Archive: The Week

Sarvam AI co-founder and CEO Pratyush Kumar (also adjunct faculty at IIT Madras; previously co-founded AI4Bharat) spoke at Stanford on India's "golden decade," arguing that India's AI play is not about catching up to the US or China but about reaching 1.4B citizens at scale through a sovereign AI stack. Sarvam unveiled Sarvam Edge at the February IndiaAI Impact Summit; the Stanford talk lands the thesis with US-Indian tech audiences. Calendar note: Stanford India Conference 2026 ran May 10 · confirm if this is a separate event vs follow-on lecture.

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President Trump swears in Kevin Warsh as the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve at the White House on Friday May 22, succeeding Jerome Powell who served pro tempore after his term expired May 15. Warsh, a former Fed governor (2006-2011) and Trump's hand-picked nominee, was confirmed by the Senate 54-45 on May 13 · the closest Fed chair vote in the modern era. He inherits a complicated path: April CPI kicked higher, the Fed has held rates steady for two meetings, and markets are pricing aggressive easing under a chair Trump expects to deliver dovish cuts.

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The Pentagon released its second batch of declassified UFO/UAP files on Friday May 22, adding 50+ once-classified videos and documents to the rolling Presidential Unsealings and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE), hosted at war.gov/UFO. The May 8 first wave already opened 170+ files dating back to 1944, spanning Air Force mission reports, astronaut transcripts, witness accounts, and a newly public "star-shaped" object video. Trump ordered the rolling release in an executive directive earlier this year. The files do not suggest a government cover-up or evidence of extraterrestrial contact, but they are the most detailed public UAP record the US government has ever made available.

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DNI Tulsi Gabbard submitted her resignation to President Trump in an Oval Office meeting on Friday May 22, citing her husband Abraham Williams's diagnosis with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. Her last day at ODNI is expected to be June 30. Gabbard's tenure leaves a sharp footprint: she reduced the intelligence community's headcount, saved an estimated $700M per year, dismantled DEI programs across the IC, and declassified more than 500,000 pages of records including those tied to the Trump-Russia probe and the JFK and RFK assassinations. The exit creates the highest-profile vacancy in Trump's second-term cabinet.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the FAO Agricola Medal from Director-General Dr. Qu Dongyu at FAO headquarters in Rome on May 20, in recognition of his contribution to food security, sustainable agriculture and rural development. Modi is the second Indian PM to receive the honour, after Manmohan Singh in 2008. Modi dedicated the win to the "hard work" of India's farmers.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio makes his maiden India visit May 23 · 26 (stopping first at NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Helsingborg May 22). Itinerary: Kolkata to Agra to Jaipur to New Delhi. In Delhi he meets Quad counterparts (Australia, India, Japan), holds bilateral meetings on energy security, trade, defense, and attends a gala reception for the US 250th anniversary. Trump administration positioning India as a key energy-exports buyer ahead of the visit.

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Modi concluded a two-day official Italy visit on May 20, elevating bilateral ties to a "Special Strategic Partnership." The two PMs set a €20B trade target by 2029 and announced INNOVIT India · an innovation hub for joint start-up, university, talent-mobility and acceleration programs across fintech, healthcare, logistics, agritech, energy, and AI. Quantum, space and defence cooperation also expanded.

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The 3rd India-Nordic Summit in Oslo elevated ties to a Trusted Green Technology and Innovation Strategic Partnership covering blue/circular economy, digital infrastructure, climate action and energy security. India and Norway signed 12 bilateral agreements with a goal to double trade by 2030. King Harald V conferred Modi with Norway's highest civilian honour for foreigners. India and Sweden launched an India-Sweden Technology and AI Corridor.

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Rahul Gandhi addressed an Amethi public rally on May 20, calling PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah "traitors" and accusing them of selling out India's economic system "to Adani, Ambani and foreign interests." He attacked Modi's 5-nation tour as hypocritical against his earlier austerity ask. The political moment was undercut when Rahul incorrectly called Italian PM Meloni "Rashtrapati" (President) while trolling Modi's Parle Melody-toffee gesture.

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Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Friday May 22, received warmly by Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni at the airport reception. Pakistan's Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was in attendance, per Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The visit comes amid reports of a "near-final" US-Iran draft agreement, with Islamabad emerging as a behind-the-scenes mediator keeping indirect channels open. The agenda is expected to span US-Iran negotiations, regional peace and stability, and bilateral strategic matters, with Munir scheduled to meet senior Iranian leadership during the trip. The trip lands the same week Trump postponed a planned Iran strike at the Gulf's request.

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The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum announced (May 13) that it has added a vibrant red-and-blue sari belonging to ISRO scientist Nandini Harinath · worn the day Mangalyaan left Earth orbit en route to Mars · to its collection. The museum calls her one of India's "Rocket Women"; she was deputy operations director of Mangalyaan, India's first Mars mission and the first nation to reach Mars on its first try (2014, fourth nation overall). A cultural-artifact-meets-mainstream-museum moment: scientific ambition + sari iconography on the National Mall.

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Pooja Bavishi's Brooklyn-born Malai (saffron, masala chai, cardamom, ginger, rose petal ice creams) officially opened its Manhattan flagship at 9 Christopher Street in the West Village on Saturday May 9, with crowd-around-the-block scenes carrying through this week (Lavina Melwani amplified on LinkedIn). Hours Sun-Thu 12 · 10pm, Fri-Sat 12 · 11pm. Founder is a Chopped Sweets winner; brand reportedly does $2.8M/yr revenue. Diaspora-food NYC milestone · Brooklyn to Manhattan, the canonical New York ascent.

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Consulate General of India in New York hosts a Festival of Tea on May 23 and May 24 · calendar/cultural event in Manhattan. (Program details to confirm with consulate comms; check social handles for line-up of brands, demos, tastings, and any cookbook/brand crossovers.) On-brand for a Chai issue · name does the work. Pair with Malai West Village in the NYC food cluster.

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is expected to walk the Cannes 2026 red carpet at the closing ceremony on May 23, marking 24 years since her 2002 debut. L'Oréal Paris reps continue to tease; AI-reimagined looks going viral. Cannes 79th edition closes May 23 with the Palme d'Or under jury president Park Chan-wook.

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Former Google SVP of Search Amit Singhal and Shilpa Singhal marked the 10th anniversary of Sitare Foundation with a candid LinkedIn reckoning of what worked and what didn't. After selecting 672 brilliant underprivileged students into their school program and seeing only 5 clear the JEE/NEET/CLAT top-1% wall, the couple pivoted in 2022 to build Sitare University · a fully scholarship-based private institution that bridges schooling to profession themselves. The first cohort graduated last month: 23 of 24 students, 95% placed, average salary ₹10.57 lakh, max ₹53 lakh. The students come from families earning ₹85,000 a year · a 10x to 60x lift in one generation. The Singhals are now rethinking the curriculum for an AI-defined software industry and are open to co-op placements, faculty, and student referrals.

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Indienne, the Michelin-starred Indian tasting-menu restaurant from Chicago, opens its 34-seat Hudson Yards outpost on May 28 at 515 West 38th Street inside Henry Hall. Chef Sujan Sarkar's NYC debut runs dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m., last reservations at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The Chicago original earned a Michelin star within its first year (2022) and landed on Best New Restaurant lists at Esquire and Bon Appétit. Indienne is the first of three Sarkar concepts inside Henry Hall · a British-Indian chophouse called Elder and a cocktail bar called Apas are also in the works.

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Netflix dropped Desi Bling on May 20 · a glamorous reality series following wealthy Indian expats in Dubai, the Indian spin-off of the streamer's hit Dubai Bling franchise. The cast includes Karan Kundrra, Tejasswi Prakash, Rizwan Sajan, Satish Sanpal, and Pamela Serena. The show centers on lavish lifestyles, family businesses, and intra-circle social drama, and is already trending across Instagram, X, and short-video platforms. Reviewers point to the wealth-plus-couple-dynamics-plus-Dubai formula as the engine for diaspora binge appeal, with the show reaching Indian reality fans who follow celebrity couples and fashion content.

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