South Korea and Japan have agreed to cooperate on shared social challenges such as low birth rates and aging population. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Busan. Both leaders have expressed willingness to cooperate to tackle shared challenges. Mr. Lee expressed hope that the two Asian neighbours could work together to tackle shared social challenges, such as overconcentration in the capital region. Mr. Ishiba said, South Korea and Japan can work closely together, maintain frequent exchanges and achieve tangible outcomes of shuttle diplomacy

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), headquartered in Chennai, has sanctioned an amount of ₹82 lakh to the Andhra Pradesh Biodiversity Board for the conservation of Red Sanders, according to the environment ministry.

The funds are aimed at raising one lakh saplings of Red Sanders, which will subsequently be supplied to farmers, thereby contributing to the Trees Outside Forests (ToF) programme, and thus marking a significant step towards conserving a species unique to the region, the ministry has said on Monday. Red sanders is in high demand globally particularly in China and East Asia, for furniture, musical instruments, traditional medicine, and cosmetics.

The funding has been provided from the benefit-sharing amount collected from users of Red Sanders and is being channelled back to the local farmers and biodiversity board for conservation-related activities.

On the auspicious occasion of CSIR’s Foundation Day, 26th September 2025, SODAR (Sound Detection and Ranging) system facility, designed & developed by CSIR–Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (AMPRI), Bhopal was inaugurated at India Meteorological Department, (IMD), Delhi by Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department and Prof. Dr. Thallada Bhaskar, Director, CSIR-AMPRI, Bhopal. Dr. Mohd. Akram Khan, Chief Scientist & Energy and Environmental Solutions Division; Dr. Sandeep Singhai, Senior Principal Scientist & Head, Business Development Group, Dr. Kirti Soni, Senior Principal Scientist & Principal Investigator of the SODAR activity, CSIR-AMPRI, Bhopal and Dr Manish Mohan Gore, Senior Scientist, CSIR-NIScPR, Delhi were also present on the occasion.

Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG CSIR and Secretary, DSIR joined the event virtually and underscored this initiative a very significant in terms of strengthening indigenisation of Indian technology for serving the society.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said the limit for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the central government for the second half of the financial year 2025-26 will be 50,000 crore rupees. The WMA is a temporary advance given by the RBI to the central, state governments and Union Territories to tide over any mismatch in receipts and payments.

The Central bank in a statement yesterday said, the WMA has been decided in consultation with the Central government. It added that Reserve Bank of India may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Centre utilises 75 per cent of the WMA limit. Both RBI and Government, retains the flexibility to revise the WMA limit at any time taking into consideration the prevailing circumstances. The interest rate on WMA will be the prevailing repo rate and on overdraft it will be 2 per cent above the repo rate.

India witnessed a sharp spike in criminal activity last year, with the number of registered cases crossing 62 lakh. The latest Crime in India 2023 report from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) paints a mixed picture: some categories like murders saw a decline, but cybercrime, offences against children, and crimes against Scheduled Tribes (STs) recorded worrying increases.

Crime tally crosses 62 lakh

According to the ANI report citing the NCRB data, a total of 62,41,569 cognizable cases were registered in 2023, up 7.2 percent from 2022. Of these, 37.6 lakh fell under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 24.8 lakh under Special and Local Laws (SLL).

The overall crime rate rose from 422.2 per lakh population in 2022 to 448.3 in 2023. IPC cases made up 60.3 percent of the total, while SLL accounted for 39.7 percent.

In a boost to global water security, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a siphon-powered thermal desalination system that converts seawater into clean drinking water faster, cheaper, and more efficiently than conventional methods.

Traditional solar stills, which replicate the natural water cycle, often face two challenges — salt buildup on evaporator surfaces and scaling limits that restrict water flow to just 10–15 cm. The IISc team has overcome both issues by harnessing the principle of siphonage.

The new system uses a composite siphon made of a fabric wick and a grooved metal surface. The fabric draws salty water from a reservoir while gravity ensures a continuous flow, flushing away salt before it can crystallize. The water then spreads as a thin film over a heated metal surface, evaporates, and condenses on a cooler surface placed just two millimeters away.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's autobiography gives readers a candid glimpse into her heart and mind, and tells her Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written in the foreword to the Indian edition of the Italian leader's autobiography. The autobiography, I Am Giorgia: My Roots, My Principles, is set to be launched in India by Rupa Publications.

In the foreword to the autobiography, Prime Minister Modi has said Prime Minister Meloni's life has "never been about politics or power". "It is about her courage, conviction, and commitment to public service and the people of Italy," he has written.

"Over the last 11 years, I have had the privilege of engaging with many world leaders, each with a different life journey. At times, their journeys transcend personal stories and speak to something larger. They remind us of ideals that have endured across cultures and centuries. Prime Minister Meloni has several such instances in her accomplished life, making this book very special. Her journey is inspiring and historic," Prime Minister Modi wrote.

Union Minister of State for Textiles Pabitra Margherita will be on a visit to Moscow, Russia, from 1st October to 3rd of next month. The Minister will inaugurate the Best of India – Indian Apparel and Textile Fair in Moscow.

In a statement, The Ministry of Textiles said that the fair will serve as a strategic gateway for Indian exporters to expand their presence in Russia and CIS markets. Over 100 Indian companies are expected to participate, showcasing products ranging from handloom and handicrafts to home furnishings, carpets, linens, apples, and garments

During the visit, The Minister will also hold a bilateral meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of the Textile and Apparel Industry. The Ministry said that these engagements aims to provide an opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade, industry, and the textile sectors and explore avenues for enhancing collaboration between Indian and Russian businesses.

India and Bhutan have agreed to establish two cross-border rail links projects at a total outlay of four thousand 33 crore rupees. The Railway Project includes Kokrajhar-Gelephu and Banarhat-Samtse.

Addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the project will connect two important cities of Bhutan, namely Gelephu and Samtse. He said, these two projects will take off from the Indian Railway network at Kokrajhar in Assam and Banarhat in West Bengal. Mr Vaishnaw added that around 69 kilometer 69-kilometre-long rail route project between Kokrajhar and Gelephu will be constructed at an estimated cost of three thousand 456 crore rupees, While the 20-kilometre-long long Banarhat-Samtse rail project will be constructed at a cost of 577 crore rupees. The Minister said that the entire investment in these railway projects will be made by India.

One of the 16 cheetahs born in India will reach adulthood on Monday (September 29, 2025) at Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh, marking a hopeful turn for the three-year-old reintroduction efforts, an official said on Sunday (28 September, 2025).

“Mukhi, a female cub born to Namibian cheetah Jwala on March 29, 2023, will reach adulthood, as it will turn 915 days or 30 months old, on Monday (September 29, 2025), ready to contribute to increasing the cheetah population in India,” Project Cheetah Director Uttam Kumar Sharma told PTI.

"Of the four cubs Jwala delivered, three died due to extreme heat, but Mukhi survived and has grown well. Today our efforts have yielded encouraging results," Mr. Sharma said.