The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ather Energy Limited, an Indian electric vehicle manufacturer, to accelerate the growth of India’s clean mobility and advanced manufacturing sectors.
The collaboration is being undertaken as part of the Build in Bharat initiative led by the Startup Policy Forum (SPF), a coalition of over 50 innovation-focused startups.
The MoU outlines a comprehensive partnership between DPIIT and Ather Energy that will focus on strategic mentorship for deep-tech startups, infrastructure support for startups in the EV value chain,
joint innovation programs such as the Bharat Startup Grand Challenge, co-hosted talent and skill development initiatives, and participation in events like Startup Mahakumbh along with on-ground exposure visits.
Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two consecutive successful flight-tests of Pralay missile from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam island off the coast of Odisha on July 28 & 29, 2025. The flight tests were carried out as a part of User Evaluation Trials to validate the maximum and minimum range capability of the missile system.
The missiles precisely followed the intended trajectory and reached the target point with pin-point accuracy meeting all the test objectives. All subsystems performed as per expectations, which were verified using test data captured by various tracking sensors deployed by Integrated Test Range (ITR) including,
including instruments deployed on ship positioned near the designated impact point.
Pralay is an indigenously-developed solid propellant quasi-ballistic missile employing state-of-the-art guidance and navigation to ensure high precision. The missile is capable of carrying multiple types of warheads against various targets.
The system has been developed by Research Centre Imarat in collaboration other DRDO labs - Defence Research & Development Laboratory, Advanced Systems Laboratory, Armament Research & Development Establishment, High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory,
Research & Development Establishment (Engineers) and ITR etc; industry partners - Bharat Dynamics Limited & Bharat Electronics Limited and many other industries and MSMEs.
The flight-tests were witnessed by senior scientists of DRDO, representatives of the users from the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army as well as the industry representatives.
The Competition Commission of India has approved the proposed acquisition of certain shareholding of Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Limited by Renault Group B.V. and Renault S.A.S.
The proposed combination involves the acquisition of equity shares and fully paid-up zero-coupon non-convertible redeemable preference shares held by Nissan Motor Company Ltd.
Japan (Nissan) and Nissan Overseas Investments B.V. (Nissan Overseas) (collectively, “Sellers”) in the Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Limited (Target) by Renault Group B.V. (Acquirer 1) and its nominee, Renault S.A.S (Acquirer 2) (Proposed Combination).
Acquirer 1 designs, manufactures, and markets passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and electric vehicles, and provides mobility services worldwide.
Acquirer 2 is engaged in the study, construction, trading, repair, maintenance and rental of motor vehicles, including the study and manufacture of parts and equipment used for the construction or operation of vehicles.
Acquirer 2 is also engaged in the provision of services related to the aforementioned business activities. Both Acquirer 1 and Acquirer 2 are ultimately controlled by Renault S.A. (Renault) and form part of the Renault Group.
Remona Evette Pereira, the BA student from St. Aloysius (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru, entered the Golden Book of World Records with her 170-hour-long Bharatanatyam performance.
Her dance performance began by offering prayers to Lord Ganesha on the morning of July 21, in an auditorium of the institute.
The performance continued over the period, with a 15-minute break every three hours of presentation. During this period, Ms. Pereira was graceful with her footwork, expression, gesture and postures.
India Representative of the Golden Book of World Records, Manish Vishnoi, handed over the certificate to Ms. Pereira.
Utpal Kumar Singh, Secretary-General, Lok Sabha, is set to replace Rajit Punhani as the CEO of Sansad TV, a public broadcaster that telecasts parliamentary proceedings live.
Mr. Singh will replace Rajit Punhani, a 1991 IAS officer of Bihar cadre, who was appointed as the CEO of Sansad TV during former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s chairmanship.
“The Governing Council of Sansad TV decided that Shri Utpal Kumar Singh, IAS (Retd), presently holding the charge of Secretary General Lok Sabha, will additionally discharge the function of the Sansad TV with immediate effect and until further orders,” an order of Parliament of India, issued on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) said.
Divya Deshmukh became the first Indian woman to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup title after defeating fellow Indian Koneru Humpy in the final, in Batumi, Georgia. The match lasted for three days and was decided through tiebreaks, with Divya emerging victorious with a score of 2.5 -1.5.
With this achievement, Divya joins Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, and R Vaishali as the fourth Indian woman to become a Grandmaster. This victory also made her the 88th person overall to reach this milestone.
In addition to winning the World Cup, Divya’s performance earned her a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament,
where players will compete for the chance to challenge the Women’s World Champion, Ju Wenjun of China.
Divya’s success adds to the recent achievements of Indian chess players, with notable performances from players like world champion D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi.
India wrapped up their campaign at the 2025 FISU World University Games in Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region, finishing 20th in the medal standings. India won a total of 12 medals, with two gold, five silver, and as many bronze.
On the final day, India added a silver through Ankita Dhyani in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.
Two bronze medals came in men’s 4×100 metre relay race and women’s race walk teams. Japan topped the overall standings with 34 gold medals, with the People’s Republic of China coming in second with 30 golds, followed by the USA with 28. India’s best-ever showing at the World University Games came at Chengdu in 2023,
where the team secured seventh place with 26 medals, including 11 golds.
India’s Tejaswin Shankar has set a new national decathlon record for the second time, scoring 7,826 points to finish fourth at the Wieslaw Czapiewski Memorial 2025 athletics meet held in Poland yesterday. The 26-year-old surpassed his previous best of 7,666 points, which earned him a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Czechia’s Ondrej Kopecky, who set an all-time meet record, won the title with 8,254 points. He was followed by compatriot Vilem Strasky and Estonia’s Risto Lillemets.
Oscar Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix 2025. The McLaren driver managed to beat teammate Lando Norris after rain delayed the start of the final day. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was in the third spot. Max Verstappen from Red Bull and Russell from Mercedes rounded off the Top 5, ESPN reported. This was Piastri’s sixth win of the season.
Belgian Grand Prix top 10
1) Piastri
2) Norris
3) Leclerc
4) Verstappen
5) Russell
6) Albon
7) Hamilton
8) Lawson
9) Bortoleto
10) Gasly
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton started in the 16th spot. He then managed to race ahead to the 13th position by the end of lap nine. The seven-time world champion moved ahead from the pit lane to finish seventh.
Fresh from her U-15 gold medal at the Asian youth table tennis championships at Tashkent recently, Divyanshi Bhowmick continued her fine run to claim the U-19 girls’ title at the WTT Youth Contender in Almaty (Kazakhstan) on Saturday. She overcame Zlata Terekhova of the Russian Federation 11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2 in the final.
In an all-Indian U-17 boys’ final, Priyanuj Bhattacharyya rallied to beat P. B. Abhinandh 8-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-6. In the U-15 girls’ final, Ananya Muralidharan went down down 8-11, 8-11, 8-11 to Lu Yu-En of Taiwan.
India wrapped up the Almaty event with a total of 11 medals—two gold, two silver, and seven bronze.
Türkiye has reportedly developed a new conventional aircraft bomb, the GAZAP, weighing 970 kilograms, making it the country’s most powerful non-nuclear weapon to date.
According to a TRT Global report, the GAZAP bomb is engineered to disperse fragment explosions with greater effectiveness. Developed by the National Defense Ministry’s research and development (R&D) center,
the bomb delivers 10.16 fragment explosions per meter (3.2 feet), a significant upgrade from the previous standard of one explosion every 3 meters (9.8 feet). Its blast effect grants it formidable destructive power, and it can be deployed from an F-16 fighter jet.
Alongside GAZAP, Türkiye also unveiled the NEB-2 Ghost, a new-generation bunker-buster bomb, at the International Defense Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul.
Unclaimed deposits with banks, including private lenders, stood at ₹67,003 crore as of June 30, 2025, Parliament was informed.
According to data from the Reserve Bank of India, public sector banks accounted for ₹58,330.26 crore of the total, while private sector banks held ₹8,673.72 crore in unclaimed deposits.
Of the public sector banks, SBI is leading the pack with unclaimed deposits of Rs 19,329.92 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank Rs 6,910.67 crore and Canara Bank Rs 6,278.14 crore, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
