👔 Appointments
The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) appointed its Chief Operating Officer Vibhor Jain as Acting CEO, effective immediately, following the resignation of Thampy Koshy (effective June 30, 2025).
- Jain previously led operations at JUMO.WORLD India and served as CEO of Mobike India
- Earlier co-founded Atlanta Healthcare and spent over a decade at Andersen/EY advising governments on public policy and digital transformation
Established 2021 under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry | Mission: democratise digital commerce in India by creating an open, interoperable e-commerce network.
💼 Business & Economy
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) raised its shareholding in Bank of India (BoI) from 6.35% to 8.38% through open market transactions between September 2, 2021 and May 9, 2025, as disclosed in a stock exchange filing.
| Shareholder Category | Stake (as of March 2025) |
|---|---|
| Promoters | 73.38% |
| Public Shareholders | 26.62% |
| LIC (within public) | 8.38% |
| SBI PSU Fund (within public) | 1.52% |
🔬 Science & Technology
Akashteer — India’s fully indigenous automated air defence control and reporting system — neutralised and intercepted every inbound aerial threat during the India–Pakistan military standoff on May 9–10, 2025 (Operation Sindoor). The system, including the Akash NG (Next Generation), intercepted multiple missiles and drone swarms launched from Pakistan. Pakistan’s imported HQ-9 and HQ-16 systems failed to detect or intercept Indian strikes.
- Part of India’s C4ISR framework (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance)
- Vehicle-mounted, mobile deployment design for hostile environments
Akashteer achieved a 100% intercept rate during the standoff — the first real-world operational validation of India’s fully indigenous air defence network.
🏅 Sports
19-year-old L R Srihari of Tamil Nadu became India’s 86th Chess Grandmaster (GM) by earning his third GM norm at the Asian Individual Men’s Chess Championship 2025, held in Al-Ain, UAE (May 6–15, 2025). He secured the norm against GM Iniyan Paneerselvam.
- 1st norm — Budapest GM Round-Robin, August 2023
- 2nd norm — Qatar Masters, October 2023
- 2500 FIDE Elo crossed at the 2024 Dubai Open
1st GM – Viswanathan Anand (1988) | 1st Woman GM – Koneru Humpy (2002; youngest woman GM at 15 at the time) | 85th GM – P Shyaamnikhil (May 2024)
At the 2025 Asian Chess Championship (May 6–16, Al-Ain, UAE) featuring 250+ players from 38 countries in a nine-round Swiss format:
| Category | Winner | Score | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | GM Bardiya Daneshvar (Iran) | 7/9 | GM Nihal Sarin (India) — lost on tiebreaks |
| Women’s | IM Song Yuxin (China) | 7/9 | IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova (Uzbekistan) |
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix (WGP) 2024–25 series comprised six events across six countries (August 2024 – May 2025). Zhu Jiner (China) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) qualified for the 2026 FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament.
| Rank | Player | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhu Jiner | China | 352.5 |
| 2 | Aleksandra Goryachkina | Russia | 308.34 |
| 3 | Anna Muzychuk | Ukraine | 306.67 |
| 4 | Koneru Humpy 🇮🇳 | India | 279.17 |
| 5 | Tan Zhongyi | China | 255 |
The final leg (Grosslobming, Austria) was won by Ukraine’s Anna Muzychuk (6/9), who narrowly missed qualifying by 1.67 points.
India’s Neeraj Chopra secured 2nd place in the men’s javelin throw at the 2025 Doha Diamond League held at Qatar Sports Club, Doha on May 16, with a throw of 90.23 metres — his national record.
| Rank | Athlete | Country | Throw |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julian Weber | Germany | 91.06 m |
| 2 | Neeraj Chopra 🇮🇳 | India | 90.23 m (NR) |
| 3 | Anderson Peters | Grenada | 85.34 m |
| 8 | Kishore Jena 🇮🇳 | India | 78.60 m |
- Parul Chaudhary — 6th in women’s 3000m steeplechase (9:13.39); broke her own national record; qualified for 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo
- Gulveer Singh — 9th in men’s 5000m (13:24.32)
🕊️ Obituaries
Nepaldeb Bhattacharjee — senior CPI(M) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP — passed away at the age of 74 in Kolkata, West Bengal. Born on December 19, 1950 in Bhatpara, North 24 Parganas.
- General Secretary, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) — 1979 to 1986
- Rajya Sabha MP — 1981 to 1988, representing West Bengal
- District Secretary, CPI(M), North 24 Parganas — 2015
- Film enthusiast; directed the Bengali film ‘Chaka’ (2000) featuring Mithun Chakraborty
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