Kenya’s Charles Matata broke the course record to win the men’s elite race at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon today, while Ethiopia’s Wudinesh Alemu claimed the women’s title. Matata clocked 58 minutes, 52 seconds over the 21.097-kilometre course, shaving one second off the previous record set by Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn in 2020.

Matata set the record to earn an additional 12,000 dollars on top of the 27,000 dollar winner’s prize. Kenya swept the men’s podium, with Samwel Nyamai Mailu finishing second in 59 minutes, 24 seconds and Stanley Waithaka Mburu third in 59 minutes, 33 seconds.

Alemu won the women’s race in 1 hour, 6 minutes, 35 seconds. Kenya’s Selah Businei finished second in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 1 second, followed by Cynthia Chelangat Chepkwony in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 32 seconds.

Dr. Sudha Yadav today assumed office as the Governor of Karnataka at a swearing-in ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Bengaluru. Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Justice Vibhu Bakhru, administered the oath of office to her.

Outgoing Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot was present at the ceremony, along with Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, ministers and other dignitaries. Dr Yadav is the wife of Sukhbir Singh Yadav, a Deputy Commandant in the Border Security Force (BSF), who was martyred during the 1999 Kargil War.

A former Parliamentarian from Haryana, Dr Sudha Yadav is the second woman to serve as Governor of Karnataka, after V. S. Ramadevi, who held the office from 1999 to 2002.

Last year, in October 2025, the Indian passport was ranked 85th at the Henley Passport Index. And now, as per the latest October 2026 ranking, India has climbed one spot to 84th place. The country shares the position with Algeria and Mauritania.

The release, which was published on October 9, states that Indian passport holders can now visit 55 countries without getting a visa prior to travelling. But, as compared to October last year, the number of destinations has fallen from 57.

As for global rankings, Singapore leads the listing with access to 193 destinations. This is followed by Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates - all of which share second place with 188 destinations each. Check Latest List

An eighth-grade Indian-origin student from Connecticut has developed a science-based solution to fight ocean acidification, earning her the top prize in the 2026 3M Young Scientist Challenge and a cash award of $25,000.

Raji Doshi, who lives in Farmington and attends Stanford Online High School, was named America’s Top Young Scientist after presenting a system that combines algae cultivation with aragonite, a natural form of calcium carbonate, to reduce carbon dioxide in seawater and increase its alkalinity, an official news release stated.

The 2026 competition concluded with final events at 3M’s global headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 12 and 13. Doshi competed against nine other finalists, aged 11 to 14, who developed science-based solutions to everyday problems.

Her project, called ALKACORE, explores whether growing macroalgae alongside natural calcium carbonate buffers can provide a durable and affordable way to reduce coastal ocean acidification, which threatens marine ecosystems and shell-forming organisms.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully completed a series of Crew Module (CM)-Service Module (SM) separation tests for the Gaganyaan programme, validating the design adequacy of the separation system ahead of the first uncrewed mission, G1, which is targeted for launch in 2026.

The Gaganyaan Orbital Module comprises the Crew Module and the Service Module, which are connected through a separation system. Electrical and fluid servicing between the two modules is ensured through umbilical connections.

The modules are integrated before launch and function as a single unit from launch until the completion of the on-orbit phase of the mission. Before re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, the Crew Module separates from the Service Module through a series of precisely sequenced events involving pyrotechnic devices and jettisoning systems.

Sudhakar Dalela, presently Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs who led the negotiations for the BRICS declaration, has been appointed as India’s next envoy to Nepal.

He will succeed Naveen Srivastava, who recently completed his three-year term and retired. A day earlier, Nepal had cleared the name of Nischal Nath Pandey as Nepal’s ambassador to India.

The appointments come in the wake of New Delhi and Kathmandu engaging to work out the first bilateral visit of Prime Minister Balen Shah to India next month.

The Government has nominated seven members, including Subhas Chandra Lal Das, former Secretary, MSME Ministry; Arijit Basu, former Managing Director, State Bank of India; and Satish K Marathe, former Director, Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India, to the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB).

Lal, who is also Chairman of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, has been appointed as Part-Time Chairman of FSIB.

Besides Basu and Marathe, other Members of the Bureau include R Subramanian, former Executive Director, RBI; Siddhartha Mohanty former CEO & MD, Life Insurance Corporation of India; Neeja Kapur, former Chairman & Managing Director, New India Assurance Co. Ltd; and T. L. Alamelu, former Whole-Time Member (Non-Life), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

Pakistan is awaiting approval for another $1.2 billion from the IMF, yet the repeat borrower will chair the Boards of Governors of the IMF and World Bank Group in 2027.

The role puts the country in charge of proceedings attended by member countries’ finance ministers and central bank governors, giving Islamabad a prominent platform but no control over lending decisions.

Pakistan will hold the chairmanship for the first time since 1953, its Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday.

Veteran Film music composer and director Devanesan Chokkalingam, also called Deva, passed away in Chennai today. He was 75. Known as Thenisai Thendral, he was one of the prominent composers in Tamil Cinema and was well known for his folk-based tunes. He established himself as a composer for three decades in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s. Deva, as a composer, brought in the local flavour to film music.

Gaana music, with unique and distinct expression with linguals and also the rhythm, was his signature, which echoed with the local culture and impressed the audience with a casual approach and genre displaying all the moods in a movie. His music in Superstar Rajinikanth’s blockbuster Annamalai, Baasha and also in Vijay’s blockbuster Kushi remains evergreen.

Paralympics silver medallist Bhavina Patel continued her winning run at the Asian Para Games, defeating Jordan's Faten Eleimat in the women's para table tennis competition on Saturday. Bhavina brushed aside Eleimat 11-6, 11-7, 11-4 in the women's singles Class 4-5 Group A match in just 17 minutes to finish on top of Group A. Classes 4 and 5 in para table tennis represent the higher-functioning categories among wheelchair athletes (Classes 1-5), where players have varying degrees of sitting balance and trunk or arm control.

Sonalben Patel began her campaign with a 3-0 win over Japan's Yuka Ikeyama but then suffered a 0-3 defeat to South Korea's Migyu Lee in the Class 3 event.

In the men's singles Class 3 competition, Shubham Wadhwa lost 0-3 to Saudi Arabia's Ibrahim AlHassan.