As a part of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilot project, multiple Indian banks have announced the introduction of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) interoperability feature on the Digital Rupee application. This means, Digital Rupee app users can scan any QR code to make payments for groceries and daily expenses.

State Bank of India (SBI), Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, Axis Bank. HDFC Bank, Canara Bank, among others are live with the inclusion of UPI interoperability.

The State Bank of India announced in a release on Monday, “This feature, accessible through the 'eRupee by SBI' application, will empower SBI CBDC users to scan any merchant UPI QR code for transactions,” the bank said in the release.”

Induslnd Bank has agreed to a multi-year sponsorship deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC). The deal is set to be valued at $20-24 million (approximately Rs 160-200 crore). The multi-year deal would kick off with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, being held in India.

Mastercard, MRF tyres, Aramco, Emirates and Booking.com have also signed top-tier sponsorship deals with ICC.

Mastercard and Induslnd Bank are set to replace fintech platform, BharatPe and edtech platform, BYJU’s as the companies decided to end their association with ICC ahead of the deal’s full tenure.

Filmmaker Vivek Aghnihotri’s 'The Vaccine War' created history on Tuesday by becoming the first Indian movie to have a song launch at Times Square.

The film's title song 'Shristhi se pehele', which comprised of Shlokas from Rigveda, describing the creation of the Universe was performed in the form of Kathak in New York.

At Times Square, a performance was performed by Actor Archana Joglekar and the students of her Dance academy and it was choreographed by legendary Kathak maestro. The performance was witnessed by thousands of New Yorkers from all walks of life.

Japan has successfully launched a rocket carrying a new research satellite to unravel the evolution of the universe and space-time.

The H2A rocket carrying the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) satellite and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) was launched at 8.42 am local time (23:42 GMT Wednesday) from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, and the first phases unfolded as planned without problems, according to the Japan’s space agency- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

In a groundbreaking development, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science successfully created complete synthetic models of human embryos using stem cells grown in a laboratory.

The synthetic embryos were nurtured outside the womb and survived up to 14 days of development with all the features characteristic of their stage, even though no sperm or eggs were used.

It was an evening to remember at the prestigious Global Fintech Awards (GFA) 2023, held annually as part of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2023 in Mumbai, India.

This year, the coveted global award for 'Leading Fintech Personality of the Year' from the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) region was awarded to Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi based LuLu Financial Holdings.

A visionary entrepreneur in the financial services world, Adeeb has been instrumental in revolutionizing cross-border payments between the GCC and India. His company operates a network of 300+ customer engagement centres and digital payment solutions in 10 countries across the Middle East, Asia Pacific and GCC regions.

In the run-up to the 18th G20 Summit, a one-day conference themed "Transnational Grid Interconnections for One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG)" convened in New Delhi on September 6.

The conference, spearheaded by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), a 'Maharatna' company under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, sought to explore the potential of cross-border energy connectivity and collaboration, read the Ministry of Power press release.

In a development highlighting India's growing presence on the global military stage, the Indian Navy's INS Sumedha arrived at Port Alexandria, Egypt, on September 6, to partake in 'Exercise BRIGHT STAR-23.

'This multinational Tri-Services military exercise marks a historic occasion, with 34 countries participating, making it the largest joint military exercise ever held in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In Table Tennis, Indian men’s team finished with a bronze medal at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2023 following a semi-final defeat to Chinese Taipei in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea yesterday. The Indian men’s table tennis team comprising Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost 0-3 in their final four match. The two losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze medals at the competition. The Asian Table Tennis Championships 2023 was also a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

The tripartite Concession Agreement between National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam and M/s. Meerut STP Pvt. Ltd. for development of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and other infrastructure in Meerut was signed in the presence of Director General, NMCG in New Delhi. The project, under Hybrid Annuity PPP mode, was awarded at the total cost of Rs. 369.74 crores and is scheduled to be completed by December, 2025.

NMCG has approved the project for construction of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of total capacity of 220 MLD, among other works such as developing Interception & Diversion (I&D) structures, I&D network laying, Sewage Pumping Stations including Operation and Maintenance for 15 years etc. This project also aims to take care of the existing sewerage problems in the Meerut city and the resultant sewage pollution in River Kali. After the completion of this project, there will be no discharge of untreated sewage from Meerut city into River Kali (East) thereby reducing the pollution load. Kali (East) meets Ganga near Kannauj and the completion of this project will ultimately help reduce pollution in River Ganga.