Category Archives: Business

Skyscanner’s Smarter Summer report: 77% of Indians are confident to travel this summer

Nearly 9 in 10 Indians Are Planning or Have Booked Their Summer 2026 Holiday with Hidden Gems Topping Their Travel Wishlists

Indian Travellers Are Choosing Smarter Summer Holidays from offbeat destinations to flexible travel dates and last-minute bookings

Delhi, Apr 30: Despite a backdrop of uncertainty, summer travel is still on for many, with 77% of Indians confident about travelling in the next 3 months. In fact, nearly 9 in 10 Indians are planning or have already booked their Summer 2026 holiday. With only about 38% yet to book their summer holidays, but are actively looking, showing sustained desire for travel despite ongoing uncertainty.

However, planning is becoming increasingly complex. This evolving approach is being shaped by a few key considerations:

• Airfare trends, with nearly half of travellers (48%) factoring in fluctuating flight prices

• Overall trip value, as 45% weigh total travel costs more carefully

• Travel advisories, influencing decisions for 34% of travellers

• Operational disruptions, such as airport closures, are impacting 32% of plans

However, there are early signs of more informed planning, with 58% believing July offers cheaper flights compared to August, highlighting a growing awareness of when to travel for better value.

As travellers navigate these trade-offs, planning is becoming more dynamic than ever. Rather than locking in early, many are keeping an eye on price movements and exploring alternative destinations before committing

Neel Ghose, Travel and Destinations Expert, Skyscanner India, said, “Summer 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most intent-driven travel seasons we’ve seen in India, but what’s changing is how that intent is translating into action. Travellers are not stepping back; they are adapting within constraints. Instead of cancelling, they are staying flexible on where they go, with many willing to switch destinations in response to changing costs and conditions.

We’re also seeing a clear shift in mindset from ‘where everyone is going’ to ‘where else can I go’. This growing openness to alternative and lesser-known destinations signals a more confident and value-aware traveller, one who is more open to switching plans if it improves the overall experience. With these pressures shaping decisions, travellers are looking for smarter ways to unlock value without compromising on the trip. Tools like Skyscanner’s ‘Whole Month’ search are helping travellers make smarter decisions by making it easier to compare options, track fares, and identify better-value travel windows.”

Outsmart Travel Planning Hurdles

As travel intent remains strong, planning is becoming more dynamic. Rather than cancelling trips, travellers are increasingly adapting, switching destinations, adjusting timing, or rethinking how to get the most out of their travel budgets.

Features like Skyscanner’s Price Alerts are helping simplify these decisions by allowing travellers to track fare changes and book when prices are right.

Outsmart Destination Choices and Summer Crowds

This shift is already visible in destination choices and travel pattern:

• 81% are open to lesser-known destinations

• 60% are actively seeking quieter, less crowded places

• 9 in 10 say it is important that their holiday spend benefits local communities and small businesses

A significant behavioural shift is underway, as travellers move away from crowded hotspots towards more meaningful, offbeat and community-driven experiences.

[See the top most popular and cheapest destinations for Summer 2026 below in the appendix.]

Zostel, a hostel network available on Skyscanner, is already seeing this shift in action.

Aviral Gupta, CEO of Zostel and Zo World, said, “At Zostel, we’ve been watching this shift happen in real time. Offbeat destinations across our network grew 88% year-on-year, and a significant 60% of those guests were first-time travellers, many of them from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Smaller-town India is no longer just a backdrop for travel stories; it’s where the story begins. Partnering with Skyscanner on this report only reinforces what we see on the ground every day. The Indian traveller is smarter, bolder, and more curious than ever.”

Outsmart Flexible Travel Planning

While travel intent remains strong, flexibility is also reshaping how plans are executed. Although 58% of travellers have fixed travel dates due to work or school commitments, 30% are choosing to switch destinations rather than cancel trips, showing how adaptability is becoming central to travel planning.

As travellers balance fixed schedules with evolving preferences, the findings point to a clear shift towards more flexible, value-led decision-making, where being open to alternatives is becoming the defining factor in making summer travel plans work.

Outsmart Group Travel Planning Hurdles

Planning group summer holidays is known to be effortful. On average, Indians spend over 15 hours coordinating a group trip, with nearly half saying it is more stressful than major life events such as moving house or planning a wedding.

The biggest challenge often lies in aligning preferences, budgets and schedules, making group travel one of the most time-consuming parts of the journey. As a result, travellers are increasingly looking for ways to simplify decision-making and reduce friction when planning together. The Skyscanner app has multiple travel planning tools to help travellers compare options and find the best deals available.

Beyond Planning: The Emotional Side of Travel

But beyond the planning, travel remains an emotional experience shaped by the moments, sounds, and memories that stay with us long after the trip ends. Complementing these insights from the Smarter Summer Report, Skyscanner has also curated a summer soundtrack, in collaboration with musician and artist Mayur Jumani, created from familiar sounds of travel, from planes taking off to security check in, luggage trollies, and airport announcements, bringing the rhythm of the journey itself to life.

The campaign will be launched on Skyscanner India’s official Instagram on 1st May.

As always, travellers are encouraged to stay informed and keep up to date with local government travel advice before booking and compare live prices as they plan.

The Wall Street Journal’s The Future of Everything Returns to New York City

Participants include Filmmaker Ken Burns, IAC Chairman and Executive Barry Diller, Hedgeye Asset Management Portfolio Manager and Author Neil Howe, Kalshi Co-Founder and COO Luana Lopes Lara, Robinhood Co-Founder and CEO Vlad Tenev, Atlassian Williams F1 Team Principal James Vowles and more 

New York, NY [April 30, 2026] – The Wall Street Journal’s award-winning The Future of Everything event returns on May 4-5 at The Glasshouse in New York City.

Now in its eighth year, WSJ’s Future of Everything convenes an exclusive cohort of business titans and emerging leaders to debate and discuss the future of key industries, ranging from finance, technology and economic policy to sports, streaming and style.

Bringing the coverage of The Wall Street Journal to a live, in-person executive audience, event programming features rigorous interviews designed to provide insights from the experts on stage. This year’s event sessions will focus on key themes including the forces shaping business and technology, resilience in an AI-enabled world, strengthening organizations and careers amid economic and technological change and more. 

Participants at this year’s event include:

• Colin Angle | Co-Founder and CEO, Familiar Machines & Magic
• John Arnold | Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Arnold Ventures
• David Boone | CEO, The Michaels Companies
• Ken Burns | Filmmaker
• Lia Dean | President, Banking and Premium Products, Capital One
• Barry Diller | Chairman and Senior Executive, IAC
• Ariel Ekblaw | Founder, MIT Space Exploration Initiative; CEO, Aurelia Institute
• Joe Gebbia | U.S. Chief Design Officer; Co-Founder, Airbnb
• Neil Howe | Portfolio Manager, Hedgeye Asset Management; Co-Author, “The Fourth Turning”
• Gunjan Kedia | CEO, U.S. Bancorp
• Luana Lopes Lara | Co-Founder and COO, Kalshi
• Scott Mezvinsky | CEO, KFC Global
• Danny Rensch | Chief Chess Officer, Chess.com
• Kyla Scanlon | Financial and Economic Commentator, Educator and Content Creator
• Joanna Stern | Technology Journalist
• Vlad Tenev | Co-Founder and CEO, Robinhood
• James Vowles | Team Principal, Atlassian Williams F1 Team

The full list of speakers and program schedule can be found here. 

In addition to the programming at The Glasshouse, attendees will have access to hands-on demos, from the latest AI-powered products to technologies shaping the future. Attendees will have a firsthand look at an immersive showcase of groundbreaking products including:

• Clicks | Clicks Tech is a mobile company empowering people through purpose-built technology. After launching the Clicks Keyboard Case in 2024, Clicks has shipped over 150,000 keyboards for iPhone, Google Pixel and Motorola Razr, with customers in more than 100 countries. Introduced in 2026, Clicks Communicator and Clicks Power Keyboard enable people to cut through the noise and do more on the go. Founded by a team of creators and technologists with decades of experience at some of the world’s most well-known mobile brands.
• Dreamie | Dreamie by Ambient is a bedside companion designed to help you sleep better and break free from your phone. Built specifically to support better sleep habits, Dreamie takes an app-free approach to sleep tech by bringing light, sound, and podcasts into one seamless, distraction-free device. Between blue light, notifications, and endless scrolling, our devices are actively working against quality sleep. Dreamie changes that by eliminating the impulse to reach for your phone and creating a calmer, more intentional nighttime experience designed for real rest.
• Joyride | “No Junk. Less Sugar. All Joy.” Joyride is on a mission to change the way the world eats and experiences candy. With less sugar than the leading brands, no artificial colors, sweeteners, or preservatives and over two million followers on social media (@joyride), Joyride is growing and redefining what better-for-you candy tastes, looks and feels like.
• Neurable | Neurable Inc. is a Boston-based neurotechnology company specializing in developing AI-powered tools for brain signal translation and brain-computer interface technology (BCI). Powered by patented signal processing, developed through years of pioneering research across leading labs and institutions, and advanced by a leading scientific and expert product team, the Neurable AI platform enables high-performance brain-computer interface in everyday devices. Neurable is dedicated to creating a world where individuals can better understand their minds, optimize human performance, and conquer the most pressing health challenges of our generation. Earning validation from the US Air Force, the company continues to work with its licensing partnership network to make non-invasive BCI technology the standard in everyday devices across industries.
• SensVita | SensVita is making at-home monitoring effortless through a groundbreaking AI-powered, touchless health sensor platform. The revolutionary in-bed health monitor tracks patient health daily, generating critical health data beyond basic heart and breath rates, to manage aging patients without the need for user input. This consistent data enables SensVita to create a personal data layer and context for AI-driven proactive healthcare. For overburdened caregivers and a growing elderly population, SensVita’s  technology replaces missed symptoms and expensive outcomes with peace-of-mind and AI-assisted longevity.

Presenting sponsors of this year’s The Future of Everything are: Genspark AI, Google, HPE, NYU Langone Health, EY-Parthenon, Philip Morris International, Samsung and Veeam. Contributing sponsors are: Claude, PMG, Publicis Sapient, TIAA and Supporting sponsors are: Atlassian Rovo, The Glasshouse, Next Era Leaders and Spectrum Business. 

Humanscale Becomes the Most Decorated Brand in Category With Recent iF and Red Dot Award Wins

AD Ports Group and AZCON Holding Sign MoU to Explore Collaboration in Transport and Logistics Infrastructure in Azerbaijan

Abu Dhabi, UAE – 29 April 2026: AD Ports Group (ADX: ADPORTS), a leading global enabler of trade, industry and logistics solutions, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Azerbaijan Transport and Communications Holding (AZCON Holding) to explore strategic collaboration across ports, shipping, logistics, and digital trade solutions in Azerbaijan.

The MoU establishes a strategic framework for cooperation between the parties to explore investment opportunities and advance collaboration in integrated transport and logistics infrastructure, including maritime and digital solutions in Azerbaijan. 

The MoU signing was witnessed by His Excellency Saeed Bin Mubarak Al Hajeri, Minister of State at the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Yalchin Rafiyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan; in the presence of His Excellency Mohammed Al Blooshi, the UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan; His Excellency Elchin Baghirov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan to the UAE; and Shahin Babayev, Executive Director of AZCON Holding. The MoU was signed by Abdulaziz Zayed AlShamsi, Regional CEO of AD Ports Group; and Vugar Mirzazada, Deputy Executive Director of AZCON Holding. 

Abdulaziz Zayed AlShamsi, Regional CEO – AD Ports Group, said: “Our MoU with AZCON Holding marks a further step in advancing AD Ports Group’s corridor-focused strategy, strengthening trade links between Central Asia and Europe. Azerbaijan’s pivotal position bridging East and West offers strong opportunities, we look forward to leveraging our integrated capabilities across ports, maritime, logistics, and digital solutions to enable more efficient, connected, and commercially attractive trade routes.” 

Vugar Mirzazada, Deputy Executive Director of AZCON Holding, said: “This MoU with AD Ports Group marks an important step in exploring opportunities that can further strengthen Azerbaijan’s transport, trade and maritime ecosystem. As Azerbaijan continues to enhance its role as a strategic link between East and West, cooperation across port development, shipbuilding, logistics, digital integration and multimodal connectivity can contribute to the long-term growth and competitiveness of the national economy. We see strong potential in this collaboration to support trade facilitation, improve supply chain efficiency and reinforce Azerbaijan’s position as a key logistics hub.”

This collaboration comes as the UAE-Azerbaijan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) officially entered into force on 15 April 2026. The agreement will accelerate bilateral trade flows, create new opportunities for investments and joint-ventures, and enhance market access and global reach for exporters in both countries by eliminating or reducing tariffs on the majority of goods and services, in addition to enhancing private-sector collaboration and empowering entrepreneurs and SMEs.

The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade with Azerbaijan has already demonstrated robust growth, underscoring the strength and resilience of this bilateral relationship. Non-oil trade grew by 31.4% over the past two years to exceed $2.2 billion in 2025.

This collaboration also aligns with Azerbaijan’s improving economic outlook. According to Fitch Solutions’ BMI, real GDP growth is forecast to reach 2.5% in 2026, up from an estimated 1.4% in 2025, with improved domestic demand, investment activity and trade expected to support the recovery, reinforcing the importance of initiatives that enhance connectivity, trade facilitation and logistics efficiency.

The MoU complements AD Ports Group’s broader focus on Central Asia, where the Group is investing in logistics, port terminals, and shipping assets to strengthen connectivity along the Middle Corridor and support the movement of trade between Asia and Europe.

Eternal strengthens support for delivery partners as summer sets in

Apr 29: As temperatures rise across India, Eternal Group is doubling down on its commitment to delivery partner health and wellbeing, announcing new additions to its existing initiatives for delivery partners onboarded with Zomato and Blinkit. These measures build on the company’s ongoing efforts to ensure the health and wellbeing of the people powering its platforms. 

The company has strengthened its existing efforts and introduced additional measures, including:

• Insurance coverage: Delivery partners are covered under a broader health insurance programme that includes OPD coverage with reimbursement of up to ₹5,000, along with IPD/hospitalisation and day care coverage of up to ₹1 lakh. The programme also includes a personal accident insurance policy offering ₹10 lakh accidental death cover, as well as teleconsultations and online doctor consultations for partners, their spouse, and children. Premiums for these are fully borne by the company.
• Emergency and SOS support: In the event of a medical emergency, delivery partners can access ambulance services and 24×7 SOS support via the SOS button on the Zomato and Blinkit Delivery Partner apps.
• Predictions and insightful action: Through its weather-union system, the company closely tracks seasonal weather patterns across India and supports delivery partners with timely updates through relevant in-app communication on the respective Delivery Partner apps.
• Customer nudges: During extreme weather conditions, customers on the Zomato and Blinkit apps receive friendly reminders to consider offering a glass of water to their delivery partner. They are also nudged to consider tipping their delivery partners as a small gesture. 

Initiatives by Blinkit

• Rest points and hydration: Blinkit dark stores are being equipped for summer with pedestal fans, air coolers, benches, and water dispensers in place. Additionally, over 1.5 lakh glucose sachets are being distributed daily to delivery partners across dark stores through the summer.
• Doctor@store: Doctor@Store is a free doctor consultation and medical treatment service available to all delivery partners onboarded on Blinkit and their families. Previously available at select stores, it has now been expanded to cover 50% of all Blinkit dark stores (1.5 L+ total consultations provided so far), with further expansion underway. 

Initiatives by Zomato

• Rest Points: Through collaborations with restaurant partners, delivery partners onboarded on Zomato have access to 5,000+ rest points across India. These rest points offer water, shade, seating, and washroom facilities to help them take a break while waiting for orders to be prepared. Additionally, through strategic collaborations with TVS and Shell, delivery partners also have access to dedicated rest points at select service stations and fuel pumps. Designed to support the broader gig economy, these rest points are accessible to delivery partners across platforms, regardless of their association with Eternal.
• Cooling Gear: To help delivery partners stay safe and cool during peak summer, cooling gear is made available at subsidised rates through the Zomato Delivery Partner app. This includes a lightweight sunscreen jacket offering UPF 50+ protection, sun protection, and anti-tan benefits, designed for everyday outdoor use.

India Targets 500 GW Clean Energy Capacity by 2030: Piyush Goyal

New Delhi, Apr 29 (BNP): India has set an ambitious goal of achieving 500 GW of clean energy capacity by 2030, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said, highlighting the country’s strong performance in climate action.

Speaking at a climate resilience dialogue in New Delhi, Goyal said India has already met its earlier renewable energy targets ahead of schedule and continues to rank among the top performers globally in meeting its climate commitments under the G20 framework.

He noted that India’s solar energy capacity target, initially set at 20 GW, was significantly scaled up to 100 GW after 2014 and achieved within the planned timeframe, reflecting the country’s accelerated push toward clean energy expansion.

Goyal said India has evolved from being viewed as a cautious participant in global climate discussions to becoming a key leader, especially since the Paris COP21 agreement, where it played a significant role in building consensus among developed and developing nations.

He also pointed to India’s growing global economic engagement, with active trade discussions underway with several countries across regions including North America, the Middle East, Africa, and Eurasia. According to him, the world is increasingly recognising India’s growth potential and its expanding role in global trade partnerships.

The minister added that climate action in India is no longer seen as a burden but as an economic opportunity, with the renewable energy sector contributing to job creation, industrial growth, and export potential.

He highlighted major reforms in the power sector, including the development of a unified national grid, expansion of transmission infrastructure, and efforts to strengthen base-load capacity to support renewable integration.

Goyal also stressed the importance of collective action in addressing climate challenges, urging individuals and industries to adopt energy-efficient practices such as reducing consumption, improving efficiency, and supporting sustainable behaviour changes.

He said such combined efforts will be crucial not only for achieving climate goals but also for unlocking new economic opportunities in emerging sectors.

Adani Power Q4 Profit Rises 64 pc to Rs 4,271 Crore on Strong Efficiency Gains

Ahmedabad, Apr 29 (BNP): Adani Power Limited reported a strong 64% year-on-year jump in its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of FY26, reaching Rs 4,271 crore, supported by improved operational efficiency and lower tax expenses.

The company’s revenue rose 10% to Rs 15,989 crore, while EBITDA increased 27% to Rs 6,498 crore. Power sales volume also saw a marginal rise to 27.2 billion units, backed by steady long-term demand.

For the full year FY26, the company posted a net profit of Rs 12,971 crore, slightly higher than the previous year, with annual revenue at Rs 55,583 crore. Total power generation stood at 105 billion units.

Adani Power continued to expand its long-term portfolio, adding significant capacity tie-ups during the year and securing new long-term supply agreements, strengthening future revenue visibility.

The company said thermal power will remain crucial for grid stability as renewable energy capacity expands, while reaffirming its long-term growth and expansion plans.

UT MD Anderson Establishes Center for Cellular Language Intelligence with $10 Million Gift From Peggy and Carl Sewell

By Andréa Bolt

— Center will accelerate insights by integrating emerging technologies to understand cellular behaviors at unprecedented resolution

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced a $10 million gift from Peggy and Carl Sewell to establish the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence, a groundbreaking new research center created to understand the behavior of cancer cells at an unprecedented resolution, enabling earlier cancer detection, smarter prevention and more precise, personalized treatments. 

Cancer behaves as a dynamic ecosystem where tumor, immune and support cells constantly interact to influence behavior. The “language” of cancer refers to how individual cancer cells and neighboring normal cells organize, communicate, function and adapt across space and time. Using advanced spatial technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and clinical insights, the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will decipher this language to accelerate the translation of discoveries into advances that will improve patient care.

“This gift reflects the Sewells’ continued and enduring commitment to supporting our mission to end cancer,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of UT MD Anderson. “The Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will empower our teams to decode the fundamental mechanisms that shape cancer behavior, positioning UT MD Anderson at the forefront of a new frontier in cancer research that will have a truly extraordinary impact on advancing next-generation therapies.” 

The Sewells’ gift provides critical support for strategic recruitment, infrastructure, and cross-disciplinary capabilities needed to launch the center and establish a path for long-term success. These resources will help build the center’s scientific and operational foundation by bringing together top minds and leading technologies to deliver clinical meaningful advances. 

This support brings further momentum to UT MD Anderson’s $2.5 billion comprehensive philanthropic campaign,  Only Possible Here, The Campaign to End Cancer, and to the institution’s strategic focus on Breakthroughs. This historic effort already has raised more than $2 billion, accelerating progress in groundbreaking innovations and transformative advancements that define UT MD Anderson.

“We are grateful for the Sewells’ longstanding support of research at UT MD Anderson,” said Albert Koong, M.D., Ph.D., interim chief scientific officer. “This gift will accelerate the translation of discoveries into clinical trials that have the potential to change the treatment paradigm for cancer therapy for the benefit of our patients.”

Center will accelerate discovery by decoding the language of cancer

For decades, scientists have studied the genetic and molecular features of tumors, offering important but limited insights. Advances in spatial biology, functional genomics, big data, and AI are making it possible to study cancer at the individual cell level to understand how they are organized within tissues, how they interact with neighboring cells, and how those interactions shape disease progression and treatment response.

The Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will build on these advances to unlock the complex communications that govern tumor ecosystems. Its research will reveal the principles of cellular organization within tissues and identify signaling “hubs” and biological programs that influence cancer initiation, progression, and response to therapy. The center will be led by Linghua Wang, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genomic Medicine, associate member of the James P. Allison Institute™ and focus area co-lead with the Institute for Data Science in Oncology (IDSO).

Wang will position the center as an institutional hub, collaborating closely with UT MD Anderson’s leading research institutes, focused research programs, translational initiatives and the clinical research enterprise to connect enterprise breakthroughs across disciplines. By linking discovery, causal validation, and clinical translation within a single integrated framework, the center aims to accelerate the pace of discovery and deliver new therapeutic targets, predictive biomarkers, and prevention strategies for patients.  

“We are deeply grateful for this gift, which will allow us to build a first-in-class center at UT MD Anderson and an integrated hub for AI-driven discovery and translation,” said Wang. “This is an extraordinary moment in cancer research, as advances in spatial biology, functional genomics, big data, and AI are giving us the ability to decode cellular language in ways that were not possible before. We can now harness these tools to identify key drivers, biomarkers, and therapeutic targets and translate high-dimensional discoveries into actionable biological and clinical insights that can make a real difference for our patients.” 

Wang is an internationally recognized leader in single-cell and spatial biology, computational oncology, tumor cell plasticity and the tumor microenvironment. Her laboratory has developed computational tools and AI-enabled analytical frameworks and generated major discoveries that have advanced understanding of tumor-immune interactions, therapy response and resistance, and biomarker development. The Wang Laboratory already has generated impactful findings that are helping to shape new strategies for precision cancer care and therapeutic translation. 

A visionary investment from dedicated stewards of cancer research

For more than four decades, Peggy and Carl Sewell have dedicated their time, talent and leadership to advancing UT MD Anderson’s mission. Based in Dallas, the civic-minded couple have an extensive history of supporting charitable causes across the state and nation, many involving higher education and health care. Carl is the longtime chair of Sewell Automotive Companies, where Peggy also serves in the roles of officer and board member. The organization is a national leader in the automotive industry.

Peggy joined UT MD Anderson’s Board of Visitors in 1983, for which she serves as a Life Member, a recognition bestowed upon her in 2024 for her years of service to the institution. The Sewells’ support is further evident in the establishment of the Sewell Family Distinguished University Chair in honor of the institution’s Chief Scientific Officer. Peggy’s extensive participation across various committees, as well as the couple’s shared role in shaping some of the institution’s most successful fundraising initiatives, further underscores the immense and lasting impact of their support. 

“We’re honored we could help establish this new center given the tremendous opportunities for discovery, innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration it will support,” Peggy said. “At the convergence of UT MD Anderson’s existing institutes and strategic initiatives, the Center for Cellular Language Intelligence will accelerate advances in care and treatments, bringing us closer to a cure.”

Peggy has been one of the key driving forces behind A Conversation With a Living Legend®, helping propel the signature series to more than $61 million raised since its launch in 1990. Together with Carl, she has worked to cultivate strong engagement for the annual Making Cancer History® seminar series and summer programs in Aspen, Colorado. Their generosity has strengthened UT MD Anderson across numerous fronts, supporting biomedical imaging, research innovation and essential capital projects.

“UT MD Anderson stands for excellence in every way, and what’s happening there is going to change the world,” Carl said. “We are pleased to support such an impactful institution and this exciting center in its efforts to innovate cancer research.”

India–Kenya Bilateral Trade Grows 25 pc, Reaches USD 4.31 Billion in 2025–26

New Delhi, Apr 29 (BNP): India and Kenya have recorded a strong rise in bilateral trade, reflecting deepening economic engagement between the two countries.

Total trade reached USD 4.31 billion in 2025–26, marking an increase of 24.91% compared to USD 3.45 billion in 2024–25.

The growth highlights strengthening commercial ties and expanding trade flows across key sectors. India continues to be one of Kenya’s important trading partners, with both sides witnessing steady momentum in economic cooperation.

Officials indicated that the upward trend points to increasing opportunities for further diversification and long-term partnership between the two economies.

Air India Supports Hub-and-Spoke Model, Plans International Flights from Varanasi

New Delhi, Apr 29 (BNP): Air India has welcomed the government’s “hub-and-spoke” aviation model aimed at transforming India into a global aviation hub, while also announcing plans to introduce international routes from Varanasi under the new framework.

The airline said the initiative is a major step toward strengthening India’s aviation ecosystem, improving connectivity, and making better use of airport infrastructure across the country.

Air India’s CEO and Managing Director described the policy direction as a transformative move for the sector, crediting it with enhancing India’s position in global air travel and supporting long-term industry growth.

As part of its expansion strategy, the airline plans to connect Varanasi with international destinations, improving access for passengers from eastern Uttar Pradesh and nearby regions.

Officials associated with the airline said the model will help extend international connectivity beyond major metro cities, making global travel more accessible for passengers from smaller cities and emerging urban centres.

The hub-and-spoke approach is expected to shift India’s aviation landscape from a point-to-point system to a more integrated transit network, enabling smoother passenger movement between regional airports and international destinations.

Government officials have stated that the framework will also strengthen connectivity under regional aviation initiatives and reduce dependence on foreign transit hubs currently used by a large share of Indian international travellers.

The overall objective is to develop globally competitive aviation hubs within India and position the country as a major global air travel centre.