Opener Smriti Mandhana became the first Indian batter to cross 4,000 T20I runs during the first match of the five-game series against Sri Lanka at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Sunday.

Mandhana entered the game needing just 18 runs to reach the milestone, and she did so with characteristic aggression — a boundary over the covers off Chamari Athapaththu in the PowerPlay took her past the mark in only 15 balls while chasing a modest 122. Her innings ended at 25 off 25 when Inoka Ranaweera dismissed her.

At 29, Mandhana now ranks second overall on the all-time women’s T20I run-scorers list, behind New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates.

This showdown also marked India’s first international match since lifting the maiden ICC Women’s ODI World Cup title in South Africa last month.

U.S. Central Command, with support from the Jordanian Armed Forces, carried out coordinated military strikes against ISIS targets across central Syria on December 19, following an earlier attack on U.S. and partner forces. The operation, launched at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on the direction of the U.S. Commander in Chief, was designated Operation Hawkeye Strike.

According to CENTCOM, forces struck more than 70 ISIS-linked targets at multiple locations using fighter aircraft, attack helicopters and artillery, deploying over 100 precision-guided munitions. The strikes targeted known ISIS infrastructure and weapons storage sites, with Jordanian fighter aircraft providing operational support.

CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said the operation was aimed at preventing ISIS from planning and inspiring attacks against the United States and its partners, adding that operations against extremist elements would continue across the region.

State-owned engineering and consultancy firm RITES Ltd on Friday, December 19, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the the government of Botswana to collaborate on the development and modernisation of the country’s railway and transport infrastructure.

The MoU was signed in Gurugram on December 19, 2025, with Botswana represented by its Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

The exchange filing said the partnership aims to accelerate the growth of Botswana’s transport sector by leveraging advanced technologies, best practices, and capacity-building initiatives to enhance efficiency, safety, and reliability.

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Cyient vijAIpatha initiative will play a key role in equipping government school students with future-ready skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI); science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); robotics; coding and digital innovation. She inaugurated the Cyient vijAIpatha, an artificial intelligence initiative, jointly launched by the Cyient Foundation and the Government of Karnataka at the Government Girls’ High School in Hosapete. The Minister also interacted with students of the school during the event.

The pilot project is being implemented in five government schools in Hosapete taluk of Vijayanagara district and is expected to empower over 2,000 students from Classes 6 to 10. As part of the programme, more than 100 teachers will receive training through capacity-building initiatives.

Astronomers have found a strange world outside the solar system that is ripe for science fiction — but it's all real.

The exoplanet, dubbed PSR J2322-2650 b, has a helium-and-carbon atmosphere, something researchers say they've never seen before. The air could be full of soot clouds, and deep inside, carbon could even clump together into solid crystals, possibly forming diamonds.

This all takes place on a lemon-shaped planet that is orbiting a pulsar, a special type of neutron star that spins and strobes like a lighthouse in space. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope made the observations.

"Our collective reaction was 'What the heck is this?'" said Peter Gao, a coauthor on the new research based at Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory, in a statement. "It's extremely different from what we expected."

Noida golfer Sukhman Singh rang in early Christmas celebrations by capturing the Amateur Golf Championship of India here Sunday.

Sukhman posted a dominant performance to defeat Harman Sachdeva of Haryana in the 36-hole final following an unassailable 7UP lead after 29 holes at the Tollygunge Club.

It is the world’s longest-running amateur matchplay championship organised by the Indian Golf Union (IGU).

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch a communication satellite BlueBird Block-2 on Wednesday. The satellite of AST SpaceMobile of the USA will be the largest commercial communications satellite to reach the Low Earth Orbit in LVM3-M6. It is part of a next generation of BlueBird Block-2 communication satellites, designed to provide space-based cellular broadband connectivity directly to standard mobile smartphones. Launch Vehicle Mark-3 or LVM3, developed by ISRO, is a three-stage launch vehicle, earlier used to launch Chandrayaan-2 and 3, and two OneWeb missions carrying 72 satellites. It also successfully accomplished the M5-CMS-03 mission, carried out last month.

National Mathematics Day will be observed today to commemorate the birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan, one of India’s most influential and globally recognised mathematicians. The day will be marked across educational institutions, research bodies and academic forums to highlight the importance of mathematics in scientific progress and everyday life. The observance was formally instituted by the Government of India in December 2011, and December 22 was designated as National Mathematics Day in recognition of Ramanujan’s extraordinary contributions to the discipline. The following year, 2012, was observed nationwide as the National Mathematics Year, giving further institutional push to mathematical learning and research. December 22 marks the birth of Srinivasa Ramanujan, whose work continues to influence modern mathematics more than a century later.

The Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) has imported eight black-capped capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) from the Induna Primate and Parrot Park in South Africa under an animal exchange programme.

The eight capuchin monkeys, which includes four male and four females, arrived at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Sunday.

The capuchins have been kept in a designated quarantine facility and will undergo post-import health checks before being moved to the zoo premises.

The BBP said that the import was carried out in strict compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements.

Prior approvals were obtained from the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi, along with No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the State Chief Wildlife Warden, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit West Bengal today to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for two National Highway projects worth around Rs. 3,200 crore, aimed at improving road connectivity and supporting economic growth in the state.

At around 11:15 AM, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of the highway projects at Ranaghat in Nadia district. He will also address a public gathering on the occasion.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the 66.7-kilometre-long four-laning of the Barajaguli–Krishnanagar section of National Highway-34 in Nadia district. He will also lay the foundation stone for the four-laning of the 17.6-kilometre-long Barasat–Barajaguli section of NH-34 in North 24 Parganas district.