World Turtle Day 2025: Observed globally on May 23, World Turtle Day, is dedicated to raising awareness about the protection of turtles and tortoises, creatures that have existed on Earth for over 200 million years. This special day highlights the numerous threats they face, including habitat loss, illegal trade, and environmental degradation. World Turtle Day serves as a call to action to protect these ancient species and their ecosystems.

The history of World Turtle Day dates back to 1990 when Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson, a husband-and-wife duo, founded the American Tortoise Rescue (ATR). Their mission was to rescue, rehabilitate, and protect turtles and tortoises, animals that face numerous threats.

The Justice PC Ghose Commission of Inquiry has issued notices to Telangana former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao, and former Finance Minister Eatala Rajendar in connection with the probe into the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. The top leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) are the first politicians to be summoned for cross-examination in the inquiry. Eatala Rajendar is currently a Lok Sabha Member from the BJP. The commission, which is investigating the alleged irregularities in the multi-crore irrigation project, has asked the former CM to appear on the 5th of next month, while Harish Rao on the 6th, and Eatala Rajendar on the 9th of June. It was learnt that they have been directed to respond to the notices within 15 days, confirming their willingness to attend the cross-examination. The issuance of these notices marks a crucial phase in the Commission’s proceedings, which began examining the project after structural damage was reported at the Medigadda Barrage. The Medigadda Barrage, a key component of Kaleshwaram, developed cracks and stability issues in late 2023, leading to widespread scrutiny of both the design and execution of the project.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) has earned an ‘Excellent’ rating from the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for its performance in FY 2023-24. The rating places IREDA among the top four Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in India and the highest-ranked in both the power and NBFC sectors.

The DPE recently released the consolidated list of performance ratings for 84 CPSEs, based on the annual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the government. IREDA achieved a score of 98 and above, marking the fourth consecutive year it has received the top-tier ‘Excellent’ rating.

Commenting on the achievement, IREDA's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Pradip Kumar Das said, “We are immensely happy to be recognized as the best performing CPSE in the NBFC and power sector, and to be among the top four CPSEs in the country. This achievement reflects our team’s collective dedication and strategic vision to accelerate India's renewable energy growth.”

Bihar took centre stage in India’s agri-food export push as the International Buyer-Seller Meet (IBSM) 2025 commenced in Patna on Monday. Organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) in collaboration with APEDA, TPCI, and the Government of Bihar, the two-day event aims to boost food exports, facilitate global trade linkages, and unlock the state’s rich agricultural potential.

The inaugural session was graced by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, Industries Minister Nitish Mishra, and senior officials from MoFPI, APEDA, TPCI, and the Bihar government.

With participation from 70 international buyers representing 20 countries, including six global retail chains, along with 50 domestic and 20 institutional buyers, the meet is expected to generate strong procurement momentum through 400+ curated B2B meetings. Products such as rice, spices, makhana, and fruits are in focus, with global players like LuLu Group (UAE), SARTAJ (Japan), Datar & Sons (UAE) and Global Foods Trading (Germany) showing strong sourcing interest.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Wednesday announced the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), a new multi-dimensional analytical tool developed as part of its Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), to help financial institutions with advanced actionable intelligence for cyber fraud prevention.

FRI enables enhanced intelligence sharing with banks, UPI service providers and financial institutions, which in turn help tackle cyber fraud and financial crime.

It is a risk-based metric that classifies a mobile number in three categories: Medium, High, or Very High risk of financial fraud.

The move is set to help banks, non-banking financial companies, and UPI service providers prioritise enforcement and take additional customer protection measures in case a mobile number has high risk.

India has formally assumed the chairmanship of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) for the 2025–26 term during a meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, the commerce and industry ministry said Wednesday.

Tokyo-based APO is an intergovernmental body that promotes productivity enhancement across the Asia-Pacific region through mutual cooperation and capacity building. It has 21 members at present.

India, led by Amardeep Singh Bhatia, secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) emphasised the importance of regional collaboration in driving digital transformation, sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the Governing Body Meeting of the APO, being held from May 20–22 in Jakarta, the ministry said in a statement.

In Shooting, Adriyan Karmakar opened India’s medal account with a silver in the 50m rifle prone event at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, yesterday. The 20-year-old shot a score of 626.7, just 0.3 points behind Sweden’s Jesper Johansson, who won gold. Adriyan, who has earlier represented India juniors at the world championships but never in a World Cup, shot confidently and was one of the earliest participants to finish. Adriyan’s performance also set a new junior national record in the event.

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has launched the Indira Soura Giri Jala Vikasam scheme from Macharam village in Nagarkurnool district. Under the scheme, tribal farmers will receive free solar pumps of 5 -7.5 horsepower for irrigating horticultural crops. The 12-point ‘Nallamala Declaration’ was passed during the launch of the new ‘ Revanth Reddy Launches ‘Indira Soura Giri Jala Vikasam’ to Provide Free Solar Pumps for Tribal Farmers’ scheme, which talks about the developmental initiatives for tribals living in the forest areas. The pilot project was launched on 45 acres in Macharam, benefiting 45 tribals whose lands were not only taken away, but cases were also filed against the tribals for waging a struggle to protect their lands under the previous rule.

Addressing the event, the Chief Minister said the solar pumps will be provided to every farmer across the Achampet assembly constituency in 100 days. He also directed the officials to prepare plans to set up solar power plants through the women’s self-help groups (SHG), so that they could gain revenues from that.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bikaner in Rajasthan today from where he will lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate to the nation multiple development projects worth over 26 thousand crore rupees.

The Projects include Railways, Roadways, Power, Water and New and Renewable Energy sectors. During his visit, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate 103 redeveloped Amrit Stations in 86 districts across 18 States and Union Territories.

After reaching Deshnoke, Mr. Modi will first visit Karni Mata temple for darshan. After that, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the redeveloped Deshnoke Amrit Station under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme and also flag-off Bikaner-Mumbai express train. The Prime Minister will also address a public function in Palana of Bikaner.

Mizoram has been declared India’s first fully literate state, marking a historic milestone in the state’s educational journey. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan congratulated the people of Mizoram for this achievement.

In a social media post, Mr. Pradhan said that this is a momentous and proud milestone in the State’s educational journey and also a moment of great pride for the nation. He added that this is also a result of the collaborative efforts and resolve of the people and the State government. The Minister also wished that Mizoram’s achievement would inspire all States and Union Territories to pursue inclusive, equitable and lifelong learning with the same spirit of dedication for achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat