ISRO on  Jul 30  successfully launched its proven PSLV rocket carrying seven Singaporean satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre here and placed them into intended orbits.

Around 23 minutes after lift-off, the primary satellite got separated and it was followed by six other co-passenger satellites, which were deployed into the intended orbits sequentially.

This ISRO mission, which comes after the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 launch earlier this month, is being undertaken by its commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

The police in Maharashtra’s Amravati district  has registered a case against Sambhaji Bhide for his alleged derogatory remarks on Mahatma Gandhi, with state Congress chief Nana Patole insisting the right-wing activist must be arrested.

Bhide, founder of Shri Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan outfit, is accused of making offensive remarks about the Father of the Nation in his speech during a programme at Bharat Mangal Hall in Badnera Road in Amravati district on july 27.

After allowing the Shia community to take out Muharram processions in Srinagar after a gap of 34 years, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in a major outreach on Jul 29  joined the main (10th) Muharram procession of Shia Muslims in Srinagar. It was for the first time in over three decades that the head of the state has joined the Muharram procession in J&K.

The main Muharram procession was taken out from the Bota Kadal area of downtown Srinagar after a gap of 34 years instead of the traditional route from Abi-Guzar to Zadibal. The 8th and 10th Muharram processions were banned in Srinagar after the outbreak of militancy in J&K in 1989. However, with the improvement in ground situation and considerable drop in militancy violence in Valley, the Lt Governor administration permitted the 8th and 10th Muharram processions this year.

Donned in black, Lt Sinha visited the Bota Kadal to participate in Zuljinah procession, which is observed to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS), grandson of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) during the battle of Karbala.

Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia's war on the country . The kingdom and Kyiv did not immediately acknowledge the planned talks.

The summit will be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

Those taking part in the summit will include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other countries . A high-level official from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration also is expected to attend. Planning for the event is being overseen by Kyiv and Russia is not invited.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the summit, said the talks would take place Aug. 5 and 6 with some 30 countries attending, citing “diplomats involved in the discussion.”

Saudi Arabia's hosting of the talks comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May attended an Arab League summit in Jeddah to press those nations to back Kyiv. Arab nations largely have remained neutral since Russia launched the war on Ukraine in February 2022, in part over their military and economic ties to Moscow.

Saudi Arabia also has maintained a close relationship with Russia as part of the OPEC+ group. The organization’s oil production cuts, even as Moscow’s war on Ukraine boosted energy prices, have angered Biden and American lawmakers.

But hosting such talks also helps raise the profile of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has sought to reach a détente with Iran and push for peace in the kingdom's yearslong war in Yemen. However, ties also remain strained between Riyadh and the West over the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, which U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Prince Mohammed ordered.

General Abdourahamane Tchiani, the Niger general who staged a coup on Friday declared himself the new leader of the jihadist-hit African nation and warned that any foreign military intervention would lead to chaos.

Tchiani, head of the Presidential Guard since 2011, appeared on state television, saying he was the "president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland".

The general, who is in his 50s and had previously kept out of public life, presented the coup as a response to "the degradation of the security situation" linked to jihadist bloodshed.

Stainless steel maker Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) has sought the government's intervention to check increasing imports of steel products from a select group of countries including China.

Select few countries including China are flooding the domestic market with their products, Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said.

According to official data, the Share of China, Japan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Nepal and the USA increased in total steel imports of India in June 2023 as compared to June 2022.

India's steel imports rose by 7. 6 per cent to 4. 84 lakh metric tonnes during June 2023, over the same month last year.

In June 2022, the import from China was 26.1 per cent and Vietnam was 1 per cent.

However, in June 2023, the import from China contributed 37.1 per cent and Vietnam's share was 4.8 per cent in India's steel import basket.

The Indian stainless steel industry is operating well below its capacity, it needs government support for a level-playing field.

The industry awaits a positive decision by the government on imposing a countervailing duty (CVD) to curb the dumping of mass and subsidized stainless steel in India by China.

Tea production during the month of June this year has dropped to 137.85 million kilogrammes as compared to 143.12 million kilogrammes in the same month of 2022.

According to Tea Board provisional data, there is a drop of around 3.7 per cent in the volume of tea production in the month of June 2023.

Region-wise, North India produced 109.70 million kilogrammes during the month, while production volumes in South India was 28.15 million kilogrammes.

In North India, Assam produced 63.51 million kilogrammes in June 2023, while the state's production was 75.16 million kilogrammes in the same month of the previous similar period.

Former Wales captain and coach Clive Rowlands has died aged 85, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) announced.

A scrum-half nicknamed 'Top Cat', Rowlands captained Wales in all of his 14 internationals between 1963 and 1965, leading the team as they shared the 1964 Five Nations title with Scotland.

He retired from playing at the age of 29 and as coach, he guided the team to a first Grand Slam in 19 years in 1971.

Rowlands was Wales's manager when they finished third at the inaugural Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 1987 and managed the British and Irish Lions on their victorious tour to Australia in 1989.

He became president of the Welsh Rugby Union in the same year.