Switzerland on Monday agreed to host a global peace summit on Ukraine at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Neutral Switzerland has previously acted as a broker to resolve conflicts and could now help find a resolution for the war that began when Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

"At the request of the Ukrainian president, Switzerland has agreed to host a summit on the peace formula," the Swiss government said. "Further details are now being worked out."

Yes Bank has announced the launch of SmartFin, an end-to-end digital supply chain finance (SCF) platform, powered by Veefin Solutions.

Ajay Rajan, country head-government, multinational & international business, transaction banking & knowledge units, Yes Bank, said, “At Yes Bank, we are constantly looking for innovative ways to support MSMEs and with the growing significance of Supply Chain Financing (SCF) as a model to drive working capital efficiencies, we felt the need to invest in a robust platform like ‘SmartFin’ to help augment our digital offerings in this space. The SmartFin platform, through its end-to-end digital offerings, will help us drive the required operational & financial efficiencies for all stakeholders.”

As part of its digital transformation journey, HPL has prioritized digitising and optimising its processes, placing people at the core of its approach.

The seamless collaboration these tools offer enhances teamwork and propels the entire organisation forward digitally.

In a certificate handover ceremony at HPL Kolkata head office, Nirupam Sen, Business Head- North & East region handed over the certificate to Navanit Narayan, WTD & CEO, HPL.

By attaining this certification, HPL has demonstrated its ability to protect sensitive information and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of valuable data and systems. ISO 27001:2022 is the standard of ISMS (Information Security Management System) program to protect the information asset of the organization.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt on Sunday flagged off the indigenously developed and manufactured Astra Missiles for supply to the Indian Air Force. The event was held at Bharat Dynamics Limited, Kanchanbagh Unit where BDL CMD Commodore A Madhavarao (Retd) and other senior officials from DRDO, IAF and BDL participated, a release from the BDL said.

Astra is a beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile indigenously developed by DRDO and manufactured by BDL for the IAF, it said.

"Astra Weapon System is best in its class of weapon systems in the world in the category of air-to-air missiles. The missile has a range of 100 plus km," the release said.

The 2024 Dakar Rally has something special each day and stage 8 saw the first-ever Indian to take a stage win — Harith Noah. Riding for TVS Sherco in the Rally 2 class, Noah has been showing consistent performance and stage 8 saw him take the stage win in his class. In the overall rankings, Noah is in 13th place, while in his class, the Indian rider is currently third, with a little over 8 minutes separating him and the leader.

In the overall motorcycle category, defending champion Kevin Benavides took the overall stage win in the motorcycle class while Mattias Ekstrom took the win in the cars category.

To enhance efficiency of the electronic toll collection system and provide seamless movement at the toll plazas, NHAI has taken ‘One Vehicle, One FASTag’ initiative that aims to discourage user behaviour of using single FASTag for multiple vehicles or linking multiple FASTags to a particular vehicle.

The highway developer is also encouraging FASTag users to complete ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) process of their latest FASTag by updating KYC as per RBI guidelines.

This is being done as FASTags with valid balance but with incomplete KYC will get deactivated or blacklisted by banks after post 31 January.

Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty took over as Commandant, Indian Naval Academy, on 15 Jan 24. The Flag Officer was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 Jul 1989 and is a graduate of Defence Service Staff College, Wellington (2005) and National Defence College, New Delhi (2017).

A specialist in ‘Gunnery and Missiles’, he served as the commissioning crew of INS Delhi and did all his specialist tenures onboard the frontline Guided Missile Destroyer. He has served as the Executive officer of a Seaward Defence Patrol Vessel, Guided Missile Vessel and Landing Platform Dock INS Jalashwa. He has commanded Anti-Submarine Patrol Vessel INS Ajay, Guided Missile Corvette INS Khanjar and Guided Missile Frigate INS Shivalik.

His staff assignments include Training Commander at the Naval Academy, and Command Plans Officer at the Headquarters Eastern Naval Command. He has served as Directing Staff at the Naval and Maritime Academy, Sri Lanka and was India’s Defence Adviser to the Republic of Singapore with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of the Philippines. He was Commodore (Naval Plans) from 2018 – 2020, where his charter of responsibility included drawing up Indian Navy’s Perspective, Financial and Acquisition Plans.

Vice Admiral AN Pramod assumed charge as the Director General Naval Operations (DGNO) on Monday, an official statement said.

According to the statement of the Ministry of Defence, an alumnus of the 38th Integrated Cadet Course, Naval Academy, Goa, Pramod, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1990.

The Flag Officer is a CAT 'A' Sea King Air Operations Officer and a Communication and Electronics Warfare Specialist. He did the Staff Course at DSSC Wellington (Nilgiris) and the Naval Higher Command Course at NWC, Goa.

Former president Pranav Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and presented him with a book based on her father's life- ‘Pranab My Father: A Daughter Remembers’. During the meeting, PM Modi recalled his memorable interactions with Mr. Mukherjee. In a social media post, the Prime Minister said that he is always delighted to meet Sharmistha Mukherjee and remember the memorable interactions with Pranab Babu. Mr. Modi added that Pranav Mukherjee's greatness, wisdom, and intellectual depth are clearly visible in the book.

President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the fifth edition of the Meghalaya Games in Tura in Meghalaya on Monday and laid stress on using the country's diversity to boost India's global image in the sports arena.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the North East region has tremendous potential for the development of sports and sportspersons. She noted that this region traditionally has a strong sports culture.

She said "diversity is the beauty of our nation and we should utilise it" to further boost India's global image in the sports arena. She emphasized the need to support the talent from the tribal areas and groom them to become professional sportspersons.