Author: News Desk

Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge, marked its seventh anniversary on December 25, 2025, celebrating years of seamless connectivity across the mighty Brahmaputra River in Assam. The 4.94-kilometre structure links Dibrugarh district on the southern bank with Dhemaji district on the northern bank, significantly reducing travel times for both road and rail commuters while bolstering regional mobility and economic activity. Inaugurated on December 25, 2018, the bridge has become a vital infrastructural asset for the northeastern states, enhancing transport efficiency for civilians and defence logistics alike. Its dual-deck design carries a three-lane road on the upper deck and double broad-gauge railway tracks on the lower deck, combining passenger, freight…

Professor Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam of IIT Madras has been awarded the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025 in the Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar category for Technology and Innovation. The recognition honors his pioneering work in affordable medical devices, brain mapping, and healthcare technology designed to reach underserved communities. As director of the Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre and the Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre at IIT Madras, Professor Sivaprakasam has spent years translating advanced research into practical, indigenous technologies. Speaking to India Today, he emphasized that the award celebrates the ability to conduct cutting-edge research in India and turn it into real-world, commercially viable products.…

The deadline to link Aadhaar with your PAN is 31 December 2025. This connection is mandatory, and failure to comply may lead to your PAN becoming inoperative. The Income Tax Department, in its notification dated 3 April 2025, clarified that individuals whose PAN was issued using an Aadhaar number before 1 October 2024 must complete the linking by year-end. Why link Aadhaar with PAN?Linking PAN with Aadhaar confirms your identity, prevents duplicate PANs, and ensures compliance with Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act. For new PAN applicants, the linking happens automatically. Requirements: How to link Aadhaar with PAN online:…

When discussions turn to Indian-origin leaders in global technology, names like Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai often dominate. Both helm some of the world’s largest tech companies and are highly visible figures in Silicon Valley. Yet in terms of net worth, neither leads the pack anymore. According to the Hurun India Rich List 2025, the wealthiest Indian professional manager today is Jayshree Ullal, CEO and chairperson of Arista Networks. Jayshree Ullal Tops Rich ListThe 2025 Hurun India Rich List ranks Ullal at the top among Indian professional managers, with an astounding net worth of ₹50,170 crore. This places her well…

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured a significant contract from India’s Ministry of Defence to supply the Army with the BvS10 Sindhu, a heavily customized and Indianized variant of BAE Systems Hägglunds’ renowned BvS10 articulated all-terrain vehicle. This move represents a major push for indigenous defence manufacturing under the “Make in India” initiative. The initial order covers 18 vehicles, but Army officials have indicated strong interest in acquiring over 100 more once the first batch proves its performance in extreme high-altitude and glacial conditions along India’s northern borders. A senior L&T Defence executive told idrw.org that even with the initial small quantity,…

According to a New York Times report, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, recently highlighted his company’s $17.5 billion investment in artificial intelligence while speaking in New Delhi, emphasizing the potential benefits for India’s 1.4 billion citizens. At nearly the same time, Amazon announced its own ambitious plan, pledging $35 billion toward AI-driven projects across the country. This influx of funds is part of a broader surge in investment in India’s data centers, cloud computing, and related infrastructure. Just two months before the Microsoft and Amazon announcements, Google had committed $15 billion to data centers in collaboration with Indian conglomerates Adani…

Blaise Noronha, Founder and CEO of Mercato Minds Pvt Ltd, emphasizes that passion alone is not enough to create a successful business. While enthusiasm and belief in one’s product are important, he says entrepreneurs must also understand the reality of running a business and plan carefully. Blaise shared that many entrepreneurs assume that prior experience, skills, or confidence will automatically lead to success. However, real-world entrepreneurship often brings unexpected challenges. Customers may not understand technical language or strategy, and assumptions do not always work. It takes time to identify the true pain points of both entrepreneurs and customers before meaningful…

In a standout example of student innovation and frugal engineering, three mechanical engineering students from Bhagwan Mahavir University, Surat — Shivam Maurya, Gurpreet Arora and Ganesh Patil — have developed ‘Garuda’, India’s first driverless AI-powered bike prototype using nearly 50 % scrap materials. The project showcases how young engineers can blend creativity, sustainability and advanced technology to build cutting-edge prototypes without relying on expensive components. The idea behind Garuda was ambitious from the start. Over the course of about a year, the team invested around ₹1.8 lakh, sourcing discarded metal parts and reusable components to construct much of the bike’s structure…

Delivery and gig workers from major food delivery and e-commerce platforms, including Swiggy, Zomato, Zepto, Blinkit, Amazon, and Flipkart, are observing an all-India strike on December 25 and 31. The protest highlights deteriorating working conditions and the denial of fair wages, safety, dignity, and social security. “Despite being the backbone of last-mile delivery, especially during peak seasons and festivals, delivery workers face long hours, falling earnings, unsafe delivery targets, arbitrary ID blocking, lack of job security, and absence of basic welfare protections,” said the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU) and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT).…

The Centre has concluded the country’s largest electric bus tender under the Prime Minister Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme, with PMI Electro emerging as the biggest winner. The company secured orders for 5,210 of the 10,900 buses up for bidding, nearly half of the total. Currently, PMI Electro accounts for roughly a quarter of the 4,239 electric buses sold in India during 2025 and already has an order book of 3,000 buses, cementing its position as the nation’s largest electric bus manufacturer. EKA Mobility, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Industries, emerged as the second-largest beneficiary with…