The Indian Home Ministry has issued a slew of new guidelines prohibiting any new solar, wind and hybrid renewable energy projects within 1 km of the border and barring the employment of engineers, staff, employees and labour from land border countries, especially Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, for project implementation without the permission of the government.

Under the guidelines issued by the Ministry's Internal Security wing, areas within 50 km of the Line of Control (LOC), Line of Actual Control (LAC) or the international border have been designated as "sensitive areas".

Projects proposed within 20 km of the border will also require a separate No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Defence.

These requirements are part of fresh guidelines issued by the MHA for granting national security clearance to solar, wind and hybrid projects proposed in border areas.

The guidelines further state that project developers cannot transfer land to a foreign company without prior approval from the federal government, including security clearance from the Home Ministry.

Claiming a historic turnaround, Punjab Education Minister S. Harjot Singh Bains on Thursday, August 06, 2026 said the state has overtaken Kerala to rank No. 1 in the NITI Aayog School Education Quality Index 2026. While 8,000 schools had no boundary walls and 4 lakh children sat on the floor in 2022, today Punjab has 882 NEET qualifiers from government schools and has become the first state in the country to introduce Artificial Intelligence as a core subject from Classes I to XII. This is the revolution AAP led government promised.

Participating in a discussion on an education-related resolution moved by MLA Prof. Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra, Mr. Bains recalled the dire state of affairs when he assumed office in July 2022.

The Government of India has formally assigned standard names to 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh, reinforcing its official cartographic records amid the continuing boundary dispute with China.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Friday that the exercise was carried out in consultation with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

The newly designated names have been incorporated into the official maps of the Survey of India (SoI), providing uniform legal, administrative and cartographic recognition to the identified locations.

The move comes against the backdrop of Beijing's repeated attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as "South Tibet".

President Droupadi Murmu on Friday urged greater adoption of modern technology and digital platforms to ensure the sustainable growth of India’s handloom sector, while emphasising the need to encourage young entrepreneurs, designers and startups to connect traditional crafts with contemporary markets and global value chains.

The President was addressing the 12th National Handloom Day celebrations at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre (RBCC), where she presented the prestigious Sant Kabir Handloom Awards and National Handloom Awards 2025 in recognition of outstanding craftsmanship, innovation and contributions to preserving India’s rich weaving traditions.

On the occasion, President Murmu also released four commemorative postage stamps celebrating India’s diverse handloom weaving traditions and unveiled “Earth. Root. Thread – Aal Dyed Handloom Textiles of Central India”, a publication of the Office of the Development Commissioner for Handlooms documenting India’s weaving heritage and excellence in the sector.

Ariha Pangambam has become the first Indian to win a gold medal in the senior women's individual event of the Aerobic Gymnastics Asian Championships.

The Indian gymnast topped the podium with a score of 19.100 in the final, finishing ahead of the continental field to claim India's maiden gold in the event.

Ariha earned 8.650 for artistry, 7.600 for execution and 2.850 for difficulty to seal the title.

"A great achievement for us. Did very well. Kudos to her and her coach," Gymnastic Federation of India president Sudhir Mital said.

India opened its medal account on the third day of the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, USA, with Ashish Yadav winning silver in the men’s javelin throw.

The 19-year-old produced his best effort of 74.09 metres in his third attempt to finish second. Ashish became only the second Indian after Neeraj Chopra to win a silver medal in the event at the World Athletics U20 Championships.

Chopra had won gold at the 2016 edition in Poland, where he set the still-standing world junior record of 86.48 metres.
South Africa’s Jan-Hendrik Heymans won the gold medal with a throw of 80.50 metres in his sixth and final attempt, which also became the season’s leading U20 world mark.

India’s private space sector has crossed another important milestone, with Bengaluru-based startup Astrobase Space Technologies unveiling a complete, ready-to-test full-flow staged combustion rocket engine that has been built entirely in India.

Called Everest, the 80-tonne-class engine uses liquid oxygen and liquid methane, a combination known as methalox, and is designed to produce about 800 kilonewtons of thrust in the vacuum of space.

That is roughly equivalent to the force needed to lift 80 tonnes.

What makes the engine particularly significant is its full-flow staged combustion design, a highly advanced approach used in SpaceX’s Starship engines.

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), the apex research organisation under the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance quality standards, conformity assessment, scientific research and capacity building for the Ayush sector.

The MoU was signed by Prof. (Vaidya) Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General, CCRAS, and Shri Sanjay Pant, Deputy Director General (Standardisation-II), BIS, in the august presence of Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush. The agreement marks a significant milestone in India's efforts to establish globally benchmarked quality standards for Ayurveda, paving the way for safer, scientifically validated and internationally accepted Ayurvedic products, practices and research.

The partnership will facilitate collaborative development of Standards for Ayurveda and other Ayush systems, strengthen laboratory quality and conformity assessment mechanisms, promote scientific validation of traditional knowledge, and enhance India's contribution to international standardisation initiatives.

Indian-origin Nasa astronaut Anil Menon has completed his first spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), marking a major milestone in his first mission in orbit.

Menon and Nasa astronaut Jessica Meir completed US Spacewalk 96 on Thursday, August 6, after spending 6 hours and 27 minutes outside the orbital laboratory.

Nasa confirmed that the spacewalk ended at 12:30 am IST on August 7, after the astronauts completed their primary objectives.

For Menon, the excursion was his first time working outside the ISS. Meir, meanwhile, completed her sixth spacewalk.

Indian Air Force (IAF) Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth has scripted yet another milestone by becoming the first woman fighter pilot to successfully complete the prestigious Fighter Combat Leader (FCL) course at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) in Gwalior.

The 20-week programme is regarded as one of the IAF’s most demanding advanced combat courses and is reserved for a select group of fighter pilots. Successful completion qualifies pilots to lead complex air combat missions and places them among the Air Force’s frontline combat tacticians.