The Government has approved the Textiles Focused Research, Assessment, Monitoring, Planning and Start-up (Tex-RAMPS) Scheme today. Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh said that the Tex-RAMPS scheme will bring together research, data, and innovation to empower India’s textile sector.

He added that this scheme will also position the nation as a global leader in sustainability, technology, and competitiveness. The Ministry of Textiles said that the scheme, with a total outlay of three hundred five crore rupees for financial year 2025-26 to financial year 2030-31, is aligned with the upcoming Finance Commission cycle and will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme.

Indian table tennis players made a strong debut at the ITTF World Youth Championships in Romania, returning with a haul of two medals, a silver and a bronze.
The Under-19 Boys squad produced the standout performance, reaching the final with confidence before going down 0-3 to Japan.

The title clash opened with a tense five-game battle, where Ankur Bhattacharjee pushed Ryuusei Kawakami to the limit before losing 17-15, 6-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-13. Japan then extended its lead as Kazaki Yoshiyama beat Abhinand 11-7, 11-8, 11-6, followed by Tamito Watanabe’s straight-games 11-9, 11-7, 11-3 win over Priyanuj Bhattacharyya to seal the gold.

Earlier, India entered the final with a thrilling 3-2 win over Chinese Taipei in the semifinals.

The Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app on Tuesday launched a full delegation feature for UPI Circle, aiming to net new users on the real-time payments rails.

The feature will allow primary users to authorise their trusted secondary contacts to make UPI payments from their account, subject to a maximum monthly limit of ₹15,000.

“This will bring in a lot of net new user base to UPI. For instance, people like senior citizens are hesitant users. Children, often those in their teens, know how to use UPI, but prefer pocket money. These categories bring you net new users in the ecosystem in a guarded manner,” Lalitha Nataraj, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), BHIM, told Business Standard.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the expansion of the Pune Metro and railway infrastructure projects in Maharashtra and Gujarat worth Rs 12,638 crore.

The Cabinet approved Line 4 (Kharadi–Hadapsar–Swargate–Khadakwasla) and Line 4A (Nal Stop–Warje–Manik Baug) under Phase-2 of the Pune Metro Rail Project. This is the second major project approved under Phase-2, following the sanction of Line 2A (Vanaz–Chandani Chowk) and Line 2B (Ramwadi–Wagholi/Vitthalwadi).

Together spanning 31.6 km with 28 elevated stations, Line 4 and 4A will connect IT hubs, commercial zones, educational institutions and residential clusters across East, South and West Pune. 

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved two major railway projects worth ₹2,781 crore in Gujarat and Maharashtra, aimed at easing congestion, improving services and boosting regional connectivity.

The projects include
• Devbhumi Dwarka (Okha)–Kanalus doubling of 141 km
• Badlapur–Karjat 3rd and 4th line covering 32 km

Together, the projects will add 224 km to the Indian Railways network, benefiting nearly 585 villages with a combined population of about 3.2 million.

The Punjab government has decided to accord holy city status to towns having three out of five Takhts, including Amritsar walled city, Talwandi Sabo in Bhatinda and Sri Anandpur Sahib in Ropar. The sale and use of meat, liquor, tobacco, and other intoxicants will be prohibited in these cities to fulfil the long-pending demand of the devotees. A decision to this effect was unanimously passed during the special session of the Punjab Assembly that took place at Sri Anandpur Sahib, yesterday. The session was dedicated to the 350th Martyrdom Day of the Ninth Guru, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.

Our Correspondent reports that the Chief Minister moved this resolution in the assembly. An interfaith committee related to all religious institutions will also be formed in these holy cities to tackle issues related to them. A series of spiritual and cultural events will continue today, also as part of the three-day commemoration event with the Atmaras Kirtan Darbar and Sarbat da Bhala programme scheduled to be held. A large number of devotees from across the country and abroad are visiting Sri Anandpur Sahib to pay their respects to ‘Hinfld Di Chadar-Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.

India wrapped up their Deaflympics shooting campaign in Tokyo with a massive haul of 16 medals including seven gold, six silver and three bronze. The Indians dominated the shooting ranges in Tokyo, winning 16 out of the total 39 medals in the discipline over 10 days of competition.

The most successful shooter was riflewoman Mahit Sandhu who won four medals, including two gold and two silver. She was followed by pistol exponents Abhinav Deshwal and Pranjali Prashant Dhumal who bagged two gold and one silver medals. Dhanush Srikanth also won two gold medals in 10 metre air rifle individual and mixed team events while Mohammed Murtaza Vania got one silver and bronze and Komal Milind Waghmare bagged two bronze medals. Anuya Prasad won gold in the women’s 10 metre air pistol event while Shourya Saini won silver in 50 metre 3 positions and Kushagra Singh Rajawat won bronze in 50 metre rifle prone event.

Indian shooters won a total of five medals including three gold and two bronze at the last Games at Caxias do Sul in Brazil.

In Cricket, India’s top men’s T20 domestic cricket tournament Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy is set to begin today. The opening match will be played between Mizoram and Nagaland from 9 AM at Deccan Gymkhana Ground in Pune. Started in 2007, the 2025 season will mark the 18th edition of the tournament with 38 teams in action. The Elite competition will feature 32 teams, while six teams will compete in the Plate tournament. Meanwhile, the tournament will feature some of the star players from international level and IPL. Defending champions Mumbai will be led by new skipper Shardul Thakur in this season. Bengal will feature Mohammed Shami, while Sanju Samson will captain Kerala. The 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi will be the vice-captain of Bihar. The final match of the tournament will be played in Indore on 18th of December. Tamil Nadu are the most successful team in the competition’s history with three titles.

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to begin a 27-year prison sentence for a coup plot against his successor, a climax to years of political turmoil and legal battles over his contentious legacy in Brazilian democracy.

The top court formally concluded the case against Bolsonaro on Tuesday, making his conviction final, pending confirmation by a four-member Supreme Court panel in the evening. The panel already rejected his appeal this month.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes told Bolsonaro to start serving his sentence in the Federal Police Superintendency in Brasilia, where he has been detained since Saturday after he tampered with his ankle monitor while under house arrest in a separate case.

Researchers in Australia have found that Parkinson’s disease causes significant and progressive changes in the brain’s blood vessels, offering new insights into the neurological disorder and potentially opening avenues for future treatments.

While Parkinson’s disease is known for the accumulation of alpha-synuclein protein deposits, the new findings suggest that region-specific vascular changes in the brain may play a key role in disease progression, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) said in a media release on Tuesday.

“Traditionally, Parkinson’s researchers have focused on protein accumulation and neuronal loss, but we have shown the impacts on our cerebrovasculature — the blood vessels in our brain,” said NeuRA postdoctoral researcher Derya Dik, who led the study.