The 18th edition of Exercise Surya Kiran, a joint military exercise between India and Nepal aimed at enhancing interoperability and fostering collaboration between the two nations' armies, began on Tuesday.

The annual training event is conducted alternatively in the two countries.

The exercise, taking place at the Nepal Army Battle School, Saljhandi in the Shivalik ranges of Western Nepal, will be conducted till January 13.

It "aims to enhance interoperability, primarily in the fields of Counter Terrorism (CT) Operations," according to an X post by the Indian embassy here.

"Exercise Surya Kiran signifies the strong bond of friendship, trust and common military linkages that exist between India and Nepal," it said.

In Russia, a new tourist tax has come into effect across the country from today, replacing the previous resort fee.

According to the RIA Novosti news agency, travelers staying in hotels and other accommodations will contribute an additional 1 percent of their lodging costs.

This is intended to bolster regional tourism infrastructure.

The tax was introduced as part of amendments to the Russian Tax Code in July 2024. This has added a new chapter titled “Tourist Tax,” granting regional authorities discretion to implement the tax as a local levy.

Many regions, particularly those with established or emerging tourism industries, have already embraced the initiative.

Under the current framework, the tourist tax will begin at a rate of 1 percent in 2025 and gradually rise to 3 percent by 2027.

In the Hockey India League, Hyderabad Toofans secured a bonus point with a 5-4 shootout victory over Delhi SG Pipers after a 2-2 draw in regulation time in Rourkela, Odisha, yesterday.

Hyderabad took an early lead with goals from Amandeep Lakra and Gonzalo Peillat via penalty corners. Delhi responded through Dilraj Singh and Gareth Furlong, who scored from penalty corners to equalize.

Both teams created several chances but failed to capitalize on penalty corners and open play opportunities in the third and fourth quarters. Hyderabad had a late opportunity to win the game, but their penalty corner attempt rebounded off the post.

The match went into a shootout, where Hyderabad held their nerves to edge out Delhi 5-4.

In a historic and unprecedented result, reigning World Blitz Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway shared the 2024 World Blitz Championship title with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi on Wall Street, New York, on Wednesday.

The decision to share the title was made after both players played three consecutive draws in the sudden-death stage. Earlier, Carlsen had started the final with back-to-back wins and needed just a draw to secure victory, but Nepomniachtchi demonstrated incredible fight and resilience. He achieved two must-win victories, forcing sudden death after the final score was tied at 2–2.

With nothing to separate the players in three sudden-death games, Carlsen offered Nepomniachtchi the opportunity to share the title before FIDE gave its final confirmation.

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Tuesday sentenced Gilgit-Baltistan’s former chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan to 34 years in prison for threatening the region’s security agencies.

Cases of sedition and terrorism were registered against Khan following a protest in July 2024, where he was accused of delivering a threatening speech.

The Anti-Terrorism Court No. 1 of Gilgit-Baltistan stated in its ruling that according to the prosecution, Khan had threatened the Chief Secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan, police personnel, and intelligence agencies during the protest in Gilgit on July 26, 2024. The former chief minister reportedly claimed he would not spare anyone if he came to power again.

More than 100 people, including child rights activists from Nepal and India, children and civil society members have joined hands to launch ‘Child Marriage Free Nepal’ campaign amidst Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli‘s pledge to end this crime.

The event organised in Kathmandu on Tuesday was led by Nepal’s Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Kishor Sah Sudi alongside Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, former chief minister of Lumni province and founder of BASE (Backward Society Education) Nepal, and India’s child right activist Bhuvan Bibhu.

The campaign has been launched by the Ministry of Women and Children with support from Indian organisation Just Right for Children and Nepal’s Backward Society Education, according to a press release issued on Wednesday.
Between December 2 and 8, three dozen countries from three continents participated in the JRC’s Child Marriage Free World pledge-taking ceremonies against child marriage.

The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) on Friday announced that legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar has accepted an invitation of an Honorary Cricket Membership at the club.

“An icon honoured. The MCC is pleased to announce that former Indian captain @sachin_rt has accepted an Honorary Cricket Membership, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to the game,” the MCC posted on X.

Founded in 1838, the MCC is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia and is responsible for the management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), one of the game’s premier venues.

Russia declared a federal state of emergency on Friday, December 27, 2024, after an oil spill in the Black Sea after an oil tanker split catastrophically in the middle of a fierce winter storm. According to Russian Emergencies Ministry's head, Alexander Kurenkov, the declaration was made after a safety meeting that day.

The incident and its impact

A Russian oil tanker named Volgoneft 212, carrying more than 4,000 tons of fuel, broke apart off the coast of Crimea on December 15, 2024. Videos of the sinking showed half the vessel submerged in water. The authorities began a rescue operation to save the crew, although one was killed in the disaster.

Two other ships, the Volgoneft 239 and the Volgoneft 109, also experienced the same problems. However, their crew were rescued immediately.

Kaamya Karthikeyan, 17, has etched her name in history as the youngest female to conquer the highest peak on each of the seven continents. Accompanied by her father, Cdr S Karthikeyan, the young adventurer reached the summit of Mount Vincent in Antarctica at 17.20 Chilean Standard Time on December 24, completing the prestigious Seven Summits Challenge, the Indian Navy reported.

A Class 12 student at Navy Children School in Mumbai, she had previously conquered Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mt Elbrus in Europe, Mt Kosciuszko in Australia, Mt Aconcagua in South America, Mt Denali in North America, and Mt Everest in Asia.

Congratulating Karthikeyan on her remarkable achievements, the official handle of the Indian Navy wrote, “Ms Kaamya Karthikeyan, class XII student at @IN_NCSMumbai, scripts history by becoming the youngest female in the world to scale seven highest peaks across seven continents – Africa (Mt. Kilimanjaro), Europe (Mt. Elbrus), Australia (Mt. Kosciuszko), South America (Mt. Aconcagua), North America (Mt. Denali), Asia (Mt. Everest) & culminating with the current climb in Antarctica.”

Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen secured third place at the King Cup International Badminton Open 2024 after defeating French opponent Alex Lanier in Shenzhen, China, on Sunday.

Sen, India's best-placed singles player at world No. 12, triumphed over world No. 18 Lanier with a 21-17, 21-11 scoreline in the third-place playoff match.

The Indian badminton player advanced to the third-place match after losing to China's Hu Zhe'an, the reigning junior world champion and current world No 1, in the semi-finals.