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Ramaiah Group in collaboration with University at Albany launches RISM

Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University ties with TISS to offer M.A. course

Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad is offering M.A. in Public Policy and Governance

Karnataka launches antimicrobial resistance surveillance programme in collaboration with TIGS

It is aimed at identifying resistance trends, emerging microbial threats and geographical variations in antimicrobial resistance

L&T, Bharti discuss Assam growth with Sarma

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday held separate meetings with senior leaders of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Bharti Enterprises to review ongoing projects and discuss future investments in the state.The Chief Minister said he met S.N. Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director of Larsen & Toubro, at his official residence and reviewed the progress of various projects being executed by the engineering and infrastructure major in Assam."We discussed the various projects that L&T is undertaking in Assam and the roadmap for their timely completion," Sarma said in a post on X.Later in the day, the Chief Minister also held discussions with Rajan Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, at his official residence, focusing on the group's expansion plans in Assam, particularly in the telecommunications sector."We discussed the group's expansion plans in Assam, with a specific focus on covering dark areas so that more people can benefit from proper phone and internet connectivity," Sarma said.The meetings underline the Assam government's continued engagement with leading corporate groups to accelerate infrastructure development and improve digital connectivity across the state, especially in underserved regions.Sarma also congratulated Dr Ashok Lahiri on his recent appointment as Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog and expressed the state's commitment to strengthening its partnership with the national policy think tank.Sharing details of his meeting with Lahiri in the national capital, Sarma said the newly appointed Vice Chairman "brings with him extensive experience in public policy and finance", highlighting the expertise he is expected to bring to NITI Aayog's policymaking and reform agenda.The Chief Minister noted that the Assam government is keen to deepen its engagement with NITI Aayog in implementing reforms and development policies."The Assam government aims to deepen its partnership with NITI Aayog in implementing reforms and policies that will improve the ease of living of our people," Sarma said in a post on X after the meeting.The interaction comes as Assam continues to pursue governance reforms, infrastructure development and welfare initiatives with support from central institutions. Officials believe closer collaboration with NITI Aayog will help accelerate policy implementation and improve outcomes across key sectors.

Zelensky Pushes For AI And Drone Collaboration With American Defence Startups

Zelenskyy noted that American technology firms possess AI innovations, while Ukraine has gained knowledge from years of combat operations.

Quote of the day by Michael Jordan: ‘Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships’

Michael Jordan emphasizes that talent alone does not guarantee success; teamwork and strategic thinking are crucial for winning championships. His insights apply to various fields, reinforcing the importance of collaboration, humility, and shared goals over personal recognition.

MSR group to establish RISM in collaboration with University of Albany, New York

'Critical anchor': US Secretary of War Hegseth praises India, pitches Javelin anti-tank missile

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth lauded India as a vital partner in the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing its role in maintaining regional power balance. He also revealed plans for co-producing Javelin anti-tank missiles in India, a move aimed at bolstering collective defense capabilities and addressing US supply shortages. This collaboration signifies deepening interoperability and industrial cooperation between the two nations.

Punjab’s Hoshiarpur learns differently as VHMI spearheads Montessori initiative in govt. schools

As a part of Punjab’s first Montessori education initiative in government Anganwadis and pre-primary schools launched in collaboration with Chandigarh-based Vivek High Montessori Institute (VHMI), the project is reshaping the early learning landscape

India, Australia strengthen defence ties as China asserts dominance in Indo-Pacific

India and Australia have significantly boosted their defence ties, agreeing to enhance interoperability, expand maritime security cooperation, and deepen military engagements. Key initiatives include joint exercises, reciprocal aircraft deployments, and increased information sharing. Discussions also focused on defence industrial collaboration, with plans for joint research and industry roundtables, strengthening their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Govt.-civil society collaboration can accelerate pace of development, says GRAAM chief

On India Visit, German Delegation Seeks Deeper Technology And Talent Partnerships

The visit comes amid growing engagement between India and Germany, with both sides seeking to expand collaboration in technologies, manufacturing and talent mobility

In first address as CDS, Gen NS Raja Subramani vows modernisation and innovation

Lt Gen NS Raja Subramani (Retd) assumed charge as India's Chief of Defence Staff, succeeding Gen Anil Chauhan. He pledged to drive military modernization through innovation, collaboration, and greater integration across sectors, emphasizing the welfare of soldiers and national security.

Microsoft CEO's Copilot ‘confusion fix’ that left employees laughing in townhall

Microsoft is reportedly developing a 'super app' to consolidate its confusing array of Copilot AI tools. This unified platform aims to end customer frustration by offering a single destination for various AI assistants, including coding, chat, and collaboration features. The app, expected by summer's end, will allow seamless switching between personal and work accounts, simplifying Microsoft's AI ecosystem.

Ajit Doval meets Russia's maritime board chief Patrushev with focus on Arctic trade corridor, defence collaboration

Doval and Patrushev also exchanged views on key global developments and reaffirmed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation in strategic sectors

RBI mulls cross-border CBDC transactions

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank will explore the use of CBDC in cross-border transactions besides expanding the digital rupee to more direct benefit transfer schemes and domestic retail space during the current fiscal year. During 2025-26, the central bank launched multiple Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) pilots under direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes of the Centre and state governments, leveraging the programmability capability of CBDCs, said the RBI's annual report for 2025-26. On cross-border payments, the RBI signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) on digital asset collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2025-26. Also, bilateral discussions with MAS and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) were held for operationalising a cross-border CBDC pilot. The Reserve Bank also joined multilateral BIS-Innovation Hub-led initiatives, which are focused on enhancing cross-border payments through CBDCs. The Reserve Bank plans to expand the CBDC pilot to cover new use cases under DBT schemes and the domestic retail space, while exploring additional pilots on tokenisation of financial assets and widening participant coverage. On cross-border payments, the RBI intends to operationalise bilateral CBDC pilots with select use cases and deepen engagement in multilateral projects. "Exploring a bilateral/multilateral crossborder CBDC pilot with select use cases and engaging in multilateral projects on cross-border payments on technical and governance standards" is one of the RBI's agenda for FY27. Providing a framework for testing of innovative products/services leveraging CBDC under the CBDC and Asset Tokenisation (CAT) sandbox is also on the RBI's to-do list during the current fiscal year. The value of bank notes in circulation in digital form CBDC-R stood at Rs 771.66 crore as on March 31, 2026, as compared to Rs 1,016.46 crore as on March 31, 2025.

Security, Defence, Space: NSA Ajit Doval Holds High-Stakes Talks With Russia, Myanmar In Moscow

Doval’s reported visit to facilities linked to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, also highlighted the growing emphasis on collaboration in advanced and high-technology sectors.

RBI says banks can withstand severe shocks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said that India's financial sector remained resilient in 2025-26, supported by healthy bank and non-bank balance sheets, improved asset quality and strong capital buffers. The central bank affirmed confidence in India's banking sector, indicating that it remains healthy, with gross bad loans at multi-decadal lows and stress tests showing banks can withstand severe shocks without breaching capital norms."Stress test results reaffirmed the resilience of banks, indicating their ability to withstand losses under adverse scenarios while maintaining capital buffers well above the regulatory minimum," the central bank said in its Annual Report. RBI further highlighted that the financial sector remained resilient on the back of healthy bank and non-bank balance sheets, improved asset quality and capital buffers, enabling double-digit credit growth.Also read: India steers boat through a risky channel between war clouds and El NinoRBI noted that bank credit growth gained momentum across sectors and outpaced deposit growth during the year, leading to a rise in the credit-deposit ratio. The transmission of policy repo rate changes to banks’ deposit and lending rates also remained robust amid conducive liquidity conditions.Bank credit to the commercial sector grew 15.9% year-on-year in 2025-26, up from 10.9% a year ago, while credit from non-bank sources expanded 13.3%, underscoring the continued strength of financial intermediation in the economy, the report said.RBI noted that profitability of scheduled commercial banks remained robust alongside improvement in asset quality. The gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio declined to a multi-decadal low, while the capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR) remained comfortably above regulatory requirements.The report added that asset quality and capital adequacy of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) remained strong during the year. Urban co-operative banks also witnessed improved credit and deposit growth along with robust capital buffers and higher profitability.The central bank further said the share of external benchmark-based lending rate (EBLR)-linked loans increased during the year, aiding faster monetary policy transmission, while the proportion of marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR)-linked loans continued to decline.RBI on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)The RBI indicated that it expanded its experimentation with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) during 2025-26 by launching multiple pilots linked to direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes of the Centre and state governments.In its Annual Report, the central bank said programmable CBDC was used to deliver food subsidies under the public distribution system (PDS) in Gujarat, Puducherry and Chandigarh. Beneficiaries were credited subsidies through CBDC wallets that could be redeemed only for eligible commodities at fair price shops and designated merchants.The RBI said the pilots leveraged the programmability feature of CBDCs, allowing targeted use of funds and improving efficiency in subsidy delivery.The central bank also advanced efforts in tokenisation of financial assets through the development of the Unified Markets Interface (UMI), a multi-layer platform aimed at improving settlement efficiency using wholesale CBDC.“A pilot on tokenisation of certificates of deposit (CDs) was initiated on UMI,” the report said.On cross-border payments, RBI said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for collaboration on digital assets and held bilateral discussions with MAS and the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) to operationalise a cross-border CBDC pilot.The RBI also joined multilateral initiatives led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, including Project Rialto and Phase 2 of Project Mandala, focused on improving cross-border payments using CBDCs.The report comes as central banks globally continue to explore digital currency infrastructure to improve payment efficiency, lower transaction costs and strengthen cross-border settlement systems.The research by the U.S.-based Atlantic Council think tank revealed that 146 countries & currency unions, representing over 98% of global GDP, are exploring a CBDC. There is a new high of 77 countries in the advanced phase of exploration, which includes development, pilot, or launch.

India, Australia forge defence ties to check China’s Indo‑Pacific ambitions

India and Australia are forging a robust defence partnership to counter China's Indo-Pacific assertiveness. Focusing on practical cooperation, they've inked a logistics agreement for reciprocal base access and expanded joint military exercises. Enhanced maritime domain awareness and defence technology collaboration are key, alongside army-to-army engagements. This deepening alliance aims to ensure a multipolar and stable region.