Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Human-Wildlife Conflict at the Wildlife Institute of India-Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (WII-SACON), Coimbatore, and launched the National Human-Wildlife Conflict Portal.

The inauguration was followed by a national workshop on human-wildlife conflict, bringing together policymakers, forest officials, scientists, researchers, technology experts and conservation practitioners from across the country to discuss strategies for reducing conflicts between humans and wildlife. The event was also attended by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh.

Addressing the gathering, Yadav said human-wildlife conflict has emerged as one of India’s major conservation and development challenges due to increasing interactions between people and wildlife caused by habitat fragmentation, changing land-use patterns and expanding human activities.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has emerged as one of the world’s largest digital health ecosystems, with over 93.95 crore accounts created, 105 crore health records linked, and 5.33 lakh health facilities and 9.85 lakh healthcare professionals registered on the national digital health registries, the Union health ministry said on Friday.

The initiative has also enabled 2.72 lakh healthcare facilities to adopt ABDM-enabled software, generating around 24 crore scan and register tokens for faster OPD registration and facilitating seamless, consent-based exchange of health information across the healthcare sector, according to an official statement.

The observations were made at the third meeting of the Mission Steering Group chaired by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, which reviewed the progress of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and deliberated on the roadmap for further strengthening India’s digital health ecosystem.

Indian Potash Limited (IPL) and Jain Irrigation Systems Limited (JISL) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on promoting scientific, sustainable, and technology-driven sugarcane cultivation across Gujarat.

The partnership will focus on the survey, design, supply, and installation of drip irrigation systems, along with capacity building, farmer training, and field demonstrations to encourage the adoption of modern sugarcane farming practices, IPL said in a statement Friday.

Under the MoU, both IPL and JISL have agreed to jointly work to promote efficient irrigation and fertigation technologies for sustainable sugarcane cultivation, demonstrate modern irrigation solutions, precision input management, and improved agronomic practices.

NABARD said on Friday that it has facilitated the Geographical Indication registration of 28 new products such as traditional handicrafts, handloom textiles and bamboo crafts among others across the country. Till date, NABARD has supported 176 products in securing GI registration.

The latest additions span a diverse range of traditional handicrafts, handloom textiles, bamboo crafts, metalwork, pottery, paintings, and musical instruments, further strengthening India’s portfolio of region-specific products with legal protection and global market potential, NABARD said in a statement.

Among the newly registered products are Nalanda Bawanbuti Saree and Fabrics and Gaya Pattharkatti Stone Craft from Bihar; Kuchai Silk Saree and Fabrics from Jharkhand; Ba Shilp (Bamboo Craft) and Bihu Pepa from Assam; Himachal Wood Carving Craft; and Khajuraho Metal Craft from Madhya Pradesh, along with several other traditional products from across the country.

India and New Zealand on Saturday (local time) elevated their bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership and adopted the 'India-New Zealand Strategic Partnership: Roadmap to 2030', an ambitious blueprint aimed at expanding cooperation in trade, agriculture, security, innovation and people-to-people exchanges over the next four years.

According to the India-New Zealand joint statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship and endorsed the roadmap as "a framework to guide joint action over the next four years."

The two leaders also agreed on a long-term vision for the Strategic Partnership to take bilateral ties to a new level by strengthening existing cooperation mechanisms and exploring new avenues of collaboration in both bilateral and multilateral forums.

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday (July 10, 2026) at the Delhi Secretariat under the ‘Catch the Rain’ initiative for a rainwater harvesting project to be implemented in 75 CM Shri Schools across Delhi. The MoU was signed between Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), the Directorate of Education, and Ehsaas NGO in the presence of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

The project will be implemented under IGL’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative and it includes the audit and restoration of existing rainwater harvesting systems on school campuses, as well as the installation of new rooftop rainwater harvesting systems. Water conservation and environmental awareness programmes will also be organised for students and teachers, as per Delhi government.

XDanish drugmaker Novo Nordisk on Wednesday launched Awiqli or insulin icodec, the world's first once-weekly basal insulin for adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, marking a significant shift in diabetes treatment by cutting insulin injections from 365 a year to just 52.

Insulin is a hormone that helps move glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream into cells to stop it from building up in the bloodstream. Patients with type 1 diabetes or advanced type 2 diabetes need to administer insulin, usually once a day and sometimes multiple times a day, in order to keep their blood sugar in a healthy range.

The maker of blockbuster diabetes and obesity drug semaglutide said the new therapy is designed to address one of the biggest barriers to insulin adoption in India – fear of daily injections – which contributes to insulin initiation being delayed by an average of seven to nine years.

Uttar Pradesh government has launched the cashless health scheme for teachers as well as non-teaching staff in the state. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the ‘Chief Minister’s Teachers’ Cashless Medical Scheme’ from Varanasi, which will offer medical coverage of up to 5 lakh rupees to more than 15 lakh teaching staff.

Under the scheme, teachers across the state and their families will gain access to cashless medical facilities worth up to 5 lakh rupees. About 15 lakh teachers and non-teaching staff associated with basic and secondary education will benefit from the scheme. Beyond regular teachers, the scheme will also benefit Shiksha Mitras (para-teachers), instructors, cooks, and eligible staff of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas.

An MoU was also signed with the State Bank of India to provide social security cover to the teachers and their families. Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister said that the government has fulfilled its promises to safeguard the health and social security of teachers. The comprehensive social security and insurance programme for UP basic education department employees is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country.

The Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) flagship rural digital transformation initiative, Samriddh Gram: Integrated Phygital Service Delivery Model Enabled by BharatNet, has won the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2026 under Action Line C6 – Enabling Environment.

The award was presented during the WSIS Forum 2026 in Geneva, recognising India’s model of using digital public infrastructure and telecom connectivity to deliver integrated services in rural areas.

Instituted under the World Summit on the Information Society process led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the WSIS Prizes honour projects that use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to advance sustainable development.

NASA astronaut Anil Menon, an emergency medicine physician and US Space Force colonel of Indian origin, is set to embark on his first mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on July 14.

Menon, 49, will lift off aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan along with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina. The mission is expected to last about eight months.

Born in Minneapolis to Indian and Ukrainian immigrant parents, Menon has built a career spanning medicine, the military and human spaceflight. During his service with the US Air Force, he was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He also worked with the Himalayan Rescue Association, providing medical care to climbers on Mount Everest.