The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), responsible for addressing air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) and adjoining areas, on Thursday mandated cleaner mobility for aggregators and e-commerce entities to reduce vehicular pollution and facilitate a faster transition to cleaner modes of mobility.

In a notification, CAQM said that motor vehicle aggregators, delivery service providers and e-commerce entities in Delhi NCR shall only induct CNG and electric three-wheeler autorickshaws into their existing fleets. No conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles running purely on diesel or petrol shall be added to the fleets of four-wheeler light commercial vehicles (LCVs)

On the eve of World Environment Day, India on Wednesday added two more wetlands—Khichan in Phalodi and Menar in Udaipur—to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance . With these additions, India’s total count of Ramsar Sites now stands at 91.

Bhupender Yadav, Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Lok Sabha MP from Alwar announced the news on X (formerly Twitter). “This achievement is yet another testament to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji’s steadfast commitment to environmental conservation,” Yadav wrote on X. “Congratulations, India—especially the people of Rajasthan—for this significant step towards a greener tomorrow.”

India was on Wednesday elected to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations for the period from 2026-28.

The council is at the heart of the UN's mechanism to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development -- economic, social and environmental.

"India was elected to the Economic and Social Council for the term 2026-28 @UN today. Thank member states for their overwhelming support and reposing their trust in us. Appreciate the efforts of @IndiaUNNewYork," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on X.

The Government has decided to conduct the Population Census – 2027 in two phases, along with the enumeration of castes.

The first phase will be conducted in hilly and snow-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh beginning 1st of October, 2026. The second phase covering other parts of the country will be held from 1st of March 2027. The last census was conducted in 2011 in two phases. These were Phase I for House Listing and Phase II for Population Enumeration.

The notification for the intent of conducting Population Census is likely to be published in the official gazette on 16th of this month. The process of Census begins with the issuance of the notification.

Census 2021 was also proposed to be conducted in two phases with phase I during April-September 2020 and second phase in February 2021. All the preparations for the first phase of the Census to be conducted in 2021 were completed. However, the census work was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic across the country. The Indian Census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world. Census provides a picture of the country’s demographic, economic, social, and cultural profile. The Census also serves as a foundation for conducting other surveys across the country.

Entering the messaging services space, Elon Musk has announced the launch of a new platform called XChat. The new service is said to offer features like end-to-end encryption and file-sharing capabilities, similar to Meta-owned WhatsApp.

Currently in its beta testing phase, XChat could emerge as a potential challenger to Mark Zuckerberg’s WhatsApp.

In a post on his X account, Musk stated that the messaging platform will also support audio and video calling. He further revealed that XChat is built on a new Rust-based architecture and incorporates Bitcoin-like encryption for added security.

Although the company has not announced an official launch date, XChat is expected to be made publicly available once beta testing concludes.

For the first time in more than five decades, the image of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, has been removed from new banknotes. The redesigned notes, released on Sunday (June 1), now feature motifs of Hindu and Buddhist temples, traditional landmarks, and celebrated national artwork — signalling a significant symbolic shift in the country’s political and cultural narrative.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, had appeared on every banknote since the nation’s birth in 1971. However, with the ouster of his daughter and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year, the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus had announced a phased revamp of the country’s currency, aimed at removing political iconography.

Canara Bank has announced the removal of charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance across all types of Savings Bank (SB) accounts, including regular, salary, and NRI accounts.

Effective June 1, 2025, the move makes Canara Bank the first major public sector bank to implement a blanket waiver on minimum balance penalties for all SB account categories.

Previously, account holders were required to maintain a specified Average Monthly Balance (AMB) or face penalties. With this policy change, such fees will no longer apply, offering more flexibility and financial relief to customers.

The bank confirmed the development in an official release.

PayPal Payments Pvt Ltd (PayPal), the Indian subsidiary of PayPal Holdings Inc, has received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a Payment AggregatorCross BorderExports (PA-CB-E).

This marks a key milestone in PayPal's operations in India and its continued support for Indian small businesses, enabling secure cross-border payments to approximately 200 markets, the company said in a statement.

The approval comes as India's exports reached USD 73.8 billion in April 2025, underscoring the increasing momentum in cross-border trade.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to strengthen liquidity stress tests of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) by developing a cash flow analysis process to ensure they remain resilient during episodes of stress.

The cash flow analysis process would evaluate the potential impact of extreme but plausible scenarios on a bank’s liquidity position, ensuring it can meet obligations even during crises, according to the central bank’s latest annual report.

This would provide forward-looking perspective and assess the stability of banks’ liquidity positions under adverse conditions.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said that 98.26 per cent of the ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, had been returned by May 31, 2025, with the remaining notes in circulation continuing to be legal tender.

The Central bank, in its update on withdrawal of ₹2,000 denomination banknotes, underscored that the total value of ₹2,000 banknotes in circulation amounted to ₹3.56 lakh crore as at the close of business on May 19, 2023 when their withdrawal was announced, has declined to ₹6,181 crore at the close of business.

The facility for exchange of the ₹2,000 banknotes is available at RBI’s 19 Issue Offices since May 19, 2023, per a Central bank statement.