Robert AF Thurman, a renowned American scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, passed away at the age of 84.
He was a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 2020 for his contributions to Literature and Education.
Robert AF Thurman, a renowned American scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, passed away at the age of 84.
He was a recipient of the Padma Shri award in 2020 for his contributions to Literature and Education.
Global wind day
Day - June 15
Theme 2026 - Our Wind, Our Community
Observed since - 2007
Union Minister Amit Shah has launched four initiatives to expand governance and assistance for farmers in New Delhi. The 'DRISHTI' portal was introduced as a dedicated tracking system to streamline the real-time inventory management of pulses and oilseeds.
The digital e-auction platform 'NAFEX.in' of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) was launched to connect farmers directly with buyers to eliminate middlemen, ensuring transparent bidding and direct payments to the bank accounts of farmers within 48 hours.
The 'NAFED-KALYAN' scholarship was launched as a social welfare initiative that allocates 1% of the profits of NAFED to fund the higher education and career development of the children of farmers. Additionally, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) portal was launched to strengthen internal digital governance and increase overall operational efficiency.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has launched the Green Hydrogen Certification Portal of India (GHCI Portal) during the National Workshop on "Strengthening the National Green Hydrogen Mission: Through State Policies, Hubs & Infrastructure" in New Delhi.
The portal will serve as a digital platform to enable transparent certification, verification, and regulatory compliance under the Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India (GHCI). The platform is scheduled to become operational in July 2026.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Conrad K Sangma, the CM of Meghalaya, and Prem Singh Tamang, the CM of Sikkim, has inaugurated the largest organic spice processing unit of Northeast India at Bhoirymbong in Meghalaya.
The facility was established under the Eastern Ri-Bhoi Organic Farmer Producer Company Ltd (FPC) with an investment of ₹32 crore. The processing unit has an annual capacity to process over 10,000 metric tonnes (MT) of high-value organic spices.
According to the "Economic Outlook Asia-Pacific Q3 2026" report released by S&P Global Ratings (S&P), the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast of India for FY27 is revised to 6.6%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation of India is projected to rise to 5.1%.
The RBI has cancelled the licence of Karnataka-based Shree Mahalaxmi Urban Co-operative Credit Bank. The cancellation was due to inadequate capital and lack of earning prospects of the bank.
The RBI has directed banks to exempt agricultural and allied sector loans up to ₹2 lakh per borrower from collateral security and margin requirements under the updated guidelines of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme.
Furthermore, the voluntary pledge of gold and silver as collateral for agricultural loans up to the collateral-free limit of ₹2 lakh will not be considered a violation of the guidelines on collateral-free lending.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $10 million financing package with Schoolnet India Ltd (SIL) to improve learning outcomes in government schools across India.
The project aims to scale up digital learning infrastructure in 30,000 government schools, directly benefiting 45 million students. Under the initiative, computer laboratories will be installed in at least 1,000 government schools.
Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), the owner of the Bharat Benz brand, has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to support the vehicle replacement initiative of the Government of India.
The scheme focuses on the replacement of old trucks and buses in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) to encourage fleet modernisation. Under the agreement, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) will provide an 8% discount on the ex-showroom price of eligible trucks and buses purchased under the scheme.
The Gujarat government has signed an MoU with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) for long-term financing of up to ₹1 lakh crore to support high-impact transit, highway, and smart city development projects across the state.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed an MoU with the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) to establish the "NHAI Centre for Economics of Transportation, Mobility and Logistics".
The facility will serve as the first permanent and independent research centre of India dedicated specifically to the economics of transportation, mobility, and logistics.
According to the "Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2026" (GSER 2026) released by Startup Genome, Bengaluru is ranked 15th globally among the top startup ecosystems. It has also emerged as the second-best AI-native cluster in Asia, positioned behind Beijing (China).
Silicon Valley (USA) topped the global rankings, followed by New York City (USA) and London (UK).
India has successfully tested the indigenous 120-millimeter (mm) vehicle-mounted mortar system named "Garudastra", developed by Nibe Ltd for the Indian Army.
Meta has acquired a minority stake of 20% in the Indian financial technology (fintech) startup CRED.
The acquisition was completed through a Series H funding round worth $900 million (₹8,550 crore), which values the company at $4.5 billion.
Giles Thomson of the United Kingdom has been appointed as the President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for a 2-year term starting in July 2026. He succeeds Elisa de Anda Madrazo of Mexico.
The 28th edition of the annual outdoor track and field meeting, the Doha Diamond League (DDL), was held at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
Rumesh Pathirage, a Sri Lankan athlete, won the men's javelin throw event with a throw of 88.68 m. Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished fourth in the event with a best throw of 85.69 m.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) have launched "AIR SUVIDHA 2.0", an upgraded contactless Passenger Health Self-Declaration Portal.
The portal aims to strengthen public health surveillance at Points of Entry in response to the ongoing Ebola disease outbreak.
Union Minister of State Arjun Ram Meghwal has approved the continuation of the Central Sector Scheme 'Designing Innovative Solutions for Holistic Access to Justice' (DISHA), which is now restructured as 'DISHA 2.0'.
The scheme has been allocated an outlay of ₹255 crore for 5 years (April 2026 to March 2031). The funding is provided through 100% Gross Budgetary Support from the Government of India (GoI), following recommendations from the Standing Finance Committee chaired by Niraj Verma.
The scheme aims to strengthen access to justice as mandated by the Preamble and Articles 14, 21, and 39A of the Constitution of India, and supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-16) on Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. It targets 3 crore beneficiaries.
The scheme comprises 4 components: 'Tele-Law' (Reaching the Unreached), 'Nyaya Bandhu' (Pro-Bono Legal Services) Programme, 'Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness Programme' (LLLAP), and 'VIDHI Sanjeevani'.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued an emergency nationwide order to block the messaging platform 'Telegram'. The directive was executed under the provisions of Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
This measure was implemented after the National Testing Agency (NTA) and intelligence agencies identified a significant rise in organized cheating rackets on the platform, specifically in the period leading up to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 re-test.