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Funeral held for Kerry Packer
MUMBAI: A funeral service for the late Australian media moghul Kerry Packer was held today on his rural New South Wales property, Ellerston.
A statement sent by the family said that at a brief service, they gave thanks for a life of courage and giving. “Kerry is now at peace.”
A hearse entered Ellerston property with only the immediate family around to bid their final farewell. With the media magnate’s passion for polo and intensely private nature well documented, Ellerston proved a fitting location to close the final chapter on Australia’s richest man, state media reports.
Battling many health ailments over long years, Packer died on Monday at his Sydney home of kidney failure. A public memorial service takes place next year.
Packer was Australia’s richest man – thought to be worth A$6.9billion (or nearly £3billion).- he had made success or lost money in many different businesses from television stations, magazines, films, cattle stations, engineering works, property and building, ski resorts, plantations, mines, chemicals and mineral water.
His empire meant a holding of 30 per cent in Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd.,(PBL) which operates Australia’s Channel Nine television network, publishes a bunch of magazines, and has interests in Australian casinos.
James Packer returned to work just 36 hours after his father’s death, and began the process of taking charge of the media and gaming giant at PBL. He is to face his first challenge with the Seven and Ten networks expected to counter Nine’s rights to broadcast AFL.
Kerry Packer had secured the $780 million deal for the Nine Network just days before his death. The new agreement, starting in 2007, dwarves the current $500 million, five-year agreement involving Nine, Ten and Foxtel.
Seven and Ten have until January 6 to match Nine’s five-year offer.
The PBL board have given their public support behind James and his charge of the company. Chief executive John Alexander said on on behalf of the board, “(James) has a very clear vision for the future development of the company which was enthusiastically supported by the board.”
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India’s AI Future Gets a Neural Kick-Off in Delhi
NDTV IND.AI Summit on 18 Feb 2026 to debate governance, ethics, and India’s big-tech ambitions.
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence is about to get a very Delhi welcome smart, spirited, and ready to out-think the room. On 18 February 2026, New Delhi plays host to the inaugural NDTV IND.AI Summit, a high-stakes pow-wow that promises to put India’s AI ambitions under the brightest spotlight yet. Billed as a deep dive into how artificial intelligence is already rewiring the nation’s economy, policy playbook, and strategic dreams, the one-day event is curated by NDTV in partnership with the Startup Policy Forum. At its core lies a single, sharp question: how do you unleash AI’s transformative power while keeping trust, equity, and sanity intact?
The guest list reads like a who’s-who of global AI heavyweights. Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak headlines a special session on AI in governance, sharing hard-won lessons on how the technology is reshaping statecraft and decision-making. Joining the fray are OpenAI’s Chris Lehane, UC Berkeley’s AI safety pioneer Stuart Russell, and Google’s James Manyika, voices that will anchor India firmly in the international conversation on accountability, risk, and cross-border cooperation.
Beyond the policy wonks, the Summit rolls up its sleeves for real-world impact. General Catalyst’s Hemant Taneja and other top-tier investors will unpack how AI is redrawing the rules of capital, innovation, and long-term value creation. Separate tracks will tackle AI’s footprint in workplaces, large-scale adoption, productivity shifts, evolving job roles, and organisational culture. India’s digital public infrastructure, often hailed as a global blueprint for inclusive tech gets its own spotlight, alongside a dedicated segment on AI sovereignty: what does true national control look like in a borderless tech universe?
NDTV CEO and editor-in-chief Rahul Kanwal framed the event’s bigger picture, “The IND.AI Summit is about the kind of future we are choosing to build. India has the scale, the talent, and the moral imagination to shape how AI serves society and this Summit is our way of bringing the most credible voices together to define that direction.”
In a world where AI chatter can feel abstract, the New Delhi gathering aims to ground the debate in India’s own story, one that ties cutting-edge innovation to public purpose, domestic priorities to global influence, and raw ambition to responsible stewardship. Whether you’re an algorithm enthusiast or just mildly curious about tomorrow’s headlines, this Summit is India signalling it’s not just catching the AI wave, it intends to help steer it.
