Technology is evolving faster than ever, and as it continuously changes, the world changes along with it. As we enter the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it is important for people to come together to ensure that such technologies are used to benefit mankind.The emerging technologies do not come without their risks. One of the major concerns for many is privacy. Controversies against Facebook in the past reveal that our data may not be so secure after all.

India would love to play “Big Brother” in a digital sense to ASEAN. The subcontinent wants to create digital villages in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. The first of these projects will be in Traing district in Takeo, Cambodia.“Traing district will be a testing ground,” said Im Vutha, spokesperson for the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia.

President Donald Trump’s moves to protect United States (US) trade interests are creating unusual bedfellows in Asia.India and China, longstanding economic and strategic rivals, are seeing a thaw in relations less than a year after the most serious border flare-up since a war in 1962 threatened ties between the two Asian giants.Since May, China has made it easier for India to export non-Basmati rice, removed import duties on anti-cancer drugs and agreed to share data that predicts river flows

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to continue improving ties between Asia’s most populous countries in a bilateral meeting on the side-lines of a summit in China.Xi was hosting leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the coastal city of Qingdao over the weekend.

United States (US) Defense Secretary James Mattis described India as the “fulcrum’’ of security in the Indo-Pacific region as he traveled this week to an annual security conference in Singapore, attended for the first time by an Indian leader.But if Mattis was hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would use the platform to join the US, Japan and Australia - a grouping known as the Quad - in a more muscular challenge to China’s regional expansion, he was disappointed.

The blue economy is a concept that applies to the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, as well as overall ocean ecosystem health. This concept was brought to the negotiating table when the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi visited his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo (fondly known as Jokowi) in Jakarta, recently. The relationship between these two countries is not talked about as often as the ties between other nations in Asia.

India’s rapid economic development is fuelling rising energy demand in the country. A recent report by financial holding company Nomura reveals that India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to show a 7.7 percent growth in the first quarter of the year, exceeding projections stated in other similar reports.

Located in north-eastern India, Assam is one of the fastest-growing states in the country, lying at the heart of India’s Act East Policy. Spread over 78,000 square kilometres, it is fast becoming India’s expressway to Southeast Asia.Due in part to its strategic location, Assam is now looking to attract investors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to fuel its development.

The relationship between India and China over the past two years has not been very smooth. The two countries have not seen eye-to-eye on several major issues. These issues range from China’s growing influence over the region through its infrastructure projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative, border disputes and more. When China launched its ambitious BRI project last year with various heads of state in attendance, India decided to boycott the event by not attending.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, as relations between the world’s two most-populous countries thaw after a tense border dispute last year.The “informal summit” between Xi and Modi will be held Friday and Saturday in Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday at a news conference with India External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.