North Korea has denounced a major joint exercise planned by the South Korean and U.S. militaries as “direct military provocation” and warned of counteraction, despite signs of easing tension across the border under a new leader in Seoul.

North Korea’s Defence Minister No Kwang Chol said its military has an “absolute mission” to defend national security against the large-scale 11-day drills by South Korea and the United States, which he said posed a real and dangerous threat.

“The armed forces of the DPRK will cope with the war drills of the U.S. and the (South) with thoroughgoing and resolute counteraction posture and strictly exercise the sovereign right,” No said in a statement issued via the KCNA state news agency on Monday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched 'Operation Alert' along the Rajasthan border to strengthen security measures ahead of Independence Day, with intensified patrols, drills, and a review of standard operating procedures to counter potential threats, a senior official said.

Speaking to ANI, BSF DIG sector south, MK Negi, said, "The operation Alert commenced on 11 August and will continue until 12 am on 17 August. During the operation, we will implement strict border management and rehearse and improve our SOPs and drills. We are reviewing all SOPs, instructions, and drills to prepare for border management and upcoming challenges."

India is set to host the 18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Mumbai from August 11 to 21 with over 300 high school students from 64 countries. Organized by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), a division of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the event will begin with an opening ceremony on August 12 at the Jio World Convention Centre.

The ceremony will have Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the presence of guests including principal scientific advisor Ajay Sood and Ajit Kembhavi, former vice president of the International Astronomical Union. The closing ceremony, scheduled for August 21 at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, will be presided over by ISRO chairman V Narayanan and Anil Kakodkar, chancellor of the Homi Bhabha National Institute.

New Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill has been named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for July 2025 for his terrific performance both as a batter and a leader of a young Indian side against England, where India drew the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy (five-match Test series) 2-2, the governing body announced on Tuesday.

Apart from Gill, England captain Ben Stokes and South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder were also nominated for the ICC Player of the Month award for July.

ICC released a statement which read, “India’s Shubman Gill has landed the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for July 2025 following his heroics against England in a thrilling Test series, after facing stiff competition from England Test skipper Ben Stokes and South African all-rounder Wiaan Mulder.”

Jharkhand Women’s Hockey team emerged as Champions consecutively in the second year in the 15th Junior National Women’s Hockey Championship, defeating Hockey Haryana by 2-1 in the finals.

The championship was being organised at Kakinanda in Andhra Pradesh from August 1-12. Sweety Dungdung and Shanti Kimari hit two goals for Jharkhand in the 10th and 12th minute of the match. Sweety Dungdung also became the highest goal scorer in the Championship with a total of 5 goals.

Jharkhand Womens Hockey team has won the Junior National championship for four times in the year 2018, 2019, 2024 and 2025. Adding another feather to their cap, the Womens Hockey team of Jharkhand has won the National Championship in all three categories viz Senior, Junior and Sub-junior in this year 2025

India’s Namrata Batra has scripted history by winning a silver medal in the women’s 52 kg final at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China today. The 24-year-old, who won silver at the Asian Championships last year and is a four-time national champion, went down 2-0 to local favourite Mengyue Chen in the final. It was India’s first-ever medal in wushu at the World Games and the country’s second podium finish at the ongoing edition after Rishabh Yadav’s bronze in men’s compound archery. Namrata’s campaign began with a 2-0 win over Lebanon’s Barbara El Rassi in the quarter-finals, followed by another 2-0 victory over Krizan Faith Collado of the Philippines in the semis. India have now won a total of seven medals in World Games history – one gold, two silvers and four bronzes.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved four additional semiconductor manufacturing projects under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), marking a significant boost to the country’s semiconductor ecosystem.

With six projects already underway, the four new approvals bring the total to ten semiconductor initiatives with cumulative investments of approximately Rs. 1.60 lakh crore across six states. These projects are expected to create over 2,000 skilled jobs directly and generate many more indirect employment opportunities.

The new projects come from SiCSem, Continental Device India Private Limited (CDIL), 3D Glass Solutions Inc., and Advanced System in Package (ASIP) Technologies. They will establish semiconductor manufacturing units in Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh, addressing growing demands across telecom, automotive, data centres, consumer electronics, and industrial sectors.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has signed an agreement with the Indian Statistical Institute for joint research and development to further enhance the robustness, security and reliability of Aadhaar operations.

The agreement effective for a period of five years, will cover areas such as fraud and anomaly detection, development of biometric liveness detection tools, improvements in biometric matching algorithms, and other priority areas.

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday launched the State Health Regulatory Excellence Index (SHRESTH), an initiative aimed at benchmarking and strengthening state drug regulatory systems through a transparent, data-driven framework.

Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava, unveiling the index alongside Drug Controller General of India Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, said the initiative will help states identify gaps in their regulatory capacity and work towards achieving “maturity certification.”

“Ensuring the safety, quality, and efficacy of medicines is a commitment of the Government to every citizen in India,” Srivastava said, urging stronger Centre–state collaboration to maintain the credibility of India’s pharmaceutical industry. She added that the SHRESTH Index will target improvements in human resources, infrastructure, and digitisation, while also promoting cross-learning among states.

The Supreme Court today(August 12) appointed Justice L. Nageswara Rao, former judge of the Supreme Court, as an Ombudsman of the Bihar Cricket Association ("BCA") to take action against illegal activities of the office bearers. Consequently, it disposed of the matter, remarking that dirty politics is going on in such associations, wasting the public revenue.

A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan was hearing a special leave petition against the order of the division bench of the Patna High Court, which had set aside an order passed by a single bench directing the appointment of Justice Shaikesh Kumar Singh, former judge of Patna High Court, as Ombudsman.