The Coca-Cola Company announced that Hemant Rupani will join Bangalore-based bottler Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) as chief executive officer, effective 8 September.
Rupani joins HCCB after a nine-year stint with Mondelez International and is currently serving as Mondelez’s business unit president for Southeast Asia, which includes Indonesia, the Philippines,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. He will succeed the current HCCB CEO, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, who is moving to a new opportunity within the Coca-Cola system.
Rupani will report to the HCCB board of directors.
He joined Mondelez in 2016 as director of sales for India.
As Tesla announced its foray into the Indian market, Liberty General Insurance and ACKO said they have become insurance partners for the American electric carmaker in India.
Liberty General Insurance said it has developed a suite of finely tuned protection plans that complement Tesla's engineering and performance excellence while,
while anticipating the distinct needs of EV users.
ACKO also said it has been selected as Tesla's "preferred insurance partner for the country".
In a statement, Zurich Kotak General Insurance said it has launched 'EV Protect', a comprehensive add-on cover within its car insurance product, Car Secure, for Indian electric vehicles (EVs), which covers Tesla among other EVs.
Fauja Singh, the iconic runner who earned the tag of world's oldest marathoner, died at the age of 114 in a road accident. He was born on April 1, 1911 in Beyas village, Jalandhar, Punjab.
Fauja Singh ran his first race, the London Marathon, in 2000. He was well-known in his village for running "from one place to another", old-timers in his village recount.
Fauja Singh competed in nine 26-mile (42-kilometre) marathons in London, Toronto and New York. His best time was in Toronto, where he clocked 5 hours, 40 minutes and 4 seconds.
He was a torchbearer for the 2004 Athens Games and 2012 London Olympics, and appeared in an advertisement for a major sports brand several years ago alongside the likes of David Beckham and M. Ali.
Leila Aboulela has won this year’s PEN Pinter prize for her writing on migration, faith and the lives of women.
The prize is awarded to a writer who, in the words of the late British playwright Harold Pinter, casts an “unflinching, unswerving” gaze on the world, and shows a “fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies”.
Aboulela grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and has lived in Aberdeen since 1990. Her six novels and two short story collections include The Translator, Elsewhere, Home and, most recently, 2023’s River Spirit.
Last year, Arundhati Roy won the prize, and selected the imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah as Writer of Courage.
The prize is awarded annually to writers resident in the UK, Ireland, the Commonwealth or the former Commonwealth. Previous winners include Michael Rosen, Malorie Blackman, Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hanif Kureishi.
Yakten, a village in Sikkim’s Pakyong district, was officially declared India’s first digital nomad village.
A collaboration between the district administration and NGO Sarvahitey under the ‘Nomad Sikkim’ initiative, the project aims to transform strategic locations in the Himalayan State into year-round hubs for digital professionals across India and abroad,
while ensuring sustainable income opportunities for homestay owners.
Officials said the initiative was fuelled by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang’s concern over the lack of steady income for homestay operators during the off-season, which may stretch for six months from April-May.
Indian Army has launched “Operation Shiva” and has deployed over 8,500 soldiers armed with sophisticated weapons and supported by a wide array of technological and operational resources to ensure smooth and hassle-free Amarnath pilgrimage.
The ongoing pilgrimage will concluded on August 9 on the festival of Raksha Bandhan.
This annual high-tempo operation aims to provide a robust security architecture along both the northern and southern yatra routes, particularly in light of the heightened threat from Pakistan-backed proxies in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, he added.
South Africa batter Aiden Markram and West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews have been announced as the winners of the ICC Men’s and Women’s Player of the Month awards for June 2025.
Markram won the men’s award ahead of team-mate Kagiso Rabada and Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka for his for Player of the Match effort in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final,
against Australia at Lord’s.
The 30-year-old opener struck a solid 136 off 207 balls and featured in a 147-run third wicket stand with captain Temba Bavuma in a successful chase of 282. The five-wicket victory helped South Africa win an ICC Title for the first time since the Champions Trophy in 1998. Markram also picked up a wicket each in the two innings.
Matthews, who has previously won the awards in November 2021, October 2023 and April 2024, edged South Africa’s Tazmin Brits and compatriot Afy Fletcher to become only the second player to win the award four times after Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner.
The West Indies skipper scored 104 runs in the three ODIs against South Africa, which included a half-century in the third match. She also grabbed four wickets in the series. Her fine run continued in the subsequent 2-1 T20I series win. She was named Player of the Series for her two fifties in an aggregate of 147 runs and two wickets.
R Doraiswamy has assumed charge as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with effect from July 14, 2025. He has ceased to be the Managing Director following his elevation, as per a Government of India notification issued on the same date.
Doraiswamy has more than 38 years of experience in Operations, Marketing, Technology and Academics. Prior to taking charge as Managing Director, he has held various leadership positions within the Organisation as Executive Director (Information Technology/Software Development), Regional Manager (Marketing / Chief Life Insurance Advisor),
Regional Manager (Pension & Group Schemes) at Southern Zonal Office, Chennai, Senior Divisional Manager of Kottayam Division and Marketing Manager of Chennai-I, Thanjavur and Pune divisions.
He is a Graduate in Mathematics from Madurai Kamaraj University, Fellow Member of Insurance Institute of India and a student member of Institute of Actuaries of India.
Indian women's rights activist Varsha Deshpande, founder of the Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal, has won the 2025 United Nations Population Award in the individual category.
Ms. Deshpande is a pioneering women’s rights activist with more than 35 years of experience working on gender-based violence, discrimination and gender.
She founded the Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal in 1990 to advance women’s rights and gender justice. She tirelessly works to empower grassroots women by building their vocational skills, connecting them to vital resources and services, and fostering their financial independence.
In the institutional category, the 2025 award was conferred on International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP).
The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), founded in 1927, has played a pivotal role in advancing population science and policy.
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Kavinder Gupta was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh (July 14, 2025) replacing B.D Mishra, a communication by the President’s Secretariat said. The President has accepted the resignation of Brig. (retd.) Mishra, the statement said.
Former Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju was appointed new Governor of Goa and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from West Bengal, Ashim Kumar Ghosh, was appointed new Governor of Haryana.
Brig. Mishra (87) was appointed to the post on February 12, 2023 on removal of R.K Mathur, a retired bureaucrat.
Mr. Raju,a senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader from Andhra Pradesh, will succeed P.S Sreedharan Pillai as the Goa Governor. Mr. Pillai was sworn in as the Governor of Goa on July 15, 2021.
Mr. Raju (74) served as the Civil Aviation Minister between May 27, 2014 and March 10, 2018 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has also held ministerial posts in the AP Government.
Mr. Gupta belongs to Jammu and he served as the Mayor of Jammu for three consecutive terms from 2005 to 2010. He is also the national executive member of the BJP.
Mr. Ghosh, who headed the party’s West Bengal unit between 1999 and 2002, will succeed Bandaru Dattatreya as Haryana Governor.
Former Labour and Employment Minister Mr. Dattatreya assumed charge as Governor of Haryana on July 15, 2021.
In 1996, Mr. Ghosh became the State Secretary of the BJP and in 1998, he was appointed State Vice-President. From 1999 to 2002, he served as the State president of West Bengal BJP. From 2003 to 2005, he held the responsibility of Tripura Observer.
Gujarat recorded a total production of 48.59 lakh tonnes of potatoes in the 2024–25 season, which includes varieties cultivated for processing into French fries and wafers, officials said.
The State has emerged as the top producer of processed potatoes in India, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
The processed potato segment in Gujarat accounts for over 25% of the State’s total potato production. The remaining crop includes table varieties such as Kufri, which are commonly used in household cooking. Of the processed output, approximately 60% is used for wafer production and 40% for French fries.
“In 2004–2005, India produced less than 1 lakh tonnes of processed potatoes across 4,000 hectares. As of 2024–25, the production has risen to 11.50 lakh tonnes cultivated across 37,000 hectares. The increase reflects a tenfold rise in production and a ninefold increase in cultivation area,” officials said.
Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, and Aravalli are the leading districts in Gujarat for potato cultivation. In the 2024–25 season, these three districts together produced 38 lakh tonnes of potatoes over 1.19 lakh hectares, with an average productivity of 32.36 tonnes per hectare.
Banaskantha recorded the highest production with 18.70 lakh tonnes from 61,016 hectares at a productivity rate of 30.65 tonnes per hectare. In 2023–24, the district produced 15.62 lakh tonnes from 52,089 hectares, and in 2022–23, 15.79 lakh tonnes from 53,548 hectares.
Sabarkantha followed with a production of 12.97 lakh tonnes in 2024–25,
cultivated over 37,999 hectares with a productivity of 34.13 tonnes per hectare. Aravalli district produced 6.99 lakh tonnes from 20,515 hectares, with a productivity of 34.05 tonnes per hectare, they said.
Processing-grade potato varieties cultivated in Gujarat include Lady Rosetta, Kufri Chipsona, and Santana.
These varieties are used by frozen food processors and quick-service restaurants and are also exported, particularly to Middle Eastern countries. The northern districts of Gujarat—Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, and Aravalli—are equipped with cold storage facilities that maintain the supply chain for processed potato products, officials said.
The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, has released the 23rd edition of its monthly ‘Secretariat Reforms’ report for June 2025.
The report provides an extensive analysis of the ongoing initiatives aimed at transforming governance and administration through (i) Swachhata and Reducing Pendency to Minimum Levels (ii) Increasing Efficiency in Decision Making, (iii) e-Office Implementation and Analytics,
The Assistance in Deploying Energy Efficient Technologies in Industries & Establishments (ADEETIE) scheme is officially launched by Hon’ble Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Manohar Lal at a national roll-out event held at Arya (P.G.) College, Panipat, Haryana.
The launch of this landmark initiative marks a decisive step toward India’s transition to a low-carbon economy by enabling Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to upgrade to energy-efficient technologies through comprehensive financial and technical support.
