PayU, one of India's leading digital financial services providers, has introduced an industry-first biometric authentication solution for card payments - Flash Pay. Designed to simplify the payment experience, increase transaction success rates, and significantly enhance security, FlashPay was unveiled at the prestigious Global Fintech Festival (GFF) 2024. This cutting-edge solution combines the ease of seamless payment experience with robust security measures, meeting both customer aspirations for convenience and banks' stringent authentication requirements.

Flash Pay leverages advanced device-based biometric technology, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, to authenticate payments swiftly and securely. With transactions completed in under 10 seconds, customers no longer need to rely on traditional OTP-based authentication. This removes the wait for OTP delivery, reduces the potential for manual errors, and eliminates the risk of frauds associated with OTP sharing.

Gujarat — also the host state — won the maximum number of awards during the three-day 4th Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet and Expo. This is the first time the meet was organised outside Delhi.

Gujarat was ranked among the top three states in multiple categories such as overall renewable energy capacity, solar power capacity and wind power capacity among others.

While Gujarat was ranked on top under overall renewable energy capacity achieved and overall wind power capacity achieved categories, it was ranked second under overall solar power capacity achieved as Rajasthan pipped Gujarat to be at the top.

After an exciting eleven days of action-packed performance in the 14th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2024, Hockey Punjab clinched the title after defeating Uttar Pradesh Hockey 3-3 (4-3 SO) in the final at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar.

Hockey Punjab defeated Uttar Pradesh Hockey 3-3 (4-3 SO) in a closely contested final of the 14th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2024. Sukhwinder Singh (5'), Jarman Singh (33'), and Jobanpreet Singh (39') scored for Hockey Punjab.

Ajeet Yadav (31') Suraj Pal (48') and Akash Pal (54') scored one goal each for Uttar Pradesh Hockey. In the shootout, Akash Pal, Nitish Bhardwaj and Ajeet Yadav scored for Uttar Pradesh Hockey whereas Hockey Punjab proved out to the better one on the day of the final as Japnit Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Jarman Singh and Lovenoor Singh scored for Hockey Punjab to lift the trophy.

The World Health Organization WHO today declared Jordan as the first country in the world to eliminate leprosy, marking a significant milestone in global public health efforts. Congratulating Jordan on this milestone, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, Leprosy has afflicted humanity for millennia, but efforts have been made to stop its transmission and freeing individuals, families, and communities from its suffering and stigma country-by-country. WHO said that Jordan has not reported any autochthonous cases of leprosy for over two decades. The declaration was made after commissioning an independent team to assess this situation. The disease continues to occur in more than 120 countries. More than two lakh new cases are reported every year.

Scotland has rescued the Commonwealth Games that were in jeopardy after Australia's Victoria state backed out of plans to host the 2026 sporting event.

Glasgow, which hosted the event 10 years ago, will do so again, though some sports will need to be dropped as the Commonwealth Games Federation aims to reduce costs to make the competition more sustainable in the future.

“It will be scaled back compared to 2014 but will be a celebration of sporting achievement," Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney posted on X on Tuesday. "Excited about Glasgow 2026.”

The Union government has approved ₹31,000 crore to fence the Myanmar border, a senior Home Ministry official said on Wednesday.

The 1,643-km Myanmar border runs along the States of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km).

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said fencing work had been completed on 30 km of the border, which, he termed the root cause of the ethnic violence in Manipur.

In a major push to transform India's dairy cooperative sector, Union Minister Amit Shah on Thursday unveiled 'White Revolution 2.0', a comprehensive initiative aimed at empowering women farmers and creating job opportunities.

The programme focuses on four key areas - empowering women farmers, enhancing local milk production, strengthening dairy infrastructure, and boosting dairy exports. The programme is one of the three initiatives undertaken in the first 100 days of the Modi government's third term.

"Maximum women are engaged in the dairy sector, with some generating business worth Rs 60,000 crore in Gujarat alone. This new initiative will focus on empowering women and further strengthening the fight against malnutrition," Shah said while addressing the gathering.

In a bid to attract foreign investment, Rajasthan’s Industries Minister, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, led a high-level delegation to an investors’ meet in Dubai today. This event set the stage for the upcoming ‘Rising Rajasthan’ Global Investment Summit 2024, slated for December this year, underlining the state’s commitment to fostering international economic partnerships.

Minister Rathore extended a warm invitation to the UAE business community and investors, encouraging them to explore the myriad opportunities Rajasthan has to offer. His address emphasized the state government’s dual focus on enhancing the ease of doing business and reducing operational costs, positioning Rajasthan as an attractive destination for global investors.

The stability of Rajasthan’s political landscape emerged as a key talking point. Rathore assured potential investors of the government’s longevity and commitment, stating, “We are a stable government. We are a majority government in Rajasthan. We’ve just taken charge… As per the Constitution, we have four years to go without any hindrance.” This assurance was aimed at instilling confidence in the continuity and realization of investment agreements.

The Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) and Coal India Ltd have signed an agreement to open a Jan Aushadhi Kendra in the premises of every coal field, select hospitals or any suitable location as specified by the state-run miner.

A Jan Aushadhi Kendra is a dedicated outlet that sells generic medicines at affordable rates. PMBI, under the department of pharmaceuticals, ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, has been given the mandate to ensure the availability of quality medicines at affordable prices at Jan Aushadhi Kendra stores. Generic medicines are 50-90% cheaper than branded drugs.

“The objective of this MoU (memorandum of understanding) is to provide high-quality generic medicines to the workforce and communities associated with Coal India, through the establishment of Jan Aushadhi Kendras across Coal India premises. These medicines will help workers, residents, and families save out-of-pocket expenditure and give employment opportunities to entrepreneurs in the project areas,” the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the new moon mission Chandrayaan-4 and approved the development of the Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) as part of the government’s vision to explore and study the Earth’s closest planet.

The Chandrayaan-4 will develop and demonstrate the technologies to come back to Earth after successfully landing on the moon and also collect lunar samples for analysis on Earth. VOM, scheduled to launch in March 2028, will focus on putting a scientific spacecraft in the orbit of Venus for a better understanding of its surface and subsurface, atmospheric processes, and the influence of the sun on the Venusian atmosphere.

The Chandrayaan-4 mission will cost Rs 2104.06 crore. The budget includes spacecraft development and realisation, two LVM3 launches, external deep space network support, and conducting special tests for design validation, finally leading to the landing on the moon’s surface and safe return to Earth along with the collected lunar samples.