollar purchases. The fall interrupted a brief recovery in the previous session, when the rupee had gained ground after suspected Reserve Bank of India intervention and softer crude prices lifted sentiment.

Market participants said the rupee’s early weakness reflected a broader risk-off mood across Asia. Oil-sensitive currencies faced selling pressure as traders reassessed the likelihood of a quick diplomatic settlement between Washington and Tehran. The rupee, already vulnerable because of the country’s heavy dependence on imported crude, moved in line with regional peers as energy prices rebounded and the dollar drew support from safe-haven demand.

Brent crude moved sharply higher towards the $100-a-barrel mark after fresh military action involving Iran raised doubts over the durability of peace efforts. Higher oil prices typically increase demand for dollars from refiners and importers, widening pressure on the trade balance and adding to inflation risks. For a country that imports nearly nine-tenths of its crude requirement, each sustained rise in oil prices feeds directly into currency, bond and equity market expectations.

The Reserve Bank of India is expected to remain active in the foreign exchange market to prevent disorderly moves rather than defend a fixed level. State-run banks were seen selling dollars in earlier sessions, a pattern traders often associate with central bank intervention. The central bank has used spot and forward market tools through periods of sharp volatility, drawing on its foreign exchange reserves while seeking to preserve market stability.

Foreign exchange reserves remain substantial by global standards, though they have eased from their February peak amid currency management and valuation changes. The buffer gives policymakers room to smooth volatility, but it does not fully insulate the rupee from external shocks when oil prices, global yields and geopolitical risks move in the same direction.

The rupee’s trajectory now hinges on three immediate variables: the price of crude, the strength of the dollar and the credibility of diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. A sustained climb in oil would complicate the inflation outlook and increase pressure on the current account. A softer dollar or clearer signs of de-escalation could help the rupee recover some lost ground, particularly if portfolio flows stabilise.

Bond markets also reflected caution. The benchmark 10-year yield edged higher as traders priced in the risk that imported inflation could narrow the central bank’s room for policy easing. Money-market rates showed a firmer bias, with swap markets reassessing the path of interest rates ahead of the next monetary policy review.

Equity markets faced a parallel adjustment, with energy-sensitive sectors, import-heavy companies and businesses exposed to foreign currency costs attracting closer scrutiny. Exporters, especially technology and pharmaceutical firms, may gain a translation benefit from a weaker rupee, but broader market sentiment remains tied to oil, capital flows and global risk appetite.

The pressure on the currency comes at a delicate moment for policymakers. Retail inflation has moderated from earlier peaks, but fuel costs and a weaker exchange rate can quickly alter expectations if the move persists. A weaker rupee raises the landed cost of crude, fertilisers, electronics and other imported goods, while also increasing the rupee value of external debt servicing for firms without adequate hedges.

Companies with dollar liabilities are likely to increase hedging activity if volatility persists. Importers generally prefer to cover near-term exposures when oil and the dollar rise together, while exporters may stagger dollar sales in expectation of better rates. This tug of war often intensifies near month-end, when corporate demand for foreign currency rises.

The product, built around a personal AI assistant called Mona, is being positioned as a “local-first” alternative to cloud-based generative AI tools. Rather than routing most tasks through remote servers, MonoClaw runs large language models on a user’s own Apple hardware, with the company saying the approach is designed to keep sensitive memory, session history and credentials under the user’s direct control.

Sentimento Technologies Limited, the Hong Kong engineering studio behind the product, describes MonoClaw as the city’s first managed local AI runtime environment for professional users. Its launch comes as businesses move from experimental chatbot use towards agentic AI systems that can monitor workflows, draft responses, prepare reminders and act on user-approved instructions across multiple workplace channels.

Mona is designed to work as a digital secretary across email, WhatsApp, Telegram and calendar-linked tasks. The system can identify action items in messages, prepare reply drafts, generate morning briefings, track pending approvals, surface relevant documents before meetings and flag deadlines. The company says the product ships with 160 pre-bundled professional skills, covering both business administration and personal task management.

Billy Zuo, co-founder and chief executive of Sentimento Technologies, said the shift from manual software operation to autonomous AI execution marked a wider change in workplace computing. He said many businesses adopting cloud AI still face concerns over data leakage and unpredictable subscription costs, arguing that a local-first model gives companies greater control over sensitive information and spending.

MonoClaw’s pricing reflects that positioning. The permanent software licence is priced at HK$28,888, with an early-bird offer of HK$25,888. Users must also provide compatible Apple hardware, such as a Mac mini M4 or iMac M4, with the Mac mini starting at about HK$6,099. The company handles installation, workflow configuration and validation, with payment structured through a 40 per cent deposit and 60 per cent balance after final delivery and verification.

That model differs from many AI software products that rely on monthly subscriptions, metered token use or cloud-service plans. Sentimento is pitching MonoClaw as a capital investment rather than an operating expense, a message likely to appeal to smaller firms that want clearer budgeting and lower recurring software exposure. The trade-off is a higher upfront cost and a hardware dependency that may limit adoption among users who prefer device-neutral or fully cloud-hosted systems.

Privacy and auditability are central to the product’s commercial pitch. MonoClaw uses local contextual memory, local runtime profiles, secret redaction and explicit approval gates for higher-risk actions. Mona is designed to request confirmation through messaging channels before executing sensitive commands, data changes or external actions. That “human-in-the-loop” structure reflects a broader concern in the AI sector: agents that are powerful enough to automate work also need firm boundaries, logs and user control.

Hong Kong’s technology ecosystem has been moving in the same direction. AI agents, local foundation models and governed automation have become more prominent in policy, research and enterprise discussions, with public and academic initiatives focusing on authorisation, traceability and risk controls. MonoClaw enters this environment as a commercial product for office users rather than a research platform, but its design mirrors the same debate over whether AI agents can be useful without creating new privacy and operational risks.

The launch also underscores a changing competitive field for productivity software. Major global platforms are embedding AI assistants into office suites, browsers, customer-service tools and enterprise resource systems. MonoClaw’s advantage, if it gains traction, will lie in its local deployment, Hong Kong-specific setup and promise of cost predictability. Its challenge will be proving that a local Mac-based assistant can match the reliability, integrations and performance of cloud-backed rivals while remaining simple enough for non-technical users.

Energy and infrastructure concerns add another layer to the product’s appeal. Cloud AI workloads have intensified scrutiny of data-centre electricity demand, cooling requirements and network dependence. MonoClaw argues that routine tasks such as inbox triage, drafting, reminders and meeting preparation can be handled on Apple Silicon at desk level, reducing reliance on remote inference for every interaction. The system can still use filtered cloud subprocesses for selected workloads, meaning its privacy and cost benefits will depend on how users configure and supervise each workflow.

The aircraft, operating the Muscat–Kannur sector on May 15, was preparing for a night departure from Muscat International Airport when it became misaligned during take-off. Instead of tracking along the runway centreline, the aircraft moved along the right-side edge-light area and hit multiple lights before the crew rejected the take-off. The pilot acted after hearing a loud bang and receiving a cockpit alert.

No injuries were reported among passengers or crew. The aircraft stopped on the runway and was disabled after the impact, prompting evacuation and ground response procedures. The Boeing 737-800 has remained grounded in Muscat pending technical inspection, repairs and regulatory clearance.

The occurrence has been classified as an accident by Oman’s Air Accidents Investigation Sector, which has opened a probe into the sequence of events, crew actions, runway conditions, lighting environment and air traffic control communication. The investigation is expected to examine why the aircraft was not aligned with the runway centreline before take-off clearance was acted upon.

Flight IX-712 serves an important expatriate corridor between Oman and Kerala’s Kannur district, which has a large base of workers and families linked to the Gulf. The route is part of Air India Express’s wider West Asia network, where the airline operates high-frequency services catering mainly to price-sensitive passengers, migrant workers and family traffic.

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 737-800, a narrow-body model widely used for short- and medium-haul operations. The type is part of Air India Express’s core fleet and is configured for high-density international services. The 737-800 is regarded as a mature aircraft platform, but runway alignment events remain serious because they can expose aircraft to structural damage, tyre failure, hydraulic loss and runway obstruction risks during the most critical phase of flight.

Runway edge lights are designed to mark the lateral boundary of a runway, while centreline guidance helps crews maintain the correct track during take-off and landing, especially at night or in reduced visibility. Misidentification of lighting cues can become more hazardous during night operations, when visual references are narrower and cockpit workload is high. Investigators will assess whether lighting layout, crew situational awareness, taxi routing, clearance procedures or human factors contributed to the incident.

The hydraulic leak is a key technical concern because aircraft hydraulic systems power essential functions including flight controls, braking, landing gear and steering. A flat tyre during an aborted take-off also raises operational risk, as the aircraft must stop safely while managing heat, braking load and directional control. The crew’s decision to reject take-off after the bang and warning indication prevented the aircraft from becoming airborne with possible system damage.

The incident comes at a time of intensified scrutiny of airline operational discipline, runway safety and crew resource management across global aviation. Regulators have placed growing emphasis on runway incursion prevention, proper line-up procedures, cockpit cross-checking and visual confirmation before take-off. Airports and airlines are also under pressure to strengthen safety reporting systems so that operational errors are identified and corrected before they lead to more serious outcomes.

Air India Express, now operating under the Tata group’s aviation restructuring plan, has been expanding and consolidating its network as part of a broader integration of low-cost operations. The airline has a substantial presence on Gulf routes, where competition is intense and aircraft utilisation remains high. Any grounding of a narrow-body aircraft can disrupt schedules, especially on tightly planned international rotations.

Kannur International Airport has depended heavily on Gulf connectivity since its opening, with Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain forming core markets for the airport’s passenger flows. Services from Muscat are particularly significant for northern Kerala travellers, who often prefer direct flights over longer road journeys to airports in Kozhikode, Kochi or Mangaluru.

As Singapore CBD office rents rise for a fifth consecutive quarter and vacancy hits a record low, CoWorkSpace aims to shield members from rent increases that flex operators typically pass through.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 26 May 2026 – CoWorkSpace is conveniently located at 6 Raffles Quay #16-01, occupying an entire floor within the office tower and comprising more than 50 private suites designed for startups, SMEs, and established corporations across shipping, financial intermediaries, family offices, professional services, business consultancy, technology, and trade-related industries.

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About CoWorkSpace

CoWorkSpace is an owner-operated serviced office at 6 Raffles Quay #16-01 in Singapore’s Central Business District. The property offers over 50 private suites, giving startups, SMEs, and established corporations a prestigious address, fully sheltered access to Raffles Place and Downtown MRT stations, privacy, and flexible medium to long-term membership options. Industries served include shipping, financial intermediaries, family offices, professional services, business consultancy, technology, and trade-related industries. More information at CoWorkSpace Serviced Office.

By Nantoo Banerjee India’s economy is navigating severe stress. The impact of Persian Gulf war, high cost of imported crude oil, frequent upward adjustment of retail oil prices, rising commodity rates, soaring transportation costs, weakening Rupee and continuous exit of foreign portfolio investors (FPI) are posing a big challenge to the economy. The government appears […]

The article Rising Prices, Falling Rupee And FPI Exit Pose Big Challenge To Economy appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

The Tokyo-listed investment group has become one of the most closely watched proxies for AI demand after committing tens of billions of dollars to OpenAI and building exposure across chips, power infrastructure, robotics and data-centre supply chains. The latest rally extended a sharp two-session advance that added tens of billions of dollars to SoftBank’s market value, marking one of its strongest runs since the technology boom that first made the group a symbol of risk-taking capital.

Investor enthusiasm has been driven by two linked expectations. OpenAI is preparing for a confidential US initial public offering filing that could set up a listing as early as September, while SB Energy, a power and data-centre infrastructure company backed by SoftBank and OpenAI, has said it intends to confidentially file for a US IPO. Together, the developments have strengthened the market view that SoftBank’s private holdings may be moving closer to public-market price discovery.

SoftBank’s OpenAI position is the main driver of that reassessment. The group has invested $34.6bn in the ChatGPT maker since September 2024 and has agreed to make a further $30bn investment through SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Completion of those tranches would lift its cumulative investment to $64.6bn for an ownership interest of about 13 per cent. The preferred shares are designed to convert automatically into common shares if OpenAI completes an IPO or related listing transaction.

OpenAI’s valuation has become central to SoftBank’s investment case. The company was valued at $852bn in private markets and preliminary discussions around a listing have included the possibility of a valuation as high as $1tn. The company is also seeking to raise at least $60bn at the lower end of earlier discussions, reflecting the huge capital needs of frontier AI model development, data centres, chips and power supply.

The OpenAI bet has already reshaped SoftBank’s earnings profile. The group reported a sharp profit rebound, helped by valuation gains tied to OpenAI, and said cumulative gains on the investment had reached $45bn. Its annual profit of about ¥5tn was described by the company as the highest recorded by a Japanese company, underscoring how quickly Son’s AI strategy has altered investor perceptions after years of scrutiny over the Vision Fund’s uneven performance.

SB Energy has added another layer to the rally because its business sits at the intersection of AI and power infrastructure. Founded in 2019, the company develops large-scale energy and data-centre projects and has positioned itself to benefit from surging electricity demand linked to AI workloads. It has raised more than $18bn in project capital and has a portfolio of about 5 gigawatts of operating and under-construction energy assets.

The company’s January partnership with OpenAI under the Stargate initiative placed it inside a broader push to build AI and energy infrastructure in the United States. That has made SB Energy more than a conventional renewable power developer in the eyes of investors. Its appeal rests on the argument that AI expansion will require dedicated power generation, grid connections and purpose-built campuses capable of supporting high-density computing.

SoftBank’s rally has also been supported by strength in Arm Holdings, the UK chip designer in which the group holds a large stake. Arm remains a key public asset for SoftBank and is viewed as a beneficiary of AI-related semiconductor demand. Gains in Arm shares have helped reinforce confidence that SoftBank owns multiple assets tied to the same structural theme, rather than a single concentrated wager on OpenAI.

The optimism carries risks. OpenAI faces intensifying competition from Alphabet’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude and other model developers, while the cost of training and operating advanced AI systems continues to rise. Credit analysts have raised concerns that the size of SoftBank’s OpenAI commitment may affect liquidity and asset quality, particularly as the group uses loans, asset sales and financing backed by holdings such as Arm and SoftBank Corp. to fund its strategy.

SoftBank arranged a $40bn bridge loan in March and drew $20bn in April, largely for the OpenAI investment, while also repaying part of that borrowing. The group has sold stakes in holdings including Nvidia and T-Mobile, issued bonds and considered other financing options as it reallocates capital towards AI. Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto has said the group may also explore ways to use its OpenAI assets for financing if market conditions allow.

Recent Google search trends in Thailand show continued growth in interest for both asset classes. Gold trading-related searches such as “XAUUSD today” have consistently generated between 1,000 and 10,000 monthly searches over the past year, while cryptocurrency-related keywords including “crypto” have maintained similarly strong search volumes.

The trend is also reflected in internal traffic data from BrokersThai.com. Pages related to Forex brokers for gold trading generated more than 5,000 impressions over the last year, highlighting continued interest from Thai traders seeking reliable broker comparisons and trading cost information.

The data also reveals that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are no longer seen as just tools for quick gambling. Instead, users search for risk management, such as how to handle price drops and volatility, spike every time the stock market experiences volatility. This proves that traders are carefully weighing crypto risks against the steady safety of gold.

Justin Grossbard, CEO of BrokersThai.com, commented: “Thai traders are now interested in trading multiple assets, especially gold and Bitcoin, while paying more attention to trading costs and broker transparency. Many traders are carefully comparing spreads and execution speeds to reduce unnecessary trading costs as much as possible.”

The findings indicate that Thai retail traders are adapting to uncertain market conditions by conducting deeper research before making investment decisions. Rather than choosing between gold or Bitcoin, many traders are now using both together — relying on gold to help preserve capital while viewing Bitcoin as a long-term growth opportunity.

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