India and Denmark have joined hands to establish a ‘smart laboratory on clean rivers’ (SLCR) in Varanasi to bring excellence in small river rejuvenation and management. To begin with, the lab aims to leverage the expertise of both nations to rejuvenate Varuna, a tributary of Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, using sustainable approaches within 2-3 years.

The alliance is a tripartite initiative between the Government of India, the Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU), and the Govt of Denmark.

The SLCR secretariat will receive initial funding of Rs 16.8 crore from the Jal Shakti (water resources) ministry and an additional Rs 5 crore grant from Denmark to support long-term sustainability and project development.

“Its objectives include creating a collaborative platform for govt bodies, knowledge institutions and local communities to share insights and develop solutions for clean river water. The initiative features a hybrid lab model at the IIT-BHU and an on-field living lab at the Varuna river to test and scale solutions in real-world settings,” said the Jal Shakti ministry in a statement.

In a rare move the government has promoted and appointed a non-IPS Sanjeev Raina, a 1987-batch Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) cadre officer, as Additional Director General (ADG) in the India-China Line of Actual Control (LAC) guarding force, only the second time in the history of the force.

In an order, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “Raina, serving as an Inspector General (IG) at the ITBP central sector headquartered in Bhopal, is being elevated to the ADG rank apart from another officer, IG Jaspal Singh, for the panel year 2024.”

It is to be noted here that Raina, 59, will serve in the new post for just over a month as he is scheduled to retire next month, but the decision has a huge symbolic importance for the Force’s cadre officers, who are recruited at the level of Assistant Commandant.

A 2,492-carat raw diamond discovered in Botswana is believed to be the world’s second-largest gem-quality sample ever unearthed, behind only the famed Cullinan diamond.

The gigantic gemstone was found in Botswana’s Karowe diamond mine, which is wholly owned by Canadian mining company Lucara Diamond Corp.

“We are ecstatic about the recovery of this extraordinary 2,492-carat diamond,” Lucara’s president, William Lamb, said in a statement.

Lucara did not disclose details of the diamond's quality or its value. However, the Financial Times quoted unnamed sources close to Lucara estimating that it could fetch upwards of $40 million.

After his bilateral talks with President Volodymr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted four BHISHM cubes — compact, mobile medical units aimed at providing emergency care — to his government.

“Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri (BHISHM) is a unique effort which will ensure medical facilities in a rapidly deployable manner. It consists of cubes which contain medicines and equipment for medical care. Today, presented BHISHM cubes to President @ZelenskyyUa,” Modi said in a post on X.

A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said President Zelenskyy thanked Prime Minister Modi for the cubes, a critical tool that will help expedite the treatment of the injured and save precious lives amid the war with Russia.

Diana Pundole, a devoted teacher from Pune, has recently become a national sensation after clinching the national championship title in the saloon category at the MRF Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 in Chennai.

Diana’s journey into the world of racing began eight years ago with an unexpected phone call from Coimbatore, inviting her to participate in a car racing championship. At that time, she was among 200 women selected from all over India to undergo rigorous trials as part of a national talent hunt. Despite facing scepticism and challenges, Diana’s determination led her to become one of the top six contenders in the competition, setting the stage for her future in racing.

On August 18, 2024, Diana Pundole, who is also a mother of two, secured the national championship title in the saloon category at the MRF Indian National Car Racing Championship. Her victory was even more special as it coincided with her birthday weekend. In a bid to help her focus, Diana’s coach had confiscated her cellphone a day or two before the race, causing her to miss all the birthday messages. However, when she turned on her phone after winning the championship, she was greeted with an outpouring of love and congratulations from friends and family, making the victory all the more memorable.

At the ongoing Under-17 World Wrestling Championship in Amman, Jordan, Indian women extended their dominance to win its first-ever team title with 185 points. Japan finished second with 146 points and Kazakhstan finished third with 79 points. Kajal became the fifth wrestler from the country to bag a gold. Kajal won her bout with a commanding 9-2 win over Ukraine’s Oleksandra Rybak in the 69kg weight category.

However, Shrutika Patil had to be content with silver after losing to the Japanese wrestler Yuu Katsume in the 46kg weight category. Raj Bala grabbed a bronze in the 40kg category with an 11-5 win over Japan’s Monaka Umekawa, while Muskan outplayed the USA’s Isabella Gonzales by technical superiority in the 53kg bronze play-off to add to India’s tally. Indian women signed off with eight medals, including five gold, one silver, and two bronze.

India’s men’s freestyle wrestlers on the other hand could not replicate the success of their women counterparts, as none of the five grapplers in action yesterday could make it to the semifinals. India now have a total of 10 medals in the championship, with two bronze medals coming in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Afghanistan Cricket Board have appointed former India fielding coach R Sridhar as assistant coach for the men’s national team for the upcoming bilateral series against New Zealand and South Africa.

“It is worth mentioning that the Afghanistan Cricket Board has appointed Sridhar as the assistant coach for the one-off Test against New Zealand and the 3-match ODI series against South Africa. The Afghanistan Cricket Board wish Sridhar fills the role effectively and hope to have long term contract with him in the future,” the board stated.

Sridhar, who played 35 first-class matches and 15 List A matches for Hyderabad, was part of the Indian coaching staff between 2014 and 2021. He was replaced by T Dilip when Rahul Dravid took over as head coach in November 2021.

Astronomers have taken a very interesting initiative and introduced an application, known as Black Hole Finder, which can help citizens spot newly-formed black holes.

The app has been launched by the Dutch Black Hole Consortium in eight languages and is now available for citizens to use worldwide. Earlier, it was only available in Dutch and English, but now, the makers have added Spanish, German, Chinese, Bengali, Polish, and Italian which has widened the reach of this app.

Space enthusiasts across the world have been appealed to help scientists identify the sources which are interesting and should be followed up, which is known as potential kilonovas.

Deepti Gaur Mukherjee, a 1993 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has assumed charge as Secretary to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).

She has succeeded Manoj Govil, who had on Monday assumed charge as the Expenditure Secretary. Prior to this appointment, Mukherjee was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Authority.

She takes over as the top official of MCA at a time when the Ministry is working on a slew of legislations and reforms that may be introduced in the next few months.

Framing of draft Digital Competition Bill, ushering in IBC 2.0, enhancing the capacity of NCLTs are some of the top agenda items before the new Secretary, sources said.

Vedanta Group's Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) announced on Thursday that both BSE and NSE have imposed fines of Rs 5.37 lakh each on the company due to non-compliance with SEBI regulations regarding the required number of independent directors on its board.

In a filing, HZL acknowledged receiving notices from BSE and NSE, dated August 21, 2024, indicating penalties for violating Regulation 17(1) of the SEBI Listing Regulations concerning board composition. The company stated that it is actively engaging with the Ministry of Mines to address and fulfil the compliance requirements.

Further, the requirement of the woman independent director on the company’s board has already been fulfilled, it said.

At present, there are three independent directors on the company’s board.