Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday said that the ISRO’s SpaDEX mission has successfully achieved second docking of satellites.

In a post on X social media platform, the minister said he is "glad to inform that the second docking of satellites has been accomplished successfully".

“As informed earlier, the PSLV-C60 / SPADEX mission was successfully launched on 30 December 2024. Thereafter the satellites were successfully docked for the first time on 16 January 2025 at 06:20 AM and successfully undocked on 13 March 2025 at 09:20 AM,” he mentioned.

The minister further said that further experiments are planned in the next two weeks.

In January, with the successful docking of the satellites of the SpaDEX mission, India became the fourth nation to ace the space docking technology.

ISRO informed the merging of two small spacecraft -- SDX01, the Chaser, and SDX02, the Target -- weighing about 220 kg each. The satellites were part of the Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX) mission, which lifted off aboard the PSLV-C60 rocket, from Sriharikota on December 30.

In a significant boost to India’s defence exports, the second batch of batteries of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system has been dispatched to the Philippines.

The first battery was sent in April 2024 in an IAF aircraft, with support coming from civil aircraft agencies.

The long-haul flight carrying the heavy load was a non-stop six-hour journey before the equipment reached the western parts of the Philippines, according to multiple reports, citing sources.

The deal with the Philippines was announced in January 2022 for the supply of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

The Philippines will get three batteries for the missile system, which has a range of 290 kilometres and a speed of 2.8 Mach (around 3,400 kms, thrice the speed of sound). The BrahMos missile can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.

The domestic benchmark indices opened higher on Monday amid positive global cues, as buying was seen in the IT, PSU bank and financial services sectors in the early trade.

At around 9.29 am, Sensex was trading 396.06 points or 0.50 per cent up at 78,949.26 while the Nifty added 98.20 points or 0.41 per cent at 23,949.85.

Nifty Bank was up 862.25 points or 1.59 per cent at 55,152.45. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading at 52,891.30 after adding 233.50 points or 0.44 per cent. Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 16,460.35 after climbing 50.15 points or 0.31 per cent.

According to market watchers, after the positive opening, Nifty is likely to find support at 23,700, followed by 22,600 and 22,500. On the upside, 24,000 may act as the immediate resistance, followed by 24,200 and 24,500.

A team of negotiators, led by Commerce Secretary-designate Rajesh Agarwal, is likely to travel to Washington, DC, next week to advance discussions on the proposed India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

The high-level meetings are expected to take place over three days starting April 23, according to reports.

As per officials, the agenda for the talks has been finalised and will cover an extensive range of issues spread across 19 chapters.

These include key areas such as tariffs, non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, trade in goods and services, customs facilitation, and regulatory cooperation.

This round of talks is being closely watched, with both New Delhi and Washington aiming to conclude an early harvest agreement before the fall deadline.

Actress Madhuri Dixit was spotted at producer Nadiadwala's office in the Juhu area of Mumbai on Saturday.

The 'Dhak Dhak' girl looked absolutely ravishing in a black shirt with a matching top underneath. She paired it with baggy gray trousers. The diva was all smiles as she carried a black handbag, along with black sunglasses.

As you might already know, Sajid Nadiadwala, the head of one of the biggest production banners in the industry, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, has backed countless movies with some of the biggest names in Bollywood.

Madhuri visiting his office has raised the possibility of a new project in the works. However, it is still not known what was the actual purpose behind the meet.

The government on Friday said it has introduced key policy measures aimed at strengthening the allocation framework for domestic natural gas, in alignment with its vision of promoting cleaner energy access, enhancing urban air quality, and bolstering domestic energy security.

With a focus on ensuring the sustained availability and affordability of natural gas for key public-facing segments — Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) used in transport and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) used in domestic households for cooking — the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has introduced several important enhancements to the Domestic Gas Allocation Policy.

From Q1 FY 2025-26, domestic natural gas allocations for CNG (T) and PNG (D) segments will be done on a two-quarter advance basis. Allocation will also now include New Well Gas (NWG) from nomination fields of ONGC and OIL, informed the ministry.

The Centre on Friday notified new rules for radar equipment for measuring the speed of vehicles in order to strengthen road safety and ensure fairness in traffic enforcement.

The rules, notified by the Department of Consumer Affairs, make it mandatory for all radar-based speed measurement equipment to be verified and stamped by Legal Metrology authorities., according to an official statement.

These rules will come into force from July 1, 2025, providing sufficient time for industries and enforcement agencies to comply with the provisions, the statement said.

This will ensure that such devices are accurate, calibrated and legally compliant, thereby enhancing transparency, public trust and enforcement integrity. Verified radar systems are vital for applications such as traffic speed monitoring, accident prevention, and minimising wear and tear on road infrastructure, the statement explained.

The green office inventory in India is projected to reach 700 million square feet (sq ft) in the next two-three years, a report showed on Friday, adding that the proportion of leasing in green-certified buildings is expected to rise from 75 per cent currently to about 80-85 per cent in the next few years.

India’s real estate sector is undergoing a major transformation, with sustainability emerging as a key cornerstone and growth driver across asset classes.

According to a CREDAI-Colliers’ report, green-certified office buildings have higher occupancy levels at 80-90 per cent, commanding rental premium of up to 25 per cent.

As of 2024, green-certified office stock in India stood at about 503 million sq ft, representing 66 per cent of the total Grade A inventory across the top six cities.

The 40 per cent rise in green office stock since the beginning of the ongoing decade reflects developers’ commitment to evolving market scenario and the resultant occupier preferences.

The government on Friday dismissed media reports about the nationwide implementation of satellite-based tolling system from May 1.

In a statement, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said some sections of the media have reported that a satellite-based Tolling System will be launched from 1st May 2025 and will replace the existing FASTag-based toll collection system.

“This is to clarify that no such decision has been taken by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways or National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) regarding the nationwide implementation of satellite-based tolling from 1st May 2025,” said the ministry.

In order to enable seamless, barrier-free movement of vehicles through toll plazas and reduce travel time ‘ANPR-FASTag-based Barrier-Less Tolling System’ will be implemented at selected toll plazas, it informed.

The advanced tolling system will combine ‘Automatic Number Plate Recognition’ (ANPR) technology, that will identify vehicles by reading their number plates, and the existing ‘FASTag system’ that uses Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) for toll deduction.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) has issued revised instructions to the officers for processing GST registration applications, that will reduce compliance burden on taxpayers and facilitate rule-based transparency, it was announced on Friday.

Several grievances have been received by the CBIC), Department of Revenue, regarding difficulties being faced by applicants during the GST registration process, mainly on account of queries raised by officers on the grounds of seeking additional documents.

To resolve these grievances and to smoothen GST registration process, CBIC has issued new instructions.

“Officers have been instructed to strictly adhere to the prescribed list of documents provided in registration application form. Requisite documents in specific cases to be uploaded with registration application form have also been delineated in the instructions,” according to the Ministry of Finance.