Daily Current Affairs - Week 33, 2025 (11 Aug 2025 - 17 Aug 2025)

• AIM and Bhashini partner to promote innovation in Indian languages and bridge the digital divide.
• RBI grants AU Small Finance Bank approval to become a universal bank, expanding its national presence.
• Philippines delegation led by Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. agrees to increase imports of rice, meat, and other food products from India.
• Trump announces 100% tariff on chips from companies not investing in the U.S., hitting Asian markets hard.
• Reliance Industries creates 5x shareholder value over a decade with massive growth in market cap and profits.
• PayMate enters Indonesia with $400 million acquisition of DigiAsia.
• PM Modi inaugurates Bengaluru Metro Yellow Line, lays Phase-3 foundation.
• Cabinet approves ₹30,000 crore compensation for OMCs’ domestic LPG losses.
• MakeMyTrip launches ‘Myra,’ an AI-powered multilingual travel assistant.
• ICICI Bank hikes minimum monthly balance for new savings accounts to ₹50,000.
• Tata’s Nelco and France’s Eutelsat will provide OneWeb satellite internet services in India.
• Aadhaar Face Authentication transactions doubled from 100 crore to 200 crore in just six months.
• Kerala’s KSFE became the first miscellaneous NBFC in India to cross ₹1 lakh crore turnover.
• Lok Sabha passed the revised Income Tax Bill 2025, expanding officials’ powers for search operations.
• DPIIT signed an MoU with Zepto to support manufacturing startups under the Zepto Nova Innovation Challenge.
• ONGC will invest ₹4,600 crore in Andhra Pradesh’s KG Basin for drilling, offshore platforms, pipeline, and gas processing.
• Cabinet approves ₹4,600 crore semiconductor projects in Odisha, Punjab, and Andhra Pradesh.
• UIDAI and ISI sign 5-year R&D pact to boost Aadhaar security and fraud detection.
• HDFC Bank’s SmartWealth app now supports nine Indian languages for investment services.
• SBI will levy nominal charges on online IMPS transfers above ₹25,000 from August 15.
• SEBI permits advisers and analysts to use liquid and overnight mutual funds for deposit requirements.
• ICICI Bank cut minimum savings account balance to ₹15,000 for metros, effective August 1.
• Rapido launched its ‘Ownly’ app in Bengaluru with a zero-commission model for restaurants.
• Vikram Solar will launch a ₹2,000 crore IPO on August 19, including ₹1,500 crore fresh issue and ₹1,745 lakh shares OFS.

• Indian Navy will commission stealth frigates INS Udaygiri and INS Himgiri together for the first time on 26 August 2025.
• India’s defence production reached a record ₹1.51 lakh crore in FY 2024-25, up 18% from last year.

• Illinois bans AI from acting as therapists, mandates human oversight in mental health care.
• Over 1-million-year-old human tools discovered near Sulawesi Island, challenging migration timelines.
• Scientists discovered marine virus PelV-1 with the world’s longest viral tail at 2.3 micrometres.
• Typhoon Podul struck eastern Taiwan, causing heavy rain, strong winds, and transport disruptions.

• Victoria Mboko stuns Naomi Osaka to win her first WTA 1000 title at the Canadian Open.
• India bags 14 medals, including 3 gold, at Asian U-19 Boxing Championship.
• Ramesh Budihal wins India’s first-ever individual medal at Asian Surfing Championships.
• China and Hong Kong won the Asia Rugby U-20 Sevens titles, while India’s women claimed bronze in Bihar.
• Dewald Brevis scores unbeaten 125 to set new South African T20I record against Australia.
• Shubman Gill, Sophia Dunkley named ICC Players of the Month for July 2025; Gill sets record with fourth win.
• Namrata Batra wins India’s first-ever Wushu medal at World Games with silver in 52kg category.
• Jharkhand Women’s Hockey Team wins 15th Junior National Championship for second year in a row.
• India wins 27 medals at Asian U19 & U22 Boxing; Ritika bags gold in women’s 80+ kg event.
• Chennai’s Rohith Krishna, 19, becomes India’s 89th Chess Grandmaster after winning in Kazakhstan.

• Armenia, Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered peace deal, open ‘Trump Route’ corridor.
• WHO confirmed Kenya has eliminated sleeping sickness as a public health problem.

• Parliament passes Coastal Shipping Bill, 2025 to modernize maritime laws and boost India’s coastal economy.
• PM E-DRIVE scheme extended till March 2028 to support electric buses, trucks, and ambulances.
• Indian Railways tests ‘Rudrastra,’ Asia’s longest 4.5 km freight train.
• Government clears ₹2,157 crore Marakkanam–Puducherry 4-lane highway project.
• Lok Sabha passes Indian Ports Bill, 2025 to modernise century-old port governance system.
• MHA tightens OCI rules; registration can be cancelled for offences with two years’ sentence or more.
• MY Bharat signs 3-year MoU with SOUL Foundation to train 1 lakh youth leaders in governance, policy, and skills.
• Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy launched the ‘Bharat Steel’ logo, brochure, and website in New Delhi.

HDFC Bank has upgraded its SmartWealth investment app to offer full-feature support in nine regional languages — Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Bengali. This enhancement enables investors to manage portfolios, track investments, and access personalised financial insights in their preferred language, making the platform one of the first in India to provide comprehensive multilingual accessibility in wealth management services.

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, will revise its Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) charges starting August 15. While branch-based IMPS transfers remain unaffected, online transactions above ₹25,000 will now incur nominal charges. Transfers between ₹25,000 and ₹1 lakh will cost ₹2, transactions from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh will cost ₹6, and those from ₹2 lakh to ₹5 lakh will cost ₹10 — all excluding GST.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has permitted Investment Advisers (IAs) and Research Analysts (RAs) to meet their mandatory deposit requirements using liquid and overnight mutual funds, in addition to scheduled bank deposits. Overnight mutual funds, which invest in one-day maturity debt instruments, offer an alternative for fulfilling compliance obligations. These deposits are marked as a lien in favour of the relevant supervisory body — IAASB for advisers and RAASB for analysts.

Ride-hailing company Rapido has entered the competitive food delivery industry with the launch of its standalone app, ‘Ownly.’ The platform currently operates in select Bengaluru localities, including Koramangala, HSR Layout, and BTM Layout. Rapido aims to differentiate itself with a zero-commission model for restaurant partners, competing directly with established players like Swiggy, Zomato, and Magicpin. This move follows discussions between Rapido and the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI), representing over 50,000 eateries, to finalise terms for onboarding partners.

Vikram Solar Ltd. is set to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) worth ₹2,000 crore, opening for subscription on August 19. The offering includes a fresh issue of equity shares amounting to ₹1,500 crore and an offer for sale of up to 1,74,50,882 shares by the promoter and promoter group. The price band has been fixed between ₹315 and ₹332 per share, each having a face value of ₹10. From the fresh issue proceeds, around ₹770 crore will be allocated towards partial funding of capital expenditure for Phase-I of the project through investment in its wholly owned subsidiary, VSL Green Power Pvt. Ltd., while approximately ₹595 crore will go towards Phase-II. The remaining funds will be used for general corporate purposes. Addressing concerns over the potential impact of U.S. tariffs, CMD Gyanesh Chaudhary confirmed that the company exports nothing to the U.S., thus facing no direct effect.

ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest private sector bank, has rolled back its earlier decision to raise the minimum monthly average balance (MAB) for new savings accounts in metro and urban areas to ₹50,000, setting the requirement instead at ₹15,000 from August 1. For semi-urban areas, the MAB has been reduced from ₹25,000 to ₹7,500, and for rural branches from ₹10,000 to ₹2,500. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has clarified that banks are free to decide MAB levels, as no regulatory restrictions exist in this regard.

Researchers have identified a marine virus, named PelV-1, with the longest known viral tail, measuring up to 2.3 micrometres. Discovered in the Pacific Ocean, PelV-1 infects marine phytoplankton and carries a complex genome that includes genes for metabolism and light-harvesting. This finding sets a new record in virology for appendage length and adds to the understanding of virus evolution in marine ecosystems.

Typhoon Podul, the 11th tropical cyclone of the year, struck Taiwan’s Taitung County on August 13, bringing heavy rainfall and powerful winds to the eastern cities of Hualien and Taitung. Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau has issued both sea and land warnings, with the land alerts covering 13 counties and cities, and sea warnings applicable to waters off eastern Taiwan and the Bashi Channel. The storm’s impact has caused widespread transportation disruptions and raised safety concerns across the affected regions.

Rohith Krishna S., a 19-year-old engineering student from Chennai, has become India’s 89th Chess Grandmaster after defeating International Master Artur Davtyan of Romania in the final round of the Almaty Masters Qonaev Cup in Kazakhstan, securing six points out of nine. Despite his strong academic record, Rohith admitted that his focus on education had at times slowed his Grandmaster pursuit, which he has been chasing since 2013. Speaking from Dubai, ahead of participating in the Abu Dhabi International tournament beginning August 15, Rohith expressed relief and joy at achieving the long-awaited title, marking it as the start of a much larger journey in his chess career.

Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy, officially launched the logo, brochure, and website for ‘Bharat Steel’ during an event at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Bharat Steel is the flagship international conference-cum-exhibition of the Ministry of Steel, dedicated to showcasing the steel industry’s ecosystem. The launch was held alongside a workshop for the secondary steel sector, highlighting the government’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and growth across the steel value chain. The event aims to position Bharat Steel as India’s largest steel exhibition, with aspirations to attract global investors and innovators to make India a central hub in the world steel industry.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved four new semiconductor manufacturing proposals under the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) worth ₹4,600 crore. The approved projects are by SiCSem, Continental Device India Pvt. Ltd. (CDIL), 3D Glass Solutions Inc., and Advanced System in Package (ASIP) Technologies. These additions bring the total number of approved projects under ISM to six, all in various stages of execution, marking rapid growth in India’s semiconductor ecosystem.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has signed a five-year umbrella agreement with the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) to conduct joint research and development aimed at strengthening the security, accuracy, and resilience of Aadhaar operations. The collaboration will address key areas such as fraud detection, biometric liveness verification, high-risk enrolment identification, and improvements in matching algorithms, with other focus areas to be jointly decided.

South Africa’s Dewald Brevis set a new national record in T20I cricket by scoring an unbeaten 125 off just 56 balls against Australia in the second T20I. The 22-year-old struck 12 fours and 8 sixes, becoming the youngest South African to score a T20I century and recording the second-fastest century for the country after David Miller’s 35-ball feat. His innings powered South Africa to a 53-run victory, earning him the Player of the Match award and surpassing Faf du Plessis’ previous national best of 119 runs in 2015.

India captain Shubman Gill and England’s Sophia Dunkley have been named ICC Men’s and Women’s Players of the Month for July 2025. Gill, who amassed 567 runs at an average of 94.50 across three Tests in England, became the first male cricketer to win the award four times, having previously earned it in January 2023, September 2023, and February 2025. Dunkley’s consistent performances secured her the women’s title. In the women’s game, Ash Gardner and Hayley Matthews remain tied with Gill’s record of four awards each.

Making history for Indian Wushu, Namrata Batra secured a silver medal in the women’s 52 kg final at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China — the nation’s first medal in the sport at this event. The 24-year-old, a four-time national champion and last year’s Asian Championships silver medalist, lost 0-2 to China’s Mengyue Chen in the gold medal bout. Her journey included decisive 2-0 wins over Lebanon’s Barbara El Rassi in the quarter-finals and the Philippines’ Krizan Faith Collado in the semi-finals. This was also India’s second medal at the Games after Rishabh Yadav’s bronze in men’s compound archery.

The Jharkhand Women’s Hockey team clinched the 15th Junior National Women’s Hockey Championship title for the second consecutive year, defeating Hockey Haryana 2-1 in the final held in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, from August 1–12. Sweety Dungdung emerged as the tournament’s highest scorer with 5 goals. This marks Jharkhand’s fourth overall victory in the championship, with previous wins in 2018, 2019, 2024, and now 2025.

At the Asian Under-19 & Under-22 Boxing Championships 2025 in Bangkok, Indian boxers delivered a stellar performance, bagging 27 medals overall. In the U19 category, India ranked second with 14 medals — 3 gold, 7 silver, and 4 bronze. The U22 contingent secured 13 medals — 1 gold, 4 silver, and 8 bronze — with Ritika being the only gold medalist in this group after triumphing in the 80+ kg women’s category. Notable silver medalists included Yatri Patel (57 kg women), Priya (60 kg women), Neeraj (75 kg men), and Ishan Kataria (90+ kg men).

The Lok Sabha has passed the Indian Ports Bill, 2025, aimed at overhauling port governance in India and replacing the outdated Indian Ports Act, 1908. The legislation seeks to streamline procedures, integrate digital technologies, and enhance ease of doing business to boost trade efficiency. This reform positions India to strengthen its role as a global maritime hub.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has introduced stricter norms for Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), empowering authorities to revoke registration if an OCI cardholder is sentenced to two years or more in prison or is formally charge-sheeted for an offence carrying a maximum punishment of seven years or more. The changes, notified on August 11, are enacted under clause (da) of section 7D of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and align with the Citizenship Rules, 2009, which authorise the central government to cancel OCI registrations under specified conditions.

MY Bharat, operating under the Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India, has formalised a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the School of Ultimate Leadership Foundation (SOUL). This collaboration focuses on knowledge exchange, capacity building, and leadership training for youth aged 18–29. Through specialised programmes in governance, public policy, social entrepreneurship, digital and financial literacy, and other skill areas, the initiative aims to develop 100,000 youth leaders nationwide. The MoU can be extended further with mutual agreement.

Tata Group’s satellite communications arm, Nelco, has signed an agreement with French satellite operator Eutelsat to launch OneWeb’s low Earth orbit satellite internet services in India. The services, provided through Eutelsat’s local entity OneWeb India Communications, will offer secure, low-latency connectivity for land, air, and sea applications, including remote and underserved regions where traditional internet access is limited.

On 10 August 2025, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) marked 200 crore successful transactions using Aadhaar Face Authentication, underscoring rapid adoption of secure, paperless identity verification in the country. After reaching 50 crore transactions by mid-2024, the figure rose to 100 crore by January 2025 in only five months, and then doubled again to 200 crore in the next six months — reflecting the pace of India’s digital transformation under the Digital India initiative.

Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) has become the first miscellaneous category non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India to achieve a business turnover exceeding ₹1 lakh crore. The company reached this milestone in record time, as announced in an official statement. Celebrations will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the Central Stadium to mark the achievement.

On 11 August 2025, the Lok Sabha passed the revised Income Tax Bill, 2025 without any debate. The legislation aims to simplify, rationalise, and shorten the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, while also significantly expanding the powers of income tax officials — including the authority to forcibly access personal emails and social media accounts of assessees during search operations. The earlier version of the Bill, introduced in February by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was reviewed by a Select Committee chaired by Baijayant Panda. Following the committee’s recommendations submitted on July 21, the government withdrew the Bill on August 8 and introduced the revised version.

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has signed an MoU with Zepto Private Limited to nurture and scale early-stage manufacturing startups through the ‘Zepto Nova’ Innovation Challenge. The collaboration will run a six-month targeted programme to discover, mentor, and accelerate startups working in hardware, IoT, packaging, and sustainable manufacturing, helping them progress from prototypes to market-ready products using Zepto’s delivery network and digital infrastructure.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has outlined a major investment plan exceeding ₹4,600 crore in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) Basin, situated in Konaseema district, Andhra Pradesh. The project will involve drilling 10 development wells, establishing two unmanned offshore platforms, laying an offshore pipeline, and setting up an onshore gas processing facility. ONGC has approached the Ministry of Environment and Forests for fresh environmental clearance, as recorded in the July 24 meeting minutes of the ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).

On 26 August 2025, the Indian Navy will, for the first time, commission two major frontline warships simultaneously — stealth frigates INS Udaygiri (F35) and INS Himgiri (F34) — at Visakhapatnam. INS Udaygiri, the second ship of Project 17A, has been built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, while INS Himgiri is the first P17A frigate constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata. The event is seen as a major success for the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ defence initiatives.

India’s defence manufacturing sector has achieved an unprecedented production value of ₹1,50,590 crore in FY 2024-25 — an 18% jump compared to ₹1.27 lakh crore in FY 2023-24, and a 90% surge from ₹79,071 crore in FY 2019-20. Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and other PSUs contributed around 77% of the total output, while the private sector accounted for 23%, up from 21% the previous fiscal year. The rise reflects the increasing role of private companies in strengthening India’s defence ecosystem.

Kenya has been officially validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having eliminated human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness, as a public health problem, making it the tenth country to reach this milestone. HAT is the second neglected tropical disease eliminated in Kenya, following the eradication of Guinea worm disease in 2018. Caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei and spread through the bite of infected tsetse flies, HAT mainly affects rural populations engaged in agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry, or hunting.

At the Asia Rugby Under-20 Sevens hosted at Rajgir International Sports Complex, Bihar, Hong Kong’s men’s team defeated Sri Lanka to lift the championship trophy. In the women’s final, China delivered a commanding win over Hong Kong to claim the title. India’s women’s team secured the bronze medal, adding to the host nation’s achievements in the tournament.

Indian B2B payments firm PayMate has announced its entry into Indonesia through a $400 million acquisition of DigiAsia, a leading local FinTech-as-a-Service provider. Announced in September 2024, the deal gives PayMate access to DigiAsia’s operations, which use a “B2B2X” model offering embedded finance APIs for SMEs in emerging markets. The acquisition strengthens PayMate’s footprint in Southeast Asia and sets the stage for wider expansion across the region and beyond.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 19 km Yellow Line of the Bangalore Metro Phase-2 project, running from RV Road (Ragigudda) to Bommasandra with 16 stations, at a cost of about ₹7,160 crore. With this addition, Bengaluru’s operational metro network now exceeds 96 km. The PM also laid the foundation stone for the ₹15,610 crore Phase-3 project, which will add over 44 km of elevated tracks and 31 stations, aimed at improving connectivity across residential, commercial, industrial, and educational hubs.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a compensation of ₹30,000 crore to three public sector oil marketing companies — IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL — for under-recoveries on the sale of domestic LPG at regulated prices. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will allocate the compensation, which will be paid in 12 tranches. Domestic LPG cylinders are sold to consumers at government-controlled rates, with the OMCs absorbing the losses to ensure affordability.

Online travel giant MakeMyTrip has launched ‘Myra,’ an AI-enabled virtual travel agent capable of assisting users in Hindi and English through both voice and text. Built on a network of specialized AI modules across categories such as flights, hotels, holidays, transport, visas, and forex, Myra can handle complex travel queries — for example, suggesting family-friendly holiday destinations in August or planning multi-city itineraries without air travel. It supports multimodal inputs (text, voice, image, video), allows continuous conversational planning, itinerary modifications, and resolves post-sales issues like cancellations and refunds — all within one integrated interface.

Effective from August 1, ICICI Bank has revised its minimum monthly average balance (MAB) requirement for newly opened savings accounts, raising it from the earlier ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 — a fivefold jump. The MAB for semi-urban and rural branches has also been raised, from ₹5,000 to ₹25,000 in semi-urban areas and from ₹2,000 to ₹10,000 in rural areas. According to the bank’s official website, customers who fail to maintain the required balance will face penal charges of 6% of the shortfall amount or ₹500, whichever is lower.

In a historic development, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a peace agreement at the White House on August 8, 2025, in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump. The deal seeks to end decades of hostilities in the South Caucasus and includes provisions to reopen key transportation links. One major outcome is the creation of an international transit corridor, to be called the ‘Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,’ symbolizing U.S. diplomatic influence amid Russia’s waning regional power.

At the Asian U-19 Boxing Championship, India’s Nisha (54kg), Muskan (57kg), and Rahul Kundu (men’s category) clinched gold medals, leading India’s medal tally to 14 — including seven silver and four bronze. Out of the 10 Indian women participants, nine returned home with medals. Nisha defeated China’s Sirui Yang 4:1, while Muskan edged Kazakhstan’s Ayazhan Ermek 3:2 in a split verdict. In other finals, Aarti Kumari (75kg) lost to China’s Tongtong Gu, and Kritika Wasan (80kg) narrowly missed victory with a 2:3 loss to Kazakhstan’s Kuralay Yeginbaikyzy.

India’s Ramesh Budihal made sporting history by winning a bronze medal in the Open men’s category at the Asian Surfing Championships held in Mamallapuram, marking the country’s first-ever individual medal in the competition. The 24-year-old surfer scored 12.60 points in the final, finishing behind South Korea’s Kanoa Heejae (15.17) and Indonesia’s Pajar Ariyana (14.57). Budihal’s strong start, including a 6.17 score on his opening wave, kept him in contention before the lead was taken by the South Korean competitor. This milestone could also help India secure additional quotas for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.

Indian Railways has successfully conducted the trial run of ‘Rudrastra,’ Asia’s longest freight train, spanning 4.5 km in length. The trial covered 209 km from Ganjkhwaja station in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh, to Garhwa in Jharkhand in 5 hours and 10 minutes, achieving an average speed of 40.50 km/h. According to DRM Uday Singh Meena, freight trains from the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Division will now be dispatched to the Dhanbad Division to enable faster goods loading and transportation.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the construction of a 46 km four-lane highway between Marakkanam and Puducherry in Tamil Nadu under the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) at a cost of ₹2,157 crore. The stretch is part of NH-332A, which currently operates as a two-lane road and faces severe congestion, especially near densely populated areas and major towns. The upgraded highway is expected to improve connectivity between Chennai, Puducherry, Viluppuram, and Nagapattinam.

In a significant move to bridge linguistic gaps in innovation, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) of NITI Aayog and Digital India Bhashini Division (DIBD) under MeitY have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) in New Delhi. This collaboration aims to boost regional language participation in India's innovation ecosystem, ensuring broader access to entrepreneurship and digital tools in native languages.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given ‘in-principle’ approval to AU Small Finance Bank Ltd. (AUSFB) to transition into a universal bank. Originally licensed as a small finance bank in 2015, AU began operations in April 2017. As of June 2025, the bank has expanded its reach to over 2,505 touchpoints across 21 states and four Union Territories, serving more than 1.15 crore customers and employing over 53,000 individuals.

• A high-level delegation from the Philippines has discussed with APEDA and the Indian Rice Exporters Federation to boost imports of key Indian food products, an industry official said.
• The agreement includes a commitment from the Philippines to prioritise increased imports of essential items from India, such as rice, buffalo meat, vegetables, fruits, and peanuts,
• The Philippines' delegation was led by Secretary of Agriculture Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% import tariff on semiconductor products from companies that do not invest in the United States, causing a sharp decline in Asian semiconductor stocks on August 7, 2025. The announcement, made at the White House, preceded a broader tariff strategy targeting goods from multiple countries. Initially, semiconductors were exempt, but the revised policy directly targets non-U.S.-based chipmakers.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced in its latest Annual Report that over the past decade—from FY 2015-16 to FY 2024-25—it has created five times the value for its shareholders. Back in 2015-16, RIL had not yet commercially launched its digital platform Jio, and major petrochemical infrastructure projects such as petcoke gasification, ethane imports, and the refinery off-gas cracker were still under development. Over these 10 years, the company’s market capitalisation rose from ₹3,38,703 crore to ₹17,25,378 crore. Meanwhile, consolidated revenue increased 3.65 times, net profit rose 2.72 times from ₹29,861 crore to ₹81,309 crore, and its net worth climbed 3.4 times to ₹7,95,069 crore.

A team of archaeologists from Indonesia and Australia has unearthed what could be the oldest human-made tools ever discovered in the region, on Sulawesi island near Flores—home to the extinct ‘Hobbit’ species, Homo floresiensis. The tools found at the Calio site date back over one million years, providing strong evidence that early humans crossed major oceanic barriers far earlier than previously thought.

The U.S. state of Illinois has enacted the Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, officially prohibiting artificial intelligence systems from performing the role of therapists or counselors. Signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker, the legislation bars AI from generating treatment plans, assessing emotional states, or independently delivering mental health therapy. AI can only be used for administrative tasks under the strict supervision of licensed professionals. Violators may face penalties of up to $10,000.

Eighteen-year-old Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko delivered a stunning performance at the Canadian Open by defeating four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka with scores of 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. This victory marks her maiden WTA 1000 title win on home soil and propels her to a career-high WTA ranking of No. 25, earning her a seeded position at the upcoming U.S. Open.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has announced a two-year extension of the PM E-DRIVE (Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement) scheme. Now extended till March 31, 2028, the scheme continues to incentivize the adoption of electric mobility in public transport and emergency services, covering electric buses, trucks, and ambulances.

In a major legislative step to boost India’s maritime and coastal economy, the Rajya Sabha passed the Coastal Shipping Bill, 2025, which had earlier cleared the Lok Sabha on April 3, 2025. The bill, introduced by Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, aims to revamp the outdated coastal shipping framework by replacing Part XIV of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. With a coastline stretching 11,098 kilometers across nine coastal states and four union territories, the bill aligns with global cabotage standards and aims to catalyse coastal trade, tourism, and logistics.