Appointments
ONDC β New Acting CEO
Vibhor Jain (ex-JUMO.WORLD India & Mobike India CEO) appointed Acting CEO of ONDC after Thampy Koshy resigned (effective June 30, 2025). ONDC was established in 2021 under DPIIT to democratise digital commerce by creating an open e-commerce network.
Acquisitions
LIC Hikes Stake in Bank of India
LIC raised its shareholding in Bank of India from 6.35% to 8.38% via open market purchases (Sep 2021βMay 2025). Government (promoters) hold 73.38%; SBI PSU Fund holds 1.52%. Signals LIC’s long-term confidence in public sector banking growth.
Defence & Technology
Akashteer β Operation Sindoor
India’s Akashteer, an indigenous C4ISR-based air defence system, successfully intercepted all enemy drones and missiles during Operation Sindoor (May 9β10, 2025). Includes the Akash NG missile; vehicle-mounted for mobile deployment. Pakistan’s HQ-9 & HQ-16 Chinese-origin systems failed by comparison.
Sports β Chess
L R Srihari β India’s 86th Chess GM
L R Srihari (Tamil Nadu, age 19) became India’s 86th Grandmaster at the Asian Individual Chess Championship, Al-Ain, UAE. 3rd GM norm achieved vs Iniyan Paneerselvam. Prior norms: Budapest 2023, Qatar 2023. Crossed 2500 FIDE Elo at Dubai Open 2024.
Sports β Chess
2025 Asian Individual Chess Championship
Held in Al-Ain, UAE (May 6β16) with 250+ players from 38 countries. Open winner: Bardiya Daneshvar (Iran), 7/9. Women’s winner: IM Song Yuxin (China), 7/9. India’s Nihal Sarin narrowly missed top spot on tiebreaks.
Sports β Chess
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024β25 Final Standings
Zhu Jiner (China, 352.5 pts) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia, 308.34 pts) qualify for the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates. Koneru Humpy (India) placed 4th with 279.17 pts. Muzychuk (Ukraine) missed 2nd by just 1.67 pts. Series spanned 6 legs across 6 countries.
Sports β Athletics
Neeraj Chopra β National Record at Doha DL 2025
Neeraj Chopra threw a new national record of 90.23 m at the Doha Diamond League 2025 (May 16), finishing 2nd. Julian Weber (Germany) won with 91.06 m. Parul Chaudhary broke India’s steeplechase national record (9:13.39), qualifying for the World Athletics Championships, Tokyo.
Obituary
Nepaldeb Bhattacharjee (1950β2025)
Senior CPI(M) leader Nepaldeb Bhattacharjee passed away at 74 in Kolkata. He served as Rajya Sabha MP (1981β88) and SFI General Secretary (1979β86). He also directed the Bengali film ‘Chaka’ (2000) featuring Mithun Chakraborty β a notable intersection of politics and cinema.