As India enters the kharif sowing season with renewed focus on boosting domestic oilseed production and reducing dependence on edible oil imports, Oilseeds Kisaan Mitra, the WhatsApp-based AI advisory service developed by ICAR-Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (ICAR-IIOR), Hyderabad, is emerging as a powerful tool bringing trusted,
research-based knowledge about oilseed cultivation directly to farmers’ mobile phones, anytime and in their own language.
The service was launched by the Secretary, DARE & Director General, ICAR during the National Oilseeds Conference, New Delhi on 6th February,2026.
The initiative enables any oilseed farmer in India to access free, trusted, and instant crop advisory simply through WhatsApp as a platform already familiar to millions of farmers, without needing to download any additional application.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 11th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, New Delhi. This year’s theme was Inclusive Human Development for Viksit Bharat@2047. It was attended by Chief Ministers, Lt. Governors and Administrators representing 28 States and 5 UTs.
This was the first time when Chief Ministers of all 28 States participated in the Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog.
Prime Minister urged States to focus on One District One Product (ODOP) initiatives and develop export-oriented strategies around it.
He also identified defence manufacturing as an emerging sector where India is establishing a distinct identity and encouraged States to formulate policies to leverage the opportunities arising from its growth.
Prime Minister also drew attention to concerns arising from El Niño conditions and appealed to States to promote water conservation and encourage natural and organic farming practices. He noted that the purchase of 11 lakh tonnes of organic manure by farmers during the current Kharif season reflected growing confidence in sustainable agriculture.
The Government has approved 22 new applicants under the Round-3 of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles. The newly approved companies are expected to bring in a total investment of Rs. 2,339.14 crore, generate a projected turnover of Rs. 15,561.34 crore in notified products, and create 36,217 employment opportunities across the textile value chain.
A total of 96 companies have been selected under Round-3 of the scheme with a total committed investment of Rs. 12,822.67 crore and a projected turnover of Rs. 58,294.18 crore.
The addition of these companies under the PLI Scheme reflects the continued industry response to the Government's efforts to promote investments in sunrise segments of the textile sector.
The approved applicants span key focus segments of the PLI Scheme, including Man-Made Fibre (MMF) Apparel, MMF Fabrics and Technical Textiles, thereby further strengthening India's position as a global hub for value-added textile manufacturing.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for joint research, development, testing, deployment and commercialisation of next-generation telecom technologies, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director A. Robert Jerard Ravi said.
The BSNL chief said the collaboration would focus on advanced communication technologies and support the development of future telecom infrastructure suited to India's requirements.
He said the effort aligns with the government's broader objective of building digital infrastructure that benefits all citizens and expands access to connectivity across the country.
Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd said it has received final approval from markets regulator Sebi to commence mutual fund operations through its asset management arm, Nuvama Asset Management.
The approval paves the way for the company to establish its mutual fund business and expand its asset management offerings.
Nuvama said its asset management company will initially seek regulatory approvals to launch investment products under the Specialised Investment Fund (SIF) framework, followed by a broader range of mutual fund products over time.
The company plans to begin with Specialised Investment Funds, leveraging its experience in managing differentiated public market strategies.
Nuvama said it is entering the mutual fund industry at a time when the sector's assets under management have crossed ₹80 lakh crore, supported by rising retail participation, increasing financial awareness and growing adoption of SIPs.
The General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi, at its meeting held at New Delhi unanimously elected seven (7) eminent personalities in the field of performing arts as Akademi Fellows (Akademi Ratna).
Renowned Indian shooting coach and former Asian Games gold medallist Jaspal Rana, 49, passed away on June 12, 2026.
Until his death, Rana served as the high-performance coach for Indian pistol shooters.
Born in 1976, Rana won numerous medals at international competitions, including the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
He was instrumental in shaping India’s presence in shooting sports.
Jaspal Rana had a remarkable tally of 15 medals — 9 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze won across four editions of the Commonwealth Games viz. 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. He was conferred the Arjuna Award in 1994 and Padma Shri in 1997 for his contributions to Indian shooting.
Jaspal Rana was awarded Dronacharya Award in 2020.
Jaspal Rana was credited for helping Manu Bhaker win double bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) highlighted the expansion of India’s skilling ecosystem over the past 12 years, citing growth in vocational training infrastructure, apprenticeships, digital skilling platforms and international workforce mobility initiatives.
Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India, Sushri. Shobha Karandlaje, led the Indian delegation at the 114th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, underlining India’s commitment to inclusive growth, gender equality, and social dialogue.
On the sidelines of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, Union Minister held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Ramjee Yadav, Minister for Youth, Labour and Employment, Nepal. Nepal appreciated India’s digital portals. India highlighted that Nepal remains a priority partner for India under our “Neighbourhood First” policy.
Both the Ministers discussed enhancing cooperation in the areas of skill development, labour mobility, and sharing digital technology. The discussion reaffirmed shared commitment to enhancing opportunities and welfare for workers in both countries and further deepening the longstanding and fraternal ties.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta) have partnered to set up a data centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat with 168 MW capacity to be delivered within two years and an option to scale. This will be the first built-to-suit data centre capacity in India for Meta, underlining India’s emergence as a global hub for AI infrastructure.
Meta will lease capacity from the facility, expanding the company’s global infrastructure, supporting its core business and AI compute needs. RIL will provide end-to-end services for the data centre lifecycle – from design and to ongoing management of utilities, renewable power supply, network connectivity, and fully managed operational services.
The data centre will be powered by renewable energy and cooled with desalinated seawater, demonstrating both RIL’s and Meta’s commitment to sustainability.
The project positions RIL as a single-window solutions provider for hyperscale AI infrastructure in India.
The government has restricted industrial, commercial and institutional users from buying petrol and diesel from petrol pumps and instead asked them to source their requirements from bulk sale points, according to an official order.
The restrictions, which will be in place for up to 90 days, follows abnormal demand growth, particularly that of diesel, in some pockets after bulk users started buying fuel from petrol pumps due to the pricing difference. While diesel at petrol pumps costs Rs. 95.20 a litre in Delhi, bulk sales are priced at Rs. 134.50.
The differential arose as state-owned oil companies modulated retail prices to insulate common users from the spike in cost that followed the West Asia crisis in late February. While bulk users such as telecom towers and industries using diesel for power generation and other feedstock needs are charged market price, the retail pump rates are way lower than cost.
The price differential has also led to a shift in sales pattern with volumes shifting to PSU petrol pumps from private sector outlets that priced petrol and diesel at higher rates.
In May, three state-owned firms IOC, BPCL, and HPCL saw a 4.8 per cent jump in petrol sales and 6.4 per cent surge in diesel.
According to the order, institutional, industrial and commercial consumers may be barred from procuring petrol and diesel from retail fuel stations and would instead be required to source supplies through their own consumer pumps.
The notification also restricts diesel sales at retail outlets to vehicle fuel tanks or Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO)-approved containers, with purchases capped at 200 litres per customer or vehicle per day. Such diesel "cannot be resold", the order said.
India's finance ministry waived customs duties on all goods imported for nuclear power generation, covering imports made between April 1, 2019 and January 31, 2026, according to a government order dated June 11 2026.
The move grants retrospective tax relief to eligible imports used in the country's nuclear power sector and is expected to lower project costs for operators and equipment suppliers.
In the Union Budget presented in February, the government had extended the customs-duty exemption on imports required for nuclear power projects until 2035 as part of efforts to boost clean-energy capacity. The latest order applies the benefit retrospectively to imports made during the nearly seven-year period beginning in April 2019.
The exemption covers specified goods imported for nuclear power generation under designated customs tariff categories. The government has been pushing to expand nuclear energy as part of its long-term energy transition strategy and has set a target of achieving 100 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2047.
The government has nominated Sanjay Lohiya, secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, to the central boards of both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and State Bank of India (SBI).
Lohiya has been appointed as a director on the RBI’s Central Board with effect from 11 June, replacing former DFS Secretary Nagaraju Maddirala, who retired last month.
Lohiya, a 1994-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, took charge as DFS secretary on June 1.
The Department of Financial Services oversees public sector banks, financial institutions and insurance companies.
India is expected to remain the world's fastest-growing major economy in financialyear 2026-27, although growth is projected to ease to 6.6 per cent from 7.7 per cent in the previous fiscal year amid higher energy prices and rising input costs, according to the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects report.
The multilateral lender expects India's growth to recover to 7.2 per cent in fiscal year 2027-28, supported by stronger domestic demand and an improvement in exports. Forecasts published in the report show India growing at 7.7 per cent in FY26, 6.6 per cent in FY27, and 7.2 per cent in FY28.
Maharashtra’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) retained its position as India’s best-performing container port in the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2025, climbing one place to rank 22nd globally.
The index is published by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.
India and Nepal have launched a peer-to-peer (P2P) cross-border remittance mechanism on June 6 to enhance convenience for travellers and businesses across both countries, the finance ministry said.
The newly operationalised system establishes a direct link between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal's National Payments Interface (NPI), and enables citizens of both nations to make real-time money transfers directly via mobile banking applications and digital wallets.
The technical integration was executed via collaboration between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, and the Nepal Clearing House Limited (NCHL).
The key features of the UPI-NPI remittance linkage are enhanced traveller convenience by eliminating the friction of physical currency exchange, carrying large amounts of cash, or navigating unfamiliar foreign exchange fees.
UPI is now accepted in nine countries - Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Bhutan, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Cambodia.
Mexico had never won their opening game of World Cup in seven attempts, registering five defeats and two draws during their previous appearances at the tournament.
Mexico wins opening game for the first time, in FIFA World Cup 2026.
Mexico first played in the premier competitive international football tournament in 1930.
Mexico has played 16 World Cups but failed to qualify in 1974 and 1982. In 1990 the team was banned to participate.
Mexico has entered the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals two times viz. in 1970 and 1986.
Mexico’s biggest win in FIFA World Cup was 4-0 against El Salvador in 1970. Their biggest defeat was against West Germany 0-6 in 1978.
Mexico’s worst result was their elimination in group stage in 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1978 and 2022.
With this background, Mexico football team started their World Cup 2026 on a winning note by defeating South Africa 2-0 on June 11, 2026.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it.
World Day Against Child Labour is observed on 12 June every year.
2026 Theme: Red card to child labour: Fair play for children, decent work for adults
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by world leaders in 2015, include a renewed global commitment to ending child labour.
Specifically, target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on the global community to: "Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.
