Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was conferred the national honour of Ghana - Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana - by the President of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama in recognition of his distinguished statesmanship and influential global leadership. Accepting the award on behalf of 1.4 billion Indians,
Prime Minister dedicated the honour to the aspirations of the youth of India, its cultural traditions and diversity, and to the historical ties between Ghana and India.
Prime Minister stated that the award further deepens the friendship between the two countries and places new responsibility on him to embrace and advance bilateral ties.
Shri Santosh Kumar Takhele has assumed the additional charge of Regional Executive Director (West-I) at NTPC Limited with effect from 30th June 2025.
He has served at various NTPC locations including Singrauli, WR-I HQ, Kanti, Farakka, and Corporate Centre – EOC, making significant contributions to each assignment.
Shri Takhele is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt. Ltd. (RGPPL) and will continue in this capacity alongside his new additional role.
His extensive experience and leadership are expected to further strengthen NTPC’s Western Region-I and drive performance excellence across the region.
Sahil Kini has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub(RBIH), a pivotal fintech subsidiary under the Reserve Bank of India. This appointment is seen as a strategic move to infuse fresh entrepreneurial energy and advanced product innovation into RBIH,
which has been at the forefront of driving technology-led transformation in the Indian financial sector. At RBIH, Kini succeeds Rajesh Bansal, who completed his five-year term in April 2025. Bansal, the inaugural CEO, was instrumental in launching RBIH’s flagship product, Frictionless Credit, which was showcased at the G20 summit and,
set a high benchmark for the organization’s impact. Following Bansal’s tenure, Rakesh Ranjan, Chief Digital Officer, served as interim CEO until Kini’s appointment.
An alumnus of IIT Madras, Kini was also a member of the core IndiaStack team, contributing to key product innovation and policy initiatives that have shaped India’s digital financial infrastructure.
Aadhar Housing Finance has received a credit rating upgrade from CARE Ratings, reflecting the company’s strong financial and operational performance in the fiscal year 2025. CARE has upgraded the rating for Aadhar Housing Finance’s long-term bank facilities and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to CARE AA+ from the earlier CARE AA, while maintaining a stable outlook.
This upgrade covers financial instruments worth approximately ₹1,928 crore, including NCDs, subordinate debt, and fixed deposits.
The rating revision comes on the back of consistent growth in Aadhar Housing Finance’s loan book, robust capital adequacy, and sound asset quality.
CARE Ratings’ decision to upgrade the rating signals a stable outlook with a low risk of downgrade in the near future. This positive development may also have a favorable impact on Aadhar Housing Finance’s market perception and share price performance.
The company promptly disclosed the rating upgrade to stock exchanges in compliance with SEBI regulations.
Overall, the CARE AA+ rating affirms Aadhar Housing Finance’s strong market position and its commitment to delivering sustainable growth and value to stakeholders in India’s affordable housing finance sector.
Kotak Alternate Asset Managers Limited has announced the appointment of Eshwar Karra as Deputy Managing Director, strengthening the firm’s leadership in the alternative investment space. This strategic move underscores Kotak Alts’ commitment to expanding its presence and driving growth in India’s dynamic alternative asset management sector.
Eshwar Karra brings over 20 years of experience with the Kotak Mahindra Group, making him a seasoned leader in financial services and alternative investments. Prior to this elevation, he served as Managing Partner at Kotak Alts, where he played a key role in developing the firm’s Private Credit strategy.
Meta has taken a decisive step to combat financial misinformation and protect investors in India by mandating SEBI registration verification for all securities and investment ads on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Effective July 31, 2025, this policy applies to all advertisers—whether based in India or abroad—targeting Indian users with investment-related content. Advertisers must submit valid SEBI registration details, with the verified SEBI number, organization name, and location displayed publicly on each ad, alongside mandatory disclaimers.
This transparency enables users to easily distinguish between regulated financial advice and unverified content, directly addressing the surge in scams and misleading promotions by unregistered advisors and so-called “finfluencers”.
The new rules have a global reach, covering all campaigns aimed at Indian audiences, regardless of the advertiser’s location.
For those exempt from SEBI registration, such as financial educators or trainers, Meta has introduced alternate verification pathways. Individuals must provide a government-issued ID, while organizations are required to upload business documents, ensuring that even educational content is traceable and accountable.
Ads focused solely on financial education or skill-building may not require SEBI verification, but alternate verification still applies.
Meta began rolling out the verification process on June 26, 2025, with full global availability expected by July 28, 2025.
Advertisers will have at least one month to comply once eligible, and ads published before July 31 do not require retroactive changes if the advertiser’s account is verified under the new system. Importantly, verification information will remain accessible in Meta’s Ad Library for up to seven years, supporting long-term transparency and regulatory oversight.
The Quad grouping has launched an initiative to ensure the availability of critical minerals under a broader goal to strengthen economic security amid concerns over China's coercive tactics, including price manipulation in the sector.
A readout of the meeting said the new initiative is an "ambitious expansion" of the Quad partnership to strengthen economic security and,
collective resilience by collaborating on securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains.
The decision on rolling out the "Quad Critical Minerals Initiative" was announced after a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the member nations of the grouping in the U.S. capital (July 1, 2025).
A fact-sheet unveiled at the end of the meeting said the Quad is expanding maritime law enforcement cooperation which will support efforts to curtail illicit maritime activity, including piracy, drug trafficking, infringements on border security, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
It aid the "Quad Critical Minerals Initiative" will strengthen cooperation on priorities such as securing and diversifying reliable supply chains, and electronic waste, critical minerals recovery and re-processing.
In a significant development for Indian sports, the Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) has announced its newly elected Governing Body after successful elections held at its headquarters in New Delhi.
Sudhanshu Mittal has been re-elected as the President, while Upkar Singh Virk is the new General Secretary.
The Governing Body also includes eight Vice Presidents, four Joint Secretaries, and 13 Executive Members. Athletes Ashwini Bipin Patil and Monika will represent the Athletes Commission. Currently played in 58 countries, Kho Kho aims to expand to 90 nations this year.
In Table Tennis, India’s Divyanshi Bhowmick has clinched gold in the U-15 Girls’ Singles at the 29th Asian Youth Championships in Tashkent, defeating China’s Zhu Qihi 4-2 in the final. The second seed, Divanshi, also secured a World Youth Championships berth with her victory. Earlier, she overcame China’s Liu Ziling in a gritty seven-game semifinal.
India ended the tournament with one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.
Meanwhile, top seeds Ankur Bhattacharyya and P.B. Abhinand exited the U-19 Boys’ Doubles after a surprise loss to unseeded Malaysians, despite leading 2-1, marking a missed medal opportunity.
UAE-based lender Mashreq announced that it has received in-principle approval (IPA) to open a new International Financial Services Centre Banking Unit (IBU) within the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
This makes the first UAE-based bank to have received the IPA from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), Mashreq said.
The upcoming branch is expected to go live by the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to all regulatory clearances, it said.
Mashreq has already secured UAE Central Bank and SEZ authority approvals, it said, adding that it is now in the final stages of obtaining the IFSCA full license.
The GIFT City branch will offer a suite of services, including foreign currency loans, trade finance solutions, and treasury and risk management products, it said.
Additionally, regulatory incentives such as Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) exemptions in the initial years will support competitive structuring of financial solutions, it said.
AU Small Finance Bank said it has appointed two independent directors and a number of senior executives across verticals.
The two independent directors are Nandkumar Saravade - a former IPS officer and an expert in cyber security, fraud risk and regulatory technology- and Jagajit Mangal Prasad, having an experience of over three decades in human capital strategy.
Besides, the bank has appointed Yogesh Jain as Chief Operating Officer, Vivek Tripathi as Chief Credit Officer and Dhavan Shah as Head (Commercial Banking).
Avinash Sharan has been elevated to Head (Branch Banking) and Arvind Butola as National Business Head (Credit Cards & Unsecured Loans), the bank said.
SBI chairman C S Setty said the country's largest lender is betting on digital tools and strategic tie-ups for sustaining and growing its market leadership.
The state-owned bank is streamlining operations, enhancing customer experience, and strengthening its people to build a future-ready organisation, Setty added.
The Reserve Bank of India has advised all banks to integrate the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator tool developed by the Department of Telecom to curb online fraudulent transactions, an official statement said.
Banks and financial institutions can use the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) in real time, which classifies mobile numbers based on their association with medium,
high or very high risk of financial fraud.
The data is collected from various sources, including reporting on the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C's) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), DoT's Chakshu platform, and Intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions.
Launched in May 2025 by DoT's Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU), the system's utility has already been demonstrated, with leading institutions like PhonePe, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Paytm, and India Post Payments Bank actively using the platform.
DoT called the RBI move a "watershed moment in the fight against cyber-enabled financial frauds" and,
testament to the power of inter-agency collaboration in safeguarding citizens in India's growing digital economy.
"It also underscores the strategic importance of automating data exchange between banks and DoT's DIP through API-based integration, enabling real-time responsiveness and continuous feedback to further refine the fraud risk models," the statement said.
