DIBRUGARH: A 14-member delegation from the Royal Thai Embassy, led by Minister Kiran Moongtin—an influential diplomat overseeing Thailand’s South Asian, Middle Eastern, and African Affairs Division—visited Dibrugarh on Thursday as part of an official tour to strengthen trade and tourism ties with Assam.

The visiting team engaged in a key discussion with officials from the Dibrugarh District Administration, the Industries and Commerce Department, and the Tourism Department. The meeting, held at the District Commissioner’s conference hall, also included representatives from the Tourist Guide Association, Tour Operators Association, and the Upper Assam Chambers of Commerce.

Welcoming the delegation, Dibrugarh Deputy Commissioner Bikram Kairi (IAS) termed the visit “historic” and expressed confidence in building enduring partnerships between Assam and Thailand.

Minister Moongtin highlighted the cultural linkages between Thailand and Assam, noting Dibrugarh’s unique reflection of Thai heritage and its potential as a hub for future cooperation in tourism and trade.

Tourism Directorate officials, including Joint Director Hriday Ranjan Das and Tourism Development Officers Manav Das and Nayanmoni Pamegam, were also present at the meeting.

The delegation concluded their visit with a tour of the Sri Sri Jagannath Temple, praising the spiritual ambiance and warm reception they received.

So far, this has been a pretty good year for startup acquisitions.

Acquirers made just over $100 billion worth of disclosed-price startup purchases 1 in the first half of 2025, per Crunchbase data. That’s a whopping 155% increase from the same period last year, showing buyers are increasingly willing to write big checks for sought-after companies.

Notably, roughly a third of this year’s total comes from a single deal: Google’s planned purchase of cybersecurity unicorn Wiz for a record-setting $32 billion. But there were other startups selling in multibillion-dollar acquisitions as well, including device designer Io and automation software provider Moveworks.

Dealmaking gets more frenetic

Deal count, meanwhile, has held steadier, with the number of announced acquisitions hovering in the mid-400s for the past three quarters. The number of M&A deals tends to be less influenced by market conditions, since buyers are inclined to go bargain hunting during down cycles and compete aggressively for hot companies during bullish ones.

Lately, the ambience leans more frenetic, particularly as pertains to AI. This was evidenced this past week, with the drama around AI coding provider Windsurf. The startup was about to sell to OpenAI for $3 billion until Google made a deal to hire its CEO and co-founder, Varun Mohan, and pay $2.4 billion for compensation and licensing.Then on Monday, AI startup Cognition announced it would acquire Windsurf.

AI was also the draw for the largest Q2 deal, OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Io, a design startup co-founded by Jony Ive and focused on AI-powered devices.

Even with all the excitement around AI, however, the majority of M&A spending this year hasn’t gone to the space. Per Crunchbase data, only around $15 million of disclosed-price acquisitions were for AI startups in the first half of this year. (However, that excludes Wiz, which isn’t classified as an artificial intelligence company but does list AI security as one of its focus areas.)

Biggest H1 M&A deals

So where is M&A spending concentrating?

To get a sense, we used Crunchbase data to aggregate a list of 13 of the largest acquisitions in the first half of this year.

As shown above, besides AI, enterprise software fared well. Top deals in the space include Moveworks’ $2.85 billion acquisition by ServiceNow, as well as accounts payable platform Melio’s $2.5 billion sale to Xero.

In the healthcare space, electronic health record software provider Modernizing Medicine delivered one of the biggest outcomes, selling a majority stake to private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group at a reported $5.3 billion valuation.

Smaller and stealthier deals add up

The vast majority of startup acquisitions don’t have a disclosed price. But they can add up.

Oftentimes, these deals involve large-cap acquirers and well-funded startups. Examples from 2025 include Stripe’s acquisition of crypto wallet startup Privy, Snap’s purchase of school scheduling app Saturn Technologies, and Zscaler’s acquisition of cloud security startup Red Canary,

It helps acquirers that, four years after the venture funding peak in 2021, there’s still a large pipeline of funded companies taking a serious look at exit options. If current trends continue, we should see a growing number of them accomplishing that goal through M&A.

Related Crunchbase queries:

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Illustration: Dom Guzman

A leopard was recently spotted near the iconic Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra on Tuesday, a rare and alarming sight that quickly went viral after being captured on video.

However, what drew even more attention was the behavior of the tourists who, instead of staying calm, started shouting loudly while filming the animal.

The big cat was seen calmly roaming near the heritage site when tourists began yelling.

Wildlife experts have repeatedly advised the public to stay quiet and avoid startling wild animals during such encounters, as loud reactions can provoke unpredictable behavior from the animal and create dangerous situations.

Other sightings in Pune

Forest officials have taken note of the incident and are currently on alert. Locals and visitors have been urged to remain cautious and follow safety protocols if they spot any wildlife in the area.

Authorities are also appealing to tourists to act responsibly when in or near forested areas, especially those close to wildlife habitats.

Meanwhile, locals near Pune’s historic Sinhagad Fort have reported multiple leopard sightings in recent weeks, sparking concern among residents of nearby villages. The forested areas surrounding the fort are known to be home to several wildlife species, but the growing presence of leopards near human settlements has heightened fears—even though no human attacks have been reported so far.

Pune district is increasingly being seen as a hotspot for leopard sightings, particularly around forested and hilly areas like Sinhagad Fort. With frequent reports of wild animal movement near human settlements, especially in villages such as Bhorwadi, Kalyan, and Ambed, locals are growing anxious about their safety and that of their livestock.

While no leopard attacks on humans have been reported yet, the rising number of sightings — often near cowsheds and temples — has prompted residents to demand swift intervention from forest officials. The situation underscores a growing need for better wildlife monitoring and human-animal conflict mitigation in the district.

Pune district is increasingly being seen as a hotspot for leopard sightings, particularly around forested and hilly areas like Sinhagad Fort. With frequent reports of wild animal movement near human settlements, especially in villages such as Bhorwadi, Kalyan, and Ambed, locals are growing anxious about their safety and that of their livestock.

While no leopard attacks on humans have been reported yet, the rising number of sightings — often near cowsheds and temples — has prompted residents to demand swift intervention from forest officials. The situation underscores a growing need for better wildlife monitoring and human-animal conflict mitigation in the district.