Reinforcing India’s Indigenous Maritime power and Aatmanirbharta in shipbuilding, Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) launched ICGS ATAL ( Yard 1275) Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in a ceremony held at Vasco-da-Gama, Goa on 29 July, 2025.
It is the sixth in a series of eight state-of-the-art indigenously designed FPVs being constructed for ICG by GSL, the premier Defence Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Defence.
The FPVs, designed in-house at GSL, are 52 metres in length, with an 8-metre beam and 320-tonne displacement.
These high-speed boats are equipped to conduct coastal patrols, island security missions, and offshore asset protection, significantly augmenting India’s maritime domain awareness and national security. The vessel shall also perform anti-smuggling, anti-piracy and search & rescue operations.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, presided over the Global Tiger Day 2025 celebrations, held at the National Zoological Park, New Delhi.
Highlighting the Government’s commitment to wildlife conservation, the Minister stated, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the number of tiger reserves in India has increased from 46 in 2014 to 58 till date. This growth reflects the Prime Minister’s unwavering commitment to protecting our national animal.”
In a significant step towards transforming the capacity-building landscape of civil servants in Chhattisgarh, the Capacity Building Commission (CBC), Karmayogi Bharat, and the Government of Chhattisgarh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 28th July 2025 in Raipur.
The MoU marks the beginning of an institutional partnership to implement Mission Karmayogi’s vision of a competency-based, technology-driven, and continuous learning ecosystem for government officials in Chhattisgarh. Under the initiative, continuous training will be provided to nearly four lakh government officers and employees in Chhattisgarh,
and the process has already begun. So far, approximately 50,000 officers and employees have successfully completed online training.
The session highlighted Mission Karmayogi’s vision of creating a future-ready and citizen-centric civil service through digital learning, role-based training, and continuous professional development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gangaikonda Cholapuram, (July 27, 2025), released a thousand-rupee coin to mark the “1,000th anniversary of the naval expedition of King Rajendra Chola-I”.
The request for the release of the coin was made by R. Komagan, chairman of the Gangaikondacholapuram Development Council Trust. He even designed a coin and sent it to the Centre.
The coin is engraved with an image of the emperor on horseback with a ship as the backdrop.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar, and VCK leader Thol. Thirumavalavan received the coin.
International Day of Friendship was designated by the United Nations General Assembly (U.N.). On July 30, we step back and get thankful for these relationships worldwide, as they promote and encourage peace, happiness, and unity.
The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
The 30th of July marks the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.
This year’s theme, "Human Trafficking is Organized Crime – End the Exploitation", highlights a neglected crime: trafficking for forced criminality. IOM’s campaign, “Forced to Commit, Criminalized for Surviving. Let’s End the Exploitation”, calls for protecting, not punishing victims of this abuse.
Across the globe, trafficked persons – often migrants, youth, and children – are coerced into crimes like online scams, drug trafficking, and theft. Instead of being recognized as victims, they are criminalized and denied support.
Trafficking for forced criminality fuels corruption and organized crime.
The Reserve Bank capped contributions by a single regulated entity (RE), including banks and NBFCs, at 10 per cent of the corpus of an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) scheme.
Also, collective contribution by all REs in any AIF Scheme should not be more than 20 per cent of the corpus of that scheme, said the Reserve Bank of India (Investment in AIF) Directions, 2025.
REs refer to banks, NBFCs and All-India Financial Institutions.
The RBI had issued guidelines in December 2023 and later in March 2024 prescribing the regulatory guidelines in respect of investment by the REs of the Reserve Bank in AIFs.
The guidelines have been reviewed, inter alia, taking into account industry feedback as well as the regulations issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) relating to specific due diligence of investors and investments of AIFs, the RBI said.
"No RE shall individually contribute more than 10 per cent of the corpus of an AIF Scheme," the circular said.
Collective contribution by all REs in any AIF Scheme shall not be more than 20 per cent of the corpus of that scheme.
"If a RE contributes more than five per cent of the corpus of an AIF Scheme, which also has downstream investment in a debtor company of the RE,
then the RE shall be required to make 100 per cent provision to the extent of its proportionate investment in the debtor company through the AIF Scheme, subject to a maximum of the direct loan and/ or investment exposure of the RE to the debtor company," it said.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana scheme, a total of 16,912 Jan Aushadhi Kendras (JAKs) have been opened till 30.6.2025. 2,110 medicines and 315 surgicals, medical consumables and devices are under the scheme product basket, covering all major therapeutic groups, such as cardiovascular, anti-cancers, anti-diabetic, anti-infectives,
anti-allergic and gastro-intestinal medicines and nutraceuticals. Almost all generic medicines included in the National List of Essential Medicines, except lab reagents and vaccines, are included in the scheme product basket.
The government has launched the scheme to make quality generic medicines available at affordable prices to all.
As a result of the scheme, in the last 11 years, estimated savings of about ₹38,000 crore have accrued to citizens in comparison to the prices of branded medicines, contributing significantly to the sharp reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure by households from 62.6% of total health expenditure in financial year (FY) 2014-15 to 39.4% in FY2021-22
as per the National Health Accounts Estimates. With a view to further expand reach to Janaushadhi medicine and thereby reduce out-of-pocket expenditure, the Government has set a target to open 25,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras by March 2027.
The Government of India has taken many steps to fast-track exports and imports under the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) framework.
This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.
Avanse Financial Services, a leading education-focused NBFC, has joined hands with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to democratize access to industry-relevant technology education for Indian students, irrespective of their financial background.
The collaboration seeks to bolster employability by facilitating financial support and seamless access to cutting-edge learning programmes.
India’s young demographic holds immense potential, but to fully realise this advantage in a fast-evolving global job market, targeted skill development is essential.
Recognising this need, Avanse and AWS have adopted a two-pronged strategy to expand access to job-ready skills.
Under the AWS Skill Builder initiative, Avanse will offer curated AWS skill-building programmes, along with education financing, to existing and prospective students pursuing higher education.
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) hosted a two-day National Symposium titled ‘Timeless Texts and Universal Teachings: Inscription of Bhagavad Gita and Natyashastra in the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register’ on 30th and 31st July 2025 in New Delhi.
The symposium is being organised to commemorate the inscription of two foundational Indian texts-the Bhagavad Gita and Natyashastra-into the prestigious UNESCO Memory of the World International Register, acknowledging their global significance and enduring relevance.
Through this symposium, IGNCA seeks to bring together scholars, cultural thinkers, and heritage professionals to reflect upon the timeless wisdom embedded in the Bhagavad Gita and Natyashastra, and to reaffirm their relevance as living texts in contemporary global discourse.
On 29th October 2024, the Government of India expanded the scope of the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to include all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status. Under this initiative, beneficiaries will receive free treatment benefits of up to ₹5 lakh per year through Ayushman Vay Vandana cards.
In addition, the portability feature of AB-PMJAY allows eligible beneficiaries—including those under the Vay Vandana scheme—to access healthcare services at any of the 31,466 empanelled hospitals across the country, regardless of their place of residence. This ensures seamless and equitable access to quality healthcare for the elderly population nationwide.
Vay Vandana scheme beneficiaries can also avail treatment through a vast network of 14,194 private healthcare providers empanelled under the scheme. To ensure quality and consistency in service delivery, the National Health Authority (NHA) has issued comprehensive Hospital Empanelment and Management (HEM) Guidelines for the empanelment of hospitals,
under the Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
As on date, over 1.06 lakh claims have been settled under Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme since its launch.
