President Droupadi Murmu will confer the Padma Awards 2026 at the second Civil Investiture Ceremony this evening at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. According to the official statement, the president will confer 65 Padma Awards, including two Padma Vibhushan, seven Padma Bhushan and 56 Padma Shri.

Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj, actor Mammootty, playback singer Alka Yagnik and cricketer Rohit Sharma are among 65 prominent personalities who will receive the coveted Padma Awards from the President. On Republic Day eve, the government had announced 131 Padma awards for 2026, including five Padma Vibhushan awards.

The Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The awards are given in various disciplines of activities: art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) of Israel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing cooperation in public sector auditing.

According to an official release, Matanyahu Englman, State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel and President of the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI), visited the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India along with a high-level delegation from the Office of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel.

During the visit, a bilateral meeting was held between the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, K Sanjay Murthy and Englman.

In Northern Australia, researchers recently observed a newly discovered spider species securing its prey by engineering a cone-shaped silk trap that violently catapults ants upward the moment they bite its tethered base, the BBC reports.

The unique hunting method was developed by the nocturnal predator to hunt for aggressive ants, which are dangerous and an unusual prey for arachnids. The cone-shaped trap can fling an ant at an extremely high force, the magnitude of which is 15 times higher than that experienced by jet pilots, BBC cited Professor and researcher Ajay Narendra as saying.

The species is yet to receive its scientific name; as of now, it is named “Ballista,” a weapon used to throw stones in a battle during ancient times.

IIT Madras-incubated electric aircraft start-up The ePlane Company is targeting commercial production of its air ambulance eVTOLs in 2028 with an initial manufacturing capacity of around 80 aircraft a year.

Speaking to businessline, Satya Chakravarthy, Founder, The ePlane Company said that the start-up has completed its first full-scale air ambulance prototype and has begun ground testing with flight tests expected between July and August. “We have already begun work on the second and expect to have full certification of the aircraft by the end of 2027,” he added.

Chakravarthy mentioned that while the start-up currently manufactures prototypes at its facility within IIT Madras’ Discovery Campus, it expects to set up a dedicated production unit or partner with an established manufacturer once the second prototype enters the certification phase.

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors recently approved $1.5 billion in financing to support India’s structural reforms to boost private sector-led job creation and economic growth under the Boosting Job Creation in the Private Sector Development Policy Financing (DPF) Operation.

The DPF Operation, according to a World Bank statement, can create job opportunities for the 11 million youth who will be entering the labor market every year over the next two decades.

The DPF Operation builds on many structural reforms undertaken or initiated in recent years, including tax simplification, trade integration, and legislative and regulatory reforms to improve ease of living and the ease of doing business.

India has become the World’s Top Ship Recycling Nation in the year 2025. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said that as per the latest report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, India’s share of global ship recycling increased to 35.4 per cent in 2025 from 30.1 per cent in 2024.

The Ministry said that ship recycling in the country rose significantly to 2.99 million gross tonnes in 2025, up nearly 60 per cent from 1.86 million gross tonnes in 2024.

The Ministry added that with this achievement, the target set under Maritime India Vision 2030 to become the world’s leading ship recycling nation has been achieved five years ahead of schedule.

A statue of the ancient sage Maharishi Sushruta, who is considered by some to be the father of surgery, was unveiled in the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, the United Kingdoms, India’s Consulate General in Scotland announced on X. The ceremony was a celebration of the ‘historical links’ between India and Scotland in the field of medicine and surgery, the consulate said.

The statue was installed in the Royal College at the initiative of Professor Chandra Cheruvu, who is a Laparoscopic and Upper Gastro-intestinal Surgeon at the University Hospital North Midlands.

Thanking Dr. Cheruvu, the Consulate said on X, “The ceremony celebrated India’s ancient medical heritage, the historical India-Scotland links in medicine and surgery, and the important role played by the Royal College in advancing surgical education worldwide. Special thanks to the Royal College and Prof Chandra Cheruvu for the initiative."

The Ministry of Minority Affairs on Monday announced the Haj Policy 2027, with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju unveiling the policy and opening the application process for prospective pilgrims.

Applicants can submit their Haj-2027 applications online through the Haj Committee of India portal and the Haj Suvidha App, making the process more accessible and convenient. The government said the quota distribution between the Haj Committee of India and private tour operators is expected to remain unchanged at a 70:30 ratio, with 1,22,518 seats allocated to the Haj Committee and 52,507 to the private sector. The Centre will also continue efforts to secure an increase in India’s Haj quota, which stood at 1,75,025 pilgrims last year.

The policy was announced following a Haj Review Meeting chaired by Rijiju on June 18, during which the conduct of Haj 2026 was reviewed and the roadmap for Haj 2027 was finalised. The Ministry said the early release of the policy and simultaneous opening of applications are aimed at ensuring timely preparations in accordance with the schedule prescribed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The United States has formally notified a proposed USD 482.2 million Foreign Military Sale to provide sustainment support services and related equipment for India’s Apache helicopters and M777A2 Ultra-Light Howitzers.

The arms sales notification was published in the Federal Register by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which administers the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme of the US, on June 17.

The US Congress was informed about the possible sales of services for Apache Helicopters and M777A2 ultra-light howitzers to India by the Department of State on May 18.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the GARUDA (Green-Channel: AIF Rollout Upon Document Acknowledgement) mechanism, transitioning the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) framework from a traditional pre-clearance model to a fast-track, accountability-driven disclosure model. By introducing this regulatory green channel, SEBI aims to eliminate bureaucratic friction and accelerate time-to-market for fund managers, allowing private capital to flow into the economy much faster.

Welcoming this major reform, Archana Jahagirdar, Founder and Managing Partner, Rukam Capital, stated: “The AIF regime is a welcoming and a much awaited move by SEBI which is bound to see positive uptick of investor interest. The set up of the green channel will help in reducing timelines of fundraising and cost of setting up the vehicle because even if funds could raise the requisite capital from the market, they couldn’t really deploy anything till the vehicle was set up, leading to delays of deploying capital into startups. It is equally important to balance investor protection with ease of doing business. Faster, more efficient and cost-effective approvals will significantly improve market sentiment and accelerate capital deployment. I commend SEBI for taking this progressive step, which will go a long way in strengthening and growing India’s startup and investment ecosystem.”