CM Rekha Gupta on Sunday launched the Aftercare Scheme for Young Persons, a Mother’s Day initiative to support orphaned and vulnerable youngsters as they leave child care institutions after turning 18. The scheme aims to provide education, jobs, financial aid, counselling and rehabilitation to help young people transition into independent life.

The Delhi Government has allocated Rs 3.5 crore for the scheme for the 2026–27 financial year. Eligible beneficiaries will receive help with higher education, skill development, vocational training, internships, and employment opportunities.

Earlier, the CM visited the Village Cottage Home in Lajpat Nagar and interacted with children at the facility run by the Women and Child Development Department. She stressed that the government’s responsibility does not end when a child turns 18. “The aim is to ensure that every child and young adult can build a safe, dignified and self-reliant future without ever feeling abandoned,” she said.

Top leaders from Africa, including several Heads of State and Heads of Government will attend the 4th India Africa Forum Summit which will take place in New Delhi on 31st of this month. The summit will be preceded by senior officials meetings on 28th May and Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 29th May.

Official Sources said, the Summit will focus on boosting cooperation in economy and trade, defence and security, critical minerals, energy, space and high technology, agriculture, health, education, capacity building, skill development and climate action.

A declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the summit which will outline the agenda for cooperation that will seek to align India’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047 with Africa’s Agenda 2063. Think tank dialogues and an India-Africa Film Festival are also planned alongside the summit. The India Africa Forum summit will be followed by the International Big Cat Alliance Summit on 1st June.

In a significant development, 45 senior Church leaders across the country announced the formation of the National Federation of Churches in India (NFCI).

Cardinal Anthony Poola, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Council of India (CBCI) office for Dialogue, has been named as the chairperson of the new body. Archbishop Joseph D’Souza, president of Good Shepherd Church of India and the All Indian Christian Council; Archbishop Joseph Kallarangatt, Mar Bishop of Eparchy of Palai and Rev. Vincent Vinod Kumar, Bishop of Church of South India, Diocese of Karnataka Central would serve as convenors of the NFCI. Father Anthonyraj Thumma, national secretary of CBCI will serve as the secretary of the federation.

India added a record 44 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2025, pushing the total installed capacity in the country to 150 GW, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has highlighted in reply to a Thane-based NGO.

In a response to NGO NatConnect’s Earth Day appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, the ministry’s under secretary Pradeep Kumar said major programmes like PM Surya Ghar, PM-KUSUM, and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme have driven this growth.

Of the 150 GW total, over 44 GW was installed in 2025, the letter said.

In a first for an Indian city, Pune will institutionalise a low-emission zone (LEZ) in its most polluted area, Shivajinagar in the central business district, potentially creating a template for other Indian cities.

Pune municipal commissioner Naval Kishor Ram said the city plans to ban or sharply restrict the entry of old and highly polluting vehicles in an area covering 7-10% of the city around Shivajinagar. “We will launch it within two months. We are already working with departments such as the police and the RTO, as their role will be critical,” he said, adding that the finer details are still being worked out.

The LEZ initiative follows three years of work by the Pune Municipal Corporation, supported by the ITDP India (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy), under Maharashtra’s 2021 Electric Vehicle Policy. The policy mandates LEZs in six cities to reduce emissions in line with the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). Preparatory work included examining the legal framework for LEZs and improving public transport and pedestrian infrastructure.

Markets regulator Sebi on Monday proposed a new green-channel mechanism -- GARUDA-- for alternative investment funds (AIFs) to launch schemes to 10 working days of filing their placement memorandums from the current 30 days, in a bid to speed up the deployment of capital by them.

GARUDA, or Green-Channel: AIF Rollout Upon Document Acknowledgement, aims to streamline the Processing of Placement Memorandums (PPMs) filed with Sebi and further ease fundraising by AIFs.

Under the proposal, regular AIF schemes would be allowed to launch within 10 working days of filing the PPM with Sebi through a merchant banker, unless the regulator raises objections.

The Indian Council of Medical Research and Indian Council of Agricultural Research on Monday jointly launched a national programme to integrate agriculture, nutrition and public health so that agricultural advances translate into improved health outcomes.

The “SEHAT - Science Excellence for Health through Agricultural Transformation” initiative was launched in the presence of Union Health Minister J P Nadda and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the presence of senior policymakers, scientists and stakeholders.

Nadda said India has, over the past decade, moved from a reactive and curative healthcare model to a preventive, proactive and holistic approach.

Aerospace and defence major Rolls-Royce Plc is borrowing from the India playbook of British energy giant BP Plc as it pursues billions of dollars worth of opportunities across defence, civil aviation and nuclear energy in the country.

To lead that push, Rolls-Royce has turned to Sashi Mukundan, the former head of BP’s India business, who spent 24 years building the energy company’s partnerships in the country across gas, fuel retail and mobility ventures.

The man who recruited him: Rolls-Royce chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, who himself spent two decades at BP, including five years leading its downstream business.

The Indian Coast Guard on Monday conducted the girder laying ceremony for the fourth, fifth and sixth Air Cushion Vehicles (ACVs) being built for the force at the Rassaim Yard of Chowgule Shipyard in Goa.

The ACVs are being manufactured under the Centre’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative with around 50 per cent indigenous content, the Ministry of Defence said.

The contract for six indigenously designed and constructed ACVs was signed between the Coast Guard and Chowgule & Company Private Limited in October 2024.

According to the ministry, the modern air cushion vehicles will be used for multiple maritime operations, including high-speed coastal patrolling, reconnaissance in shallow waters and marshy terrain, deep-sea operations, interception and interdiction missions, and search and rescue activities.

The Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) has launched the ‘Karnataka Advanced Attendance Management System (Kartavya-KAAMS) to identify and monitor the attendance of permanent teaching and non-teaching staff and officers.

The Kartavya-KAAMS is an artificial intelligence (AI) and geographic information system (GIS) enabled facial recognition mobile app.