Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Education in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India, on July 25 launched the Revised Adarsh Kaushal Loan Scheme, which aims to provide access to skill courses to the youth of the country without any financial barriers. The scheme aims to provide easy access to such advanced level skill courses to the youth. These include high-level courses, which often require high course fees. This initiative will help in making India's youth a future-ready workforce.

During the launch ceremony of the scheme at Kaushal Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday, Jayant Chaudhary said that the launch of Model Skill Loan Scheme is a major achievement for our Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He said that this scheme provides financial assistance to youth for advanced skills through collateral-free loans up to Rs 7.5 lakh. NBFCs, NBFC-MFIs and Small Finance Banks have also been made eligible lenders.

OpenAI has released SearchGPT which is an AI-powered search engine with real-time access to information across the internet- Google's new competition. The Sam Altman-led company said that SearchGPT will be available as a prototype in limited release and OpenAI plans to eventually build it into ChatGPT. OpenAI’s blog post read, “SearchGPT is designed to help users connect with publishers by prominently citing and linking to them in searches. Responses have clear, in-line, named attribution and links so users know where information is coming from and can quickly engage with even more results in a sidebar with source links.”

The launch comes as The Information reported that OpenAI’s AI training and inference costs could reach $7 billion this year as millions of users on the free version of ChatGPT are driving up costs.

Sri Lanka secured their first Women's Asia Cup title win on Sunday, beating India with a clinical run-chase in front of home fans. This was also just the second time in their nine final appearances that India failed to win the Women's Asia Cup.

The previous such instance was in 2018, when Bangladesh beat India by three wickets.

Samarawickrama was the Player of the Match in the Final, while Chamari Athapaththu was the Player of the Tournament for her 304 runs and three wickets in the event.

Manu Bhaker became the first woman shooter from India ever to win an Olympics medal, after claiming a bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. She was just 0.1 behind Kim Yeji when she was eliminated in the final on Sunday. Kim eventually won a silver medal while her Korean compatriot Oh Ye Jin claimed a gold medal.

Three years after her Tokyo Olympics was derailed by a pistol malfunction, the 22-year-old claimed a bronze medal behind two South Korean shooters. The nine-time World Cup medallist is only the fifth Indian to win a medal in shooting.

Earlier, on the first day of the Paris Olympics, Manu Bhaker had finished 3rd in the women’s 10m air pistol event with a score of 580 in the qualification rounds. Manu Bhaker had also shot the highest number of Perfect Scores (27) in the qualification to breeze through to the final.

The Centre has introduced a revised Model Skill Loan Scheme, designed to provide financial support for skill development courses to the nation’s youth. Launched on Thursday by Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Education, the scheme aims to remove financial barriers to advanced skill education.

The updated scheme offers collateral-free loans of up to Rs. 7.5 lakh and expands eligibility to include Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), NBFC-Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs), and small finance banks. This initiative is part of a broader effort to develop a future-ready workforce by facilitating access to high-cost, advanced skill courses essential for meeting emerging industrial demands.

During the launch, Jayant Chaudhary emphasized that the scheme empowers youth with financial support for advanced skilling through collateral-free loans. He pointed out that NBFCs, NBFC-MFIs, and small finance banks are now eligible lenders.

Suhel Ajaz Khan, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Yemen, with residence in Riyadh, a government press release said.

The press release added that Ajaz Khan, IFS of the 1997 batch, is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Ajaz Khan expressed gratitude for being given the additional responsibility.

In a post on X, he said, "It is a matter of great honour for me to be given this additional responsibility-concurrent accreditation to Yemen. I look forward to working closely with the Internationally Recognized Government in Yemen to strengthen India-Yemen relations.

On the 55th Foundation Day of REC Limited, Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal, inaugurated the National Feeder Monitoring System (NFMS) Control Centre at REC Headquarters in Gurugram on Thursday.

The NFMS, an ambitious project by the Ministry of Power, aims to provide real-time data on power supply, outages, and the overall status of approximately 2.5 lakh (250,000) 11 KV feeders across India. This initiative is designed to enhance transparency, efficiency, and accountability in power distribution, ultimately benefiting consumers with improved quality and reliability of electricity supply. The system integrates data from 87 distribution companies (DISCOMs), facilitating informed decision-making for stakeholders.

A dedicated control centre at the REC Corporate Office in Gurugram will monitor and disseminate daily findings to DISCOMs. This ensures the accuracy and efficiency of the NFMS portal data and helps DISCOMs maintain the necessary KPIs set by the Ministry.

Hockey India on Wednesday launched their cutting-edge Athlete Management System (AMS), designed to revolutionise the management and development of hockey talent across the nation. This innovative system will serve two primary purposes - Elite Athlete Tracking and Grassroots Talent Identification.

For Elite Athlete Tracking, the AMS will monitor the progress of top-tier players, including all members of the four national teams. This will ensure that athletes receive personalized and data-driven support to enhance their performance and maintain their competitive edge.

Also, the AMS will help in Grassroots Talent Identification by tracking players from their earliest involvement in hockey through all levels of competition - district, state, national, and international. This will help identify and nurture emerging talent, ensuring a strong pipeline of skilled athletes for the future.

India’s first Integrated Agri-Export Facility will come up at Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai to bolster the country’s agricultural export and import capabilities. Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has approved the project of Development of an Export-Import cum Domestic Agricultural Commodity-Based Processing and Storage Facility on public private partnership mode worth over 284 crore rupees.

Mr. Sonowal said, the development of this all-in-one agricultural facility will streamline logistics, reduce wastage, and provide better prices for agricultural products. He said, this is a significant step towards empowering the farmers and boosting India’s agricultural sector. The facility will cater to exports of prominent items like non-basmati rice, maize, spices, onion, and wheat.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million loan to expand metro rail corridors and improve transport connectivity in Nagpur, India.

The Nagpur Metro Urban Mobility Project will improve transport connectivity within and to Nagpur’s new and growing urban areas. It will provide an efficient, safe, and environment-friendly public transport to ease commuters’ travel and improve productivity.

"ADB’s support will extend Nagpur’s metro rail network to meet rising travel demand and enhance the economy," said ADB Principal Transport Specialist Sharad Saxena. "This project will make the city more livable—improving the urban environment and mobility of residents and enhancing their access to basic services."