Finance

India Pushes to Seal Trade Deal with U.S. Before Year’s End

India hopes to finalize the first phase of a trade agreement with the United States by this autumn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday as she began a trip filled with bilateral engagements.

“Our engagement with the U.S. goes beyond reciprocal tariff matters—this is about deepening ties with our largest trading partner,” Sitharaman said while addressing members of the Indian diaspora in San Francisco.

Sitharaman is currently on a five-day visit to the United States, where she will participate in the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, as well as the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting, according to a statement from the Indian government.

Her itinerary also includes meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and officials from the United States Trade Representative’s office.

This visit comes during a crucial week of U.S.-India diplomatic activity focused on trade. India is pushing to finalize a trade deal swiftly to avoid potential steep U.S. tariffs, and to further strengthen ties with the Donald Trump administration.

Officials in New Delhi are aiming to reach an agreement within the 90-day freeze on tariff hikes announced by President Trump on April 9, which applies to major trading partners including India.

India’s lead negotiator, Rajesh Agrawal, is also expected to travel to the U.S. for three days starting Wednesday to help move talks forward, an Indian official said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance began his four-day trip to India on Monday. He is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review progress on bilateral priorities, following Modi’s February visit to Washington where he met with President Trump.

As part of the trade deal, India is reportedly willing to reduce tariffs on more than half of its U.S. imports, which totaled $41.8 billion in 2024.

TECH

Driven by His Son’s Illness, One Father Sparked a Breakthrough in AI Healthcare

Three months after Julián Isla’s son, Sergio, was born, a routine bath turned into a moment of terror—his tiny arms and legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and his body suddenly stiffened.

Panicked, Isla and his wife rushed their baby to the hospital, beginning what would become a grueling, months-long search for answers. They consulted doctor after doctor, enduring more than 10 months of uncertainty, mounting fear, and delayed treatment before finally receiving a diagnosis: Dravet syndrome—a rare and severe neurological disorder that typically affects young children.

Isla was determined that no other family should have to go through what they had endured.

“I couldn’t understand why technology wasn’t being used,” he recalls. “There was so much fear and uncertainty. We spent a lot of time and money seeing specialists, all for a diagnosis that could have come so much sooner.”

Sergio was initially misdiagnosed and treated incorrectly—leading to a day in which he suffered 20 seizures. Isla doesn’t blame the doctors. “He did what he could with the tools he had,” he says.

But as a software engineer at Microsoft in Madrid, Isla began to wonder if better tools could exist. He believed that artificial intelligence could transform the diagnostic process for rare diseases like Dravet syndrome—shortening the timeline from months to minutes, and sparing families from needless suffering.

CRYPTO

Crypto Caution Wasn’t Enough: One Investor’s Costly Loss

What started as a casual foray into cryptocurrency turned into a frustrating ordeal for Tzoni Raykov, who lost $1,500 due to what he describes as an administrative error—raising serious doubts about how the industry treats its users.

An oil engineer by profession, Raykov had been a loyal user of Revolut for years, mainly using its app to split bills with friends after meals or nights out. Transactions were simple, using conventional currencies like pounds or dollars.

But when Revolut began promoting its cryptocurrency services, Raykov decided to give them a try.

What he expected to be a routine crypto transfer ended in disappointment, leaving the Bulgarian national not only out of money but also deeply frustrated with the lack of support and safeguards in the system.

His story sheds light on a growing concern among crypto users: the absence of customer protections typically built into standard banking systems, many of which are legally required.

“When you’re treated like this, it feels like there’s nothing you can do,” he told BBC News. “You just feel powerless.”