Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Iran starting on July 19  is intended to deepen ties with regional heavyweights as part of Moscow's challenge to the United States and Europe amid its grinding campaign in Ukraine.

In only his second trip abroad since Russian tanks rolled into its neighbour in February, Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the pressing issues facing the region, including the conflict in Syria and a UN-backed proposal to resume exports of Ukrainian grain to ease the global food crisis.

As the West heaps sanctions on Russia and the costly campaign drags on, Putin is seeking to bolster ties with Tehran, a fellow target of severe US sanctions and a potential military and trade partner.

Turkey, a NATO member, has found itself opposite Russia in bloody conflicts in Azerbaijan, Libya and Syria. It has even sold lethal drones that Ukrainian forces have used to attack Russia.

The European Union on July 19  is starting the long enlargement process that aims to lead to the membership of Albania and North Macedonia in the bloc.

Any expansion beyond the 27 EU member states is likely to be years off, and both nations were already considered potential candidates 19 years ago.

Despite the stalling, the Western Balkan nations have persevered in their ambition to become part of the world's most important trade bloc.

Officially, the process was kicked off with the presentation of the negotiating frameworks, which will allow the EU head office to screen how well each nation is prepared to take on all the laws, rules and regulation of the bloc.

The move comes at a crucial time for the EU, which has just reached out to war-torn Ukraine to offer it the perspective of membership even though Western Balkan nations were kept in the waiting line for such a long time.

Leading Indian and Israeli companies have teamed up to create cutting edge aluminium-air batteries for Electric Vehicles that could make its adoption easier in India by extending its driving range without the need for charging infrastructure, reduce battery imports, and also give a boost to the Atmanitbhar Bharat initiative by enhancing energy security.

Aditya Birla Group's metal flagship, Hindalco, has signed an MoU with Phinergy, a leading Israel-based pioneer in metal-air battery technology, and IOC Phinergy Private Limited (IOP) - a joint venture between Phinergy and Indian Oil Corporation, to create aluminium-air batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

The EV market, which would be the primary segment for Aluminium-Air batteries, is projected to achieve cumulative sales of 80 million units by 2030, according to a joint report by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and NITI Aayog.

A financial benefit of Rs 21,924 crore has been transferred into bank accounts of 10.26 crore eligible farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme in this fiscal so far, the government said on july 19.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, a financial benefit of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to eligible farmer families, payable in three equal installments of Rs 2,000. The fund is transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said Rs 21,924 crore was transferred till July 17 of the ongoing 2022-23 financial year. Out of which, Rs 5,063.25 crore was transferred to eligible farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Rs 2,053 crore in Maharashtra, Rs 1,684 crore in Bihar and Rs 1,680 crore in Madhya Pradesh so far this fiscal, as per the data placed in the Lower House.

During the launch year of 2020-21, the government had transferred Rs 55,101 crore to 9.71 crore eligible farmers under the PM-KISAN. In 2021-22 fiscal, Rs 66,483 crore was released to 10.64 crore farmers under the scheme.

The PM-KISAN scheme covers all landholding farmer families, irrespective of the size of their landholding, subject to certain exclusion criteria related to higher income groups.

As per the Operational Guidelines of the Scheme, the entire responsibility of identification of beneficiaries rests with the respective State/UT Governments.

India's renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) stood at 114.07 GW till June-end this year, while 60.66 GW of projects are under various stages of development, Parliament was informed on july 19.

India has set a target of having 175 GW of renewable energy capacity, including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy, by 2022.

Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha  said that the capacity of 60.66 GW is under various stages of implementation, while 23.14 GW capacity is under various stages of bidding.

In another reply, Minister of New and Renewable Energy R K Singh said the share of renewable energy (including large hydro) in the total installed electricity generation capacity in the country was 39.85 per cent as on June 30, 2022.

"Under Component-B of PM-KUSUM Scheme, Government has allocated over 3.59 lakh standalone solar pumps to various States. Out of this, over 1.23 lakh standalone solar pumps have been installed as on June 30, 2022," the minister said in reply to another question.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working towards achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.

Customers of Karnataka-based Sri Mallikarjuna Pattana Sahakari Bank Niyamita and Maharashtra-based Nashik Zilla Girna Sahakari Bank will not be able to withdraw funds from their accounts with the RBI imposing restrictions on the lenders.

The restrictions have been imposed on the two cooperative banks by the Reserve Bank of India in wake of their deteriorating financial positions.

The restrictions on Sri Mallikarjuna Pattana Sahakari Bank Niyamita, Maski (Karnataka) and Nashik Zilla Girna Sahakari Bank, Nashik (Maharashtra) will remain in force for six months, as per two statements issued by the central bank.

In the case of Nashik Zilla Girna Sahakari Bank, the RBI said 99.87 per cent of the depositors are fully covered by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) insurance scheme.

Also, 99.53 per cent of the depositors of Sri Mallikarjuna Pattana Sahakari Bank Niyamitaare are fully covered by the DICGC insurance scheme.

In wake of the restrictions, the two banks cannot, without prior approval of the RBI grant or renew any loans, make any investment, incur any liability, including borrowal of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits.

India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has retained its position as the UK’s largest software and IT services provider. It has been ranked No 1 by revenue, according to industry analyst firm TechMarketView.

According to the report, the UK remains an extremely important market for TCS, as it continues to grow across all its core sectors. It highlights that TCS’ bounce back from the pandemic has been sharp in the UK where it won significant deals with the likes of Royal London, Virgin Atlantic, Nationwide, Department of Work and Pensions, and Transport for London during the year. TCS’ new wins coupled with the strong sales performance of 2021 should support further growth in the UK, it added.

The postponed Asian Games will be held from September 23 to October 8 next year in Hangzhou, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced on july 19 .

The 19th edition of the Games was originally slated to be held from September 10 to 25 this year but was suspended on May 6 after a spike in COVID-19 cases in China.