The President of Brazil, H.E. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva conferred upon Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Brazil’s highest national honour – "The Grand Collar of the National Order of the Southern Cross”.
Accepting the award, he noted that the honour was a tribute to the 1.4 billion people of India, and to the enduring bonds of friendship between India and Brazil.
He further stated that President Lula was the architect of India-Brazil Strategic Partnership, and the award was as much an honour to his untiring efforts to take the bilateral ties to greater heights.
Prime Minister underlined that the accolade would inspire the people of the two countries to further deepen their warm and friendly ties.
‘Nistar’, the first indigenously designed and constructed Diving Support Vessel, was delivered by Hindustan Shipyard Limited to the Indian Navy on 08 Jul 2025 at Visakhapatnam.
The warship has been designed and built as per classification rules of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).
The ship is highly specialised and can undertake Deep Sea Diving and Rescue Operations – a capability with select Navies across the globe.
The ship’s name, ‘Nistar’, originates from Sanskrit and means liberation, rescue or salvation. The ship, measuring 118 m with a tonnage of nearly 10,000 tons, is installed with state-of-the-art Diving Equipment and,
has the capability to undertake Deep Sea Saturation Diving up to 300 m depth. The ship also has a Side Diving Stage for undertaking Diving Operations up to 75 m depth.
The ship will also serve as the ‘Mother Ship’ for the Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV), to rescue and evacuate personnel, in case of an emergency in a submarine underwater.
The ship is equipped with a combination of Remotely Operated Vehicles to undertake Diver Monitoring and Salvage Operations up to a depth of 1000 m.
The delivery of Nistar, with nearly 75% indigenous content, is yet another milestone in the Indian Navy’s quest for indigenous construction and is in line with the GoI’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and the Make in India.
EU ministers gave the final green light on for Bulgaria to adopt the euro on January 1, 2026, making it the single currency area’s 21st member.
Bulgaria’s switch from the lev to the euro comes nearly 19 years after the country of 6.4 million people joined the European Union.
In adopting the legal texts necessary for the move, EU finance ministers officially set the euro at 1.95583 Bulgarian lev.
The green light comes as the euro has been gaining in value against the U.S. dollar as President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies shake trust in the U.S. currency.
Only 12 countries were part of the single currency area – including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Greece – when the first euro bills and coins were rolled out on January 1, 2002.
It gradually widened with Slovenia joining in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014 then Lithuania in 2015.
Croatia was the last country to join in 2023, bringing the total to 20.
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati's student, Sukanya Sonowal, has been selected as the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassador, a leadership position in the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network (CYPAN) Executive Committee.
CYPAN is a youth-led initiative that operates across 56 member nations to promote peace, respect, and understanding while
countering violent extremism.
A 4th-year student pursuing her B.Tech. in Biosciences and Bioengineering, Sonowal will serve as Lead - Communications & Public Relations for the 2025 - 2027 term.
Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors are selected based on their experience in peacebuilding, commitment to Commonwealth values, and understanding of relevant frameworks.
World number one Magnus Carlsen yet again proved he is the best in the world as he won the Super United Rapid and blitz chess tournament with a round to spare.
Carlsen ended the event with 22.5 points, 2.5 points ahead of American Wesley So who finished second while Gukesh eventually came third with 19.5.
Out of the 17,5000 USD prize pool Carlsen won 40,000, Wesley 30,000 and Gukesh won 25,000 with the fact that he proved his critics wrong by performing exceptionally. Gukesh ended the event on 19.5 points, half point ahead of Alireza Firouzja of France and Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland.
Mexico defeated the United States 2-1 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas to successfully defend their CONCACAF Gold Cup crown and capture their 10th title in a pulsating final that delivered drama from start to finish.
Mexico's victory secures back-to-back Gold Cup triumphs and brings them a record-extending 10th crown.
Mexico cranked up the pressure after the break and got the crucial second goal when Edson Alvarez powered home a header, though there was a nervous wait due to a VAR review for potential offside.
Mexico also won the CONCACAF Nations Championship, the Gold Cup's predecessor, three times.
The Kerala Fisheries department has awarded Kasaragod district the Fisheries department Excellence Award 2025, recognising its achievements in the fisheries sector under the Popular Fish Farming Project.
Kasaragod was adjudged the best district in the State, while two local fish farmers also securing awards in individual categories.
Ravi P.P. from Padanna won the second place in the Best Backwater Fish Seed Production Farmer category and Sea Pearl Aquafarm of Kumbala secured the third place for Best Innovative Fish Farming.
The awards are part of the annual State Farmer Awards, instituted to honour exceptional contributions in aquaculture across Kerala.
According to the district administration, the recognition comes as a result of efficient implementation of fisheries schemes at the grassroots level.
This latest accolade adds to Kasaragod’s growing list of State honours. The district had earlier won the Best District award in the Popular Fisheris Project Matsya Karshaka Award and,
the Best BMC award in the 2023 State Biodiversity Awards. Kasaragod’s District Panchayat BMS award also became the first in the country to declare a tree, flower and bird symbolising the district’s biodiversity.
International umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari died at the age of 41.
The international cricket community is in mourning following the news of the passing of international umpire Bismillah Jan Shinwari.
A member of the ICC International Panel of Umpires, Shinwari officiated in 25 ODIs and 21 T20Is, making his debut in international cricket in December 2017,
overseeing an ODI between Afghanistan and Ireland in Sharjah.
Mr. Jay Shah, ICC Chairman, mourned Bismillah’s death and expressed condolences to his family.
Markets regulator Sebi on Monday introduced a settlement scheme, commencing on June 16, for all stock brokers associated with certain algo platforms.
The scheme will conclude on September 16, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a statement.
This scheme aims to provide a settlement opportunity to stock brokers linked with specific algo platforms against whom proceedings have already been initiated by Sebi and are currently pending before any authority or forum like the Adjudicating Officer, Securities Appellate Tribunal, or the courts.
By availing of the benefits of this scheme, the concerned stock brokers may settle the proceedings and seek an expedited conclusion to their cases.
However, Sebi clarified that actions initiated against stock brokers, who choose not to avail this settlement opportunity, will continue in accordance with the law.
The scheme will commence on June 16, 2025, and end on September 16, 2025, (both days inclusive) or such other date as approved by the competent authority, Sebi said.
To assist stakeholders, Sebi said frequently asked questions related to the scheme will be made available on its website on June 16.
The NBFC and insurance segments are expected to perform better in the second half of FY26, supported by a friendlier regulatory environment and continued growth push from both regulators and the government, according to a report by Emkay Research.
Bangladesh now faces uncertainty as US President Donald Trump announced on Monday a new rate for Bangladeshi goods, 35 per cent – that was just a 2% reduction on his original announcement, 37%, to be effective from August 1.
In April, the US announced a 37% trade tariff on Bangladeshi goods, before placing a 90-day pause on imposing them to allow for negotiations,
to take place that runs out on July 9.
Trump announced a new rate for Bangladeshi that was just a 2% reduction on his original announcement – 35%, to be effective from August 1. But experts say the damage may have already been done, report UNB. The burden of this new reality is expected to fall mainly on Bangladesh’s garments sector,
where key competitor Vietnam have had its tariff slashed from 46% to just 20%. To secure that reduction, it dropped all tariffs on goods imported from the US (zero duties).
The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Stability Report (FSR), released on June 30, paints a broad picture of India’s finance sector, yet leaves readers with important questions about emerging risks that policymakers should not ignore.
