The Republic of Moldova has officially become the 107th member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The Instrument of Ratification was handed over by Moldova’s Ambassador to India, Ana Taban, to P. S. Gangadhar, Joint Secretary (Economic Diplomacy) and Head of Depository, ISA, during a meeting in New Delhi.

The inclusion of Moldova is expected to further strengthen global cooperation in promoting solar energy and advancing sustainable development goals.

Headquartered in India, the ISA collaborates with multilateral development banks, private and public sectors, civil society, and international institutions to implement cost-effective solar solutions, especially in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Member Countries.

The Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose sharply to 149.4 in the April-June period from 139.3 in the last quarter of 2024-25, according to the Business Expectations Survey of National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

NCAER in a statement said the BCI is based on four components -- overall economic conditions to improve in next six months, financial position of firms will improve in the next six months, present investment climate and whether present capacity utilisation was close to or above optimal level.

The share of positive responses across the four components remains above 60 per cent in the first quarter and also each component exhibited improving trend compared to the preceding quarter, the statement added.

The Indian handloom industry is one of the oldest and most vibrant cottage industries globally. With a legacy dating back thousands of years, it reflects India’s rich culture and skilled craftsmanship.

Indian weavers have long been known for their expertise in hand-spinning, weaving and printing skills. They are located in small towns and villages across the country, where skills are passed down to the next generations.

From Swadeshi to Self-Reliance

The handloom sector played a vital role in India’s freedom movement. The Swadeshi Movement, launched on August 7, 1905, championed indigenous industries, especially handlooms, as a form of economic resistance to colonial rule.

A day ahead of the Monsoon Session, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday inaugurated the E-Vidhan (paperless assembly) system and a 500 kW solar power plant at the Delhi Legislative Assembly Complex.

With this, all legislative work in the Delhi Assembly will now be conducted digitally, enhancing the pace and quality of policymaking.

The solar initiative is expected to generate savings of up to Rs 15 lakh per month, roughly Rs 1.75 crore annually, and is projected to recover its cost quickly while potentially generating surplus electricity through net metering. The E-Vidhan platform complements this transition by enabling a paperless legislative process, promoting administrative efficiency and cutting down the institution’s carbon footprint.

India’s journey towards a financially inclusive economy gained significant momentum as the Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) rose to 67 in March 2025, marking a 24.3 percent increase since its inception in 2021, according to a statement released by the Press Information Bureau on Wednesday. The index, which stood at 64.2 in March 2024, reflects growth across its three sub-indices—Access, Usage, and Quality—underscoring the government’s commitment to ensuring equitable access to financial services for all citizens.

The FI-Index, launched by the RBI in 2021, measures financial inclusion across banking, investment, insurance, postal, and pension sectors through 97 indicators. Ranging from 0 to 100, where 100 signifies complete financial inclusion, the index evaluates access to financial infrastructure, usage of services, and quality aspects such as financial literacy and consumer protection. The 2025 growth highlights improvements in usage and quality, driven by enhanced financial literacy initiatives and expanded digital infrastructure. The Access sub-index tracks physical and digital infrastructure, including savings accounts, post offices, and Point of Sale terminals, while Usage reflects demand through savings, credit, and digital transactions like UPI. The Quality sub-index focuses on financial education and grievance redressal mechanisms.

India and Russia on Wednesday reaffirmed their strategic partnership and signed a key protocol to boost cooperation in sectors including aluminium, fertilizers, railways, and mining technology, during the 11th session of the India-Russia Working Group on Modernization and Industrial Cooperation.

The meeting, held at Vanijya Bhawan in the capital, was co-chaired by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary Amardeep Singh Bhatia and Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexey Gruzdev. It was conducted under the framework of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation.

Around 80 delegates from both nations — comprising senior officials, experts, and industry representatives — participated in the session.

Despite several places that get flooded repeatedly, adversely impacting people in terms of displacements, injury and even deaths, India lacks a comprehensive data-based flood severity index.

To address this lacuna, researchers from IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar have come up with a District Flood Severity Index (DFSI) that takes into account the mean duration in days of all flooding events in a district, percentage of area that is historically flooded, total number of deaths, number of people injured, and the population in the district.

Though an entire district rarely gets flooded at any one point of time, according to the researchers, the need for creating a flood severity index at the district level was felt according to the researchers is because districts are the basic administrative and planning units in India, and most flood management-related measures are implemented with districts as a unit. But fundamentally, the data used in the study have been collected every year since 1967 by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). IMD collects and publishes data of disastrous weather events, wherein mainly riverine floods, and floods that inundate large areas get counted. Due to practical reasons, small flooding events or small cities that get flooded may be overlooked.

A bill to expand the eligibility criteria for ownership of merchant shipping vessels and provide for investigation and enquiries on marine casualties was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (August 6, 2025) after a brief discussion as the Opposition continued with its protests seeking discussion on poll roll revision in Bihar.

As soon as the Bill was passed, the House proceedings were adjourned for the day amid noisy protests by Opposition members.

The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2024 empowers the central government to take charge and detain vessels within India or in coastal waters as a vessel without nationality, if such vessel is not legally entitled to fly the flag of a state or has lost such a right.

The 64th National Exhibition of Art, organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi, was inaugurated in New Delhi on Tuesday. This year’s edition stands out for introducing a first-of-its-kind initiative, where award-winning artworks will be available for sale, empowering artists and promoting India’s creative economy.

During the inauguration ceremony, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, lauded the Akademi’s forward-looking move, noting that the exhibition is not merely a display of art but a powerful platform that unites traditional, folk, tribal, and contemporary expressions from across India. He stated that enabling the sale of artworks is a vital step towards building self-reliance among artists and directly aligns with the National Mission on Cultural Mapping, which aims to identify and support artistic talent nationwide.

The Minister further underlined the increasing intersection of art, education, tourism, and employment, asserting that art today is a medium of social transformation. He praised the Lalit Kala Akademi for leading efforts to integrate artists into sustainable economic models, calling the initiative timely and visionary.

Bengaluru has secured the 26th position in the Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) City Index, emerging as India’s leading hub for AI research, development, and data centers, according to a report by market research firm Counterpoint Research.

The ‘2025 AI City Index’ highlights that several Indian cities are rapidly climbing the global rankings, with Bengaluru, Riyadh, Hangzhou, and Sao Paulo identified among the fastest-growing AI hubs worldwide. Within India, Bengaluru leads the rankings, followed by Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata.

The report notes that Bengaluru has established itself as a global AI R&D and data center hub, attracting significant foreign investment through its thriving startup ecosystem. Meanwhile, Mumbai and Delhi are leveraging AI in innovative ways for traffic management and public security, and are expected to rise in future rankings.