New Delhi, Aug 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the fifth edition of SEMICON India 2026 on September 17 here as India seeks to accelerate the development of its domestic semiconductor ecosystem, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The three-day conference and exhibition — themed Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem — will be held between September 17 and September 19 and is being jointly organised by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) — under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) — and global industry association SEMI, the ministry said.

The event is expected to bring together policymakers, global semiconductor companies, industry executives, researchers, academics, start-ups and students to discuss developments across the semiconductor and electronics value chain.

In addition, the Centre recently approved Semicon 2.0 to strengthen the country’s semiconductor manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities.

The government said it is also supporting semiconductor research, innovation and design through access to advanced design tools for more than 332 academic institutions and 105 start-ups.

Moreover, 24 start-ups have been approved under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme.

However, India’s semiconductor ambitions have gained momentum under the Semicon India Programme with 12 projects approved under Semicon 1.0 to help build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, according to the ministry.

S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, said the 2026 edition comes at a significant stage in India’s semiconductor journey, noting that three of the 12 projects approved under Semicon 1.0 have commenced commercial production.

“The announcement of Semicon 2.0 with six major pillars further strengthens India’s commitment to build a robust and resilient semiconductor ecosystem,” he said.

Ajit Manocha, President and Chief Executive Officer of SEMI, said India is well positioned to expand its role in the global semiconductor industry through its talent pool, policy support and long-term vision.

Ashok Chandak, President of SEMI India and IESA, said the event reflects India’s efforts to build a comprehensive semiconductor value chain and has become a key platform for collaboration among industry leaders, policymakers, investors and researchers.

Additionally, the exhibition is expected to feature more than 500 exhibitors, including over 240 international companies, with delegations from more than 40 countries.

According to the ministry, the event will also include six country pavilions, 10 state government pavilions, a start-up pavilion, innovation showcase, start-up pitch competition, student hackathon and workforce development pavilion.

New Delhi, Aug 18: Israel expects two more rounds of negotiations with India on the proposed free trade agreement, with the two sides likely to have greater clarity on the pact by February 2027, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar said.

In an interaction with media, Azar said the second round of negotiations was held last month, following an agreement on the terms of reference reached at the end of last year.

“We expect to have two more rounds, one in October and probably the last one by February and I think that by then we will know exactly where we stand,” he said.

Asked about the potential benefits of the FTA for both countries, Azar said discussions have so far focused on traditional market access issues, but the negotiations also cover areas such as reciprocal buybacks and cooperation.

He said bridging the gap in market access could be challenging because Israel has already lowered its tariffs and the two markets differ considerably in size.

However, the Israeli envoy identified high-tech cooperation as an area with significant potential for expanding bilateral economic ties.

“The greatest potential, I think, lies in high-tech cooperation,” he told media.

Azar further noted that greater innovation cooperation between the two countries could encourage Israeli companies to operate more freely in the Indian market.

The envoy’s comments come amid efforts by India and Israel to deepen their economic and technology partnership.

Earlier in May, Azar highlighted six core values underpinning the bilateral relationship — civilisational resilience, the fight against terrorism, democratic values, innovation & competitiveness, religious tolerance, and inclusive development.

India and Israel share a special and unique relationship and stressed the need to translate their common values into greater cooperation and investment, according to his video shared on X.

Seoul: Youth employment has fallen sharply in sectors highly exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) technology since the emergence of generative AI chatbots, a central bank report showed on Tuesday.

Over the four-year period from June 2022 to June 2026, the number of jobs held by people aged 15 to 29 fell by 285,000, according to the report published by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Of the total decline, 268,000 jobs, or 94 percent, were in sectors highly exposed to AI, such as information technology (IT) services, publishing, computer programming and professional services, reports Yonhap news agency.

In contrast, the number of jobs held by people in their 50s rose by 230,000 over the same period, with 173,000 of the increase coming from AI-exposed sectors.

The report set 2022 as the starting point for the study, as ChatGPT was launched late that year.

By sector, youth employment fell 31.4 percent over the cited period in IT services, while it declined 27.4 percent in publishing, which includes software and web design professionals.

Youth employment decreased 16.6 percent in computer programming and 11.6 percent in professional services.

Unemployment rates by educational background also showed young people’s vulnerability to AI technology, the BOK report showed.

From 2019 to 2022, the average unemployment rate among young people with undergraduate or graduate degrees was 8.2 percent, compared with 8 percent for those who graduated from secondary school or junior college.

After 2022, the rates fell to 7 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, widening the gap to 1.6 percentage points.

The BOK said the country’s continued population decline may have contributed significantly to changes in youth employment over the period, while the advent of AI may have accelerated the trend.

“AI can increase the productivity of young people to a large extent. This also means they can be replaced by AI,” said Oh Sam-il, a researcher at the BOK’s research department. “However, we cannot say that AI is entirely behind the reduction in youth employment. Instead, AI is accelerating the trend of the diminishing career ladder for young people.”