16/02/26, AI is thinking, writing and calculating faster and cheaper than ever. With white-collar jobs at risk, are Science, Commerce or Humanities still safe bets?

Class 11 students are choosing streams in the middle of a silent revolution. Will the stream they choose today survive tomorrow's machine takeover?

In many households across India, the familiar anxiety of board exams has been replaced by a new worry. Parents scroll through headlines about artificial intelligence drafting legal contracts, analysing financial data and writing code.

Students overhear conversations about automation replacing office workers. The traditional debate about the streams, Science, Commerce and Humanities feels heavier, almost existential.

If algorithms or machines can perform entry-level white-collar tasks quickly and affordably, what are the students preparing for? And more urgently: which stream is truly 'safe' in the age of AI?

Is AI Replacing White-Collar Jobs?

The CEO of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, has warned in a recent interview that many white-collar jobs could be automated within the next 12-18 months. Law firms, accounting offices and corporate cubicles, once considered stable career destinations, suddenly seemed vulnerable.

Artificial intelligence, fuelled by billions of dollars of investment from companies such as Google, OpenAI and Microsoft, is rapidly advancing toward systems capable of handling complex professional tasks. For Class 11 students standing at the crossroads of stream selection, the implications feel immediate.

No Stream Is Outdated, But The Right Approach Matters

The pressing question for students is no longer, 'Which stream guarantees a job?' Instead, it is, 'Which skills will remain valuable even as AI evolves?' Niraj Harlalka, CEO of Eduberance Education Ventures Pvt Ltd in Ahmedabad, believes the fear surrounding streams becoming irrelevant is misplaced.

According to Harlalka, Science with Mathematics continues to offer strong pathways into data science, AI, robotics and engineering. Commerce with Mathematics opens doors to fintech, analytics and digital business.

The Humanities stream, often underestimated, is poised to gain importance in psychology, design, public policy and ethics, fields where human judgment plays a central role.

"In an AI-driven world, streams that combine analytical thinking with creativity and problem-solving will stay relevant," he explains. "The key is not just the stream, but the integration of digital literacy, critical thinking and adaptability within it."

Science: Beyond PCM and PCB

The Science stream has traditionally been viewed as the 'safe' option, particularly for students aiming for engineering or medicine. In the AI era, its relevance remains strong, but only when expanded beyond conventional boundaries.

Manish Mohta, Founder of Learning Spiral in Chhattisgarh, notes that Science, especially with Mathematics, leads naturally into engineering, data science, robotics, biotechnology and emerging AI-powered disciplines.

However, he cautions that simply enrolling in science is not enough. Students must build adaptability and interdisciplinary exposure. Coding, statistics, computational thinking and research skills are increasingly essential.

Commerce: Data-Driven Business For The Future

The Commerce stream is undergoing a quiet revolution. Finance, once dominated by manual accounting and spreadsheet management, is slowly getting linked with automation and analytics.

Harlalka describes Commerce with Mathematics as "powerful for fintech, analytics and digital business." The rise of financial technology companies and AI-powered investment tools means future accountants and analysts must understand both algorithms and numbers.

Tanya Singh, Dean of Academics at Noida International University, agrees. She says Commerce will always remain relevant when combined with finance, analytics and digital business skills.

Humanities: The Human Edge

For decades, many have unfairly labelled the Humanities as the 'less practical' stream. That perception is changing rapidly. Dean Tanya Singh highlights that the Humanities will become even more relevant in areas where human insight and understanding are essential.

Psychology, law, communication, public policy and ethics cannot be easily automated. Mohta agrees with this sentiment, stating that the Humanities hold strong value in areas where human judgment, ethics and creativity are central.

AI may analyse patterns, but it cannot replicate moral reasoning or cultural nuance. As organisations grapple with ethical AI deployment and policy frameworks, professionals trained in humanities disciplines may become crucial.

Entrepreneurship: The Most Chosen Career Option

The experts agree on one point: entrepreneurship is stream-agnostic. Harlalka explains that Science helps with product innovation, Commerce builds financial literacy, and Humanities develops communication and behavioural insight, all vital for founders.

"More important than stream are skills: problem-solving, financial literacy, digital fluency, data interpretation, design thinking and negotiation," he says.

Singh reinforces this view, adding that exposure to innovation projects, internships and entrepreneurial ideas matters more than being constrained within academic labels.
Mohta emphasises that founders in an AI-driven economy will be rewarded if they can identify real-world problems and use technology as a solution, not merely follow a trend.

Common Mistakes Students Make

Amid rising anxiety, students often make reactive decisions. "The most common mistake is choosing a stream based on trends, peer pressure or perceived salary rather than aptitude," Harlalka observes.

Many students, he notes, rush into Science assuming AI guarantees success without assessing their comfort with mathematics or analytical depth. Others avoid Humanities or Commerce, undervaluing their future potential.

Singh adds that some students choose streams out of fear that AI will eliminate jobs. "The fact is that AI will change jobs, not eliminate them, and learning and adaptability are more important than the stream label," she says.

Mohta highlights another misconception: believing traditional employment will disappear entirely, leaving only programming roles. In reality, AI will transform most professions rather than erase them.

AI vs Human Skills

One of the most important debates is not just about streams, but about skill balance. Students must become AI-literate, understanding data, automation and digital tools. Yet, as Harlalka explains, AI amplifies human skills rather than replaces them.

"Leadership, empathy, ethical reasoning, creativity and communication will differentiate individuals in the workforce," he says. "Machines process information; humans build trust, vision and culture."

Singh concurs, stressing that while it is necessary to understand AI, decision-making and responsibility remain human-centric. Mohta advises students to aim to become "AI-literate rather than AI-dependent."

Will Industries Shrink?

Automation will reshape certain sectors. Routine, process-driven roles in administration, basic accounting, customer support and repetitive IT services may shrink. Back-office operations and low-level data entry positions are especially vulnerable.

However, new roles are emerging in AI management, cybersecurity, digital consulting, sustainability, healthcare innovation and human-machine collaboration. Singh predicts growth in healthcare, education, sustainability, research and digital services. Mohta highlights AI management, digital strategy and cybersecurity as expanding areas.

The consistent advice across experts is clear: Build transferable skills. Critical thinking, communication, digital competence and continuous learning habits will allow students to pivot when industries evolve.

Practical Steps For Class 11 Students

For students standing at the crossroads of stream selection, experts recommend actionable steps:

• Build real-world projects and portfolios
• Learn how AI works, not just how to use it
• Take online courses in coding, analytics or digital design
• Seek internships or hands-on exposure early
• Develop soft skills such as communication and emotional intelligence

The future of work will likely be fluid. Career paths may shift multiple times over decades. Adaptability will become the ultimate safety net. Interestingly, not all tech leaders foresee mass unemployment.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has suggested that AI could create more jobs than it destroys, echoing historical patterns from previous technological revolutions. But even optimistic projections depend on societies investing in reskilling and education reform.

The narrative that AI is "coming for jobs" is partly true, but the reality is more complex. AI is not replacing entire professions but targeting tasks; it is redefining how work is structured, who performs it and what skills are valued.

For Class 11 students, the choice of stream still matters. Yet it is no longer a rigid track toward a single lifelong profession. It is the foundation of a flexible, evolving career where Science, Commerce and Humanities all remain viable.

As Manish Mohta puts it, "AI will transform jobs, not eliminate human potential. Students must aim to become AI-literate, not AI-dependent. Flexibility and lifelong learning will be their real career insurance."

For Class 11 students, the choice is no longer about picking the safest stream. It is about choosing a mindset, one that can survive and thrive in an AI-powered world.

source: News18

16/02/26, SENSEX index weekly chart

16/02/26, Dalal Street Investments Journal POSTMARKET REPORT

 The Indian equity markets staged a resilient recovery on Monday, with the BSE Sensex surging 650.39 points (0.79 per cent) to close at 83,277.15. Despite a cautious start that saw the index dip to an Intraday low of 82,276.95, the Nifty 50 also rebounded strongly, finishing 211.65 points (0.83 per cent) higher at 25,682.75.

Performance across the board was led by heavyweights, with Power Grid emerging as a top gainer, rising 4.45 per cent, followed closely by HDFC Bank, which climbed 2.2 per cent. The rally was further supported by outperformance in defensive and consumption-linked sectors. Indices such as FMCG, Pharma, Healthcare and Realty posted notable gains, signalling selective buying interest from investors even as the broader market displayed a mixed sectoral trend.

While defensive segments flourished, cyclical sectors like Auto, IT, Media and Metals faced downward pressure, reflecting a degree of profit-booking and cautious sentiment regarding near-term direction. Globally, the cues remained relatively stable with S&P 500 futures edging up slightly, providing a neutral to positive backdrop for the domestic recovery. This late-session surge highlights the market's ability to bounce back from opening lows amidst shifting investor priorities.

How Much Should You Invest Every Month? Click Here to Find Out

Market at 12:00 Noon

At mid-day on February 16, 2026, the Indian benchmark indices maintained a positive trajectory with the Sensex rising 145 points to 82,769, while the Nifty-50 climbed 0.22 per cent to reach the 25,525 level. This upward movement was largely bolstered by strength in energy and banking shares, even as the broader market showed signs of pressure with the Mid-Cap 50 and Small-Cap 100 indices edging lower. In the currency derivatives market, USD INR Futures for the February 25 expiry were trading at Rs 90.75, while the total market capitalisation of the Nifty-50 stood at Rs 464 lakh crore. Top Gainers for the session included Torrent Pharma, Kwality Walls and Power Grid, providing a necessary cushion against the volatility reflected in a slight 0.1 per cent rise in the India VIX.

In stark contrast to the general market gains, the IT sector faced a significant sell-off for the fourth consecutive session, with heavyweights like Infosys, Tech Mahindra and Wipro declining up to 2 per cent. Investors remained spooked by ongoing concerns regarding artificial intelligence-led disruptions, causing the Nifty IT index to slump approximately 1 per cent to 32,360.35. While Indian tech struggled, Australian markets saw a different trend, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising to 8,937.10 on the back of a massive 5.7 per cent surge in their technology sector. Meanwhile, across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 dipped 0.6 per cent as the market braced for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's upcoming policy meeting, where interest rates are widely expected to hold steady at 2.25 per cent.

NSE IPO Updates: The National Stock Exchange (NSE) faces a new hurdle as a petition in the Delhi High Court challenges SEBI's recent no-objection certificate. The plea, filed by a former judicial officer, alleges non-compliance with derivative adjustment frameworks and a lack of regulatory transparency. This legal battle over dividend adjustments and oversight could further stall the IPO, which has been pending since 2016 due to ongoing governance and technical scrutiny.

Opening Bell Update

At the 9:15 am opening bell, the Indian stock market kicked off in the red, with the Sensex dropping 146 points and the Nifty 50 declining by 0.2 per cent. This early slump was largely driven by weakness in major Tata Group stocks, specifically Tata Steel and Titan Company, which weighed heavily on the indices.

Market breadth skewed toward the bears as 1,625 stocks declined compared to 1,079 advances, while 215 remained unchanged. Interestingly, despite the downward pressure, 25 stocks managed to hit 52-week highs, though they were outnumbered by 70 stocks touching 52-week lows.

The broader market reflected similar cautious sentiment, with the BSE 150 Mid-Cap Index slipping 0.39 per cent and the BSE 250 Small-Cap Index trading down 0.38 per cent. While the overall mood was sombre, some buying interest emerged in specific names like Syngene International Ltd, Honeywell Automation India Ltd and Thermax Ltd, which led the gainers alongside TTK Prestige and Healthcare Global Enterprises.

On the flip side, significant selling pressure was seen in Top Losers such as Shakti Pumps (India) Ltd, Blue Jet Healthcare and Angel One Ltd, marking a volatile start to the session.

Pre Market Updates

Following a tough Friday where the Sensex and Nifty both slid over 1.25 per cent, the early signals suggest we aren't out of the woods just yet. With GIFT Nifty trading down over 100 points, brace yourselves for a gap-down start as the market digests heavy profit booking and lingering selling pressure, particularly from the IT sector.

Global cues are providing a mixed bag of energy this morning. While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones managed to scratch out tiny gains thanks to cooling inflation data, the tech-heavy Nasdaq took a hit as AI disruption fears continue to spook investors. Over in Asia, markets are looking relatively quiet and consolidated, hampered by weak economic data out of Japan and holiday-thinned trading volumes. It seems the world is in a "wait-and-see" mode.

On the domestic front, keep a sharp eye on the Healthcare sector today. Stocks like Piramal Pharma, Alkem, Natco and Zydus are under the microscope following a wave of USFDA approvals and observations. We also have plenty of corporate action to track with TCS, Religare and Ixigo making moves through fresh acquisitions and strategic developments. Meanwhile, the banking sector is buzzing about the RBI's upcoming margin rules, which will demand full collateral backing starting April 1.

Institutional activity shows a bit of a tug-of-war happening behind the scenes. On Friday, FIIs offloaded a significant Rs 7,395 crore, while DIIs tried to cushion the fall by picking up Rs 5,553 crore. Despite the recent selling, FIIs actually remain net buyers for the month of February so far. In the commodities space, gold has eased slightly to USD 5,014/oz as volatility hits leveraged bets, while crude oil remains steady with Brent hovering around USD 67.74. Stay sharp, watch those levels and remember that Sammaan Capital and SAIL are on the F&O ban list today!

Disclaimer: The article is for informational purposes only and not investment advice.

26/02/26, IT vs AI

 The $280-billion plus Indian IT services industry is in the midst of a structural upgrade as they navigate an artificial intelligence (AI) led reset in its businesses.

From Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) committing significant capital to build AI-ready data centre infrastructure and rehauling its business, to Infosys scaling its Topaz platform and LTIMindtree (now LTM) winning multi-year AI-led transformation deals through BlueVerse, the shift is already visible. HCLTech, too, is positioning itself to capture clients' AI-driven discretionary spending.

This transition has been in the works for at least over a year for most of these Tier-1 IT majors, and this is reflected in the steadfast belief Indian investors held in the past couple of weeks, even as the US-driven AI panic led to a stock rout.

TCS declared its ambition to become the world's largest AI-led technology services company during its Analyst Day in December 2025.

The company has identified five pillars of growth that include “driving an AI-first culture, refining services, reskilling the current workforce through learning paths, developing innovative cross-industry solutions, and expanding the AI ecosystem through M&A and venturing into new businesses,” an Axis Direct note said.

To this extent, in the October-December quarter alone, TCS had announced two mid-sized Salesforce acquisitions and launched a data centre-focused joint venture. In the third quarter, TCS acquired Salesforce consulting and AI solutions firm Coastal Cloud in a $700-million all-cash deal, and ListEngage MidCo in October for $72.8 million.

TCS currently plans to invest approximately $6.5 billion into building 1 GW of data centre capacity over the next five to seven years.

As of November, TCS said it will be investing $2 billion (Rs 18,000 crores) along with global alternate asset management firm TPG to fund its AI data centre business, HyperVault. The investment will happen in tranches over the next few years.

Moneycontrol had previously reported that TCS is in talks to sign up hyperscalers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, as anchor customers for its first data centre coming up in Navi Mumbai.

TCS' AI services now generate $1.8 billion in annualized revenue and are growing at 17.3% QoQ in constant currency. The Mumbai-headquartered IT major has worked on 5,000 AI projects to date.

“We remain steadfast in our ambition to become the world's largest AI-led technology services company, guided by a comprehensive five-pillar strategy. We are delivering accelerated value to our clients through strategic investments across the full AI stack, from infrastructure to intelligence,” TCS CEO and MD K Krithivasan said in January during the company's earnings conference.

Infosys' bestseller ‘Topaz'

“Until 2025, Infosys was experimenting with GenAI. From FY2026, the company has undertaken measures to scale GenAI both internally and with clients,” noted analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities.

Analysts expect Infosys to possibly lead in AI adoption in the medium to long term, although the company's management has yet to disclose its AI revenue, unlike TCS, Accenture, and HCLTech.

Infosys offers an AI suite of solutions and platforms, Topaz, and generative AI technologies. It brings the advantage of over 12,000 AI assets, 150-plus pretrained AI models, and 10-plus AI platforms.

Speaking to Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) last month, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said the Bengaluru-based company is seeing opportunities from AI, even as parts of traditional work come under pressure.

“We see some places where there's compression and some places where there's growth. And we see the growth a little bit more than what we see on the compression,” he said.

Parekh highlighted that AI is creating new service demand across software development, customer service, and modernisation of legacy applications, driven by increasing adoption of AI agents and broader use of different foundation models.

The company is also developing AI orchestration layers and infusing domain and client context on top of generic foundational models and AI agents.

HCLTech bets on ‘advanced AI'

HCLTech reported $146 million in advanced AI revenue for the December quarter of FY26 (Q3FY26).

The advanced AI business grew nearly 20 percent sequentially, even as overall company revenue rose 4.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in constant currency terms; making AI-led revenue opportunities critical for the overall growth.

HCLTech defines advanced AI revenue as work done across physical AI, robotics, agentic AI, data centres, and intellectual property, and excludes AI that is merely embedded within existing services or data and analytics engagements.

HCLTech offers the AI Force platform and the AI Foundry. AI Foundry is an enterprise-scale Data and AI managed services solution helping organisations to modernize data, simplify insights ,and scale AI responsibly. It bridges the gap between experimentation and production, with 50% faster time to production and 45% lower platform management costs.

CEO and MD C Vijayakumar expects discretionary spending will now come from emerging technologies and newer pockets, primarily driven by AI.

“I believe there is little value in waiting for either historical or anticipated discretionary spending to resume. Instead, the focus should be on opportunity, identifying proactively where the spending is occurring and targeting those opportunities,” he said during the company's earnings conference.

Wipro sees clients reshape priorities

Wipro executive chairman Rishad Premji recently weighed in on AI, saying Indian IT services companies are moving fast enough on AI and are not behind the curve.

Speaking at WEF, Premji said the complexity of the AI journey is in fact creating a broader opportunity for services firms to guide and execute adoption.

“And so that creates huge opportunities actually for services companies, all the way from helping a customer in terms of advising them on their journey of AI, helping them actually curate data, helping them leverage the curated data to fine-tune the models, helping identify the use cases,” he said.

Wipro too has been leveraging the platforms that it has built for use cases, to fine-tune AI models, to build out the agentic AI, to manage the use cases, to orchestrate it and to deliver it continuously, Premji said.

Wipro Chief Executive Officer Srinivas Pallia said AI has now become board level mandate led by CEO's, who see it as the lever to “unlock productivity” and create lasting competitive advantage.

Speaking at the company's earnings conference, Pallia noted that organisations are “reshaping priorities as AI influences how they plan, invest, and operate.”

Tech Mahindra's LLM push

Tech Mahindra has been the only Indian IT company to build its own large language model (LLM). It is currently a part of the IndiaAI Mission, developing an education-sector-focused sovereign LLM built on 8-billion parameters.

Prior to this, the Pune-headquartered IT firm was working on Project Indus to build its own 1-billion-parameter LLM when it decided to shift gears to participate in the IndiaAI Mission and repurpose the models.

Tech Mahindra CEO and MD Mohit Joshi emphasised AI being a key growth pillar for its strategy during its Q3 earnings conference, as customers are increasingly moving from pilots to scaled deployments – also ensuring quality and durability of revenue.

“We are seeing AI increasingly embedded across large enterprise engagements, driving business experience, process and operations transformation, IT build and change, as well as IT operations,” he said during an earnings call in January.

Joshi believes AI is bringing the IT services industry “back in the limelight” as clients have evolved to understand the need for data readiness and clean data for AI use cases.

“You need to make sure that your apps are simplified and modernised. Only then can you get AI and start that virtuous cycle. This means that a lot of the work that the industry is very good at, which is building out modern data stacks, simplifying applications, will come back in the limelight,” Joshi told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the WEF Davos in January

Report by Debangana Gosh for Network18

16/02/26, intraday news

Shares of BSE and   other capital market companies dropped between 2% and 9.5% on February 16 after the Reserve Bank of India tightened norms for bank lending to stock brokers and other market intermediaries.

On February 13, RBI issued revised norms on banks' lending to capital market participants, including higher collateral requirements for bank guarantees and a ban on lending for proprietary trading by brokers.

Jefferies said it sees BSE most affected by the new regulations on proprietary trading, which could result in a 10% earnings impact on the exchange operator.

The Reserve Bank of India's " new circular tightens banks' capital market exposures, and will raise costs for brokers and proprietary desks, curbing leverage and liquidity in derivatives, where proprietary trading drives 40% of futures and options turnover," said Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research at HDFC Securities.

Report by J. Jagsnath of Network18 

16/02/26, Market Report by Rakesh Patil of Network18

 Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty are likely to see a positive opening on February 16, following gains in GIFT Nifty, which was trading with a marginal gain at around 25,479

Indian benchmark indices extended their decline for a second consecutive session on February 13, weighed down by a sharp selloff in IT stocks on the third consecutive session amid rising concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence on the sector. The Nifty IT index tumbled 9 percent this week, witnessing the biggest weekly fall since April 2025.

At close, the Sensex was down 1,048.16 points or 1.25 percent at 82,626.76, and the Nifty was down 336.10 points or 1.30 percent at 25,471.10.

GIFT Nifty (Up)

The GIFT Nifty is trading marginally higher at around 25,479, indicating a flat to positive start for the day.

Asian Equities (Down)

Asian shares were quietly consolidating recent hefty gains on Monday as holidays made for thin trading, and dismal economic data out of Japan took some of the heat out of that booming market.

US Equities (Mixed)

The S&P 500 closed barely higher on Friday, supported by cooling inflation data, but the Nasdaq ended lower as heavyweight technology and communications services shares lost ground on nagging fears of disruption by artificial intelligence.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.95 points, or 0.10%, to 49,500.93, the S&P 500 gained 3.41 points, or 0.05%, to 6,836.17, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 50.48 points, or 0.22%, to 22,546.67.

Dollar Index (Up)

The dollar index was trading marginally higher against the basket of other currencies in the early trade on Monday.

Asian Currencies (Mixed)

Asian currencies traded on a mixed note in early Monday deals. The Japanese Yen emerged as the biggest loser in early trade; on the other hand, the Philippine Peso led the gainers.

Crude (Flat)

Oil prices were steady as investors digested a Reuters report that OPEC is leaning towards a resumption in oil output increases from April. Brent was flat at $67.74 a barrel, while U.S. crude barely budged at $62.87 per barrel.

Gold (Down)

Gold eased to USD 5,014 an ounce, having swung wildly in recent weeks as some investors were squeezed out of leveraged positions.

Fund Flow Action

On February 13, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹7395 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased equities worth ₹5553 crore.

Hope you're all set for today's trade. We wish you a profitable day ahead.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts  are their own and not those of the website or its management. We advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.