In a major shift, India surpassed Japan to become the third-largest power in the Asia Power Index, reflecting its increasing geopolitical stature. This achievement is driven by India's dynamic growth, youthful population, and expanding economy, solidifying its position as a leading force in the region.
One of the most significant findings in the 2024 Asia Power Index is India’s steady rise in the regional power rankings. Witnessing a gradual rise, India is looking to achieve its full potential and exercise its influence in the region.
Key Factors Behind India’s Rise:
1. Economic Growth
2. Future Potential
3. Diplomatic Influence
Further, India’s large population and economic capabilities offer it substantial promise. India’s score in Cultural Influence has also remained relatively strong, underpinned by its global diaspora and cultural exports.
A country's overall power score is derived from a weighted average of these eight measures, encompassing 131 individual indicators.
A Women in Space Leadership Programme (WiSLP) was launched by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in collaboration with the British Council as part of the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).
The initiative focuses on supporting institutions in strengthening gender-inclusive practices to foster women’s leadership in space science.
by developing a strategic leadership framework. Coventry University is the delivery partner in this initiative.
Michael Houlgate, Deputy Director of the British Council India, emphasized the importance of collaboration in solving global challenges and called for increased representation of women in STEM fields.
The programme would involve building sustainable mentoring networks and enhancing scientific innovation by integrating a gender perspective into critical areas such as astrophysics and telecommunications.
Prof. Annapurni Subramaniyam, Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), encouraged women to engage early in the growing field of space science.
India scripted history as its men's and women's teams clinched their maiden gold medals in the 45th Chess Olympiad after beating their respective opponents in the final round. The men's team defeated Slovenia after D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanadhaa won their respective matches in the 11th and final round match.
The women's team beat Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5 to clinch the title. Indian men had earlier won two bronze -- in 2014 and 2022 -- in the tournament. Indian women had won a bronze in the 2022 edition in Chennai. World Championship challenger Gukesh and Arjun Erigaise yet again delivered in key games to help India secure its first title in the open category.
This year, at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the party took place on the evening of September 16. India's men's team, comprising D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna, triumphed over Slovenia to clinch the gold medal.
while Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev won their respective games to secure gold in the women’s competition.
Final standings of top 10 teams at FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024-
India (21)
USA (17)
Uzbekistan (17)
China (17)
Serbia (17)
Armenia (17)
Germany (16)
Azerbaijan (16)
Slovenia (16)
Spain (16)
Women-
India (19)
Kazakhstan (18)
USA (17)
Spain (17)
Armenia (17)
Georgia (17)
China (16)
Ukraine (16)
Poland (16)
Bulgaria (16)
In addition to winning the team championships, India also walked away with four individual gold medals as the tournament wrapped up in the Hungarian capital.
Indian tennis duo Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth won the doubles title in the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open 2024. They defeated the German pair of Constantine Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Expo Centre. The Indian duo staged a remarkable comeback to triumph 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-7, marking their first ATP title together as a pair.
For Jeevan, it ends a seven-year title drought, while for Vijay, this victory represents a career milestone as it is his first-ever ATP title.
Tata Steel successfully commissioned India's largest blast furnace at Kalinganagar, Odisha. With a total investment of Rs 27,000 crore, the Phase II expansion at Kalinganagar will take the total capacity at the site from 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 8 MTPA. The new facility was inaugurated by T. V. Narendran, CEO and Managing Director, of Tata Steel.
The new blast furnace will significantly boost the plant's overall production capabilities, allowing Tata Steel to meet the growing demands of various industries, including automotive, infrastructure, power, shipbuilding, and defence. It will also provide advantages in specific areas like oil & gas, lifting & excavation, and construction.
With the Phase II expansion, Odisha has emerged as the largest investment destination in India for Tata Steel, with a total cumulated investment of over Rs 100,000 crore in the last 10 years.
The new blast furnace, with a volume of 5,870 m3 , is equipped with state-of-the-art features for long campaign life and an eco-friendly design to optimise the steelmaking process.
The Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to enhance research on the use of Rubber Process Oils marketed by IOCL in various tyre and non-tyre rubber products. The MoU was signed by Jessy MD, Director in charge of RRII, and Anil Vasu, DGM (Lubes) at IOCL.
This collaboration aims to improve product performance and rubber processing across these applications.
According to a press release, the partnership reflects a shared commitment to drive innovations in rubber processing while addressing the growing global demand for environmentally sustainable industrial products.
The Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government approved a proposal to rename Pune's Lohegaon International Airport as “Jagadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj Pune International Airport”. The decision was made during a state cabinet meeting, and the proposal will be forwarded to the Centre.
The plan for the renaming was put forward by Union Minister of state for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, who is from Pune.
Sant Tukaram was a significant saint and spiritual poet of the Bhakti movement, born in Pune district.
Axis Bank, one of India’s major private sector banks, and Mastercard, a global payments technology firm, have forged a strategic partnership to introduce MyBiz, a premium business credit card intended specifically for single proprietors and small business owners. The new World Mastercard card combines a variety of business and travel perks,
to address the diversified demands of small and medium-sized business owners.
Along with premium advantages like airport lounge access and comprehensive travel insurance, MyBiz cardholders will be able to access a variety of business-related services like productivity, marketing, internet preparedness, security, and compliance via Mastercard Easy Savings Specials.
Decentro, India’s largest fintech infrastructure platform, has introduced eNACH & UPI AutoPay, intended to streamline and simplify the management of recurring payments for businesses. The company hopes to assist at least 100+ enterprises with integrating these modules over the next three months, addressing some of the most difficult obstacles,
that businesses encounter regarding recurring payments. The first partner bank for this new module is YES Bank.
The total addressable market (TAM) for recurring payments in India is around $800 million. Decentro‘s procedures and SOPs make it easier to secure utility codes for lenders, cutting integration time to less than a week,
and bank rejection rates during onboarding.
The integration process is 5X faster thanks to streamlined API documentation and the ability to use these functions immediately on the dashboard through a no-code approach, reducing the go-live timescale.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Single Window IT System (SWIT), developed by Dev Information Technology Limited (Dev IT), in Ahmedabad. This cutting-edge platform, created under the direction of the International Financial Services Centres Authority, aims to revolutionize how businesses establish operations in India’s International Financial Services Centres.
SWIT is designed to streamline bureaucratic processes, enhance transparency, and significantly reduce the time required for companies to set up within these specialized financial zones. The platform marks a major step forward in positioning India as a global financial hub by offering a more efficient and user-friendly process for businesses.
By delivering such a significant national project, Dev IT has strengthened its position as a leading provider of tailored digital transformation solutions.
The launch of SWIT is set to be a key growth driver for the company. It will align with India’s expanding IT services sector and bolster Dev IT’s leadership in the global IT landscape.
World Pharmacists Day on 25 September marks the anniversary of the inception of FIP in 1912 which was adopted by the FIP Council in 2009. As such, the World Pharmacists Day campaign is led by FIP every year, with the theme chosen by the FIP Bureau. In 2020, FIP also created World Pharmacy Week, extending the celebrations of the entire profession.
FIP, the leader of pharmacy at a global level, has existed for over a century, recognising the need to work across borders in order to improve health.
“Pharmacists: Meeting global health needs” is the theme of World Pharmacists Day on 25 September 2024.
Antyodaya Diwas 2024 will be observed on September 25, marking a significant day dedicated to remembering Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, a prominent Indian political leader and thinker. Celebrated annually, Antyodaya Diwas highlights the vision and mission of uplifting the last person in society, focusing on creating an inclusive India where no one is left behind.
Antyodaya Diwas was first observed in 2014, when the Government of India decided to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay as a day to honor his contributions to the upliftment of the marginalized. His philosophy of 'Antyodaya', meaning the rise of the last person, was centered on addressing the needs of the underprivileged sections of society.
Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), along with researchers of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has developed Light Weight Bullet Proof Jackets named ABHED (Advanced Ballistics for High Energy Defeat). The jackets have been developed at the DRDO Industry Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at IIT, Delhi.
These jackets have been created from polymers and indigenous boron carbide ceramic material. The design configuration is based on characterisation of various materials at high strain rates followed by appropriate modelling and simulation in collaboration with DRDO. The armour plates for the jackets have passed all necessary R&D trials as per the protocols.
The jackets meet the highest threat levels, and are lighter than the maximum weight limits stipulated in respective General Staff Qualitative Requirement of the Indian Army. With minimum possible weight of 8.2 kgs and 9.5 kgs for different BIS Levels, these modular-design jackets having front & rear armours provide 360o protection.
Quick commerce platform Zepto, for the second consecutive year, has been ranked first in LinkedIn Top Startups India List 2024 -- an annual ranking of emerging companies where professionals want to work.
The list draws insights from data based on the actions of more than 1 billion LinkedIn members globally.
It measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Zepto was followed by compliance firm Sprinto and cloud storage management platform Lucidity.
E-commerce platform GoKwik, conversation intelligence platform Convin, biofuel supply chain platform BiofuelCircle, and,
mental health platform MindPeers are also featured in the list.
"14 startups (out of 20) are new entrants in this year's list and several first-time categories like biofuel, compliance and mental health point to the diversity of career opportunities for professionals eyeing the world of startups" Nirajita Banerjee,Career Expert and Head of Editorial at LinkedIn India, said.
