Indian Naval Ship INS Kadmatt, an indigenous ASW corvette, successfully completed a three-day port call at Surabaya, Indonesia, strengthening the bond of friendship, trust, and interoperability between the Indian Navy and the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL).
During the visit, professional and cultural engagements were conducted to enhance maritime cooperation and mutual understanding. Key activities included professional interactions and cross-deck visits - fostering operational synergy between the two navies.
The crew also participated in combined yoga session onboard and a friendly volleyball match with TNI AL personnel, showcasing the shared spirit of camaraderie and collaboration.
As part of community outreach, the ship welcomed members of the Indian diaspora residing in Indonesia, providing them with an opportunity to visit the ship and engaged with the crew.
The visit of INS Kadmatt reaffirmed Indian Navy's role as the preferred security partner in the region and reinforced the long-standing maritime partnership between India and Indonesia under the shared vision of 'Partnership Across Sea'.
Former CRPF and ITBP director general Anish Dayal Singh has been appointed the new deputy National Security Advisor (NSA), with a mandate to handle internal affairs.
Mr. Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the Manipur cadre, retired from service in December 2024.
He brings extensive experience to the role, having served for nearly 30 years in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) before heading the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), and most recently, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Former RAW chief Rajinder Khanna is the Additional NSA, while retired IPS officer T.V. Ravichandran and former IFS officer Pawan Kapoor are the two serving deputy NSAs.
The appointment comes alongside the Union government's approval of granting honorary ranks to retiring personnel of the central armed forces, a policy Mr. Singh championed.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared Kerala as the first fully digitally literate State in India, marking the completion of the first phase of the Digi Kerala project, a grass-root level intervention across all local bodies to bridge the digital divide.
Following the formal declaration, Mr. Vijayan interacted on a video call with 104-year old M.A. Abdullah Moulavi Baqavi from Asamannoor panchayat in Ernakulam district, one of the oldest ‘students’ who were trained under the Digi Kerala project.
In the surveys carried out among 1.5 crore people from 83.46 lakh families across the State, 21.88 lakh people were identified as digitally illiterate. Out of this, 21.87 lakh people, comprising 99.98% of the participants have completed the training and successfully completed the evaluation.
He also lauded the Pullampara panchayat from which the project was initiated in 2021. After the Digi Pullampara project was completed, it was expanded to the entire State. Mr. Vijayan said that the State government’s aim was to ensure that the benefits of all projects should reach all sections of society,
evident in how the Digi Kerala project was implemented even in far flung villages in Edamalakudy and Attappady.
Mr. Rajesh said that the project was part of the government’s long-term plan to equip all sections of the population with the knowledge of accessing digital services after it made available most of its services online through the K-SMART platform.
The Department of Posts has taken note of the Executive Order No. 14324 issued by the U.S. Administration on 30th July, 2025, under which the duty-free de minimis exemption for goods valued up to USD 800 will be withdrawn with effect from 29th August, 2025.
Consequently, all international postal items destined for the USA, regardless of their value, shall be subject to customs duties as per the country-specific International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) tariff framework. However, gift items up to the value of USD 100 shall continue to remain exempt from duties.
As per the Executive Order, transport carriers delivering shipments through the international postal network, or other “qualified parties” approved by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are required to collect and remit duties on postal shipments. While CBP issued certain guidelines on 15th August, 2025, “
several critical processes relating to the designation of “qualified parties” and mechanisms for duty collection and remittance remain undefined. Consequently, U.S. bound air carriers have expressed their inability to accept postal consignments after 25th August, 2025, citing lack of operational and technical readiness.
The Centre has constituted two high-powered groups of secretaries, technocrats and economists, headed by full-time NITI Aayog member and former Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba.
A separate committee chaired by Cabinet Secretary TVS Swaminathan is working on deregulation at the state level.
Of the two panels led by Gauba, one is tasked with realising the Viksit Bharat goals, while the other focuses on non-financial sector regulatory reforms.
The two groups held their first meeting and will coordinate with informal ministerial panels chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh.
The committees include the secretaries of DPIIT, Expenditure, MSME and Power, along with the director generals of industry chambers - CII, FICCI and Assocham.
In addition, industry leaders such as Pawan Goenka, HR firm head Manish Sabharwal, and Boston Consulting Group India Chairperson Janmejay Sinha are also members of one of the committees.
Former Indian middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on August 24, 2025 announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Son and pupil of former Ranji player Arvind, Pujara grew up piling on big scores even as a boy: a triple-century in Under-14 cricket, and a double against England in Under-19.
Pujara is most remembered for India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia in 2018 and 2020. He troubled Australia with his solid defence and technique.
Srinivasan. K. Swamy, executive group chairman of R. K. Swamy Ltd., was elected president of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for 2025-26 at its annual general body meeting on August 14. Jaideep Gandhi was elected vice-president, a press release said.
Other elected members of the Board are: Anupriya Acharya, Leo Burnett (TLG India Pvt. Ltd.); Sam Balsara, Madison Communications Pvt. Ltd.; Tanya Goyal, Everest Brand Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; Tapas Gupta, BEI Confluence Communication Ltd.; Vishandas Hardasani, Matrix Publicities and Media India Pvt. Ltd.; Mohit Joshi, Havas Media India Pvt. Ltd.;
Santosh Kumar, Innocean Worldwide Communication Pvt. Ltd.; Kunal Lalani, Crayons Advertising Ltd.; Chandramouli Muthu, Maitri Advertising Works Pvt. Ltd.; Vikram Sakhuja, Platinum Advertising Pvt. Ltd.; Kartik Sharma, Omnicom Media Group India Pvt. Ltd.; Anusha Shetty, Grey Worldwide (India) Pvt. Ltd.; Shashi Sinha, Initiative Media (India) Pvt. Ltd.;
K. Srinivas, Sloka Advertising Pvt. Ltd.; and Paritosh Srivastava, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi Pvt. Ltd.
The immediate past president, Prasanth Kumar, will be the ex-officio member for 2025-26.
Tata Digital, the ecommerce arm of Tata Sons, has appointed Sajith Sivanandan as the chief executive officer of the company.
Sivanandan, who was the president of Jio Mobile Digital Services, will take over the role from September 1, 2025. The development was conveyed to employees in an internal email.
His appointment comes after Naveen Tahilyani stepped down from the role in May 2025.
In previous roles, Sivanandan, before joining Jio, was the CEO of Disney+ Hotstar. He has also served as the managing director and business head of Google Pay and Next Billion User initiative for the APAC region.
Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given green light to classify Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) as a public shareholder of IDBI Bank for its residual stake on completion of strategic divestment in the lender.
The reclassification as public shareholder is subject to fulfilling the conditions relating to the transaction.
Mumbai-based IDBI Bank, in a filing with BSE, said the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) informed that Sebi has approved reclassification of LIC as public shareholder.
One of the conditions that LIC would have to fulfil is that its voting rights shall not exceed 10 per cent of the total net effective voting rights of IDBI Bank. LIC cannot exercise control over the affairs of the bank, directly or indirectly.
LIC may not have any special rights relating to IDBI Bank, through any arrangement, including shareholders agreements.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to acquire up to 24.99 per cent stake in Yes Bank.
In May, SMBC proposed to acquire 13.19 per cent stake from State Bank of India and 6.81 per cent from seven other banks, totalling 20 per cent, for Rs 13,483 crore.
As of June 2025, domestic banks collectively held 33.7 per cent of Yes Bank. SBI remained the largest single shareholder with a 23.96 per cent stake, while foreign investors CA Basque Investments and Verventa Holdings held 4.22 per cent and 9.2 per cent, respectively.
Mutual fund industry body AMFI signed a pact with the Department of Posts to train one lakh postmen across India, enabling them to distribute mutual funds in remote areas.
A memorandum of understanding in this regard was signed between AMFI and the postal department at an event here to mark AMFI's 30th foundation day.
In a key clarification for retail borrowers, the Ministry of Finance has said that banks cannot reject loan applications from first-time applicants merely because they do not have a credit score.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary reiterated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not prescribed any minimum credit score requirement for loans.
