Senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha member K P Dhanapalan (76) died early on Saturday. He had been undergoing treatment for age-related ailments at a private hospital in Paravur.

Dhanapalan represented the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency from 2009 to 2014 and was a prominent Congress leader in central Kerala. He also served as president of the Ernakulam District Congress Committee (DCC) and was regarded as one of the closest associates of veteran Congress leader A K Antony in the district.

His political career began in 1979, when he was elected as a councillor of the Paravur municipality. Over the years, he held several key positions, including chairman of Milma and member of the board of directors of the North Malabar Gramin Bank. He was also the Congress candidate for the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 general election.

Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, PVSM, AVSM, NM, assumed charge as the 48th Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) on Friday, a Defence Ministry official said.

On assuming charge, the Flag Officer paid solemn homage to the Bravehearts who made the supreme sacrifice in service of the nation by laying a floral wreath at the National War Memorial, New Delhi, the official said in a statement.

An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune, Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1988. A specialist in Gunnery and Missile Systems, he has held a wide range of command, operational, and staff assignments over his distinguished naval career spanning more than 37 years.

A great voice of Urdu literature has fallen silent forever. Famous poet and literary figure Bashir Badr passed away today in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He was 91 years old. According to his family, he breathed his last at around 12 noon. He was laid to rest at a cemetery near Bhopal Talkies this evening.

Bashir Badr had been suffering from dementia for a long time. His health had been declining steadily. In his final days, he was unable to recognise people around him.

He received the Padma Shri award in 1999 for his contribution towards literature and the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for his poetry collection “Aas” in 1999.

Russia agreed on Thursday to build the first nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, with a $16.5 billion investment, according to Reuters.

Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia, which is the biggest producer of uranium, and has been debating the idea of nuclear power for nearly two decades. Moscow has also signed an agreement to provide export credit to Kazakhstan, as per the report.

According to the report, the country held a referendum in 2024, in which citizens voted in favour of building the plant, and the village of Ulken, on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the southeast of ⁠the country, was selected for that.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed three contracts with IIT Bombay to develop a ‘health index’ of every engine of Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft undergoing midlife maintenance, which will bring down its service costs, increase their availability and life for operations.

To achieve that, IIT Bombay is developing an ‘AI digital twins’ model to provide diagnostics and prognostics for the gas turbine engines of the IAF’s mainstay Russian Su-30 MKI fighter jets. This was shared by Professor Asim Tewari from IIT Bombay’s Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science (C-MInDS) and Mechanical Engineering departments, in an exclusive interview with businessline." The deals between IAF and IIT Bombay were signed on Wednesday.

This is a stepping stone towards path-breaking advanced technology for prognostic and prescriptive maintenance, which will be developed using fully indigenous know-how evolved at the IIT Bombay.

Kolkata is set to host the main celebrations for the International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2026, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to participate in the event on June 21.

Announcing the theme for this year’s Yoga Day, “Yoga for Healthy Ageing”, Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav said the focus would be on highlighting yoga’s role in promoting physical health, mental well-being and healthy ageing.

The announcement was made during Yoga Mahotsav 2026, organised at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Western Group of Temples in Khajuraho, marking the beginning of the 25-day countdown to IDY 2026.

The Union Government today informed the Supreme Court that it challenges pending in High Courts against the Transgender Persons Protection of Rights (Amendment) Act 2026. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, requesting that the transfer petitions be listed on Friday.

The Chief Justice, however, indicated that allowing High Courts to has filed transfer petitions seeking to bring before the Supreme Court the various examine the issue may have its own advantages. Responding, Mehta said that multiple High Courts are seized of the issue, raising the possibility of conflicting rulings. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Union on writ petitions against the 2026 Amendment, which is challenged for removing the concept of self-identification of gender.

The West Bengal government on Wednesday launched the ‘Annapurna Yojana’ application form to provide eligible women in the state with monthly financial assistance of Rs 3,000. The scheme will replace the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, which was launched in 2021 under the previous government led by Mamata Banerjee.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari introduced the application form for the ‘Annapurna Bhandar’ scheme and said that the Women and Child Welfare Department, headed by Minister Agnimitra Paul, will serve as the nodal authority to ensure that the scheme benefits reach actual beneficiaries.

He added that since the enrolment process is a huge exercise and will take time to complete, beneficiaries under the existing ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme will continue to receive financial assistance under the existing system until the transition is completed.

India ranks second in Asia Pacific (APAC) markets with 1.6 GW operational capacity, establishing itself as a significant growth engine for digital infrastructure in the region.

The country also features among the top three APAC markets by development pipeline, with 3.1 GW under construction and planned.

According to the Cushman & Wakefield Global Data Center Market Comparison 2026 report, accelerating AI adoption, hyperscale cloud expansion, and rising enterprise demand continue to reshape global data center development patterns.

The report noted that India's data center ecosystem relies on a multi-market presence, with Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Pune, and Bengaluru included in the assessment.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to roll out a comprehensive ‘Farm to Home’ programme to ensure that fruits and vegetables cultivated by farmers reach consumers directly through Farmers’ Producer Organisations.

Reviewing six primary missions in agriculture and allied sectors at the Camp Office, he said the new marketing strategy would reduce costs, strengthen farmers’ incomes and deliver fresh produce to households.

The Chief Minister emphasised that crop planning must factor in the impact of El Niño, with region-wise assessments guiding sowing decisions.

He instructed officials to promote natural farming across districts, adopt PMDS half-moon methods in water-scarce areas and ensure minimum support prices to protect farmers from climate-related losses.