The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to the continuation of the National Social Assistance Programme- NSAP for five years, from 2026-27 to 2030-31 with a total outlay of 53,428 crore rupees. The approval also includes renaming of this scheme and sub-schemes with revision in eligibility criteria, coverage and rate of assistance for divyangjan pension and continuation of pension schemes for old aged and widows and family benefit scheme in its existing form. The National Social Assistance Programme has been renamed as Pradhan Mantri Samajik Sahayata Yojana. The Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme will now be named as Pradhan Mantri Vridhavastha Pension Yojana, while the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme will become Pradhan Mantri Vidhawa Pension Yojana.The Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme has been renamed as Pradhan Mantri Divyangjan Pension Yojana and while the National Family Benefit Scheme will be called Pradhan Mantri Parivar Labh Yojana.

Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishanw said that the amount of assistance under divyangjan pension scheme will now be 375 rupees for the age group of up to 79 yrs and 625 rupees for 80 yrs and above. Mr Vaishanw said that the criteria for benchmark disability will be 40 percent against 80 percent at present for divyangjan. He said, under it , the minimum age criterion for the disability pension will now be since birth. He informed that a total of three crore and 20 lakh beneficiaries across all the 36 States and UTs will be benefitted from this approval.
He said, Pension schemes for old aged and widows and family benefit scheme will continue in its existing form. The guidelines consisting of the change in eligibility criteria, number of beneficiaries and rate of assistance under divyangjan pension will be issued and implemented within three months.

A science-led initiative of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is gaining traction among coastal women, helping them build livelihoods as entrepreneurs in fish farming, ornamental aquaculture and seafood value addition.

The institute’s Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Hub has facilitated 84 micro-enterprise initiatives across eight districts of Kerala between 2022 and 2026, with the aim of improving livelihoods and creating opportunities for income diversification.

Vipinkumar V.P., Principal Scientist, said the project has directly benefitted 469 people, including 220 women and six transgender persons, with indirect benefits expected to reach around 2,500 others. The impact assessment of the project reveals that household incomes of beneficiaries have increased by 30–35 per cent. The STI Hub extended 141 training programmes that strengthened their technical and entrepreneurial skills.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday underscored the need to develop indigenous defence technologies as IIT Kanpur announced plans to establish a major drone hub in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence to indigenise critical components currently imported from abroad, as the institute launched a USD 1 billion fundraising campaign to strengthen research and innovation.

Speaking at the launch of IIT Kanpur’s ‘Greater Than Us’ campaign at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Singh said India’s commitment to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ must extend beyond domestic production to developing the capacity to design, create and innovate, while the institute’s Director Manindra Agrawal told ANI in an exclusive interview that the proposed drone hub would focus on defence applications and reduce dependence on foreign components.

“Our commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat is central to this aspiration. Self-reliance is not merely about producing more within our borders; it is about developing the capacity to think, design, create and innovate,” Singh said.

Cheruvayal Raman, fondly known as 'Ramettan' and revered as the "Guardian of Native Paddy" and India's "living paddy gene bank," passed away at 74.

A prominent voice of indigenous agro-biodiversity, Raman passed away while undergoing cardio-related treatment at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital.

His departure marks the end of an extraordinary era of grassroots conservation, leaving behind an incomparable legacy of traditional wisdom, ecological stewardship, and community resilience.

CtrlS Datacenters on Tuesday inaugurated a Rs 400-crore data centre in Patna and announced it has signed a letter of intent with the Bihar government to invest Rs 10,000 crore to set up a 150 MW hyperscale AI factory in Bodh Gaya.

The Patna facility, inaugurated in the presence of Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, currently offers an IT load of 12 MW, which can be expanded based on future demand, the company said in a statement.

"The company has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Government of Bihar to invest Rs 10,000 crore to set up a 150 MW hyperscale AI factory in Bodh Gaya, in addition to inaugurating its data centre in Patna," it said.

Driven by dam construction, invasive plantations, and escalating climate extremes, Keralam’s tropical riparian evergreen forests in the southern Western Ghats have suffered a devastating 83% loss over the past century. This alarming decline places these vital natural habitats on a path toward potential collapse within the next 20 to 40 years, earning them a Critically Endangered status status under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria.

Other irreplaceable habitats across the State, including delicate myristica swamps, high-altitude shola-grassland mosaics, and coastal mangroves, face similar existential threats from rapid urban expansion and rising sea levels.

Google has launched Gemini 4 Argon, its latest AI model designed to handle complex tasks across software development, cybersecurity, finance, legal work, scientific research and robotics. The company says the model offers improvements in multi-step reasoning, visual understanding and autonomous task execution.

Gemini 4 Argon is available globally to developers and enterprises through the Gemini API. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers can also access it through the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search, subject to subscription eligibility. The model is also available through Google Antigravity for eligible users.

Gemini 4 Argon price and availability

Google has introduced Gemini 4 Argon at an introductory price of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Cached input tokens are available at a 95% discount. From December 1, 2026, the pricing will increase to $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens.

Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh has described the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026 as a special occasion for the national team, with the tournament set to bring international hockey back to Punjab from October 27 to November 5, celebrating a state that has shaped generations of Indian hockey players.

India will compete alongside Malaysia, South Korea, China, Japan, and Bangladesh in the six-team tournament, which will be hosted across Jalandhar and Mohali. The competition marks the second time India will stage the men’s edition of the Asian Champions Trophy, following Chennai’s hosting in 2023.

For Harmanpreet, the tournament carries a personal significance, with the Indian skipper anticipating the opportunity to play an international match in his home state in front of family members.

“It’s going to be a special occasion for the entire team, especially for the players who belong to Punjab because it’s the first time that we will be wearing India jersey at an international tournament in Punjab,” said India captain Harmanpreet Singh.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Wednesday released a framework for tackling cyber-enabled fraud, ‌as the Thai government underlined the mounting cost of online scams ⁠that have roiled the region.

The framework, known as the Bangkok Blueprint for Fraud-Resilient Financial ‌Services, is aimed at assisting policymakers, regulators, financial institutions and ‌other stakeholders, but is not formal ‌IMF-World ⁠Bank policy guidance

“Digital fraud and ⁠scams have become a global problem,” Thai Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said at the launch of the framework at ‌the annual IMF and World Bank meetings in Bangkok. “It has cost the world economy around $1 trillion annually, or 3% ‌of GDP”

Oscar Whitfield's photo of a dung beetle pushing along a ball of animal poo picked up both the Young Wildlife Photographer award, and the prize in the 11-14 age category.

The NHM says that dung beetles have an important role to play in nature, as breaking up and burying poo helps it decompose faster, and prevents larger quantities of methane gas entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Amelie Davis, also from the UK was announced as the winner of the of 10 years and under category with a colourful bee photo she took with her dad's phone.

This year marks the photography competition's 62nd birthday and over 65,000 talented photographers of all ages from across the globe took part.

The winners will be showcased in an exhibition at the museum from Friday 16 October. Read on to check out some of the other winners.