The government has approved the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) proposal to introduce polymer banknotes in the denominations of 10 and 20 rupees. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed that RBI had sent a proposal to the government for the introduction of one billion pieces each of ten and twenty rupee polymer banknotes for field trials. He said regular issuance of polymer banknotes in these two denominations will be done after successful completion of field trials.

The minister said the RBI had informed that, as per international studies, the life span of polymer banknotes is significantly higher than that of paper banknotes. Mr Chaudhary added that the introduction of polymer banknotes is currently in a preliminary phase and the impact on digital payments could be ascertained only after regular issuance of these notes. He said, as per the RBI, polymer banknotes are proposed to be issued along with paper substrate-based banknotes, and there is no proposal to replace paper currency with polymer substrate-based banknotes.

Indian national record holder Sarvesh Anil Kushare jumped 2.25m to win the men’s high jump silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow on Monday.

This is his first major multi-sporting medal as he bettered the bronze medal won by his compatriot Tejaswin Shankar in the last edition.

Sarvesh, who cleared 2.31m last month at Inter State Athletics Championships to create a new national record, cleared the 2.25m mark in his final attempt but failed to clear the 2.28m in three attempts.

His opponent Romaine Beckford failed to clear the 2.28m mark in three attempts but won the gold by the virtue of clearing the 2.25m mark at once.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday congratulated Indian weightlifter Gyaneshwari Yadav for winning the silver medal in the women's 53kg category at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Speaking to reporters, Sai praised Gyaneshwari for her achievement and said she had brought glory to Chhattisgarh with her medal-winning performance.

"Many congratulations to Gyaneshwari Yadav... She has brought glory to Chhattisgarh through her achievements by winning a silver medal. May she continue to scale greater heights..." the Chief Minister said.

The Centre has included the Kosi–Mechi Intra-State Link Project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana–Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP), with central assistance of ₹3,652.56 crore for the balance cost of works. The project is scheduled for completion by March 2029.

According to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the project has a remaining cost of ₹6,143.22 crore, while the remodelling of the Eastern Kosi Main Canal from kilometre 0.00 to 41.30 has been awarded at a contract value of ₹2,639.80 crore. The Ministry said 8.5 per cent physical progress has been achieved so far.

The government also informed Parliament that India remains engaged in regular dialogue with Nepal on the construction of dams on the Kosi River for mutual benefits, including flood management.

The government aims to have a total of 44 airports, including 4 hub airports, to provide seamless international air connectivity, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Air India on Tuesday launched flights under the Hub and Spoke model from Amritsar, the second airport after Varanasi from where such fights have been started.

Presently, there is one hub airport -- Delhi -- and two spoke airports -- Varanasi and Amritsar. The next spoke airport will be Ahmedabad.

The model, that seeks to make India a global aviation hub, will enable seamless connectivity between Tier-II and Tier-III airports with international destinations through hub airports.

The state government has constituted a statewide electronic Telangana Family Register and introduced a facility for the issue of a Family Register Certificate through the MeeSeva platform.

The government decided to launch the Family Register with a view to facilitate the delivery of citizen services, ensuring uniformity in the verification of family particulars, and providing a readily accessible record, according to a government order.

The decision was taken in view of the difficulties being experienced by citizens in producing an authenticated and reliable record of their family composition for the purpose of availing various government services, the order said.

The government has proposed to extend the validity of the Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) for up to six-year-old BS-VI-compliant private vehicles to three years instead of the current one year to ease the burden on owners.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), in a draft notification, has said that BS-VI vehicles aged between six and ten years will be required to renew their PUCC certificate and those above 10 years every six years.

According to the draft notification, while all motor vehicles complying with BS-IV emission norms will have to renew their PUCC every six months, all motor vehicles complying with BS-I, BS-II and BS-III emission norms will have to renew their PUCC every three months.

India will soon equip its space launch vehicles with domestically produced semiconductors, according to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

On Monday, meeting the heads of private space technology company Skyroot Aerospace, after its Vikram-1 Test Flight-1 successfully reached orbit, marking the maiden flight of India’s first privately developed orbital-class rocket, Vaishnaw said on X, “’Made in Bharat’ chips for our rockets... soon!”

Replying to the post by the Union Minister on X, Skyroot acknowledged the government support and stated, “Honoured to meet Hon’ble Union Minister Shri @AshwiniVaishnaw. India’s deep-tech ecosystem is accelerating -- powered by forward-looking reforms, world-class digital infrastructure, and a strong commitment to innovation.”

Para-athlete Sharmila Dhankar clinched India’s second gold medal in this edition of the Commonwealth Games in the Women’s Shot Put F57 Final. Shipla Shyla, the other medallist in the event walked away with bronze with a personal best throw of 7.26m.

Sharmila, who was born in a zamindar family in Haryana’s Chhithroli, ended India’s 20-year wait for a Para Athletics medal at the Commonwealth Games with a season-best throw of 9.81m. She also became India’s first-ever CWG Gold medallist in Para Athletics and the first Indian woman to win a Para Athletics medal at the Games.

India has now won two medals in the same Para Athletics event for the first time at the CWG.

Keralam is leveraging home-grown AI innovation to build a smarter and more resilient agricultural ecosystem that directly benefits farmers and strengthens the State’s agricultural future.

The Indian Institute of Technology Ropar has been roped in to deploy AI-powered smart weather stations, ANNAM.AI, across the State as part of the Kerala government’s 100-day action plan to strengthen climate-smart agriculture and improve farm-level decision-making. The initiative demonstrates how advanced technology can help governments deliver timely, data-driven services to farmers while enhancing long-term agricultural resilience.

Pushpendra Singh, Project Director of ANNAM.AI and Dean at IIT Ropar, said the initiative is aimed at improving farmers’ access to reliable weather information, enabling better planning, reducing input costs and promoting informed farming practices.