In a first-of-its-kind initiative Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Thiruvananthapuram, has launched RBI Reelathon 2026, a state-wide mass awareness campaign targeting college students to combat the growing menace of cyber-enabled financial frauds.
The DGP cautioned against emerging cyber threats such as fraudulent investment schemes, digital arrest scams, illegitimate loan applications, fake job offers and mule account networks. Cybercriminals increasingly target young people through social engineering and misuse of digital platforms, he said.
RBI Reelathon 2026 is designed as a three-phase state-wide awareness initiative. During the first phase, awareness programmes on smart borrowing and safe digital banking will be conducted across approximately 150 colleges.
The second phase will feature a reel-making competition in which students will create short videos on themes such as illegitimate loan applications, mule accounts, digital financial frauds and cyber hygiene. Following multiple rounds of evaluation, shortlisted entries will compete in a Gala Finale scheduled later this year.
Marking the end of a nearly four-decade long chapter, the Indian Navy retired its Sea King Bravo helicopters with a ceremonial final flight from INS Shikra, the western naval command base in Colaba.
Procured between 1989 and 1990, the Sea King Bravo fleet was inducted into the Indian Navy for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare operations.
At its peak, the Navy operated around 20 of the helicopters, popularly known as “flying frigates” because of their ability to perform both roles: anti-ship and anti-submarine.
The Indian Navy first acquired Sea King Mark helicopters in April 1971 to strengthen its anti-submarine warfare capabilities against Pakistani submarines.
TheSea King 42 Alpha variant was deployed aboard the Nilgiri-class frigates. TheSea King Mk 42 and the 42 Alpha variants were retired years ago, leaving the Bravo as the final operational variant in the series.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) rolled out Drunix, an open-source blockchain platform, to help companies build and scale tokenisation platforms, digital asset ecosystems, multi-organisation networks.
Drunix enables blockchain deployment at scale and is engineered for enterprise and public infrastructure adoption.
NPCI said it is a high-performance distributed ledger platform built as an enhanced fork of Hyperledger Fabric.
Hyperledger Fabric is an open-source enterprise blockchain framework developed under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation.
Drunix marks NPCI’s second major open-source contribution in the blockchain and tokenisation space, following Falcon, which focused on production-grade blockchain network management and orchestration, the organisation stated.
The apex retail payments body has rolled out other initiatives such as the Finance Model for India (FiMI), Vigil-AI and Falcon.
The apex payments body is planning to scale up central infrastructure pipes through the subsidiary, while also experimenting with pilot projects.
India will allow the import of 378,000 units of conventional-engine passenger cars, including those in the mass segment, from the UK at concessional customs duty during the first 15 years of the implementation of the trade pact between the two countries.
Under the pact, tariffs on automotive imports will fall from about 110 per cent to 10 per cent, with quotas on both sides.
According to the India-UK CETA document, released on Wednesday, India will get access to the UK's electric, hybrid/hydrogen passenger cars segment with duty-free exports to that country from the sixth year in the price segment ranging from,
GBP 20,000 to GBP 80,000, with the total quota reaching a peak of 88,000 units from the 15th year and continuing in the subsequent years.
This will benefit Indian manufacturers such as Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Maruti Suzuki, among others.
The two countries announced the implementation of the comprehensive trade and economic partnership agreement (CETA) from July 15.
For imports from the UK to India, the quota for conventional-engine passenger cars will peak in the fifth year across specified categories of vehicles at 37,000 units, with customs duties reduction reaching a final 10 per cent.
The duties will not be reduced beyond this.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) concessional swap facility for overseas foreign currency borrowings (OFCBs) is expected to provide banks with a cheaper source of funding at a time when deposit mobilisation remains a challenge and credit demand continues to outpace deposit growth.
In a circular issued, the central bank said the OFCB swap facility is available to all Authorised Dealer Category 1 banks, including private-sector lenders, for OFCBs with a minimum maturity of three years. The restriction limiting participation to public-sector entities applies only to the external commercial borrowing (ECB) component of the scheme.
Foreign currency borrowing is a subset, or a particular type, of ECB.
The swap will be undertaken at a fixed rate of 1.5 per cent per annum, compounded semi-annually, and the window will remain open until December 31. Hedging costs in the market are estimated at 3.5-4 per cent, implying a reduction of 200-250 basis points (bps) under the RBI’s concessional swap arrangement.
The RBI has also allowed banks to exclude positions arising from its newly announced foreign currency swap facilities for foreign currency non-resident (bank) deposits, ECBs, and OFCBs from the calculation of their net overnight open position in Indian rupee limits.
Eighteen of India’s 28 states overshot the fiscal deficit ceiling of 3 per cent of gross state domestic product (GSDP) in FY25, the third annual review of state finances released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Tuesday showed, noting that the deterioration is comparable only to the increase seen during the Covid year of FY21.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) yesterday announced the inaugural edition of the AIFF Under-17 Women’s Youth League. The tournament will kick off on the 18th July at the RKM Football Academy in Narainpur, Chhattisgarh, marking a historic milestone for women’s youth club football in India. The final match will be played on the 29th of July.
The tournament marks the first national youth league for Under-17 women’s clubs in the country, featuring 16 teams from across India. The participating teams have been divided into four groups of four, with the top two sides from each group advancing to the quarter-finals before the competition progresses through the knockout stage.
Among the 16 participating clubs, there are five teams from the Indian Women’s League (IWL) and seven from the IWL 2. The four remaining teams are KMP Aspire FC, Zinc Football Academy, PFC Kerala, and hosts RKM Football Academy.
The inaugural league marks the first opportunity for clubs across the country to field their Under-17 women’s teams in a structured national tournament. The launch of this league represents another significant step in the AIFF’s commitment to strengthening the women’s football development pathway.
Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a crucial meeting in New Delhi, during which consensus was reached among six states on the long-pending Kishau Multi-Purpose Dam Project aimed at the rejuvenation of the Yamuna River.
Home Minister said in a statement, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the project. Following the signing of the MoU, the Kishau project will be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
Under the agreed funding pattern, the Central Government will provide 90 per cent assistance for the water component of the project, while the remaining 10 per cent will be shared by the six states. It was also decided that, in lieu of sharing the cost of the power component, the water allocated to Himachal Pradesh will be supplied to Delhi and Rajasthan.
Ashok Leyland and Switch Mobility have become the first OEMs to provide discounts under the scheme for the replacement of old trucks and buses in Delhi-NCR, an official statement said.
The first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Centre's scheme for replacement of old trucks and buses in the Delhi-NCR region was signed on Monday between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and Ashok Leyland, along with Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of the company.
With the signing of the MoU, the statement said, Ashok Leyland and Switch Mobility have become the first Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to partner with the government for implementation of the scheme.
"Under the agreement, the companies will provide an 8 per cent discount on the ex-showroom price of eligible trucks and buses purchased under the scheme," the statement said.
For electric vehicles, the discount will be capped at the discount applicable to an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle of the equivalent Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) category, it added.
In addition to the 8 per cent discount offered by participating OEMs, the Central Government will provide 5 per cent interest subvention and fixed monthly fuel vouchers for a period of five years.
On the other hand, participating state governments will provide up to 100 per cent concession on motor vehicle tax for a period of ten years and waiver of registration fees for eligible beneficiaries under the scheme, as per the statement.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan has informed that they have collaborated with the Department of Atomic Energy to develop an advanced artificial heating system that can protect lunar lander from the freezing weather of the Moon.
Addressing the CSIR-RISE Conclave in Bengaluru, ISRO chief explained that Chandrayaan 3 lander Vikram fuelled by solar energy, operated only for 14 days on Moon. ISRO will now work with the Atomic Energy Department to develop a lunar lander that can survive on the Moon for up to 200 days. This lander with artificial heaters can survive harsh weather conditions on the Moon.
The lunar days and nights last about 14 Earth days each, and heat reaches 121 celsius and temperature dips to minus 129 celsius at night. V Narayanan disclosed that ISRO and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR have identified 40 areas of technological cooperation and 17 among them have already been approved for implementation in the first phase.
Uzbekistan has officially become a shareholder and member of the New Development Bank (NDB), often referred to as the BRICS Bank. The bank confirmed Uzbekistan's admission on 5 June 2026, marking another step in the institution's expansion beyond its five founding members.
It is the first Central Asian country to join the NDB.
The NDB was established by the founding BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging economies. It is headquartered in Shanghai and is currently led by former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
The NDB now has 10 full member countries:
Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa
Bangladesh
United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Algeria
Uzbekistan
Prospective Members- Uruguay Colombia Ethiopia.
Prospective members listed herein have been admitted by NDB’s Board of Governors and will officially become a member country once they deposit their instrument of accession.
Gastronomy is a cultural expression of the world’s natural and cultural diversity. On June 18, we celebrate Sustainable Gastronomy Day and acknowledge that everyone plays a role in making sustainable choices for healthy diets and a food-secure future.
By 2050, the world will have over 9 billion mouths to feed. Yet, one third of all food produced is lost or wasted. As it stands now, we are using our oceans, forests and soils in largely unsustainable ways. We need to be more careful about how we use our natural resources as producers and we need to be pickier about how we choose our food as consumers.
The resolution proclaimed 18 June as the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, building on the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech launched on 18 June 2019.
The UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech underscores the importance of partnerships in the fight against hate speech.
To observe the Day, the United Nations invites governments, international organizations, civil society groups, and individuals to hold events and initiatives promoting strategies to identify, address and counter hate speech.
