State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Tuesday said it has successfully migrated its corporate website to '.bank.in' domain (https://pnb.bank.in), in line with RBI circular and under the guidance of Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT).

This serves as the exclusive registrar for this domain and this marks a significant milestone in the Indian banking sector's digital transformation, PNB said in a statement.

With this move, PNB has become the first public sector bank in the country to migrate its corporate website to the secure '.bank.in' domain reaffirming its commitment to customer safe and secure digital banking, it said.

State Bank of India (SBI) has set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for MSMEs at the State Bank Academy (SBA), Gurugram.

The centre has been established with an objective of strengthening the MSME ecosystem through capacity building, research, and industry collaboration, thereby contributing to India's vision of becoming a developed nation, SBI said in a statement on Thursday.

The centre was inaugurated by Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju and SBI chairman C S Setty, it said.

SBA is an institute imparting specialised training in Credit, International Banking, Risk & Compliance and carrying out Research & Development in various spheres of banking, it said.

Madras Day 2025 Date and History: Every year on August 22, Madras Day is observed to commemorate the founding of Madras (now Chennai) in Tamil Nadu in 1639. This year, we will mark the 22nd anniversary of Madras Day as well as the 386th anniversary of the city’s founding — on Friday, August 22, 2025.

On this day in 1639, the East India Company (EIC) bought Madrasapatnam from local monarchs and was a step toward building the British Empire in India over the next several centuries.

After British rule ended in 1947, the state and city remained known as Madras, and were formed from the larger Madras presidency, which had included parts of other South Indian states.

The second National Space Day is being celebrated across the country today. The day commemorates the successful soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission’s Vikram Lander and the deployment of the Pragyan Rover on the Moon on 23rd of August 2023.

On this day in 2023, the Chandrayaan-3 mission accomplished the safe and soft landing of the Vikram Lander on the lunar surface. With this, India became the fourth country to land on the moon and the first to land near the southern polar region of the moon. The soft landing was followed by a successful deployment of the Pragyaan Rover. The landing site was named Shiv Shakti Point. To honour this achievement, the Government of India officially declared August 23rd as “National Space Day.”

The theme for this year’s celebration is Aryabhatta to Gaganyaan: Ancient Wisdom to Infinite Possibilities”. As part of the celebrations, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hosted the National Space Meet 2.0 in New Delhi yesterday. The meet brought together several Ministries, Private Stakeholders, Academia, Startups, and Experts to shape the next decade of India’s space applications roadmap. It featured 10 breakout sessions that engaged hundreds of experts who, over the past four months, worked closely with Ministries, Departments, State Governments, and ISRO to identify hundreds of use cases for immediate and future implementation.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah launched the Nusuk Umrah service on Wednesday, enabling international pilgrims to apply for Umrah visas and book related services directly online without intermediaries.

Available at https://umrah.nusuk.sa/, the platform aims to streamline the pilgrimage process and enhance the overall pilgrim experience.

The platform is designed to improve service quality and represents a new option for international Umrah pilgrims that complements existing channels such as accredited travel agents.

The digital service allows users to customise their pilgrimages by choosing from integrated packages or booking individual services, including visas, accommodation, transportation, and tours.

Tribeny Rai’s debut feature, Shape of Momo, has been officially selected for the Vision Section of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) 2025, the largest and most prestigious film festival in Asia.

BIFF, held annually in Busan, South Korea, is renowned for discovering bold new voices and connecting Asian cinema with the world. Its Vision Section highlights promising works from independent Asian cinema, showcasing daring and original stories from both emerging and mid-career directors.

The selection places Shape of Momo alongside some of the most exciting contemporary films from across Asia. The film will also be screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in September, marking a significant step in its international journey.

NASA announced that the James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, 29th satellite of Uranus, which was named S/2025 U1. According to NASA, a team led by the Southwest Research Institute(SwRI) identified the moon on the 2nd of February 2025, expanding the planet’s known satellite family to 29.

The diameter of the Moon is estimated to be only some 10 kilometres. And orbits the planet at a distance of about 56,000 kilometres. Maryame El Moutamid, a lead scientist in SwRI’s Solar System Science and Exploration Division, said, It’s a small moon but a significant discovery.

Iran launched a two-day missile drill on Thursday in the northern Indian Ocean and Sea of Oman. The exercise, titled “Sustainable Power 1404,” is Iran’s first large-scale military drill since the 12-day war in June. It highlights Iran’s naval and missile capabilities amid elevated regional tensions.

State television reported the deployment of surface and subsurface warships, air units, missile defense batteries, and electronic warfare brigades. Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Abbas Hassani told the ISNA news agency that precision-strike cruise missiles, such as the Nasir and Qadir, were used in the drills. “The exercise is for improved combat readiness, an improved command system, and reinforcement of deterrence,” he stated.

The drills took place about a month after the “Casarex 2025 joint drill with Russia in the Caspian Sea. These actions follow the 12-day war in June, during which Israel struck Iranian missile sites. In retaliation, Iran struck Israeli cities with missiles and drones and attempted a strike on a U.S. base in Qatar.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has registered its highest-ever monthly payroll growth, with a net addition of 21.89 lakh members in June 2025. This marks the strongest increase since the organisation began publishing payroll data in April 2018.

According to the provisional figures released on Wednesday, the June data shows a 9.14 per cent rise in net payroll additions compared to May 2025. On a year-on-year basis, the growth stood at 13.46 per cent over June 2024. Officials said the surge reflects expanding employment opportunities and greater awareness of employee benefits, supported by EPFO’s outreach measures.

In June 2025, over 10.62 lakh new subscribers were enrolled, a jump of 12.68 per cent from May and 3.61 per cent from the same period last year. The 18–25 age group continued to dominate, with 6.39 lakh new entrants — accounting for more than 60 per cent of total enrolments. The net payroll addition for this age group reached 9.72 lakh, reflecting that a large proportion of new members are first-time job seekers entering the organised workforce.

The Indian trio of Arjun Babuta, Rudrankksh Patil, and Kiran Jadhav clinched the team gold medal in men’s 10m Air Rifle on Thursday at the Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

The three shooters accumulated a total score of 1892.5, beating China’s 1889.2 which was scored by the trio of Li Xianhao, Lu Dingke, and Wang Honghao. South Korea’s Park Ha-jun, Lee Jun-hwan, and Seo Jun-won, who combined to score 1885.7 and bag the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Mansi Raghuwanshi won the gold medal while compatriot Yashasvi Rathore claimed bronze in a 1-2 finish for India in the women’s junior skeet competition.