The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the connectivity of payment systems between India and Cambodia for the acceptance of UPI at QR-code-enabled merchants in Cambodia was launched on June 02, 2026, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This marks the go-live of the first phase of collaboration between NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Acleda Bank Plc., under the aegis of the RBI and the National Bank of Cambodia, to enable interoperability of QR-code-based Person-to-Merchant (P2M) transactions between the two countries.

“With this connectivity, Indian travellers visiting Cambodia can now make QR code-based payments to over 4.5 million merchants enabled with KHQR (national QR standard of Cambodia) using their UPI applications.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the widening of key stretches of National Highways 63 and 563 in Telangana to four-lane standards at a total cost of ₹7,597.16 crore.

The project covers the Armoor–Jagtial–Mancherial section of NH-63 and the Jagtial–Karimnagar section of NH-563, with a combined length of 190.76 km. The highway expansion will be executed under three work packages, with the NH-63 stretches being developed under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and the NH-563 stretch under the Build-Operate-Transfer (Toll) model.

The approved project aims to ease severe traffic congestion along major built-up areas in Nizamabad, Jagtial, Mancherial and Karimnagar districts. The Armoor–Jagtial–Mancherial corridor currently experiences heavy traffic bottlenecks at locations such as Anksapoor, Korutla, Jagtial, Dharmapuri, Lakshettipet and Mancherial, while the Jagtial–Karimnagar stretch faces congestion in Jagtial, Potharam, Gangadhara and Karimnagar.

A remote village of just 91 people near the India-China border is set to become the site of India's first Model Border Village.

Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Vinai Kumar Saxena, on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the project at Chumur, a settlement located 16,700 feet above sea level in eastern Ladakh's Changthang region.

Sharing details of the initiative on X, LG Saxena said that Chumur would be developed as Ladakh's first Model Border Village under the Vibrant Village Programme, aimed at creating "self-reliant, climate-resilient, tourism-enabled and economically vibrant border villages" in high-altitude frontier regions.

State-owned BHEL on Wednesday said the company has secured an order worth Rs 2,000-2,500 crore from a Nigerian entity.

The contract agreement was signed with Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals Free Zone Enterprise on June 2, according to a regulatory filing.

The order pertains to design, manufacturing, supply and supervision of erection and commissioning of eight gas turbine generator packages for the petroleum refinery and polypropylene plant in Dangote Industries Free Zone, Nigeria, the company informed the stock exchanges.

A new terminal building at NAMO Airport in Daman and key stretches of the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway will be among projects worth ₹22,655 crore that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone for across Gujarat, Daman and Lakshadweep on Friday.

According to an official statement issued on Wednesday, the Prime Minister will launch projects worth around ₹18,800 crore in Surat, ₹2,970 crore in Daman and ₹885 crore in Lakshadweep spanning roads, power transmission, industrial infrastructure, healthcare, civil aviation, tourism and maritime connectivity. The Prime Minister will begin his visit in Gujarat’s Surat district, where he is scheduled to visit Hazira and review ongoing industrial operations and infrastructure projects before inaugurating, dedicating and laying the foundation stone for multiple projects.

NASA’s Maven spacecraft around Mars has been declared dead. After six months of radio silence. The space agency confirmed that the mission had ended after more than a decade of observations. Launched in 2013 to study the red planet’s atmosphere from orbit, Maven mysteriously fell silent in early December after passing behind Mars. Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries.

A review board convened by NASA earlier this year concluded that the spacecraft is useless and unable to be recovered. It’s expected to remain in orbit for another 50 to 100 years before crashing into the planet, posing no issue to other spacecraft until then.

India has emerged as a leader among 76 countries, with 96 US billion-dollar companies being founded by immigrants who have Indian roots, according to a new National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis. Indian founders account for more than one-fifth of immigrant-founded billion-dollar startups in the US.

Immigrants from Israel founded the second-most billion-dollar companies with 60, followed by the United Kingdom (47), China (41), Canada (30).

The report mentions that immigrant entrepreneurs who created these companies entered through nearly every part of the immigration system—as refugees, family-sponsored and H-1B visa holders who became employer-sponsored immigrants, reflecting the essential contributions of immigrants to America.

The analysis highlights the essential role being played by immigrants in the growth story of America and innovative and startup ecosystem, at a time when the stance of immigration is getting hostile, with an uproar on H-1B visa and immigrants, in general.

The Centre’s push to transform Ladakh into an all-weather connected region has taken another significant step forward, with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways initiating the bidding process for the construction of twin uni-directional tunnels across the strategically important Fotu La Pass on National Highway-1.

The breakthrough ceremony at the strategically important Zojila tunnel will also be held next week, marking a major milestone for the 13.15-km-long tunnel. Together, the Rs 7000-crore worth Zojila Tunnel and the Fotu La Pass Tunnel will turn J&K and Ladakh’s National Highway-1 into an all-weather strategic corridor. In May this year, the government had allocated a budget for the Fotu La Tunnel.

The project, estimated to cost Rs 824.12 crore and with a three-year completion deadline, involves the construction of twin tunnels of nearly two kilometres each, along with approach roads, taking the total project length to 2.65 kilometres. The significance of the Fotu La tunnel lies in its location. Fotu La is the highest point on the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway, standing at altitude of almost 4,108 metres.

Hockey India on Tuesday announced the Indian Women's Team for the upcoming FIH Hockey Women's Nations Cup New Zealand 2025-26, scheduled to be held from June 15 to 21 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Salima Tete will continue to lead the side for the tournament. Savita and Bichu Devi Kharibam will provide the team with reliable and experienced options for goalkeeping. In defence, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam, Ishika Chaudhary, Nikki Pradhan and Jyoti bring considerable international experience to the backline, according to a press release.

They will be joined by Lalthantluangi and Shilpi Dabas, both of whom earned their maiden senior call-ups during the recently concluded tour of Australia and will be eager to continue their development at this level.

A group of Indian students, Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal and Avyana Mehta, has won The Earth Prize 2026 for developing a low-cost method to pull microplastics out of water. The teens designed a biodegradable material derived from tamarind seed powder that can bind to tiny plastic particles in contaminated water. In tests, the innovation, known as Plas-Stick, showed promise for trapping microplastics that conventional filters often miss, without adding harmful chemicals to the water.

"Tiny bits of plastic hide in our drinking water, but they're too small to see. We make a special powder from thrown-away tamarind seeds that acts like a magnet for these tiny plastics," they said as per the official website.

"When mixed into a container of water, the plastics stick together into little clumps. We pull them out with a magnet, leaving cleaner water behind."