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Amit Singh Negi has been appointed additional secretary in the PMO as part of a major top-level reshuffle effected by the Centre. A 1999-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, Negi is currently joint secretary in the Department of Expenditure under the Union Ministry of Finance. He has been appointed as additional secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), according to an order issued by the personnel ministry. Samir Ashwin Vakil, a 1998-batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer, has been appointed director in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs for a tenure of five years, it said.

dyers and weavers, in uplifting the sector, applauding their invaluable contributions. I fully recognize and respect the contributions of traditional communities and especially women across the country, without whom the handloom sector would face great disadvantage. Treating them with dignity and respect is imperative to sustain and enhance their contributions.

government has asked state-run banks to assist their regional rural arms in upgrading their technology and onboarding them to the National Payment Corporation of India's (NPCI) BASE platform that facilitates the direct benefit transfer (DBT) program. Last week, several cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) were affected by a ransomware on one of the technology service providers, C-Edge Technologies. «Sponsor banks have been asked to help their RRBs with technology upgrades, which will improve their performance in areas related to credit disbursement, NPA management and cybersecurity,» said a government official, adding that Nabard will be closely monitoring this initiative.

French Air and Space Force will participate in India's first multilateral air exercise, Tarang Shakti-2024, which is set to begin at Air Force Station Sulur in Tamil Nadu on August 6. The French contingent will comprise three Rafale fighter jets, one Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft, and one A400M, with a total of 160 Air Force personnel, according to French Embassy in India press release. In the press release, the French Embassy in India stated, «Three other nations are participating in the first phase of this exercise, including EU Member States Germany and Spain, which have been partners of the Pacific Skies deployment from Alaska to India.»

Police forces across the UK have made at least 100 arrests as violent clashes and unrest involving anti-immigration far-right groups continued to spread over the weekend, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer offering his full support to officers to take firm action against the «extremists». Bricks being hurled, fireworks thrown, windows of a hotel housing asylum seekers smashed, shops attacked and set on fire and several scuffles breaking out between mobs and the police were among the scenes of confrontation that played out in Liverpool, Hull, Bristol, Leeds, Blackpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Belfast, Nottingham and Manchester on Saturday. UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned the mobs they will «pay the price» for such «criminal disorder and violent thuggery». «Addressing the scenes of disorder we have seen, the Prime Minister set out that the police have our full support to take action against extremists on our streets who are attacking police officers, disrupting local businesses and attempting to sow hate by intimidating communities,» Downing Street said after a high-level meeting of ministers convened by Starmer on Saturday.

Keir Starmer said that those responsible for the disorder and chaos that's spreading across UK towns and cities will be punished for what he described as «far-right thuggery.» «Those who have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law,» he said from Downing Street on Sunday. «This is not protest, it is organised violent thuggery. And it has no place on our street or online.» Disturbances have taken place in towns and cities including Rotherham, Blackpool and Bristol over the weekend, with a number of police officers attacked and injured. The riots represent one of the biggest challenges facing the month-old Labour government, as it struggles to rein in the unrest.

South China Sea and aiming to counter Beijing's continuing violations of international treaty obligations, countries in the region are galvanising their defences. Two warships from the Philippines and Japan each, for the first time ever, conducted a joint exercise in the contested waters. This exercise followed a bilateral defence treaty, termed the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), signed between Manila and Tokyo to facilitate joint exercises for closer security cooperation, amid China's growing assertion in the regional resource-rich waters.

US Central Command's General Michael Kurilla arrived in the region on Saturday amid preparations for a possible attack by Iran on Israel in response to the recent killings of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, US-based news website Axios reported, citing two US officials. General Kurilla's visit, which was planned before the recent escalation between Israel, Iran, and Hezbollah following the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is now seen as a strategic move. He is expected to mobilise the international and regional coalition that previously defended Israel against an attack from Iran on April 13, Axios reported, citing a US official. Three US and Israeli officials said that they expect Iran to launch an attack on Israel as early as Monday. Iranian and Hezbollah leaders have pledged to retaliate for the killings of Hezbollah's top military commander, Fuad Shukr, and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest psychological thriller, Trap, which features Josh Hartnett in the lead role, has recently hit theaters. Fans of Shyamalan’s signature suspenseful storytelling are eagerly awaiting news on when the film will become available for streaming.

Indian submarine INS Shalki is on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka in reflection of growing maritime security cooperation between the two countries. The Shishumar class diesel-electric submarine arrived in Colombo on August 2, the Indian Navy said on Saturday. India sends submarines to a handful of countries with whom it has close defence and strategic ties. The Indian submarine's visit to Colombo comes against the backdrop of China's persistent attempts to enhance its strategic and military influence over the island nation.

NASA) effort to the International Space Station (ISS), the Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) of Isro has entered into a Space Flight Agreement (SFA) with NASA-identified service provider Axiom Space, for its upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. The India-US joint statement during the official state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US in June last year envisioned a joint Isro-NASA effort to the ISS. «A National Mission Assignment Board has recommended two Gaganyatris as prime and backup Mission Pilot for this mission,» Isro said, in a statement on Friday. These are Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla (Prime) and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (Backup). The assigned crew members will be finally approved to fly to the ISS by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP). The recommended Gaganyatris will commence their training for the mission from the first week of August. During the mission, the Gaganyatri will undertake selected scientific research and technology demonstration experiments on board the ISS as well as engage in Space outreach activities.

India has offered Vietnam a $300 million loan to build up the Southeast Asian country's maritime security, as the two sides say they want to double their trade and investment within five years

Supreme Court has sought response from the government, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), National Cooperative Exports Ltd and others on a plea challenging validity of two notifications prohibiting the export of non-basmati white rice since July 20. The petitioner, Rika Global Impex Ltd, has also challenged the DGFT's notification of September last year allowing export of 75,000 MT of non-basmati white rice to the United Arab Emirates only through the National Co-operative Exports Ltd. A Bench led by Justice B.V. Nagarathna also issued notice to the customs department on Rika’s petition alleging that the notifications were «ultra vires» to the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 and liable to be set aside on account of «doctrine of legitimate expectation.”

tomatoes at Rs 50 per kg in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai retail markets. This move aims to relieve consumers, following an initial reduction to Rs 60 per kg on July 29, announced by Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi. «Prices of tomatoes have come down after our intervention,» Joshi stated. This initiative was launched to address the soaring tomato prices caused by supply disruptions due to heat waves and erratic rains in various states.

Annie Potts, who famously portrayed Meemaw in Young Sheldon, has hinted at her character’s involvement in the upcoming series. This new show, which continues the storyline from Young Sheldon, centers on Georgie and Mandy and their evolving family dynamics.

Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday said the budget seeks to strike a fine balance among several overriding priorities and will provide impetus to local manufacturing, boost employment and raise India's share in global growth. «Growth, employment, welfare spending, capital investments, and fiscal consolidation are given equal place,» she said in Rajya Sabha.

Athos Salomé has made a number of predictions, such as the passing of Queen Elizabeth, Elon Musk acquiring Twitter, and Spain winning the 2024 European Championship. He said that governments and religious institutions will have to deal with the moral ramifications of finding extraterrestrial life between 2026 and 2028. This is his most recent prediction, as per the reports of Daily Star.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has put out a notice that UPI, IPMS and other payment systems of certain banks will temporarily not be available to customers. This has happened due to systems of C-Edge Technologies, which is a service provider to several banks, being attacked by ‘Ransomware’.

India's Adani Group is considering investing in two airports in Vietnam, the Vietnamese government said on Wednesday, weeks after the company revealed it had permission to build a seaport in the country.

India-Japan relations, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed a Grant Agreement with the Government of India to implement «The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS).»

Britain’s competition watchdog said Tuesday it’s looking into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, adding fresh regulatory scrutiny to investment money flooding into the AI industry