SOURCE: PTI

ISRO on Thursday said it has accomplished de-docking of the SpaDeX satellites, clearing the way for future missions such as exploring the moon, human spaceflight, and building its own space station.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh announced the successful de-docking of satellites in a post on X. “SpaDeX satellites accomplished the unbelievable de-docking. This paves the way for smooth conduct of ambitious future missions including the Bharatiya Antriksha Station, Chandrayaan 4 & Gaganyaan,” Mr Singh said.

SOURCE: REUTERS

India’s Russian oil imports recovered in March, returning to near usual levels after a 3-month decline, as non-sanctioned vessels were delivering cargoes, while some supplies were diverted from Turkey, according to five trade sources and shipping data. 

The recovery of Russian oil flow to the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer is easing a supply crunch and cooling prices for rival West Asia grades. 

SOURCE: REUTERS

 India’s crude oil imports from Latin America and Africa rose marginally in February as refiners turned to alternative sources, fearing a loss of Russian oil supplies caused by tighter U.S. sanctions, data from trade sources shows.

The South Asian nation became the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne oil sold at a discount after Western nations imposed sanctions on Moscow for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG

Diego Garcia, a remote Indian Ocean island nearly 2,000 miles from the East African coast, boasts clear-blue waters, pristine beaches — and a US-UK military base at the heart of the great-power chess match involving the US, China and India.

The British territory in the Chagos Archipelago – which has housed the base since the 1970s — is now at the center of a wider push by the US and India to counter China’s growing presence in the region. The Trump administration has said it’s inclined to support a deal reached by the UK last year to hand back the islands to Mauritius despite previous Republican concerns that the agreement could enable China to spy on US activities at the base.

SOURCE: PTI

 Unistring Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd (UTS), a pioneering force in advanced defence electronics, has been awarded a prestigious development contract worth Rs. 10.3 crore by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This significant milestone marks a major leap forward for UTS in the electronic warfare (EW) domain.

The awarded project, which is set to be completed within 10 months, focuses on the development of a cutting-edge Compact EW system. Once development is successfully accomplished, this has potential for mass production, further strengthening India’s indigenous defence capabilities.

SOURCE: Reuters

The Dalai Lama’s successor will be born outside China, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism says in a new book, raising the stakes in a dispute with Beijing over control of the Himalayan region he fled more than six decades ago.

Tibetans worldwide want the institution of the Dalai Lama to continue after the 89-year-old’s death, he writes in “Voice for the Voiceless”, which was released on Tuesday. He had previously said the line of spiritual leaders might end with him. His book marks the first time the Dalai Lama has specified that his successor would be born in the “free world”, which he describes as outside China. He has previously said only that he could reincarnate outside Tibet, possibly in India where he lives in exile.

SOURCE: PTI

With both Airtel and Jio announcing partnerships with Starlink, the Congress on Thursday alleged that these have been orchestrated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to buy goodwill” with US President Donald Trump through Starlink’s owner Elon Musk.

The opposition party also said many questions remain and the most important one relates to national security. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that within literally 12 hours both Airtel and Jio have announced partnerships with Starlink, seemingly overcoming all their objections to its entry into India – which they have been voicing for quite some time.

SOURCE: ANI

A total of 76 terrorists, including 59 foreign militants from Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), are currently active in Jammu and Kashmir, government sources said on Thursday.

The data shows a sharp decline in the number of active terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, where a total of 91 terrorists were active in the corresponding period in 2024. Among the 76 active terrorists, 17 are local terrorists operating within the Union Territory– which has been hotspot for militancy and terrorism since the late 1980s, with insurgency fueled by Pakistan-based terror groups, cross-border infiltration, and radicalization efforts.

SOURCE: PTI

India’s indigenously-built Tejas light combat aircraft on Wednesday successfully test fired homegrown air-to-air missile Astra. The test firing of the missile was carried out off the coast of Chandipur in Odisha, according to the defence ministry.

“The test-firing successfully demonstrated the direct hit of the missile on flying target,” it said. “All the subsystems performed accurately meeting all mission parameters and objectives,” the ministry said.

SOURCE: PTI

The defence ministry on Wednesday signed a Rs 2,906 crore contract with state-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) for procurement of transportable radar (Ashwini) for the Indian Air Force.

The radar has been indigenously designed and developed by Electronics and Radar Development Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is capable of tracking aerial targets from high-speed fighter aircraft to slow moving targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters.

SOURCE: IANS

US Vice President J.D. Vance and his Indian-descent wife Usha Vance will visit India later this month, according to a US news report. This makes him the second member of the President Donald Trump Cabinet headed for New Delhi this month, along with Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.

According to a US media outlet, the Vice President will be accompanied by the second lady, whose parents immigrated to the US from India. She was born and raised in the US and met Vance at Yale, where they were both studying law.

SOURCE: IANS

With a twin-objective — to underscore India as a more hospitable destination for global visitors and to tackle modern-day security challenges — the Central government has introduced the Immigration and Foreigners Bill of 2025. A seminal piece of legislation, the Bill is designed to reform and streamline the nation’s immigration framework.

This forward-thinking measure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government, seeks to fortify national security while fostering economic prosperity and ensuring effortless access for legitimate foreign visitors; be they professionals, scholars, business magnates, tourists, or those in quest of medical care.

SOURCE: PTI

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday welcomed Elon Musk’s Starlink to India and said it will help railway projects in remote areas of the country. “Starlink, welcome to India! Will be useful for remote area railway projects,” Vaishnaw posted on social media platform X. Vaishnaw is also the minister for information and broadcasting, as well as electronics and information technology.

His comments follow two separate deals with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms and Sunil Mittal’s Bharti Airtel struck by SpaceX, the aerospace company led by Musk, to bring Starlink’s broadband internet services to India.

SOURCE: IANS

A Mizoram social activist urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take urgent action on illegal entry of Myanmar refugees into the state, rising crime rate, smuggling of explosives and drugs, and fake documentation in the northeastern state.

After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees including women and children from the neighbouring country started coming to Mizoram seeking shelter and now their numbers have increased to around 35,000.

SOURCE: PTI

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to provide any relief to a Dalit PhD student suspended from the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) for alleged misconduct and anti-national activities.

A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and M M Sathaye dismissed the plea filed by the student, Ramadas K S, against the institute’s April 2024 decision of suspending him for two years. “The order suspending the petitioner (Ramadas) does not suffer from any illegality or perversity. We find that this is not a fit case to interfere. There is no merit in the petition and the same is dismissed,” the HC said.