Mysuru’s Dasara celebrations reached a new milestone when 3,473 drones lit up the night sky to create a giant dancing peacock. The display took place on October 18 at the Torchlight Parade Ground in Bannimantap, Mysuru, and earned a Guinness World Records title.

The show brought together modern technology and Karnataka’s rich culture, with the peacock, India’s national bird, taking centre stage. The colourful display was organised as part of the annual festival and added a new highlight to the city’s celebrations.

Thousands Of Drones Create A Record-Breaking Peacock

The Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) organised the show, while Delhi-based BotLab Dynamics handled the drone display.

According to reports, the team created the largest aerial display of a bird using multirotor drones. BotLab Dynamics, a company incubated at IIT Delhi, shared a video of the display on Instagram. The footage showed the peacock taking shape in the sky, with its colourful feathers appearing to move as the drones changed positions in sync.

Defence Secretary RK Singh on Friday said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is working with the AI Mission to develop a dedicated military layer, offering secure domestic computing infrastructure for decision-making support, target acquisition and data fusion, leading to a sensor-to-shooter loop.

In a fireside chat at a KPMG event, Singh also said that the Ministry would piggyback on companies already working with the AI Mission to develop an AI layer for the military and sustain technological sovereignty in such critical capability domains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to undertake a two-hour visit to Odisha on October 25 to inaugurate the Reserve Bank of India's Rs 169-crore data centre on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, officials said on Friday.

According to the tentative itinerary shared by the chief secretary's office, PM Modi is scheduled to land at Biju Patnaik International Airport here around 4.30 pm aboard a special Indian Air Force aircraft.

From the airport, the PM will take a helicopter to Khurda helipad and then proceed by road to the RBI facility at Info Valley-II in Jatni for the inauguration ceremony.

He is likely to spend an hour at the RBI's data centre and return to Bhubaneswar by road before departing the state around 6.30 pm, according to the itinerary.

Green baize baron Pankaj Advani of India came up with a splendid display to outclass Robert Hall of England 1906-1206 in the final of the WBL World Billiards Championships at Great Wyrley, England, late on Thursday night.

The runaway victory in the five-hour final was the Bengalurean’s 29th World title of his career and his 21st in billiards. The 41-year-old Indian also avenged his loss to Hall in the semifinals of the English Open, a prelude to the World Championships.

In the eight-player women’s draw, India’s Shruthi L defeated Australia’s Anna Lynch 347-222 to retain her title. Shruthi, who also competed in the men’s division but failed to make the knockout rounds, had defeated fellow Indian Keerath Bhandaal in the semifinals.

Home Ministry will launch a first-of-its-kind pilot initiative to strengthen Civil Defence preparedness by providing specialised training to Civil Defence Master Trainers through the Indian Army. The Directorate General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards will provide the training, with an aim to establish a vibrant Civil Defence Network in the country.

The Ministry said that the three-day training for Civil Defence Master Trainers will be conducted in 12 States and Union Territories in the first phase by the second week of November this year. The Ministry said, in the first phase, a total of 600 Civil Defence Master Trainers, with 50 from each participating State and Union Territories, are proposed to be trained. The participating states and UTs are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

A newly-created international climate fund that seeks to provide financial assistance to countries affected by climate disasters decided on Thursday to earmark US $20 million for Nepal to help it recover from the devastating flash floods in August, making it the first beneficiary of international funding for loss and damage – a long-pending demand of developing countries.

The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), created in 2022, convened an emergency board meeting on Thursday at the request of Nepal and several other developing countries. The Board decided to “provisionally set aside” a sum of $

India’s Nitesh Kumar and Naveen Sivakumar clinched gold medals in men’s singles SL3 and SL4, respectively, in the badminton competition at the Asian Para Games here on Friday (October 23).

Nitesh produced a clinical performance to beat compatriot Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in a clash between two Paralympic gold medallists.

”Very happy to win the Asian Games gold medal. Last time I was close, I was leading 19-16 in the third set, and then I lost. So this time, winning it and again winning in two sets against Pramod is, of course, very special, and I think it’s one of the rarest of the rare things to see,” said Nitesh, the Paris Paralympic gold medallist.

Greece’s Parliament approved a bill on Friday (October 23, 2026) that bans the ‌use of social media platforms for children under ⁠15 amid growing concerns over their impact on the health ‌and safety of minors.

The ban comes ‌into force on ‌January ⁠1, 2027

Australia was ⁠the first country to pass legislation to curb the use of social media ‌by minors, doing so last year. A similar law passed in France was ‌struck down by the country’s Constitutional Council in August

Greek Prime ⁠Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said social media platforms have 2-1/2 ‌months to devise a way to verify users’ ages and protect their privacy

Greece is among seven European Union countries ‌seeking an age verification solution with the European Commission

Greece says it is ⁠standing by parents to help ⁠curb the “endless scrolling” that deprives children ‌of sleep, concentration and time with their friends

Telangana government will host Raksha Expo 2026, the inaugural edition of the State-level expo for the aerospace, space, defence and internal security sectors, from December 7 to 9 at the Bharat Future City, near Hyderabad, as part of the Invest Telangana Global Summit 2026.

It is the first such expo being organised by any State and the first in the country to bring space and internal security together with aerospace and defence on one platform. Raksha Expo will serve as a forum to showcase Telangana’s vision for defence sector and support India’s mission to become aatmanirbhar in defence research design and manufacturing capabilities and emerge as a global exporter.

Seeking to highlight how the State must be part of the revolutionary change underway in the defence industry, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said “the nature of conflict is changing. Conventional methods of warfare and statecraft now operate alongside drones and new-age missiles. Telangana must be the centre of this revolution.”

The state government has directed local bodies across the state to enforce mandatory rainwater harvesting in all buildings, both urban and rural, and restore defunct structures as part of a statewide campaign to promote rainwater conservation during the northeast monsoon.

The order, issued on October 16, calls for inspections of government offices, schools, hospitals and other public institutions, besides residential and commercial buildings, to ensure that rainwater harvesting systems are functional.

Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday inaugurated an awareness campaign on rainwater harvesting and launched ‘Thuli’, the campaign’s raindrop logo, at an event on Marina Beach in Chennai.