The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to accelerate the commercialisation and global market access of India’s Geographical Indication (GI) products. The collaboration aims to promote quality standardisation, wider market access and digital enablement of GI products, while strengthening the One District One Product ecosystem.

Under the initiative, GI collectives and authorised users will be facilitated to onboard digital platforms, including the Open Network for Digital Commerce and Government e-Marketplace, under the Bharat GI banner. The Ministry further added that the partnership will also focus on capacity building and enhancing market opportunities for artisans, weavers and producer collectives. The initiative is expected to strengthen India’s GI ecosystem and support the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local.

VinSpace, a unit of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has ‌signed a launch contract with SpaceX for its ⁠satellite missions, the company said on Tuesday.

VinSpace’s satellites ‌will launch on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare ‌mission in 2027, ‌joining ⁠multiple other customers ⁠on a shared launch, it said in a statement

VinSpace handles the research, ‌development, manufacturing and in-orbit operation of its satellites, and said the project supports ‌its strategy aimed at building capabilities across the space value chain, ⁠including satellite design and manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing, ‌launch management, operations and data services.

A Chinese rocket carrying a communications satellite failed in its launch, state media said, attributing the failure to a "flight anomaly" as reports and videos suggested the spacecraft had exploded in mid-air.

Beijing has ploughed billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years to achieve what President Xi Jinping calls the country's "space dream".

Monday's rare launch failure involved a Long March 7A carrier rocket, which lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China's southernmost province of Hainan at 8:02 pm (1202 GMT), state news agency Xinhua said.

An "anomaly" occurred when the rocket, which was carrying the Zhongxing-4B communications satellite, was in flight, Xinhua added.

The cause of the failure is under investigation, it said.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has invited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to join its `Moon Base’ programme, marking an expansion of India-US cooperation in lunar science and exploration, according to a US Embassy statement.

The invitation was extended during the ninth meeting of the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group, held at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on August 5-6.

“NASA invited ISRO to join its Moon Base program, building on the two countries’ partnership under the Artemis Accords,” the statement issued on Tuesday noted.

Deepak Dhar, an IINSA distinguished professor and one of India’s most respected theoretical physicists, has been awarded the 2026 Dirac Medal by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), a recognition considered among the highest honours in the field of physics.

The award, instituted in 1985, has over the decades been associated with some of the biggest names, including Stephen Hawkings, in theoretical physics.

Dhar is one of four physicists selected this year in recognition of their significant contributions to statistical mechanics.

Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has removed the requirement of submitting physical duty payment challans while applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates (EODC) under the Advance Authorisation (AA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Schemes.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry said that for voluntary duty payments made on or after 1st of this month, exporters will no longer be required to submit physical challans along with their applications for closure of authorisations. The Ministry said the measure is expected to speed up processing, reduce avoidable correspondence and ensure greater consistency in decision-making across DGFT Regional Authorities.

It added that replacing manual submission and verification with authenticated digital records will shorten timelines, improve data accuracy, minimise human intervention and enhance transparency. It will also reduce transaction costs and compliance burden for exporters, particularly MSMEs, by cutting documentation, follow-ups and physical interface.

India’s Asiatic lion population has risen to 891 in 2025 from 523 in 2015, marking an increase of more than 70 per cent in a decade, the government said on Monday. The latest population estimate represents a 32 per cent rise from 674 lions in 2020.

The figures were highlighted by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on World Lion Day. The 16th Asiatic Lion Population Estimation, conducted in May 2025, found 891 lions across the Greater Gir landscape in Gujarat.

The latest figure represents a 32 per cent increase over 2020. The minister’s statement credited forest officials, conservationists and local communities for the recovery.

The achievement follows decades of conservation efforts after the Asiatic lion was pushed close to extinction. Only around 40-60 lions remained in and around Gir in the early 1900s because of overhunting and habitat loss. India established the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in 1965 and subsequently expanded protected areas as the population recovered.

Abelardo de la Espriella took office as Colombia’s president on Friday (local time), marking the start of a conservative administration that vows to depart sharply from predecessor Gustavo Petro’s left-wing government amid growing concerns about the country’s finances and rising violence.

He took the oath before Congress at a ceremony in Cali and became the first Colombian president in recent history to be inaugurated outside the capital city of Bogotá, Bloomberg reported.

In his inaugural address, De la Espriella said, "The time for restoring order, authority and freedom has begun." He also vowed to build mega-prisons, use the military to fight criminal organisations and eradicate coca crops with herbicides, adding, "Those who did not believe in my proposal will find, in the facts, that this project will serve the common good.”

India’s Basant Kumar Meghwal clinched the silver medal in the men’s high jump event in the 2026 edition of the World Athletics U-20 Championships in Oregon on Saturday.

The 19-year-old from Anupgarh, a border town in the Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, made a best clearance of 2.21m, equalling his personal best, to become the first Indian to win a high jump medal at the U-20 world championships.

This is now India’s second medal of the ongoing championship, following Ashish Yadav’s silver in Javelin Throw on Friday.

Basant narrowly missed out on gold, after being pipped by Younes Ayachi of Algeria, while Otis Poole of Great Britain secured bronze.

Saina Nehwal had other plans, but Indian badminton’s revival in the mid-2000s might well have come from Assam. Not via Haryanvi Hyderabad. Krishna Dekaraja had the giddy jump, the power smash and the glamour, but perhaps not the elite grit — or a coach like Pullela Gopichand. She faded as Saina emerged, and Assam, with its latent badminton history through Dipankar Bhattacharya, kept looking for its next star.

So Ashmita Chaliha grew up in an atmosphere that understood the fundamentals of badminton, but was also seduced by its flash.

Circa 2005, everybody wanted to play with the flair of Taufik Hidayat. Ashmita saw that flair and fell in love with the sport. But she didn’t grow up practising the persistence needed to back up the passion and panache. In 2026, though, the 26-year-old who has played long enough for the love of the sport has finally got serious.