The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has approved a 15-member Indian esports contingent for the 20th Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.

The esports competitions will be held from September 23 to October 2 and will feature 13 video game titles across different competitive genres.

India will compete in four titles: League of Legends, Pokemon UNITE, eFootball and Puyo Puyo Champions, according to the government's sanction order issued on August 22.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in financing infrastructure projects with significant rural impact.

The partnership brings together NABARD’s expertise in rural and agricultural infrastructure with NaBFID’s specialised capabilities in infrastructure financing. The MoU provides a framework for joint financing, knowledge sharing and the development of innovative financing solutions, with a focus on expanding access to long-term, competitively priced finance for projects that can strengthen rural infrastructure and value chains.

The Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has received seven awards at the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) Awards for Excellence in Book Production, 2026. The Division’s journals, books and reference publications in Hindi, English and Urdu have been recognised in various categories.

Director General, Publications Division, Dr. Dhiraj Kakadia said that the books and journals published by the Division play an important role in bringing diverse and valuable content related to national development, literature, culture, art and contemporary issues to readers. He said, the seven awards received by the Publications Division are a testament to the collective hard work, dedication and excellence of its officers and personnel.

Veteran filmmaker Kuku Kohli, whose 1991 film Phool Aur Kaante launched Ajay Devgn's Bollywood career, died on Tuesday following a massive heart attack. He was 77.

"He was feeling uncomfortable and hence was admitted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital yesterday. He passed away due to a massive heart attack around 4:30 pm," Kohli's filmmaker friend Ashoke Pandit told PTI.

Kohli, whose real name was Avtar Kohli, worked under Raj Kapoor and other filmmakers before making his directorial debut with Phool Aur Kaante, which also marked the beginning of Devgn's career in the industry.

The Indian Navy is set to commission Nipun, the second Diving Support Vessel (DSV) of the Nistar-class, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on August 31, strengthening its deep-sea diving, underwater intervention and submarine rescue capabilities.

Indigenously designed and constructed by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam, Nipun marks another step towards enhancing self-reliance in defence shipbuilding and developing specialised platforms for the Indian Navy.

The vessel was delivered to the Navy on July 30, 2026, following an extensive programme of outfitting and trials. It has been specifically designed to support a wide range of diving and underwater operations, including sustained deployment of divers in challenging maritime conditions.

The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), under the Union Health Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has for the first time launched reference standards for seven nitrosamine impurities that can occur in pharmaceutical products, a move aimed at strengthening the country’s ability to detect and quantify potentially carcinogenic contaminants in medicines.

Nitrosamines are potent genotoxic and carcinogenic compounds that can unintentionally arise during drug manufacturing, storage or packaging, or through contamination from materials used during pharmaceutical production. Their control is particularly relevant for medicines used to treat conditions such as hypertension, gastric disorders, diabetes and tuberculosis.

The seven reference standards launched by the IPC are for N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-Nitrosoethylisopropylamine (NEIPA), N-Nitrosodibutylamine (NDBA), N-Nitrosomethylphenylamine (NMPA), N-Nitrosodiisopropylamine (NDIPA) and N-Nitroso-N-methyl-4-aminobutyric acid (NMBA).

The National Shipping Board (NSB) held its first 'Sagar Samvad' today, using the day-long dialogue to press for a five-point roadmap, including adding 100 vessels to India's foreign-dependent merchant fleet over the next five years, as expressed by the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal, during his speech.

The event, themed "Charting the Roadmap Towards Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047," was held in New Delhi and drew senior officials, shipowners, financiers and young cadets from India's maritime training institutes.

Sagar Samvad, which means "ocean dialogue," carries the board's motto as its theme line: "Wisdom in the Ocean, Progress in the Nation."

A new species of the sunflower family has been discovered in the north-eastern Indian Himalayas by researchers from the Palampur-based Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT).

Belonging to a family commonly referred to as Leopard’s Bane, it was found at an altitude of approximately 4,000 meters above sea level in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The new species, named Doronicum Sanctum, was identified during a comprehensive botanical survey of the Himalayan biodiversity hotspots in that region.

“CSIR-IHBT researchers have discovered a new species of Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum) in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. This is the first of its kind identified in Northeast India,” the institute posted on its official X handle.

The ICAR–Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-CCARI), Goa, in collaboration with Core CarbonX Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, organised a one-day workshop on ‘Carbon Pathshala: Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) for Farmers’ at ICAR-KVK, Old Goa, on August 21.

Held under the project ‘Potential of Plantation-Based Systems in Generating Carbon Credit through Biochar Production in the West Coast Region of India’, the programme aimed to familiarise farmers with carbon markets, carbon sequestration and the potential of biochar-based carbon credits.

Addressing the farmers, Dr. Parveen Kumar, Director, ICAR-CCARI, highlighted the potential of carbon-credit initiatives to provide farmers with an additional source of income while promoting environmental sustainability.

India and Seychelles have agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in fisheries, aquaculture and the blue economy, with a focus on sustainable marine resource management, technology, capacity building and scientific research.

The agreement was reached during a high-level bilateral meeting hosted by the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in New Delhi on August 25.

The Seychelles delegation was led by Minister of Fisheries, Agriculture and Blue Economy Wallace Cosgrow, while the Indian delegation was headed by Secretary, Department of Fisheries, Dr Abhilaksh Likhi.