PhonePe, the country’s largest digital payments app, is expanding beyond its UPI-led payments model with a suite of card-based offerings in partnership with card network player Visa.

The Bengaluru-based fintech firm on September 9 announced three new solutions, including tap to pay, cross-border scan to pay and smart accept, at the Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai.

The offerings build on PhonePe’s existing Visa card tokenisation capability, launched in February 2025, as competition intensifies across digital payments.

Interestingly, UPI accounts for 89 percent of all digital transactions in the country even though the average value is much lower than a typical card payment.

Vipul Misra has been appointed as acting Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines.

Prior to his elevation, Misra served as the head of engineering at SriLankan Airlines. He assumed charge of CEO post today.

In a statement, SriLankan airlines said Misra brings over two decades of aircraft engineering and aviation leadership experience.

“Misra’s background spans across significantly large commercial carriers including Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan. His comprehensive expertise across legacy, full-service, and low-cost carriers is expected to provide strong technical and operational direction during this interim period, as the national carrier of Sri Lanka works towards enhancing its performance and long-term sustainability,” the airline said.

UIDAI has launched a new face authentication SDK that will allow partner banks and businesses to run Aadhaar authentication locally, potentially easing geofencing-related limitations for Indians overseas. The move comes as Aadhaar authentication volumes rise to around 10 crore transactions a day, with UIDAI preparing for 25-30 crore daily transactions.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched a new face authentication software development kit (SDK) aimed at making Aadhaar authentication easier for partner institutions while addressing geofencing restrictions that have affected Indians travelling or living overseas.

UIDAI Chairman Neelkanth Mishra announced the new SDK at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai on September 9. The conference is being held from September 8 to 11 at the Jio World Centre.

Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday introduced various governance reforms aimed at employment creation, global trade expansion, advanced skill development, government employee welfare, and judicial infrastructure.

The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, approved the "Mukhyamantri Startup and NIPUN Mission" with an outlay of Rs 500 crore over the next five years, intending to transform youth from "job-seekers into job-creators."

Under this mission, entrepreneurship development centres will be set up across all 33 districts, accompanied by 100 Emerging Technology Labs and 5 industry centres of excellence.

Reigning Paralympics champion Harvinder Singh and world No. 1 Sheetal Devi led the charge as India signed off their World Archery Para Series Stage III campaign in Ahmedabad on a high, winning two gold and four bronze medals, on the final day today. World No. 1 and reigning world champion Sheetal Devi held her nerve in a dramatic shoot-off to win the para compound women’s individual gold, while double Paralympics medallist Harvinder, paired with Bhawna, to clinch gold medal in the para recurve mixed team event. In the recurve mixed team final, double Paralympics medalist Harvinder and Bhawna made short work of China’s Liang Qiurong and Xia Lei, winning 6-nil in straight sets. Bhawna then added another bronze in an all-Indian para recurve women’s bronze-medal play-off, defeating compatriot Rajshree Rathod 6-nil.

Sheetal returned in the evening session and produced a composed performance against Kazakhstan’s Aizada Seidan in a thrilling compound women’s individual final. Sheetal, thus, completed a medal double, having earlier teamed up with Toman Kumar to win bronze in the compound mixed team event. India also picked up a bronze in the para compound women’s individual event, with Sarita edging out China’s Wang Huiting. The campaign ended with another bronze for Toman, as the world No. 1 and reigning world champion defeated Iraq’s Abbas Kadhim in the para compound men’s individual event for his second medal of the competition.

India and Sri Lanka exchanged Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) on upgradation of L70 Guns for the Sri Lankan Air Force, and cooperation between National Cadet Corps and National Defence Colleges of both the countries. The upgradation of these air defence guns will strengthen the air defence architecture of critical assets in Sri Lanka. The MoU on academic cooperation will facilitate knowledge sharing to further strengthen the academic bonds between them and formalise the NCC youth exchange programme between India and Sri Lanka.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on visit to Sri Lanka, today called on President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo and discussed the entire spectrum of the multi-faceted partnership between India and Sri Lanka. During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed that India and Sri Lanka will keep working jointly to ensure the safety, security, peace and prosperity of the region. President Dissanayake reiterated that Sri Lanka would never allow its territory to be used for any activities inimical to India’s security interests. Both sides also reaffirmed that as civilisational twins, close neighbours and maritime partners, they would continue to work together for their development and welfare of the people.

The domestic photonics market is expected to grow fourfold to USD 10 billion by 2031 driven by demand from data centres and other electronics devices requiring high data speed, a senior official of industry body Indian Photonics Association said on Wednesday.

Newly formed India Photonics Association (IPA) has 65 members, including SFO Technologies, GX Quantum Photonics, Lightspeed Photonics, Tejas Networks, etc.

“The present direct market for photonics in India is around USD 2.5 billion. It is expected to grow by 4 fold to USD 10 billion by 2031. The photonics technology will enhance speed and reliability in electronics products. We will work with industry, government and other stakeholders to make the Indian ecosystem lead the global ecosystem in photonics,” IPA Secretary General Ashwini Aggarwal said.

The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Karnataka Aerospace Policy 2026-31, targeting investments of Rs 60,000 crore and the creation of 60,000 jobs, with the government seeking to expand the state's aerospace, defence, aviation and space manufacturing ecosystem beyond Bengaluru.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara said the policy would cover the entire state and offer differentiated incentives based on focus and non-focus areas to attract private investment. The government intends to encourage aerospace and defence manufacturing, aviation, space technologies, drones, avionics and related industries.

The policy seeks to leverage Karnataka's existing aerospace ecosystem, including the HAL base in Bengaluru, while encouraging companies to establish manufacturing and other facilities outside the state capital.

Stanzin Tsangyang, a 24-year-old woman from the remote mountainous Zanskar region of Ladakh, has created history by becoming the first woman from the area to be commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army. She received her commission at the passing-out parade held at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai on September 5, marking a significant achievement for her family and the young women of her region.

Tsangyang’s journey from the high-altitude region of Ladakh to a military academy in southern India was shaped by years of hard work, discipline and perseverance. Her achievement is particularly notable because she entered a career that was unfamiliar to many young people in her remote home region.

The National Steering Committee of the Pradhan Mantri Skilling and Employability Transformation through Upgraded ITIs (PM-SETU) approved Strategic Investment Plans (SIPs) with an aggregate project outlay of ₹735.70 crore for ITI clusters in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana at its 5th meeting held yesterday. The meeting was held under the chairpersonship of Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

The approvals take the total sanctioned investment under PM-SETU to ₹2,171 crore across nine ITI clusters, further accelerating the creation of modern, industry-led and future-ready ITIs across the country.

The meeting was attended by Dilip Kumar, Director General, Directorate General of Training (DGT); G Madhumita Das, Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser; Manasi Sahay Thakur, Joint Secretary, MSDE; senior officials from the Ministry and State Governments; representatives from multilateral development banks; and industry partners.