Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, today unveiled the first export-import shipping container manufactured in India for global shipping major A.P. Moller-Maersk in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh.

The Ministry said that the milestone reflects the Government’s unwavering commitment to transforming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 into tangible outcomes. A.P. Moller-Maersk has also placed an order for one thousand additional India-manufactured shipping containers with DCM Shriram Group during the event. This marks the beginning of a long-term commercial partnership that is expected to strengthen India’s position in the global maritime value chain.

The development aligns with the Government’s efforts to promote domestic manufacturing through policy interventions, including the ten thousand crore rupees Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme (CMPS) framework.

A banyan tree in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, estimated to be around 700 years old, has been identified by researchers as the world's oldest scientifically dated banyan tree, the Science and Technology Ministry said on Friday.

Using radiocarbon dating, a method that relies only on scientific evidence rather than historical records or folklore, a team of scientists from Lucknow's Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences established that the nearly 700-year-old tree is likely a surviving remnant of a natural forest that once existed in the region, the Ministry said.

Traditionally, estimating the age of banyan trees relied on folklore, local stories or historical records, which were often inaccurate. These living representations of history were not scientifically dated previously due to a lack of a clear protocol, it pointed out.

In a serious bid to regulate the consumption of high-caffeine beverages among youth, the Maharashtra government on Friday announced a comprehensive ban on the sale of high energy drinks like Sting within a 500-metre radius of schools across the state.

The directive was issued in the State Legislative Assembly by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Minister Narhari Zirwal, following a question raised by BJP MLA Vikram Pachpute.

Raising the issue in the House, MLA Vikram Pachpute highlighted the severe health hazards posed by the popular energy drink.

In the deepest, coldest corners of experimental physics, the rules of our everyday world completely break down. Now, an international team of scientists has pushed those boundaries even further, successfully creating a highly unusual and exotic new form of matter.

The breakthrough, which explores the strange landscape of quantum mechanics, has revealed what researchers are calling a "fractional Fermi sea." This research was published in Physical Review Letters and is available at the pre-print server arXiv.

To achieve this feat, experimental physicists at the University of Innsbruck in Austria began by cooling a cloud of roughly 70,000 cesium atoms down to just a few nanoKelvins. This temperature is a mere fraction of a degree above absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature in the universe.

Gujarat government increases compensation to twice market rate for protesting farmers affected by power transmission projects
The Gujarat government announced a major revision of its compensation scheme on Friday as farmers continued a multi-week protest in Morbi. They had sought higher reimbursement for the use of their land for power infrastructure being erected by Adani Energy Solutions. The state government said the payment had been doubled ‘after studying the policy in other states’.

According to the new announcement, farmers whose land has been used for such construction will be paid twice the prevailing market value, rather than having payouts calculated from the lower ‘jantri’ (circle) rate. The move, framed as a response to sustained farmer protests in Morbi district and wider concerns about fair valuation, also promises full advance payment of compensation and a more transparent valuation mechanism through a Market Rate Committee (MRC).

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Saturday issued a notice to Telegram over the alleged widespread dissemination of pirated films, OTT content, and other audio-visual material through its platform, while directing the messaging app to take corrective action within 15 days.

It is learnt that the I&B ministry has also asked Telegram to strengthen its systems for the detection, reporting, disabling of access to, and removal of pirated films and infringing audio-visual content.

The Ministry has directed Telegram to act against repeat infringers, including channels, groups, bots, accounts, administrators, and associated entities, while seeking details of its grievance redressal mechanism for producers, OTT platforms, and law-enforcement agencies.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Ravi Shankar as new Executive Director with effect from July 1, 2026.

In his new role, Shankar will look after the Department of Statistics and Information Management. Prior to his promotion as ED, he was serving as Adviser-In-Charge of the Department of Statistics and Information Management of the Bank.

As a career central banker statistician, Shankar has over three decades experience in the RBI having worked in the areas of corporate, banking statistics, government securities market and settlement systems, debt management, and surveys in the Reserve Bank, per a Central bank statement.

India and Japan on Thursday rolled out an ambitious roadmap for cooperation in artificial intelligence, spanning governance and cybersecurity to chip supply chains and talent mobility, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Takaichi Sanae used a bilateral summit to deepen ties in a technology both leaders described as reshaping the global order.

The joint statement, issued in the capital, frames AI as a defining technology whose governance choices today will shape economic security and international power balances for decades. New Delhi and Tokyo agreed to align their cooperation with India's MAHASAGAR outreach initiative and Japan's revamped Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, positioning the partnership as part of a broader push to build resilient, growth-oriented economic networks across the region and the wider Global South.

NITI Aayog on Thursday released a report titled “Strategic Roadmap for Making Ayurveda Global”, laying out a long-term strategy to transform Ayurveda into a globally recognised, evidence-based healthcare system by 2047. The report, prepared by NITI Aayog’s Health Division in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), assesses Ayurveda’s global footprint and identifies key opportunities and challenges in expanding its international presence.

The report was launched by Dr. Ashok Kumar Lahiri, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, in the presence of Prof. (Dr.) M. Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog, and Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush. Senior officials from the Ministries of Ayush and External Affairs, along with representatives from government agencies, research institutions, industry associations and other stakeholders, also attended the event.

Speaking at the launch, Lahiri said the globalisation of Ayurveda presents India with a unique opportunity to emerge as a global leader in traditional medicine while generating economic value, creating jobs, boosting exports and strengthening the country’s cultural soft power. He stressed that achieving this vision would require a coordinated, whole-of-government approach and time-bound implementation.

Industry leaders on Thursday welcomed the Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, 2026, saying it will accelerate electric vehicle adoption, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, and position the national capital as a leader in clean mobility.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of ASSOCHAM's National Conference on "Building India an Electric Mobility Hub for Viksit Bharat", ASSOCHAM President and Uno Minda Group Chairman Nirmal K. Minda said the policy would provide a major boost to the country's transition towards sustainable transportation while supporting the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

"The biggest benefit will be to the environment, while our dependence on imported fossil fuels will reduce, helping us move towards the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat," Minda said, congratulating Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on introducing the policy.