HTLS 2026: High parameter of success is a disadvantage in terms of nepotism, says Imtiaz Ali

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav, at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, spoke about the paper leaks in Uttar Pradesh.

He said that more than 20 paper leaks have occurred, adding that 69,000 students are still protesting over leaks and lack of jobs. "No efforts are being made to hear them out. Influence is reaching the courts to stop the protesters," he added.

Speaking about the seat-sharing numbers for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2027, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that his party has made up its mind on how many seats it will contest, adding that their goal is to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state this time.

He further said that Congress has sought to contest 181 seats in the UP polls.

Ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav said at the HT Leadership Summit 2026 that there is no change in his party's alliance with the Congress.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the "wise" voters in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya "ended BJP's communal politics," adding that they signalled to be prepared for a change.

In his opening remarks at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that rule and reality will change in Uttar Pradesh.

“If rule will change, reality will also change,” he said ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2027.

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav is in conversation with HT National Political Editor Sunetra Choudhury at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2026.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is up next at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2026

Speaking at Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Dr Steven Koonin stated that while human activities and infleunces have impacted climate change, he added that current data on climate change does not reflect any major changes as reported.

“The question is how climate responds to human influences, are we gonna see more storms, sea level rising more rapidly? The data does not show that,” he said

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Dr Steven Koonin stated that the globe has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius and a similar rise is expected over the next century.

Taking this into account, the Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution, Dr Koonin added that this projection gives him hope for the future.

“What gives me hope for the future is that since 1900, the globe has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius, and it is projected to warm up the same amount over the next century. In the last 120 years, as global temperature rose, popularity rose, lifespan rose to 70 years, GDP per capita has gone up by a factor of 7, literacy increased, and the death rate from extreme weather also went down,” he said.

Speaking regarding India's climate, Dr Steven Koonin stated that India has warmed over the last century and the monsoons in the country show no sing of a significant long term trend.

"You can see ups and downs that happen over many decades but long term it’s hard to see a trend," he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Koonin added that rising sea level is around India, is due to the sinking of the land rather than the rising of the seas.

He also added that there have been several deaths due to extreme weather conditions.,

"Chart from IMD shows only 35 deaths from heatwaves last year. Even if its undercount, remember there are about 9 million deaths a year in India and 180 million deaths a year from traffic from India," said Dr Koonin.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Dr Steven E Koonin, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, stated that India's climate has warmed by 0.68 degrees Celsius over the last century.

"That’s about two and a half times smaller than the average warming over the land or over the globe. You can see some acceleration in the warming over the last 20-30 years," he added further.

As per Dr Steven E Koonin, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, climate varies a lot on its own and one needs long, precise records to understand changing shifts in climate.

“What happens every given year is not about climate, it is only the averages over many years,” he added while speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Dr Steven E Koonin, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, stated that humans have been influencing climate change.

"Climate is changing, humans are influencing the change. Real question is - how severe will the change be? Media, politicians and the popular discussion overemphasise that. And the questions are what can we do about that, that has efficacy and is feasible within the capacities we have.

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata said that there is continuity in what happens in the Tata way.

"The owner cannot die, the owner cannot be brought and the owner cannot retire. There is continuity in what happens the Tata way," he stated.

Noel Tata further spoke about the public listing and said, "My worry is that listing, which is what some people are proposing, will change the Tata way. And one day, if we have 30,000-40,000 shareholders, profit may take precedence over philanthropy. And I think that will fundamentally change the Tata way of working."

"Tata Trusts will play a constructive role with regulators and others to try and find a solution which keeps the Tata way the way it is," he added.

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata said that in terms of governance, the group's strategic direction remains the same.

"Philanthropy on one hand. Nation building on other. This is independence of leadership and personalities and this will continue. I do not question the direction of what we have done. I question, sometimes, the delivery of what we are doing," he added.

"The question is, do we have the discipline when we execute projects, and not the direction? How will projects with a long gestation period succeed if we don’t have discipline? And how will we allocate capital to those projects?" Noel Tata explained.

He added, "So, very clearly, the direction is fine, but we also need discipline in the execution of these very large projects."

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata said, "So, we've been in a way partners in the development of India. And I'm so pleased to see today India is the first semi-conductor project that we're doing, the first battery, EV battery plant that we're putting up."

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, spoke about how he felt taking over the chairmanship of Tata Trusts.

He said he was first a trustee of the Trusts. "And when you become chairman, you delve far more deeply into the affairs of whether it's a company or a Trust, whatever you're doing," he added.

"One thing that struck me and gave me a lot of humility is the depth of the problems that some of our society have to face, and the enormous opportunity that existed to help the underserved in the country. That really struck me at first," Noel Tata said.

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata was asked about the absence of online commerce and advertisements for Zudio. He responding that the team had said the company would guarantee the quality of the product.

Suhel Seth then asked how many Zudio stores stand across the nation today, citing a figure tens of thousands. "Yes, indeed," Noel Tata responded.

Tata Trusts Noel N Tata spoke about the launch of Zudio at HT Leadership Summit 2026. He said there was an aspiration for something better at every level of it.

"It was not that this aspiration for better product was only in the top metros or with the wealthy. The aspiration went down all the way. So we said, how can we address in a way the bottom of the pyramid? So in 2016, we launched Zudio to address this bottom of the pyramid with an aspirational product," Noel Tata said.

He further said that the aspirational product was a 6,000 square foot store. "It was an air-conditioned store. It started off in metros. And we had a price point of ₹199 as a starting point from ₹999. And that was 2016. And till today, ten years later, the price points remain exactly the same."

Tata Trusts Chairman Noel N Tata, speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, mentioned Westside and how Tata became the first D2C business in India.

He said, "When we launched Westside - we took the more difficult decision. We said we will do private label which entails that you have to design the product yourself. It's your own brand. And therefore, we really became the first D2C business in India where we went all the way from fabric and we own the chain all the way to sending to our customers, where we had to live or die by the product that we put on the shelves. And it took us a while to get going. But we started and it was interesting that in the first few years we thought maybe a format like that just cannot coexist in India. Ten years later we thought 50, 60 stores, maybe India can take."

At the HT Leadership Summit 2026, Noel Tata said that in the last ten years, consumption has skyrocketed across India, across different socio-economic categories.

“But in the last ten years, consumption has just skyrocketed in India across different socio-economic categories to the point that today we are 320 odd stores and we are looking to see when we can reach 500 plus stores of Westside. So while we the team has done a fantastic job in addressing the opportunity, I think full credit has to go to the economy, to India, the way consumption is growing is incredible. It's growing across markets, right? There is no divide,” Noel Tata said.

At the HT Leadership Summit 2026, Noel Tata spoke about retail. He said Trent was really a pioneer in retail when Tata first started its store.

"There were only two other shops of significance in India. In fact, one of the shareholders asked us, 'Are you going to sell cutpiece?' And when we opened our first store, there was a lot of curiosity about retail in India," Noel Tata said.

For the fourth session, Tata Trusts Chairman Noel N Tata is in conversation with Suhel Seth, Managing Partner, Counselage India.

Today's artificial intelligence (AI) systems, which learn by imitating humans, may also be picking up the human instinct for "self-preservation", AI pioneer Stuart Russell said on Saturday at the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit

UC Berkeley Professor Stuart Russell, speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, said that China has stricter regulations on artificial intelligence in comparison to the US and Europe.

“We need international standards not just national standards. Many countries led by Norway and Finland issued a statement saying we need to have mandatory pre-release testing that if you fail, should not be allowed to release,” he said.