📸 Iranian photojournalist gets 15-year sentence

Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moaiery has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by Iran's Revolutionary Court. The sentencing occurred under new legislation following the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict in 2025. She was accused of giving interviews to hostile media and providing photos to US and Israel-linked organizations. Moaiery previously served time for covering the 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests in 2022. She now has only 10 days to appeal this latest verdict. 📸

🧑‍⚖️ Bar Council reverses NALSAR enrolment ban after backlash

The Bar Council of India withdrew an order preventing enrolment for 2026 NALSAR graduates who opposed CJI Surya Kant's convocation appearance. This decision came after the Cockroach Janta Party warned of student protests regarding the directive. The council will continue an inquiry into those instrumental in the campaign against the CJI's participation. NALSAR has kept the invitation to the CJI despite student protests over police force allegations. The BCI also demanded detailed reports from the university concerning the organized campaign activities. 🧑‍⚖️

🚀 Pakistan's Moon Mission Gets a Chinese Boost

Pakistan is embarking on its first lunar mission, codenamed 'Jinnah-1'. This ambitious project is being supported by China, which is providing the necessary lift capabilities for the endeavor. The mission is scheduled to take off on September 17, 2025. This step marks a significant advancement in Pakistan's space exploration capabilities. Further details regarding the mission's trajectory and goals are yet to be officially released. 🚀

🚗 Bengaluru drafts new parking rules with higher fees

Bengaluru has released a draft of new parking regulations for the city. These rules affect various vehicles across the metropolitan area. The proposed charges include up to Rs 80 per hour for on-street parking, and an annual fee of Rs 25,000 for SUVs. This move comes as the city grapples with increasing traffic congestion issues. Authorities plan to implement these changes after public feedback is incorporated.

✈️ India boosting tourism with new digital platform

The Union Ministry of Tourism is digitally promoting Indian destinations using the revamped Incredible India Digital Platform (IIDP). This platform was developed to be a complete digital resource for travelers and tourism stakeholders across India. As of August 13, 2026, the IIDP is available in multiple languages and offers real-time travel tools. It showcases diverse experiences like culture, adventure, and wellness, and facilitates bookings through various online partners. These initiatives aim to boost the digital visibility of destinations, including those in Andhra Pradesh.

🤖 L&T bags massive order for India's largest AI factory

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured an order valued between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 crore. This deal is for building the nation's largest single-cluster artificial intelligence infrastructure facility in Chennai. The project involves setting up an NVIDIA B300-based AI Factory at Vyoma.AI's Chennai data centre campus. This factory will power the AI-native cloud platform for the US-based Together AI, boosting India's AI ecosystem. L&T's Chairman stated this marks a major milestone in their Gigawatt AI Infrastructure Mission.

🚆 TN government to rework Coimbatore Metro Rail plan

The TVK-led government in Tamil Nadu will revise the Coimbatore Metro Rail proposal and submit it to the Union government. Minister V. Sampathkumar announced this on Thursday, August 13, in Coimbatore. The Centre previously rejected the project last month, deeming it not viable for the city. The government has started discussions because Coimbatore needs a metro rail system. A detailed project report will be prepared and submitted to the Centre soon. 🚆

🤖 New AI model covers 65 Indian languages 🇮🇳

IISc's SPIRE Lab, with ARTPARK and Google's help, released SraVaani, a speech AI model covering 65 Indian languages and dialects. This model supports 20 scheduled and 45 regional languages, potentially reaching 25 crore people not served by current systems. The coverage spans many regions, including 19 from the Northeast and 16 from eastern India. SraVaani is freely available on Hugging Face under an MIT license for developers to use. This aims to build inclusive, sovereign AI capabilities across India's linguistic diversity.

👀 Nagaland Minister's KYC Fail Highlights Tech Glitches

Nagaland Tourism and Higher Education Minister Temjen Imna Along shared a video showing a KYC eye scan repeatedly failing on a Naga man. This happened in a setting where biometric verification is often required across the region. The video was shared on August 13, 2026, showing the difficulty of iris scanning. This highlights the non-inclusive design in biometric technologies for diverse communities. The minister uses humour to point out this real problem in tech accessibility. 🧐

⚖️ Karnataka HC: Trap money back without long trial wait

The Karnataka High Court ruled that complainants in bribery cases can get their trap money back without waiting for the trial to finish. This applies to complainants who provided funds for trap operations against officials demanding bribes. The court stated that the prosecuting agency must return the equivalent amount from the State exchequer after the trap proceedings conclude. Delaying the return would be seen as penalizing the public spirit of the complainant. This decision aims to boost public trust in anti-corruption efforts. ⚖️

🛰️ NASA wants tiny sun-powered floats to map space's edge

NASA is exploring a new method to study the 'ignorosphere,' the tricky area between 30-100 kilometers in the atmosphere. Researchers, utilizing a technology from Rarefied Technologies, plan to deploy microscopic sensors that float using the photophoretic effect. These sensors will be launched by balloons to reach about 30 km, then autonomously rise to their stable altitude of 90-100 km. Instead of transmitting data, they will reflect LIDAR light, allowing orbiting satellites to track their ionospheric conditions. While nighttime drops are a hurdle, this could revolutionize upper atmosphere weather monitoring. 🛰️