In its quest for selfreliance within the space sector, Isro has announced the successful development of a 10-tonne ‘vertical planetary mixer’, the largest of its kind for solid propellants globally. This innovative equipment has been designed and manufactured in collaboration with the Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI) in Bengaluru.

Solid propulsion plays a crucial role in Indian space transportation systems and vertical mixer is one of the critical equipment in production of a solid motor of a rocket. “Solid propellants are the backbone of rocket motors, and their production requires precise mixing of highly sensitive and hazardous ingredients,” Isro said, adding “the 10-tonne vertical mixer is the world’s largest solid propellant mixing equipment”

The 34th edition of the ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup table tennis tournament begins in Shenzhen, China, this morning.

India’s men’s team is led by world No. 42 Sharath Kamal, a five-time Olympian and reigning Commonwealth Games singles champion. The squad also includes world No. 60 Manav Thakkar and world No. 70 Harmeet Desai.

The Indian women’s team features Paris 2024 Olympian Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Yashaswini Ghorpade.

The event features men’s and women’s singles competitions, with 32 players in each category. The top four semi-finalists in both events will qualify for the ITTF World Cup 2025, scheduled for April.

The tournament will conclude on Sunday.

Former Mumbai captain Milind Rege passed away on Friday morning at 76 after suffering cardiac arrest. Rege played multiple roles in Mumbai cricket since he retired from the sport, remaining available for Mumbai Cricket Association throughout his cricketing career. He served as a managing committee member, was a selector, commentator and later was appointed as advisor to MCA.

Ahead of the day’s play in Nagpur in the Ranji Trophy semifinal, Mumbai and Vidarbha players observed silence as a mark of respect. The Mumbai players wore blacka armbands as well.

Rege, an offspinner, played 52 first-class matches for Mumbai in the 70s and took 126 wickets. He was also part of the organising committee during ICC-Champions Trophy held in Mumbai in 2006.

The Kerala government is all set to start a programme to collect expired and unused medicine from homes and dispose of them scientifically.

In a first in the country, the State Drugs Control Department is launching a project to scientifically collect expired and unused medicines from homes and dispose them.

The project titled ' nPROUD' (New Programme for Removal of Unused Drugs) will be inaugurated by Health Minister Veena George on February 22 in Kozhikode.

As part of the project, unused medicines will be collected from homes or facilities will be provided for their disposal at designated places. This is the first time such a project has been launched and implemented at the government level in the country. It is being implemented for the first time in the Kozhikode Corporation and Ulliyeri Panchayat of Kozhikode district government is planning to implement it statewide,Veena George said in a press release.

Google has officially opened Ananta, its newest and one of its biggest campuses globally, in Bengaluru. Situated in Mahadevapura, the campus marks another step in the company’s long-standing presence in India. Ananta is designed to support teams working across various Google services, and with the launch of this large office space, Google now has over 10,000 employees across multiple locations in India, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram, Mumbai, and Pune.

India has always been a crucial market for Google, with the company investing heavily to expand internet access and digital services. The Ananta campus, meaning limitless in Sanskrit, spans 1.6 million square feet and can accommodate over 5,000 employees. Various Google teams working on Android, Search, Pay, Cloud, Maps, Play, and DeepMind, among others, will operate from this new space.

India and Qatar on Tuesday elevated their ties to a strategic partnership and agreed to double bilateral trade to almost $30 billion by 2030 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Qatari Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, focused on ways to enhance trade and energy cooperation.

The two leaders met to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues, including the Israel-Hamas conflict, shortly after Sheikh Tamim was accorded a ceremonial welcome by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi personally received the Amir on his arrival in Delhi on Monday, signalling the importance attached by India to the bilateral relationship.

Standard Chartered has announced the appointment of P D Singh as its chief executive officer (CEO) for India, effective April 1. Singh will take over from Zarin Daruwala, who will retire on March 31.

Prior to Standard Chartered, Singh was the CEO of JP Morgan Chase Bank in India, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the bank’s corporate banking franchise as a founding member.

Before JP Morgan, Singh was at HSBC, where he spent a decade covering leadership roles across corporate and commercial banking.

Launch ceremony of eighth MCA Barge, LSAM 11 (Yard 79) was held on 14 Feb 25 at Mira Bhayandar, Maharashtra, launch site of M/s SECON Engineering Projects Pvt Ltd Visakhapatnam. Chief Guest for the launching ceremony was Cmde N Gopinath, AGM (PL), ND (Mbi).

The contract for construction of eighth Missile Cum Ammunition Barges was concluded with MSME Shipyard, M/s SECON Engineering Projects Pvt Ltd, Visakhapatnam on 19 Feb 21. These Barges have been indigenously designed and built by the Shipyard in collaboration with an Indian Ship Designing firm and Indian Register of Shipping (IRS). Model testing was undertaken at Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam to ensure seaworthiness. The Shipyard has successfully delivered seven of these Barges till date and are being utilized by Indian Navy for its operation evolutions by facilitating Transportation, Embarkation and Disembarkation of articles/ ammunition to IN platforms both alongside jetties and at outer harbours.

These Barges are proud flag bearers of Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives of Government of India.

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday (February 18, 2025) gave nod to the establishment of the sixth State Finance Commission and authorised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to recommend the names of the Chairman and members of the Finance Commission to Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan.

This Commission will play an important role in financial planning and resource allocation in the State, review the financial position of panchayats and municipalities and make various recommendations such as dividing the net revenue to be distributed among the panchayats and municipalities. The Commission will also make recommendations on good practices for fund management in the local self-government bodies and other relevant matters for their better financial management.

The Cabinet also announced the creation of 346 new posts in the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) that was formed in 2023 to combat drug-related crimes.

The Union Government has released Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2024–25 for Rural Local Bodies in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. These grants provided to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) / Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) play a crucial role in strengthening grassroot democracy. For the Rural Local Bodies of Punjab, the 1st installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.225.1707 crores have been released. These funds are for eligible 13144 Gram Panchayats, eligible 146 Block Panchayats and all eligible 22 District Panchayats in the state. While the Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants released during Financial Year 2024–25, for Rural Local Bodies in Chhattisgarh are, 2nd installment of Untied Grants of the Financial Year 2024–25 amounting to Rs.237.1393 crore along with the withheld amount of 1st installment of Untied Grants for Financial Year 2024–25 amounting to Rs.6.9714 crore. These funds are for 11548 eligible Gram Panchayats, all eligible 146 Block Panchayats and all eligible 27 Zila Panchayats of the State. While for Rural Local Bodies in Uttarakhand, 1st installment of Untied Grants for the Financial Year 2024–25 amounting to Rs.93.9643 crore have been released. These funds are for eligible 7769 Gram Panchayats, all eligible 995 Block Panchayats and all eligible 13 Zila Panchayats of the State.

Government of India through Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Jal Shakti (Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation) recommends release of Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants to States for Rural Local Bodies which are then released by the Ministry of Finance. The allocated Grants are recommended and released in 2 installments in a Financial Year. The Untied Grants will be utilized by Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)/ Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) for location-specific felt needs, under the Twenty-Nine (29) Subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs. The Tied Grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excreta and fecal sludge management in particular and (b) supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.