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.

World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit Bazaar, a digital B2B Marketplace, has been launched in Melbourne today. In a social media post, the Consulate General of India in Melbourne said that this initiative will bring together more than 50 Indian and Australian filmmakers for over 465 meetings that will pave the way for co-productions, investment opportunities, global distribution tie-ups and vital knowledge exchange. It added that the launch of WAVES Bazaar in Melbourne will strengthen the creative bridges across borders. On the sidelines of the event a letter of intent was signed between National Film Development Corporation of India and National Film and Sound Archive of Australia for Cooperation in Film Presentation and Archival Exchange.

To ensure top Indian cricketers maintain a high level of fitness and improve their aerobic capacity, the rugby-centric Bronco Test — involving multiple shuttle runs of 20 metres, 40 metres and 60 metres — has been introduced.

The Indian Express understands the suggestion came from the Indian team’s strength and conditioning coach Adrian le Roux who also wants the fast bowlers to clock more running miles instead of being gym-focused. Head coach Gautam Gambhir is also on the same page.

This comes after the five-Test series in England during which the fitness levels of a couple of fast bowlers were found not up to scratch while only pacer Mohammed Siraj played in every match.

Indian Army has initiated a landmark collaboration with state officials of Assam & Manipur to foster efficient cooperation, cohesion and mutual understanding. Exercise Samanvay Shakti 2025 was inaugurated today at Laipuli, in Tinsukia district of Assam. This Military-Civil Integration Exercise aims at fostering synergy between security forces, government departments and civil institutions to address the region’s complex challenges through a unified and coordinated approach.

The inaugural session witnessed participation from the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, District Administration, Police, Intelligence Agencies, NDRF, SDRF, Medical Officials, BRO & GREF, Railways, educational institutions and security officials from OIL India, IOCL and Coal India alongwith representatives of the local media.

A similar exercise is being undertaken in Manipur from 20-30 August, which included aspects of Disaster management, Healthcare, Education, Public Works Development, Forest Department initiatives, Narcotics, Irrigation, Road Safety, Employment opportunities in Armed forces, Sports, Coordination amongst the state police, Army and paramilitary forces along with the Infrastructure development through Operation Sadbhavna.

India’s infrastructure output, as measured by the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), has increased by two per cent in July this year compared to the same period year ago. Four of India’s core sectors including of steel, cement, fertiliser, and electricity recorded positive growth during the last month, according to the provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry today. Steel production witnessed a robust growth of 12.8 per cent, Cement production increased by 11.7 per cent, Fertilizer production gained two per cent and Electricity generation was up by half a per cent. Conversely, Coal production plunged 12.3 per cent. Natural gas dipped by 3.2 per cent, Crude Oil production fell by 1.3 and Petroleum Refinery production was down by one per cent in comparison with July, last year. Meanwhile, the final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for June this year stood at 2.2 per cent. The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to July period is provisionally reported at 1.6 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Paris Olympian Anant Jeet Singh Naruka won a close contest against Mansour Al Rashidi 57-56 to win gold in the men’s skeet final at the 16th Asian Shooting Championship in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Naruka had won a silver in the last edition and kept his composure under pressure to beat the seasoned former Asian Games champion. Naruka, who finished fourth in the mixed skeet event at the Paris Olympics narrowly missing out on an Olympic medal, has been consistent in his performance at the top level. Last year he won a silver medal in the World Cup Final in Delhi.

At the ongoing Asian meet, Naruka finished third in qualifying with a score of 119. In the 60-shot final Naruka was in top form and fired 29 of his first 30 targets. He took the lead, shooting 35 of 36 targets and was one hit ahead of his rival with 10 shots to go. Both shooters missed one in the tense final round, handing Naruka the prized medal. The women’s skeet trio of Maheshwari Chauhan, Ganemat Sekhon and Raiza Dhillon combined for a bronze in the team event.

In a demonstration of its strategic military capabilities, India on Wednesday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile ‘Agni 5’ from Odisha’s Chandipur.

According to the ministry of defence (MoD), the launch validated all operational and technical parameters. The missile was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur and was carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command, the ministry said.

“Intermediate range ballistic missile ‘Agni 5’ was successfully test-fired from the integrated test range, Chandipur in Odisha on August 20," the MoD said in a brief statement. “The launch validated all operational and technical parameters. It was carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command."