Asia Now

Digambar Bhagwant Pawaskar of Maharashtra has been honoured with the Rashtra Ratna Puraskar 2026 by the Bharat Seva Society in recognition of his commitment to social upliftment through education. His work reflects the importance of education as a means of creating opportunity, strengthening communities and contributing to a more equitable society. The Rashtra Ratna Puraskar recognises individuals whose dedication and service have made a meaningful contribution to society. Pa

A Mechanical Engineer by profession and a literary practitioner by passion, Rana Biswas represents a distinctive blend of technical expertise and creative expression. His journey reflects how professional discipline and artistic sensitivity can coexist, creating a unique perspective that enriches both his work and his writing. Based in West Bengal, Biswas has established himself as a writer whose literary interests encompass travel, human relationships, social realities, natu

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with the CEO of Check Point Software, Nadav Zafrir, in New Delhi yesterday. In a social media post, Mr Goyal said that during the meeting, they discussed the company’s growing engagement in India, including its research and development expansion and the use of AI-driven security to protect India’s digital public infrastructure. They also explored advancing cooperation in cybersecurity, digital trust, and AI-led

Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth has been conferred the rank of Honorary General of the Nepal Army by President Ramchandra Paudel during an investiture ceremony at Sheetal Niwas in Kathmandu yesterday. Nepal Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava and high officials of the Nepal Army and the Nepal government were present during the ceremony. General Seth reached the Himalayan Nation on Sunday

US President Donald Trump has praised India’s voter ID card system and hailed it as a model for stricter US election rules. He cited India’s electoral system as an example of election security while renewing his call for stricter voter identification requirements in the United States. In a social media post, Mr. Trump referred to a recent conversation with India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He said Mr. Kumar had questioned how elections could be held in the U

The 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting is underway at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. The meeting serves as a platform for Ministers, Senior Officers, policymakers, and experts from the Member Countries to engage in substantive discussions, foster consensus and strengthen environmental cooperation. Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, is presiding over the meeting. The theme of India’s BRICS Chairship 2026 is Building for Resilienc

Former champion PV Sindhu will be the ninth seed in the women’s singles event at the BWF World Badminton Championships 2026, scheduled to be held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from August 17 to 23. India’s highest-seeded entry at the World Badminton Championships will be the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who have been handed the fifth seed. Former world championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen is seeded 14th in men’s sin

An Indian-flagged commercial vessel, MSV Faize Noore Oliya, sank in the Red Sea after coming under attack off the coast of Yemen yesterday. All the 14 seafarers, including 13 Indian nationals, who were on board the vessel were rescued safely. According to reports, the Indian-flagged tanker was carrying oil from Saudi Arabia. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said that the vessel was hit by a projectile near Yemeni waters, causing the vessel to

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red-colour warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Assam and Meghalaya today. According to IMD, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected over parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Konkan, Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Odisha, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for the day. The Met Department has forecast heavy rainfall over Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab,

The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to prepare and circulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) for dealing with mule accounts and bank accounts linked to cyber fraud. The court also issued a series of directions to states, Union Territories, law enforcement agencies and banks to strengthen grievance redressal, speed up the restoration of defrauded money and improve the handling of digital fraud cases. The apex court asked the RBI to provide copies of