News on Indian Economy
The project, being led by the Atal Incubation Centre – Anna University (AIC-AU), will evaluate the battery as a potential long-duration energy storage, or LDES, solution for India’s rapidly changing power grid. The pilot is expected to provide real-world data on the technology’s technical performance, reliability and operating behaviour under power-station conditions.
New service allows customers in Qatar to send money directly to UPI-enabled bank accounts in India through Qatar Post outlets
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the achievement on August 15, 2026. Aheesa had completed the VIHAAN tape-out on Republic Day, January 26, 2026, before reaching the first-pass silicon milestone on Independence Day. The company will now take the chip through further development and validation, with a production tape-out targeted for 2027.
The Department of Defence Production said the items together represent an estimated business potential of around ₹3,070 crore for Indian manufacturers. Once successfully developed domestically, these products will be procured from Indian industry instead of being sourced from overseas suppliers.
At the centre of this emerging approach is the Indrajaal Ranger, a vehicle-mounted counter-unmanned aircraft system developed by Hyderabad-based Indrajaal Drone Defence. The company describes Ranger as a purpose-built Anti-Drone Patrol Vehicle, or ADPV, capable of detecting, tracking and countering rogue drones while moving through border areas, urban zones and other sensitive corridors.
Incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Planys designs remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles, crawler systems, marine sensors and digital inspection tools. These machines enter submerged spaces, record structural conditions, conduct non-destructive testing and convert the collected information into digital reports that engineers can use for maintenance decisions.
ICRA estimates services gross value added, or GVA, to have expanded by 7.9% in Q1 FY27. This compares with a much stronger 9.9% growth in the March quarter of FY26.
The programme could eventually create an aircraft very different from the Su-30MKI that entered Indian service more than two decades ago. Its enormous airframe, payload capacity, endurance and electrical space provide India with something smaller fighters cannot easily offer: room for powerful sensors, large weapons and continuing technological evolution.
The overall decline has been driven mainly by lower rice acreage, along with smaller reductions in coarse cereals, cotton and oilseeds. Pulses remained broadly stable compared with last year, while jute and mesta recorded a modest increase. The figures provide an important mid-season indication of planting patterns across major agricultural states, although acreage can continue to change as sowing progresses.
The numbers behind that statement are substantial. At the end of March 2026, the gross NPA ratio of public sector banks had fallen to 1.93 per cent, while net NPAs were down to just 0.39 per cent. The Finance Ministry describes both as historically low levels. At the same time, PSBs recorded an all-time high combined net profit of ₹1.98 lakh crore in FY2025-26.
