The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the re-appointment of senior advocate Tushar Mehta as the Solicitor General (SG) for a further term of three years.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel & Training on June 20 stated that Mehta's fresh term will take effect from July 1, 2026.

With this approval of the ACC, Mehta will continue as the Union Government's second-highest law officer (SG) and is set to complete eleven years as SG by the end of the fresh tenure.

Mehta assumed the SG office in 2018 and has already completed eight years in the role, making him one of the longest-serving SG in India's judicial history.

State Bank of India (SBI) has paid the government ₹8,800 crore as dividend for financial year 2026.

During the 71st Annual General Meeting in Mumbai on Thursday, Chairman CS Setty said the bank declared a dividend of ₹17.35 per share for FY26, up from ₹15.90 in FY25, translating into an estimated ₹8,813.4 crore payout to the government, which held a 55.52 per cent stake as of March 2026.

On June 8, Setty presented the ₹8,813 crore dividend cheque to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The higher payout underscores the bank’s strong profitability and highlights its continued role as a significant contributor to government revenues, even as it reinforces its balance-sheet and capital position.

For FY25, the government had received ₹8,076 crore as dividend from SBI.

The first of the six indigenous Air Cushion Vehicles (ACVs), being constructed by Chowgule and Company Private Limited for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), was inducted into service in Goa today. Defence Ministry said that the hovercraft aims to enhance Coast Guard’s operational effectiveness across a broad spectrum of maritime duties and reinforce its ability to respond to emerging challenges.

It added that the induction would further the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and serve as a reflection of the growing strength of the maritime industrial base of the country. It underscores the organisation’s continued focus on modernisation and capability enhancement in support of its mandate to safeguard the nation’s maritime interests.

India's capital markets have added a new thematic benchmark with the introduction of the BSE Saatvik 100 Index, a first-of-its-kind offering designed for investors seeking to align financial goals with ethical values. Announced by BSE Index Services Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE, the new index draws its constituents from the broader BSE 500 Index. The selected companies are screened for adherence to Saatvik principles, which emphasise ethical conduct, responsibility, and purity in business practices.

The launch reflects a growing shift among investors who increasingly consider non-financial factors when making investment decisions. Similar to the rise of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, the Saatvik Index seeks to provide exposure to companies that align with value-based investing philosophies while maintaining strong market representation.

Some animals live much longer than humans, but one tortoise has lived through nearly two centuries. Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise from St Helena, is now recognised as the oldest-known terrestrial animal and the oldest turtle ever recorded, reported Guinness World Records.

Jonathan is 194 years old. Born around 1832, he is older than the Victorian Age, London's Tower Bridge, and Paris's Eiffel Tower. The Seychelles giant tortoise, scientifically known as Aldabrachelys gigantea Hololissa, currently lives on the South Atlantic island of St Helena.

The Supreme Court on Friday endorsed a proposal to create a "Young Lawyers' Professional Assistance Fund" to provide financial support to young advocates during the formative years of their legal careers, observing that financial hardships often drive talented lawyers away from litigation practice.

The proposal found favour with a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana while hearing a public interest petition filed by women advocates concerning infrastructural deficiencies in courts and the challenges faced by young members of the Bar. The Court said a dedicated fund could help address the steep economic barriers confronting first-generation lawyers and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is set to play a key role in strengthening India’s energy security, with plans to develop and stock the country’s next strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) facility. According to a report by Economic Times citing sources familiar with the development, the project could require an investment of nearly ₹15,000 crore ($1.6 billion).

The government’s push comes in the wake of the Iran conflict, which highlighted India’s relatively limited strategic crude reserves and its vulnerability to disruptions in global oil supplies. In response, authorities have reportedly asked ONGC to spearhead the development of a new emergency oil storage facility to enhance the country’s preparedness against future supply shocks.

India's Professor Jainendra K Jain, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, has been awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking discovery of composite fermions, a breakthrough that revolutionised the understanding of the quantum world.

The award was presented by Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a state ceremony in Jerusalem on June 18, making Jain the first person of Indian origin to receive the Wolf Prize in Physics since the award was established in 1978.

Often regarded as one of the highest honours in science after the Nobel Prize, the Wolf Prize has an impressive record of recognising future Nobel laureates. Twenty-seven previous recipients of the physics prize have later gone on to win the Nobel.

For the second consecutive year, IIT-Delhi ranked highest among Indian institutions in the QS World University Rankings 2027, climbing five places to 118th globally — the highest ever for an Indian institution, first achieved by IIT-Bombay in the 2025 rankings.

IIT-Bombay, which topped the country’s list in the past, dropped from 129 to 134. Last year, too, it had dropped 11 ranks.

Globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the list for the 15th year, followed by Stanford University, Imperial College, University of Oxford and Harvard University.

Tamil Nadu is restructuring its renewable energy administration, with the state granting approval to the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) to create five new Non-Conventional Energy Source (NCES) zones across the state to speed up the implementation of wind and solar power projects, Electricity Minister C T R Nirmalkumar said on Friday.

The move comes shortly after the closure of the NCES circles at Tirunelveli and Udumalpet and the recent suspension of a superintending engineer and an executive engineer.

The restructuring is looking to improve administrative efficiency and speed up the execution of wind and solar power projects. The new zones will coordinate, monitor and implement renewable energy projects under the supervision of assistant executive engineers. Additional project monitoring and implementation responsibilities have also been created at the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board headquarters in Chennai.