The State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced that it has secured the distinction of being the first bank to become a trading-cum-clearing (TCM) Member of India International Bullion Exchange at the GIFT City in Gujarat.

This milestone enables SBI IBU Gift City to conduct trades on the IIBX platform and settle them on behalf of its clients, per an official release.

RBI guidelines permitted branches of an Indian Bank in GIFT IFSC to act as a trading member (TM)/trading and clearing member (TCM) of IIBX. The central bank also allowed special category clients (SCC) which are nominated banks in India to import gold through IIBX.

The entry of India’s largest bank into the field as a TCM is poised to boost trading volumes at IIBX, the release added.

In a sport often featuring teenage prodigies, Shyam Nikhil is the poster boy for patience. The Tamil Nadu chess player became an International Master (IM) at the age of 18 way back in 2010, before collecting two out of the three norms needed to become a GM within a year. By 2012, he had also crossed the threshold of 2500 rating
points necessary to become a grandmaster. He seemed destined to become India’s 28th grandmaster very soon, but fate had other plans.

It took Shyam 12 more years to attain the elite status he was seeking. This week, the now 31-year-old from Tamil Nadu earned that third norm which will make him India’s 85th grandmaster. His elevation is in stark contrast to that of Gukesh, who will challenge for the world chess championship crown later this year, was India’s youngest-ever grandmaster at the age of 12.

Eight years after concluding the general framework of cooperation on the Chabahar port in Iran, India and Iran on Monday signed a 10-year contract for its operation.

The long-term agreement was signed between Indian Ports Global Ltd. (IPGL) and Port and Maritime Organisation (PMO) of Iran, enabling operation of the Shahid-Behesti terminal. Subsequently, IPGL will invest approximately $120 million in equipping the port. India has also offered a credit window equivalent to $250 million for mutually identified projects aimed at improving Chabahar-related infrastructure, officials said.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Mehrdad Bazrpash, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran.

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) readies to return astronauts to the moon, it has announced its plans to build a levitating robot train on the lunar surface. In a blog post, the American space agency provided details about the project called "Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT)", which aims to provide a "robotic transport system" to support future lunar activities of astroinauts visiting the moon. The transport system will be critical to the daily operation of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s, NASA said in a statement.

"We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon," robotics expert Ethan Schaler of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said. "A durable, long-life robotic transport system will be critical to the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s," he added.

Every year on May 15, we celebrate International Day of Families. It's a day to recognise how important families are in our society. The United Nations decided on this day in 1994 to help people understand why families matter, what struggles they might have, and to encourage people to come together. This year, 2024, marks the 30th anniversary of this special day. Let's learn more about its origin and why it's important.

The UN created the International Day of Families to highlight the importance of families in our societies. Families come in all shapes and sizes, and this day celebrates the diversity of family life around the world. It's also a time to raise awareness of the challenges families face and promote policies that support strong family units.

India and Moldova have signed an agreement on visa waiver, allowing holders of diplomatic and official passports from either country to travel without a visa.

The agreement was signed in New Delhi on Friday by Pavan Kapoor, secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ana Taban, ambassador of Moldova.

The MEA stated that the agreement will further strengthen ties between India and Moldova, which have had warm and friendly relations since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992.

In its statement the MEA said, "This Agreement, after coming into force, will allow holders of diplomatic and official passports of either country to travel to the other, without a visa.”

Indian squash players Urwashi Joshi and Suraj Kumar Chand secured the men's and women's titles at the Poona Club Open tournament held in Pune, Maharashtra on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Urwashi was the top-seed at the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Challengers Tour event, defeated USA's young sensation Diya Yadav by 3-1 (11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 11-5). This is the first-ever edition of the Poona Club Open squash tournament, as per Olympics.com.

England pacer James Anderson has announced his retirement from Test cricket after a long illustrious career of 20 years. Anderson, in a social media post, announced that he'll play his last Test at Lord's at the beginning of the English summer. Anderson's last Test will be against West Indies from July 10-14.

Legendary James Anderson is set for his final appearance in Test cricket as the upcoming home season for England will be the last for cricket’s most successful fast bowler, a report in U.K. media said.

Having become the first fast bowler ever to take 700 wickets in Test cricket during England’s tour of India earlier this year, legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne’s tally of 708 wickets in the format could be on Anderson’s target as he takes the field for one final run with the England team.

Aman Sehrawat has become the first Indian male wrestler to secure a quota place for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Asian champion Sehrawat secured a Paris quota in the men’s 57kg freestyle category at the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul, Turkiye. Sehrawat beat Chongsong Han of Korea 12-2 in the semi-final for India’s sixth quota in wrestling for the 2024 Olympics.

All of the previous five quotas were obtained by the Indian women wrestlers.

The Istanbul meet is the final opportunity for wrestlers to obtain a quota for the upcoming Summer Games.

Astronomers have searched for years for rocky planets beyond our solar system with an atmosphere - a trait considered essential for any possibility of harbouring life. Well, they finally seem to have located one. But this hellish planet - apparently with a surface of molten rock - offers no hope for habitability.

Researchers said on Wednesday the planet is a "super-Earth" - a rocky world significantly larger than our planet but smaller than Neptune - and it orbits perilously close to a star dimmer and slightly less massive than our sun, rapidly completing an orbit every 18 hours or so.

nfrared observations using two instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope indicated the presence of a substantial - if inhospitable - atmosphere, perhaps continuously replenished by gases released from a vast ocean of magma.