French-Iranian author, illustrator, director and activist Marjane Satrapi, best known for her graphic novel series and film Persepolis, has died aged 56, the Élysée Palace in Paris has confirmed.

She "captivated a global audience with Persepolis", the palace said, calling her "a leading figure in French culture and an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international renown".

Persepolis, first published in 2000, follows the story of young Marjane growing up amid the Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution. Eight years later, the film adaptation was nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars, having been co-directed by Satrapi.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed grief over the demise of eminent poet, writer and playwright Jagannath Prasad Das. The former IAS officer breathed his last at his residence here on Thursday. One of the most distinguished figures in modern Odia literature, Das was celebrated for his remarkable contribution to poetry, fiction, drama, criticism and art history. Born in Puri district in 1936, he emerged as a powerful literary voice during the 1970s and went on to shape contemporary Odia literature through his innovative and deeply humanistic writings.

Das authored several acclaimed collections of poetry, short stories and plays. His poetry collection ‘Ahinik’ received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1991, but he did not accept the honour. The Akademi went on to publish it in Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and English. An MA in Political Science and PhD in Art History, Das penned ‘Desha, Kala, Patra,’ a historical novel that gave a rare view into Odisha’s transition from a traditional society during the colonial rule. Considered his seminal work, it went on to be published in all Indian languages. Apart from literature, Das made significant contributions to the study of Odisha’s traditional art and culture through works like ‘Puri Paintings’ and ‘Chitra-Pothi’.

A 10-time national champion between 1981 and 1992, Dhaliwal dominated Indian shot put for over a decade. He won bronze at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi and went on to clinch silver (1983), gold (1985) and bronze (1987) at the Asian Athletics Championships.

One of his career highlights came in 1986 when he set an Asian record of 18.71m at an international meet in New Delhi. His achievements earned him the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award (1983) and the Arjuna Award (1987).

Dhaliwal, who began with Punjab Police before joining Tata Steel as assistant sports officer in 1983, later dedicated himself to coaching and mentoring young athletes, including a stint as athletics coach at PU from 2016 to 2024.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the connectivity of payment systems between India and Cambodia for the acceptance of UPI at QR-code-enabled merchants in Cambodia was launched on June 02, 2026, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This marks the go-live of the first phase of collaboration between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Acleda Bank Plc., under the aegis of the RBI and the National Bank of Cambodia, to enable interoperability of QR-code-based Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions between the two countries.

“With this connectivity, Indian travellers visiting Cambodia can now make QR code-based payments to over 4.5 million merchants enabled with KHQR (national QR standard of Cambodia) using their UPI applications.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the widening of key stretches of National Highways 63 and 563 in Telangana to four-lane standards at a total cost of ₹7,597.16 crore.

The project covers the Armoor–Jagtial–Mancherial section of NH-63 and the Jagtial–Karimnagar section of NH-563, with a combined length of 190.76 km. The highway expansion will be executed under three work packages, with the NH-63 stretches being developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and the NH-563 stretch under the Build-Operate-Transfer (Toll) model.

The approved project aims to ease severe traffic congestion along major built-up areas in Nizamabad, Jagtial, Mancherial and Karimnagar districts. The Armoor–Jagtial–Mancherial corridor currently experiences heavy traffic bottlenecks at locations such as Anksapoor, Korutla, Jagtial, Dharmapuri, Lakshettipet and Mancherial, while the Jagtial–Karimnagar stretch faces congestion in Jagtial, Potharam, Gangadhara and Karimnagar.

A remote village of just 91 people near the India-China border is set to become the site of India's first Model Border Village.

Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Vinai Kumar Saxena, on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the project at Chumur, a settlement located 16,700 feet above sea level in eastern Ladakh's Changthang region.

Sharing details of the initiative on X, LG Saxena said that Chumur would be developed as Ladakh's first Model Border Village under the Vibrant Village Programme, aimed at creating "self-reliant, climate-resilient, tourism-enabled and economically vibrant border villages" in high-altitude frontier regions.

State-owned BHEL on Wednesday said the company has secured an order worth Rs 2,000-2,500 crore from a Nigerian entity.

The contract agreement was signed with Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals Free Zone Enterprise on June 2, according to a regulatory filing.

The order pertains to design, manufacturing, supply and supervision of erection and commissioning of eight gas turbine generator packages for the petroleum refinery and polypropylene plant in Dangote Industries Free Zone, Nigeria, the company informed the stock exchanges.

A new terminal building at NAMO Airport in Daman and key stretches of the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway will be among projects worth ₹22,655 crore that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone for across Gujarat, Daman and Lakshadweep on Friday.

According to an official statement issued on Wednesday, the Prime Minister will launch projects worth around ₹18,800 crore in Surat, ₹2,970 crore in Daman and ₹885 crore in Lakshadweep spanning roads, power transmission, industrial infrastructure, healthcare, civil aviation, tourism and maritime connectivity. The Prime Minister will begin his visit in Gujarat’s Surat district, where he is scheduled to visit Hazira and review ongoing industrial operations and infrastructure projects before inaugurating, dedicating and laying the foundation stone for multiple projects.

NASA’s Maven spacecraft around Mars has been declared dead. After six months of radio silence. The space agency confirmed that the mission had ended after more than a decade of observations. Launched in 2013 to study the red planet’s atmosphere from orbit, Maven mysteriously fell silent in early December after passing behind Mars. Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries.

A review board convened by NASA earlier this year concluded that the spacecraft is useless and unable to be recovered. It’s expected to remain in orbit for another 50 to 100 years before crashing into the planet, posing no issue to other spacecraft until then.

India has emerged as a leader among 76 countries, with 96 US billion-dollar companies being founded by immigrants who have Indian roots, according to a new National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis. Indian founders account for more than one-fifth of immigrant-founded billion-dollar startups in the US.

Immigrants from Israel founded the second-most billion-dollar companies with 60, followed by the United Kingdom (47), China (41), Canada (30).

The report mentions that immigrant entrepreneurs who created these companies entered through nearly every part of the immigration system—as refugees, family-sponsored and H-1B visa holders who became employer-sponsored immigrants, reflecting the essential contributions of immigrants to America.

The analysis highlights the essential role being played by immigrants in the growth story of America and innovative and startup ecosystem, at a time when the stance of immigration is getting hostile, with an uproar on H-1B visa and immigrants, in general.