India has achieved a historic milestone in healthcare by performing 20,138 organ transplants in 2025, crossing the 20,000-mark for the first time, according to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation's (NOTTO) latest annual report. The achievement represents a 6.5 per cent increase over the previous year and a remarkable fourfold rise from 4,990 transplants in 2013, reflecting the rapid expansion of the country's transplant programme.

However, while the numbers are encouraging, health experts say one major challenge continues to limit lifesaving transplants: the shortage of deceased organ donors.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Smt. Monisha Chakraborty as Executive Director (ED) with effect from August 3, 2026. Prior to being promoted as ED, Smt. Monisha Chakraborty was serving as Chief General Manager in Charge in the Department of Supervision.

As a career central banker, Smt. Monisha Chakraborty has experience of over three decades in the Reserve Bank, having worked in the areas of supervision, foreign exchange, and government and bank accounts.

She was associated with a technical committee set up to review the format of the RBI’s balance sheet and profit and loss account. Smt. Chakraborty has also served as Banking Ombudsman.

As Executive Director, Smt. Monisha Chakraborty will look after the Foreign Exchange Department and Financial Markets Regulation Department. Smt. Monisha Chakraborty has a degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Business Economics, both from Delhi University.

GIS major Esri India has signed a pact with Navratna central public sector enterprise Bharat Electronics to collaborate on defence projects and programmes involving geographic information systems, location intelligence and GeoAI, the company said on Monday.

BEL and Esri India have already delivered projects for the Indian defence services, and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between them will further strengthen the collaboration.

Esri India Managing Director Agendra Kumar said geospatial intelligence has evolved from being a support capability to becoming a strategic decision advantage in defence, enabling commanders to see, analyse and respond with greater speed and precision.

Larsen & Toubro's (L&T's) offshore hydrocarbon business has secured an order worth more than ₹15,000 crore from ADNOC Offshore for a major project in the West Asia, the company said on Tuesday.

L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Offshore (LTEH Offshore) will execute the project through a consortium arrangement and serve as its lead partner. The project involves developing multiple offshore facilities.

LTEH Offshore will execute the major share of the project scope, including the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of offshore facilities. The work also includes upgrading existing facilities.

A significant portion of the fabrication work will be undertaken at L&T's fabrication yards, drawing on the company's integrated engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning capabilities.

Modernist Satish Gujral only ever painted four rarely seen self portraits in his seven-decade-long career. One of them will now enter public circulation in the form of a postage stamp, which the Department of Posts, Government of India released on Monday to commemorate the modern master’s centenary.

Painted in 2010, it shows a confident Gujral sitting on a sofa holding a paintbrush. The palette is quintessentially his — rich and colourful — but his face and arms are painted in black and white, giving the composition a photo-realistic finish.

Gujral didn’t make many portraits during his career. One of his first portraits was that of Lala Lajpat Rai, commissioned by a committee for the Parliament. It was a breakthrough moment not because it was appreciated but because it got rejected. Word reached Jawaharlal Nehru, who asked to see the work. Impressed, he commissioned Gujral to make portraits of himself and his daughter Indira Gandhi. “That started a spark. Then, he made a few more portraits — one each of his parents, my mother, me and my sister. He also painted his first self-portrait in the 1950s,” said the artist’s daughter and interior designer Raseel Gujral.

India and Uzbekistan have set ambitious targets to sharply expand bilateral trade and investment, with New Delhi proposing to double two-way trade over the next three years, from about $1.3 billion at present, while Tashkent said it hoped to raise the figure to $2 billion by next year.

At a business forum meeting on Monday, the two countries identified mining, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, information technology, food processing and the digital economy as priority sectors for deeper collaboration. Uzbekistan also pitched opportunities in metallurgy, chemicals, energy, automobiles and digital infrastructure.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the recently signed bilateral investment treaty would boost investor confidence. “The recent bilateral investment treaty between India and Uzbekistan generates greater investor confidence. Areas to build strong collaboration between the two countries include mining, textiles, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, agriculture and food processing along with IT and digital economy,” the Minister said. The event was organised by industry chamber FICCI in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade.

The Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), on Monday, August 3, launched ANUGYAN – Nuclear Technology Orientation Programme (NTOP) in collaboration with the Crimson Energy Experts Private Limited (CEEPL). Anugyan is India’s first industry – academia programme introduced to provide engineers and industry professionals for the civil nuclear energy sector growing at a rapid pace.

IITH announced the programme during an inaugural ceremony at the campus.

Anugyan is a three-month fully residential programme carefully constructed by utilising the academic excellence of IIT Hyderabad and the all-round expertise of senior nuclear professionals from Crimson Energy Experts. The programme aims to help candidates to gain academic learning along with real-world industrial exposure.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued two draft notifications proposing amendments to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989, aimed at strengthening emergency medical response and enhancing road safety through connected vehicle technology.

The proposed amendments seek to establish a regulatory framework for two-wheeled road ambulances and introduce the phased implementation of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication systems in motor vehicles.

The ministry said the proposed framework for two-wheeled road ambulances is intended to improve rapid emergency response and last-mile access to medical care, particularly in rural and remote areas as well as hilly terrain where conventional ambulances often face mobility constraints.

Justice M S Liberhan, who achieved national prominence as the head of the judicial commission constituted to investigate the Babri Masjid demolition, died at age 87 in Chandigarh on Sunday. He was cremated at 11 am on Monday in the presence of his family members, friends, colleagues, and members of the Bar.

Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan was a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and a former Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh and Madras High Courts.

Born on November 11, 1938, in a village near Chandigarh, Justice Liberhan began his legal practice in Ambala, Haryana, before moving to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where he built a distinguished career before being elevated to the bench. Over the decades, he earned a reputation for judicial integrity, patience, and a deep commitment to the rule of law.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was today conferred with the Lokmanya Tilak National Award 2026 at a function held at Pune today. The award instituted by the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Trust was presented by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the occasion of the 106th death anniversary of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Shah said, Ajit Doval has made an outstanding contribution to strengthening India’s national security. He said, Mr. Doval has played a pivotal role in implementing several key national security decisions under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He added that the award recognises Mr. Doval’s exceptional service to the nation.

Accepting the honour, Ajit Doval said he was deeply humbled by the recognition. He said the younger generation should imbibe Lokmanya Tilak’s ideals of patriotism, sacrifice and unwavering sense of duty. He said freedom is not merely the liberty to act as one wishes, but a responsibility to place national interest above all else. He said, India is emerging as a stronger and more capable nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and urged citizens to play an active role in building a Viksit Bharat.