Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi felicitated sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik at his residence in Bhubaneswar on Saturday for winning the Golden Sand Master Award with a gold medal at the International Sand Sculpture Championship held in St. Petersburg, Russia, the Chief Minister's office said.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that while Pattnaik's talent has made him famous at the individual level, it has also made Odisha proud. "He is Odisha's and the country's pride," the CM added.

CM Majhi noted that having won numerous national and international competitions, Pattnaik continues to excel in sand art. The Chief Minister expressed hope that he will achieve even greater fame in the coming days.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is working on a novel approach to its artificial intelligence models in a project code-named “Strawberry,” according to a person familiar with the matter and internal documentation.

The project, details of which have not been previously reported, comes as the Microsoft-backed startup races to show that the types of models it offers are capable of delivering advanced reasoning capabilities.

Teams inside OpenAI are working on Strawberry, according to a copy of a recent internal OpenAI document seen by Reuters in May. Reuters could not ascertain the precise date of the document, which details a plan for how OpenAI intends to use Strawberry to perform research. The source described the plan to Reuters as a work in progress. The news agency could not establish how close Strawberry is to being publicly available.

G20 Sherpa of India, Amitabh Kant today said that India has achieved in 9 years what would have taken 50 years without Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Mr Kant said this on the occasion of the release of the final Report of India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure. He said India is far ahead in terms of digitisation and with UPI being used from street vendors to large shopping malls, the country has the highest digital transactions globally. Mr Kant highlighted that with the transfer of 4.5 billion dollars into the bank accounts of 16 crore beneficiaries, India’s DPI proved to be a building block in steering the country through the pandemic. He also said that the report will be the guiding North Star for the world to follow.

Speaking on the occasion, Co-Chair of Task Force, Nandan Nilekani said that Governments and businesses around the world are increasingly realising that if they really want to achieve SDGs and social goals like inclusive growth, they have to have underlying DPI to make that happen.

India is hosting for the first time the UNESCO’s prestigious World Heritage Committee meeting from 21st-31st July, 2024 in New Delhi. As an integral part of the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee, and in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, the Ministry of Culture is hosting the 2024 World Heritage Young Professionals Forum.

Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute of Archaeology, a sub-office under the Archaeological Survey of India is hosting the Young Professionals Forum under the theme of World Heritage in the 21st Century: Building Capacities and Exploring Opportunities for Youth from 14th to 23rd July 2024, at New Delhi.

The event was inaugurated today in the presence of Chief guest, Sh. Govind Mohan, Secretary Ministry of Culture along with Sh. Yadubir Singh Rawat, Director General, ASI, Sh. Vishal Sharma, Ambassador to UNESCO, Sh. Alok Tripathi, ADG (Archaeology), ASI, Sh. Janhwij Sharma, ADG, ASI, Ms Ines Yousfi, Project Officer from UNESCO.

The All-India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi successfully concluded its Second National Seminar SAUSHRUTAM Shalya Sangoshti, marking the celebration of Sushruta Jayanti-2024. The three-day event, which began on July 13, honored Sushruta, widely regarded as the father of surgery.

The seminar featured an impressive lineup of dignitaries, including Prof. Sandeep Kumar, Founder Director of AIIMS Bhopal, as the Chief Guest, and Padamshri Prof. Manoranjan Sahu, Founder Director of AIIA Delhi, among others as Guests of Honor.

AIIA Director Prof. (Dr) Tanuja Nesari and Prof Dr Yogesh Badwe, HoD Shalyatantra, welcomed the attendees and provided an overview of the seminar.

A highlight of the event was the live demonstration of 25 complex surgical procedures, offering participants a unique opportunity to observe and learn from renowned surgeons.

Vikram Misri assumed the charge of Foreign Secretary of India on Monday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed warm regards and best wishes to Foreign Secretary Misri for a successful tenure ahead.

“Shri Vikram Misri assumed charge as Foreign Secretary today. #TeamMEA extends a warm welcome to Foreign Secretary Misri and wishes him a successful tenure ahead,” said MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal in a post on X.

Misri, 59, succeeds Vinay Mohan Kwatra, whose tenure was marked by notable achievements in foreign policy and national security. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar acknowledged Kwatra’s contributions, particularly highlighting his strategic acumen in shaping and executing key policies over the past decade.X

Jio Financial Services received approval by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday to become a Core Investment Company (CIC) from a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), said the company in an exchange filing.

Reliance Industries Ltd,a conglomerate that focuses in energy to telecom, split out to form Jio Financial Services.

In November of last year, Jio Financial Services submitted an application to the RBI to convert from an NBFC to a CIC.

In order to incorporate the firm, Jio Financial Services applied to the RBI following the demerger of Reliance Industries' financial services division.

Bajaj Finserv Asset Management has launched a new financial product for retail investors looking to get returns on their idle savings. Finserv Savings+ offering seeks to bridge the gap between traditional savings accounts and more lucrative investment options, said the company.

Savings+ allows investors to identify surplus cash in their savings accounts and seamlessly invest it in Bajaj Finserv AMC Liquid Fund and Overnight Fund. These funds promise competitive returns while maintaining the liquidity that consumers expect from savings accounts.

Liquid funds delivered an impressive 7.17 per cent return between July 2023 and June 2024, outperforming average savings account interest rates. Investors can also benefit from T+1 day liquidity, with an option for instant redemption of up to Rs 50,000 or 90 per cent of invested value, whichever is lower, within minutes.

The Opposition on Saturday denounced the Centre’s move to widen the scope of Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor’s (LG) powers on key administrative and legal matters — ranging from police and public order to postings and prosecution sanction — saying that the step will render the chief minister “powerless” and “disempower” the region’s people.

The ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Friday amended the transaction rules pertaining to the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, which was enacted alongside the revocation of Constitution’s Article 370 for the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.

The team of Institute of Technology, Nirma University won the Robot Competition DD-Robocon India 2024. The two day event began on Saturday at Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi. This event was organised by Prasar Bharati and IIT Delhi. The winning team will now represent India at the international Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Robocon 2024 in QuangNinh, Vietnam. Pimpri-Chinchwad College of Engineering, Pune secured the first runner-up position, while MIT World Peace University Pune claimed the second runner-up spot. More than 750 students from over 45 colleges, institutions, and universities participated in the event. DD-Robocon India aims to foster technical skill development, innovation, and teamwork among engineering students, providing them with visibility and recognition in the field of robotics. The competition serves as a prestigious platform for showcasing and enhancing students’ engineering and robotics capabilities.