The 16th India-Singapore Defence Working Group meeting took place in Singapore on September 04, 2025. It was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence, India Shri Amitabh Prasad and Director, Policy Office, Ministry of Defence, Singapore Col Daxson Yap.
The deliberations were guided by the latest Joint Statement on the Roadmap for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Singapore issued after the meeting between Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Mr Lawrence Wong in New Delhi.
As2025 marks 60 years of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore, both co-chairs agreed to further step up defence cooperation. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of India’s Act East policy, in which Singapore has played a key role in promoting economic cooperation & cultural ties, and developing strategic connectivity with countries.
Shri Manohar Lal, Hon’ble Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, launched “Angikaar 2025”, a last-mile outreach campaign under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0), in New Delhi on 4th September 2025.Angikaar 2025 is an outreach campaign that will accelerate the implementation of PMAY-U 2.0 by creating widespread awareness about the scheme across the country
The campaign is also designed to fast-track verification of applications under the scheme and expedite the completion of already sanctioned houses under PMAY-U. Another key objective of Angikaar 2025 is to inform stakeholders about the Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Trust for Low Income Housing (CRGFTLIH) scheme.
Additionally, benefits of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana will be provided to beneficiaries of PMAY-U and housing needs of beneficiaries from Special Focus Group identified under PMAY-U 2.0 will be prioritised. Under PMAY-U, 120 lakh houses have been sanctioned, out of which 94.11 lakh pucca houses have been already completed and delivered to beneficiaries.
Angikaar 2025 will run for a period of two months from 4th September 2025 to 31st October 2025 across 5,000+ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the country. Widespread door-to-door awareness will be created across the country and by other outreach mediums and community mobilisation.
The 5th Meeting of the Central Advisory Council (CAC), constituted under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 [RERA], was held at Sankalp Bhawan, K.G. Marg, New Delhi. On the occasion, Union Minister Shri Manohar Lal launched the Unified RERA Portal rera.mohua.gov.in, providing a common platform for stakeholders, enhancing transparency and enabling sharing
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has raised transaction ceilings on the UPI for use in capital market and other merchant categories, widening the platform's usage from small-value transfers to higher-value commerce.Peer-to-peer transfers remain capped at Rs 1 lakh, but payments to merchants now carry far higher limits.
For capital markets, insurers, government e-marketplace deposits, travel, credit-card bills and collection, the ceiling has risen five fold to Rs. 5 lakh per payment, with daily caps of Rs. 10 lakh-Rs 6 lakh for credit cards.
Nippon Life India Asset Management Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Sundeep Sikka has been elected as chairman, while Vishal Kapoor, CEO of Bandhan Asset Management, has been elected as Vice Chairman following AMFI’s 30th Annual General Meeting. Sundeep Sikka served as chairman of AMFI from 2013 to 2015 and has been on the AMFI board since 2009.
Vishal Kapoor has been serving as chairman of the ARN Committee since 2020 and has been on the AMFI board. The new leadership takes charge at a critical juncture for India’s mutual fund industry, which has crossed ₹75 lakh crore in assets under management (AUM) and serves over 5.6 crore investors nationwide.
Bhupender Gupta has taken charge as the Chairman and managing director of NHPC Limited, India's largest hydropower company and a Navratna central sector enterprises. Gupta assumed charge on September 4 at NHPC’s corporate office in Faridabad. Prior to this, he was serving as Director (Technical) at THDC India Ltd and holds the additional charge of CMD, SJVN Ltd.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi approved a Rs.1,500 crore Incentive Scheme to develop recycling capacity in the country for the separation and production of critical minerals from secondary sources. This scheme is part of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), which is aimed at building the domestic capacity of critical minerals.
The Scheme will have a tenure of six years from FY 2025-26 to FY 2030-31. Eligible feedstock is e-waste, Lithium Ion Battery (LIB) scrap, and scrap other than e-waste & LIB scrap e.g. catalytic convertors in end-of-life vehicles. Expected beneficiaries will be both large, established recyclers, as well as small, new recyclers (including start-ups).
In order to ensure greater number of beneficiaries, total incentive (Capex plus Opex subsidy) per entity will be subject to an overall ceiling of Rs.50 crore for large entities and Rs.25 crore for small entities, within which there will be a ceiling for Opex subsidy of Rs.10 crore and Rs.5 crore respectively.
The Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) Space Program Office in the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD), the IDF, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) successfully launched the Ofek 19 satellite (September 2nd, 2025) at 22:30 IST. The launch was carried out from an undisclosed test site by a three-phased “Shavit” launcher.
Ofek 19 satellite was developed drawing on experience accumulated by the defense establishment and IAI in developing the advanced Ofek observation satellites, which have been launched to space since 1988.
Crisil has maintained India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal year 2025-26 at 6.5 per cent even as it sees downside risks emanating from the US tariffs. In 2024-25, the Indian economy grew by 6.5 per cent in real terms.
India's real GDP is estimated to have grown by 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of the financial year 2025-26, surpassing the 6.5 per cent growth rate in the same quarter of the previous fiscal, according to official data released on Friday. India's nominal GDP grew at an annual rate of 8.8% during the April-June quarter.
The government has maintained the GDP forecast at 6.3-6.8 per cent for 2025-26, even as US tariff uncertainty looms, affirming confidence in the country's robust domestic consumption. In Crisil's view, private consumption is poised to be the primary driver of India's GDP growth in 2025-26.
A meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC-SC) was held at the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai. Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, chaired the meeting.
The Sub-Committee discussed major global and domestic macroeconomic and financial sector developments and various issues that may have financial stability implications. The Sub-Committee reviewed the progress in several inter-regulatory matters including simplification of KYC processes and special drives for financial inclusion. It also deliberated upon the NSFI 2025-30.
The Sub-Committee also reviewed the functioning of State-Level Coordination Committees (SLCCs) in States and Union Territories and activities of various technical groups. The FSDC-SC reaffirmed its commitment to continue its focus on improving financial sector resilience through inter-regulatory coordination.
SEBI has issued a circular to streamline the surrender process for Know Your Client (KYC) Registration Agencies (KRAs). The regulation applies to both voluntary exits (e.g., strategic business decisions) and involuntary exits (e.g., financial distress or regulatory enforcement) to ensure an orderly wind-down while protecting investor interests.
KRAs surrendering their registration must transfer all investor KYC records—including updates, modifications, and audit trails—to another SEBI-registered KRA. This ensures investors need not redo their KYC and experience no service disruption. Each KRA is required to have a board-approved Standard Operating Procedure outlining how to manage the winding-down process.
For voluntary exits, KRAs must issue public notices, notify intermediaries, and allow time for integration transitions. In involuntary exits, SEBI may appoint a temporary administrator, nominate a new KRA to take over, or even override the prescribed timelines to minimize disruption and preserve market stability.
NASA has unveiled the crew for its second year-long Mars mission simulation, conducted under the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) program. Four volunteers -Ross Elder, Ellen Ellis, Matthew Montgomery, and James Spicer- are set to enter the simulated Mars habitat on October 19, spending 378 days inside before concluding the mission on October 31, 2026.
The mission will take place within a 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat—known as Mars Dune Alpha—located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The habitat realistically simulates life on Mars, placing crew under resource limitations, equipment failures, communication delays, environmental stressors, and isolation.
This is the second of three planned CHAPEA missions. The inaugural mission concluded successfully in July 2024 and offered vital insights into human health and performance in isolation.
