NATIONAL NEWS

India’s First Commercial Electric Truck Battery Swapping and Charging Station Inaugurated

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, inaugurated India’s first commercial electric truck battery swapping and charging station in Sonipat, Haryana at the Delhi International Cargo Terminal Private Limited (DICT), Panchi Gujran village, near Ganaur on GT Road.

The facility aims to promote green transportation and reduce carbon emissions in the logistics and transport sector.

The government highlighted its efforts to advance the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem and promote alternative fuels such as ethanol, bio-bitumen, and biofuels, aiming to achieve fuel self-reliance and reduce diesel dependency.

EV battery costs have fallen by 50–60%, making electric vehicles more affordable and sustainable.

The Sonipat station enables quick battery swapping and charging, reducing vehicle downtime and operational costs for transporters compared to diesel and rail transport.

The initiative is expected to cut carbon emissions, promote adoption of electric logistics vehicles, and contribute to India’s vision of becoming a global hub for sustainable and clean mobility.

India Launches NAKSHA Programme

India launched the NAKSHA Programme under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) to transform urban land administration, making it transparent, efficient, and citizen-friendly.

A two-day National Training-cum-Workshop was conducted at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) for District Magistrates and Collectors from various states to prepare for nationwide implementation.

The programme integrates geospatial mapping, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Web-GIS platforms, and aerial/drone surveys to create a comprehensive digital land database.

Main objective is to achieve “One Nation, One Land Record”, ensuring accurate mapping, clear ownership authentication, and ease of public access.

Workshop training covered hands-on GIS and Web-GIS tools, GNSS-based surveys, ground-truthing, validation techniques, and citizen outreach practices.

Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and Survey of India (SoI) provided technical guidance; Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC) managed digital infrastructure, while National Institute of Geo-informatics Science and Technology (NIGST) contributed technical expertise and training.

Legal and administrative framework emphasized digital land authentication, coordination between central, state, and local bodies, and public awareness campaigns.

Experts and senior civil servants contributed to developing a holistic, scalable, and legally sound framework for urban land governance.

Odisha to Establish Digital Library for Jagannath Temple Archives

The Odisha government announced the creation of a digital library, Gyana Yagnya Mandap, to preserve rare records of the Jagannath Temple, Puri.

The library will be built on the site of the old Raghunandan Library, originally part of the Emar Mutt, near the temple premises.

The Raghunandan Library, set up in the early 20th century, housed hundreds of palm-leaf manuscripts and religious texts in Odia, Sanskrit, and Bengali.

The demolition of the old library was part of the Jagannath Heritage Corridor redevelopment project, aimed at improving temple accessibility and pilgrim facilities.

Key objectives include the preservation of temple archives such as the Madala Panji (historic temple chronicle), ritual manuals, palm-leaf manuscripts, and other administrative and cultural documents.

The facility will feature a modern e-library system and a research centre, enabling scholars, devotees, and the general public to access digitized archives.

The initiative aims to safeguard Odisha’s religious and cultural heritage and ensure that sacred manuscripts and oral traditions are protected from decay and loss.

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Google Expands AI App Builder ‘Opal’ to 15 Countries

Google has expanded access to its AI-powered app builder, Opal, to 15 additional countries, marking a major step in democratizing app development globally.

The expansion covers 15 new markets, including India, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Colombia, Argentina, and others, reflecting strong early feedback from users who built sophisticated and practical applications during the U.S. rollout.

Opal, developed by Google Labs, is an experimental no-code app builder that allows users to create mini web applications using plain text prompts, eliminating the need for programming skills.

Originally launched in the U.S. in July 2025, Opal enables users to describe the app they want, and the tool uses Google’s AI models to generate the inputs, outputs, and workflows automatically.

Users can edit and customize apps through a visual editor, which allows them to modify steps, test workflows, and add new components using an easy drag-and-drop interface.

The app supports instant sharing, enabling users to publish and share their apps via unique links so others can test them through their Google accounts.

Google has enhanced Opal’s debugging features, introducing a step-by-step workflow testing system that shows errors directly where they occur, helping users fix them easily while keeping the platform no-code.

 

BANKING

Reserve Bank of India Unveils Retail Sandbox for Testing Digital Rupee

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a retail sandbox for its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on October 8, 2025, marking a major step in India’s digital financial ecosystem.

The retail sandbox provides a controlled environment for fintech companies to test and deploy innovative products related to the e-Rupee retail pilot, which was initially launched on December 1, 2022.

This initiative aims to strengthen India’s position as a global leader in digital currency adoption while offering a regulated space for experimentation in digital payment solutions.

A sandbox allows for safe testing of new technologies without impacting the broader financial system, helping fintechs build tools that can integrate with the e-Rupee infrastructure, simulate retail transactions, and innovate in payment, settlement, and tokenisation processes.

The retail CBDC sandbox is an extension of the ongoing e-Rupee pilot, which now has around 7 million users across India and is being run in collaboration with major banks.

The e-Rupee (CBDC) is a digital form of the Indian Rupee, issued and regulated by the RBI, and holds the same value as physical currency.

The sandbox’s key features include fintech collaboration for building apps on the CBDC backend, tokenisation support for secure digital money representation, real-time testing of payment systems and wallets, and integration with the wholesale CBDC layer as the testing backbone.

SEBI Launches “Validated UPI Handles” and “SEBI Check”

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) introduced “Validated UPI Handles” for securities market transactions to help investors verify legitimate accounts of registered intermediaries using the “@valid” handle with category-specific suffixes like .brk for brokers and .mf for mutual funds.

A distinctive “thumbs-up inside a green triangle” icon and a special QR code will appear for verified transactions, ensuring protection from unauthorized payments.

SEBI launched the “SEBI Check” tool, allowing investors to verify authenticity of bank account details or UPI IDs of SEBI-registered intermediaries before making payments.

These initiatives aim to enhance payment security, prevent fraud, and build investor trust by ensuring payments are routed only through verified intermediaries.

The @valid handle combines the name of the self-certified syndicate bank and includes a suffix like .brk or .mf for easy identification (e.g., brk@validhdfc, xyz.mf@validicici).

SEBI stated that using @valid handles and the SEBI Check tool will strengthen investor protection, uphold market integrity, and foster digital trust in India’s securities market.

 

BUSINESS

Larsen & Toubro Secures USD 700 Million Sustainability-Linked Trade Facility

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured a USD 700 million Sustainability-Linked Trade Facility (SLTF) from Standard Chartered Bank, marking a significant step in sustainable financing.

The SLTF is linked to key performance indicators (KPIs) such as greenhouse gas emissions intensity and freshwater withdrawal, aligning with L&T’s environmental sustainability goals.

The facility complies with the Loan Market Association’s Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles, ensuring global market standard alignment.

Earlier in June 2025, L&T issued India’s first listed sustainability-linked bond worth USD 60 million under SEBI’s ESG Bond Framework.

L&T, a USD 30 billion multinational, operates across EPC projects, hi-tech manufacturing, and services in multiple geographies, reinforcing its commitment to ESG-linked growth.

Air India Secures $215 million six-year Loan from BOI and Standard Chartered

Air India raised $215 million through a six-year loan from Bank of India and Standard Chartered Plc to refinance existing debt.

The loan was routed via GIFT City and priced at around 168 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).

Funds were utilized to refinance short-term debt used for the purchase of six Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

This was the first time Bank of India acted as a Mandated Lead Manager in a loan transaction from GIFT City.

Loan discussions had slowed after the June Air India plane crash, one of India’s worst aviation accidents.

India’s First Startup–Investor Marketplace ‘Ideabaaz’ Launched at NSE

Ideabaaz, India’s first integrated marketplace connecting startups and investors, was launched at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Mumbai, with NSE MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan presiding.

The platform aims to democratize access to capital and mentorship, particularly for startups in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, providing investor access, legal and accounting support, mentorship, and quarterly tracking.  

The launch was supported by an entrepreneurial reality show on Zee TV and Zee5, hosted by Pratik Gandhi and dubbed in multiple regional languages.

Ideabaaz partnered with IIT Madras as Knowledge Partner, Turbo Start as Strategic Partner, and Raj Nayak served as Mentor, Investor, and Chief Curator.

The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between startups and investors, enhancing India’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem.

 

AWARDS & PRIZES

László Krasznahorkai Wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2025 has been awarded to László Krasznahorkai, a renowned Hungarian novelist and screenwriter, recognized for his dense, poetic, and apocalyptic prose.

The Swedish Academy honored him for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”

Krasznahorkai’s writing is known for long, meditative sentences, apocalyptic imagery, and deep philosophical reflections, exploring themes of isolation, moral collapse, human suffering, and redemption through art.

Notable works include Satantango (1985), The Melancholy of Resistance (1989), War and War (1999), and Seiobo There Below (2008). Several of his works have been adapted into films, notably in collaboration with filmmaker Béla Tarr.

The Nobel citation emphasizes his ability to depict apocalyptic terror while celebrating art’s redemptive power, encouraging readers to confront existential crises and moral decay, and reaffirming the salvational power of art.

The award highlights Hungary’s contribution to global literature, underscores the relevance of philosophical fiction, and celebrates the enduring power of literature to address universal human fears and aspirations.

 

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

New Executive Director of RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Shri Sanjay Kumar Hansda as Executive Director (ED) with effect from March 03, 2025.

Shri Hansda rejoined the RBI on October 06, 2025, after completing his deputation as Senior Advisor to the Executive Director (India) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Before his promotion as Executive Director, he served as Adviser in the Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) and earlier worked as Adviser in the Monetary Policy Department and Officer-in-Charge/Director of the Internal Debt Management Department.

He also had an international assignment as an Analyst (Financial Stability) at the Bank of England on a secondment from the RBI.

He has been a member of key committees set up by the Bank of England, the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS), and the Government of India, along with several internal and external working groups.

As Executive Director, Shri Hansda will be in charge of the Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) at the RBI.

 

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day falls on the 10th of October.

The goals of World Mental Health Day are to raise public awareness of mental health concerns around the world and to motivate people to support mental health.

The event makes sure that the topic of mental health is brought up and continues to be on people's minds.

The World Mental Health Day 2025 theme is "Access to Services – Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies"

A non-governmental organization called the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) was established in 1948.

On October 10, 1992, Richard Hunter, who was the deputy secretary general of the WFMH at the time, declared the first World Mental Health Day.

Every year since 1994, a unique theme has been chosen for the international celebration.