India has made first payment for hybrid power projects in the northern part of Sri Lanka. High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, handed over the first payment to Secretary of the Ministry of Power and Energy, Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardena, and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, Mr. Ranjith Sepala.

These projects in Delft, Nainativu, and Analaitivu islands are being executed by an Indian entity under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Sri Lanka in March 2022. The initiative, funded by a USD 11 million grant from India, aims to meet the energy needs of these islands by combining solar and wind power. Initial work has begun at the sites, with project completion expected by early March 2025 and handover by late April 2025, strengthening India’s energy partnership with Sri Lanka.

Bharti Airtel has partnered with Apple to bring exclusive offers for Apple Music and Apple TV+ to customers in India later this year, the telecom company said on Tuesday.

Apple TV+ will be included on Airtel's video-streaming service Xstream with premium wifi and postpaid plans, and users of the company's music-streaming service, Wynk Premium, will have access to offers on Apple Music, the Indian company said.

Bharti Airtel did not disclose a deal value for the partnership, nor did it provide information on the costs of the plans.

Following the deal, Airtel will exit the music vertical, and shut down its Wynk music app, absorbing all its employees, according to a Business Insider report.

Eight railway stations in the Lucknow division of Northern Railways were officially renamed after saints and freedom fighters on Tuesday, officials said.

According to an order issued by the Northern Railways, Kasimpur Halt Railway Station will now be known as Jais City Railway Station, Jais as Guru Gorakhnath Dham, Misrauli as Maa Kalikan Dham, and Bani as Swami Paramhans.

Similarly, the name of Nihalgarh Railway Station was changed to Maharaja Bijli Pasi Railway Station, Akbarganj to Maa Ahorwa Bhawani Dham, Warisganj to Amar Shahid Bhale Sultan, and Fursatganj to Tapeshwarnath Dham.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday handed over the Indian citizenship certificate to a 78-year-old Pakistani Christian under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, making him the first such person from the coastal state.

Joseph Francis Pereira went from Goa to Pakistan for studies before liberation and subsequently took up a job there. He attained Pakistani citizenship and lived in Karachi before returning to India in 2013.

The chief minister said that though Pereira was married to a Goan woman, he faced hurdles in getting Indian citizenship till the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi amended the Citizenship Act, 1955. He gave the certificate to Pereira in the presence of state tourism minister Rohan Khaunte.

In a significant stride towards fostering collaboration in the field of cooperative management within the fisheries sector, the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (ICAR-CIFE) and the Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday (August 26, 2024).This is an important step forward in realization of the vision of establishment of 2 lakh PACS, Dairy and Fishery Cooperatives in every Panchayat.

Fisheries in India provides livelihood to 14.46 million people and this strategic partnership aims to enhance integration and reach of advanced technology as well as promotion of value addition in fishery cooperatives. VAMNICOM and ICAR-CIFE will together explore new opportunities in the area of Fish, Fish cooperative and Fisheries ecosystem from the perspective of education, research, capacity building and consultancy.

The ceremony, held at the ICAR-CIFE campus in Mumbai, was graced by Dr. Ravishankar CN, Director and Vice Chancellor of ICAR-CIFE, and Dr. Hema Yadav, Director of VAMNICOM. Scientists, faculty members, and key team members from both institutions were also present on the occasion.

The MoU aims to bolster the synergies between ICAR-CIFE and VAMNICOM, paving the way for enhanced cooperative management practices in fisheries. Through this partnership, the institutions will collaborate on research, training and development initiatives that are expected to significantly impact the fisheries sector by improving cooperative management strategies and practices.

RINL, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, signed a MoU(memorandum of understanding) with IOCL for the supply of hydraulic and lubricating oils & greases for a period of 5 years from 2024 to 2029.

The MoU documents were exchanged by Sri Sri AK Bagchi, Director (Projects) & additional charge Director (Operations), RINL and Sri. B. Anil Kumar, ED & State Head (TPSO-Telangana, Andhra Pradesh State office), IOCL in the august presence of Sri.R.Uday Kumar, ED(Lubes), IOCL, Sri. U. Sridhar, CGM(Works)I/c, RINL,Sri VV Somaraju, GM(MM) & in-charge HOD, MM, RINL, Sri R. Sundara Narayanan, CGM (Lubes),TAPSO, IOCL GM(Lubes), Sri NVS Murthy & GM(Lubes), TAPSO, IOCL, Sri Jayashankar Varikkat, GM, TAPSO, IOCL and senior officials of RINL and IOCL

The Centre Saturday approved two key science initiatives to strengthen the research base and accelerate search for science and technology solutions to some of the country’s pressing needs in sectors like clean energy.

The Union Cabinet decided to merge several existing science promotion programmes being run by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) under a new initiative called Vigyan Dhara that, it hopes, would result in better fund utilisation, and improve efficiency. It also approved a biotechnology initiative that will push for research and development, industrialisation and manufacturing in the biotechnology sector.

Tamil Nadu-based space startup Space Zone India has launched the country's first hybrid reusable rocket - Rhumi 1 onboard a mobile platform from Pattipulam in Chengalpattu district to take up research on atmospheric conditions.

The rocket made history by launching three Cube satellites into orbit and safely returning to land in just seven minutes, setting a new standard for rapid space missions.

Developed with support from Martin Group, Rhumi 1 was launched into space from the East Coast Road Beach on Saturday on India’s first hydraulic mobile launch system enabling flexible and adaptable launch operations from various locations at different angles between 0 to 120 degrees, according to a statement.

The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved the proposal to hold a third batch of e-auctions for 730 channels under Private FM Radio Phase III policy, covering 234 new cities with an estimated reserve price of `784.87 crore, the Union I&B Ministry said.

The decision is part of the I&B Ministry’s 100-day programme, according to sources in the government. There have been efforts to hold e-auctions for the third batch since 2018, sources said.

In July last year, former I&B minister Anurag Thakur had said 808 FM radio stations will soon be e-auctioned across 284 cities and added that the country has 388 FM radio stations in 113 cities across 26 states and 5 UTs.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved setting up of 12 industrial smart cities under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) with an estimated investment of Rs. 28,602 crore.

The project spans across 10 states and is strategically planned along six major corridors. These industrial areas will be located in Khurpia in Uttrakhand, Rajpura-Patiala in Punjab, Dighi in, Maharashtra, Palakkad in Kerala, Agra and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gaya in Bihar, Zaheerabad in Telangana, Orvakal and Kopparthy in Andhra Pradesh and Jodhpur-Pali in Rajasthan.

Addressing media persons, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the project will create an investment potential of about Rs 1.52 lakh crore.