India and the European Union (EU) have launched two major research and innovation initiatives under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The TTC was established in 2022, by Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen to strengthen the bilateral partnership on trade and technology.
With a joint investment of ₹391 crore (~ €41 million), the initiatives focus on two coordinated calls in the areas of Marine Plastic Litter (MPL) and Waste to Green Hydrogen (W2GH), co-funded by Horizon Europe—the EU’s research and innovation framework programme—and the Government of India.
Anurag Bhushan, a senior Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed as India’s next Ambassador to Sweden, the Ministry of External Affairs announced.
Currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr Bhushan is expected to assume his new responsibilities in Stockholm shortly, according to an official statement.
Mr Bhushan belongs to the 1995 batch of the Indian Foreign Service and has held a range of diplomatic and administrative roles during his nearly three-decade-long career. His new appointment comes at a time of increasingly robust cooperation between India and Sweden across several domains, including trade, innovation, and environmental sustainability.
Tamil Nadu’s L. R. Srihari became India’s latest and 86th Grandmaster. The Chennai-based player, who had crossed the 2500 Elo rating (live) last May at the Dubai Open, got his first GM norm at the Sixdays Budapest GM Round-Robin in August 2023 and the second at the 2023 Qatar Masters.
For one year and nearly nine tournaments, Srihari struggled to get the final GM norm before he gained it in the ongoing Asian individual championships in Al-Ain (Abu Dhabi).
China is restructuring its military education system to strengthen its ongoing defence modernisation efforts. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has set up three new academies to serve its latest service branches — the Information Support Force (ISF) and the Joint Logistics Support Force (JLSF), South China.
India's economic growth forecast for 2025 has been revised downward to 6.3 percent, and despite a projected moderation, the country remains one of the fastest-growing large economies, supported by resilient consumption and government spending, the United Nations has said.
The UN launched a report titled 'The World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2025'.
India remains one of the fastest growing large economies, driven by strong private consumption and public investment, even as growth projections have been lowered to 6.3 percent in 2025, Ingo Pitterle, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Global Economic Monitoring Branch,
Economic Analysis and Policy Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said at a press briefing here.
The report said the global economy is at a precarious juncture, marked by heightened trade tensions and elevated policy uncertainty.
India's major ports registered a 4.3 percent rise in cargo handling to 855 million tonnes in 2024-25, an official statement said. The increase in traffic was driven by higher container throughput (10 percent), fertiliser cargo handling (13 percent), POL cargo handling (3 percent), and handling of miscellaneous commodities (31 percent) compared to the previous fiscal year.
There are 12 major ports, wholly owned by the Government of India and governed by the provisions of the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021.
These are Deendayal Port, Mumbai Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mormugao Port, New Mangalore Port, Cochin Port, VO Chidambaranar Port, Chennai Port, Kamarajar Port, Visakhapatnam Port, Paradip Port and Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.
Among commodities handled at major ports, Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (POL)-including crude, petroleum products, and LPG/LNG-led the charts with a volume of 254.5 million tonnes (29.8 per cent), followed by container traffic at 193.5 million tonnes (22.6 per cent), coal at 186.6 million tonnes (21.8 per cent), and other cargo categories such as iron ore, pellets,
fertilizers, and more in FY 2024-25.
India’s first manned deep ocean mission ‘Samudrayaan’ into a 6,000-metre depth using the manned submersible vehicle ‘Matsya’ is expected to be launched by the end of 2026, National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) Director Balaji Ramakrishnan said.
Arun Shrivastava has taken charge as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Syndicate Bank, marking a significant leadership transition for the public sector lender. The government’s decision to appoint Shrivastava comes after a prolonged period of uncertainty,
following the arrest of the bank’s previous CMD, S K Jain, in a high-profile graft case that left the top post vacant for nearly nine months.
Shrivastava’s appointment is seen as a move to restore stability and confidence at Syndicate Bank, headquartered in Manipal, Karnataka. The bank, established in 1925, has a long legacy in Indian banking and a wide network of branches.
In a strategic move aimed at enhancing the banking experience for Indian businesses, HDFC Bank has unveiled its new range of ‘Biz+ Current Accounts’. This comprehensive suite of current accounts is crafted to meet the diverse and evolving financial requirements of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
The newly introduced Biz+ Current Accounts provide an array of bundled services designed to support businesses throughout their lifecycle—from setup and growth to expansion and diversification. These services include cash handling facilities, seamless digital banking platforms, and dedicated support from relationship managers.
The bank aims to integrate value-based offerings over transactional ones, addressing both business and personal banking needs through this launch.
Uttarakhand has secured funding worth Rs 1910 crore from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for urban infrastructure development, officials confirmed.
Agreement reached on projects worth Rs 1910 crore in the negotiations between the Government of India, Uttarakhand Government and European Investment Bank (EIB).
The proposed amount includes projects related to drinking water and sewerage in Pithoragarh and drinking water system in Sitarganj, Rudrapur and Kashipur, whose DPR (Detail Project Report) has already been prepared.
Program Director Chandresh Kumar said that availability of drinking water and sanitation services is very important in a border town like Pithoragarh.
The Reserve Bank said it has imposed penalties on Deutsche Bank AG, India and Yes Bank for non-compliance with certain regulatory norms.
A penalty of Rs 50 lakh has been imposed on Deutsche Bank AG, India for non-compliance with certain directions on 'Creation of a Central Repository of Large Common Exposures-Across Banks', the RBI said.
In another statement, it said a penalty of Rs 29.60 lakh has been imposed on Yes Bank for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on 'Financial Statements Presentation and Disclosures'.
In both cases, the RBI said the penalties are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their customers.
Further, imposition of monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the banks, it added.
Financial technology firm Zaggle said it has partnered with travel and expense solutions provider Mesh Payments to tap the global spend management market. Zaggle said that its association with Mesh Payments will enable Indian MNCs to manage global expenses across the US, Europe, and Latin America using Mesh's capabilities to issue corporate card in global market.
Mesh's global clients operating in India, through their GCCs, can leverage Zaggle's spend management ecosystem, including prepaid cards, forex cards and corporate credit cards, it added.
Zaggle founder and Executive Chairman Raj P Narayanam said the partnership with Mesh is a strategic move to extend the platform's leadership beyond borders.
