India wins silver in women’s trap team event at Asian Games 2026
In the Women’s Trap Team event at the Asian Games 2026, Indian shooters Neeru Dhanda, Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer have won a silver medal. The Indian trio finished with a combined score of 328 points to secure the silver, finishing three points ahead of Kuwait, who took bronze with 325.
China won the gold medal with a score of 346. Neeru Dhanda was India’s top performer with a score of 118 out of 125, while Aashima and Manisha contributed 106 and 104, respectively. Neeru also finished joint-top in the individual qualifying round alongside Qatar’s Ray Bassil and will compete in the individual final later today.
In athletics, India secured a double podium finish in the men’s javelin throw. Yashvir Singh won the silver medal with a personal-best effort of 85.72 metres, while Rohit Yadav claimed bronze with a throw of 84.35 metres.
Indian-origin British Bodhana Sivanandan becomes youngest ever Woman Grandmaster at 11
Bodhana Sivanandan has become the youngest player in history to earn the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) confirmed. The 11-year-old Indian-origin British player completed her third and final WGM norm at the recently concluded 2026 Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, while representing England.
The previous age record belonged to Russian Grandmaster Kateryna Lagno, who achieved the WGM title at 12. Former world champion Hou Yifan of China also earned the title at 12, and remains the youngest woman to have secured the full Grandmaster title, which she achieved at 14.
Having taken the top board for England’s women’s team, Bodhana led from the front. She won six games, registering 8.0/11 to help England finish 15th in the women’s section. On Board 1, the pre-teen was the 13th best player of the tournament.
India women clinch kabaddi gold, India’s third gold at Asian Games 2026
The Indian women’s kabaddi team clinched gold after beating Iran at the 2026 Asian Games. The Indian women went on an unbeaten run throughout their campaign. The dominant Indian side edged out Iran in a tense final clash at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium in Aichi-Nagoya, winning the contest by a 37-34 margin.
The gold medal triumph was India’s third of the ongoing Asiad competition, following the women’s cricket team and the shooting pair of Suruchi Singh Phogat and Kamaljeet in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Friday.
India’s men’s kabaddi team will also face Iran in the final later today, aiming to complete a golden double.
The men had won seven straight Asian Games gold medals before their streak ended in 2018, but they reclaimed the title at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
19-year-old Rishabh Das sets new national record in 200m backstroke at Asian Games
India’s Rishabh Das signed off the swimming events on Day 6 of the Asian Games 2026 by setting a new national record in the men’s 200m backstroke, clocking 1:58.77 to finish sixth in the final on Friday.
The 19-year-old bettered his own previous best of 1:59.84, which he had set earlier this year.
Rishabh had qualified for the final after finishing fourth in his heat, while compatriot Utkarsh Patil also made the final after finishing ninth overall in the heats. Utkarsh eventually finished seventh in the final with a time of 2:00.94, according to ESPN.
Rishabh's national record was one of the highlights of India's swimming campaign on Day 6, though the country did not add a medal from the pool.
Baranica Elangovan Wins Historic Bronze For India In Women's Pole Vault Final At Asian Games
Baranica Elangovan entered her name in the record books by winning a historic bronze medal for India in the women’s pole vault event at the Asian Games 2026 on Friday.
It was joint bronze medal for the 29-year-old Baranica along with Kazakhstan’s Polina Ivanova as they remained tied, with a best clearance of 4.15m each and the same number of failures at 4.25m.
Misaki Morota of Japan won the gold with a personal best effort of 4.55m while China’s Chunge Niu bagged the silver with 4.50m.
Baranica’s effort was below her personal best of 4.23m but good enough to secure a podium finish.
In March this year, Baranica cleared 4.22m at the National Indoor Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, setting a new national record. She improved her own record to 4.23m at the Indian Indoor Open Combined Events and Pole Vault competition in May.
Lalit Kala Akademi Announces 20 Awards at 65th National Exhibition of Art
Lalit Kala Akademi has announced the 20 Lalit Kala Akademi Awards at the 65th National Exhibition of Art. The Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art, is organising the 65th National Exhibition of Art. This is one of the most prestigious annual exhibitions of contemporary visual art in India. The Ministry of Culture said that the Exhibition has received an overwhelming response from artists across India. They added that akademi received around six thousand artworks from more than two thousand artists representing 27 States and Union Territories. Awardees of the Exhibition of Art include the names of Chandra Shekhar Sain in Sculpture, Chandra Naskar in Painting Gopal, Pankaj Kumar Sharma in Drawing and Pritam Madhukar Deuskar in Printmaking. The Ministry highlighted that the Exhibition of Art is not only a platform for artistic recognition but also contributes to the strengthening of India’s creative economy.
India Ranks 10th at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, wins 6 Silver medals and 20 Medal for Excellence
Team India secured 10th position at the 48th WorldSkills Competition, Shanghai 2026, winning 6 Silver Medals and 20 Medal for Excellence as the prestigious international skills competition concluded in Shanghai, China.
Improving upon its 13th-place finish at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, where India secured four Bronze Medals and 12 Medal for Excellence, the result marks an important milestone for the country’s skilled youth on the global stage.
The six Silver Medals at WorldSkills Shanghai were won by Smriti Nambiar in Bakery, Mohammed Salam in Dental Prosthetics; Kovid Ajay Gangrade in Digital Interactive Media Design, Parth Vohra in Industrial Design Technology, Mehrunissa Begum in Logistics and Freight Forwarding; and Saniya Joshi in Retail Sales. Their achievements span creative, technical and service-sector skills, reflecting the breadth of Indian talent on the global stage, as per the press release.
SpaceX set to launch Starship on 14th test flight, eyes first orbital mission
Elon Musk-backed SpaceX is set to launch its Starship rocket on its 14th test flight as early as Monday with the mission set to mark the spacecraft’s first attempt at an orbital flight. Taking to social media platform X, the company said that the 75-minute launch window was scheduled to open at 7:15 am, subject to regulatory approval.
SpaceX plans to livestream the launch on its official website with coverage expected to begin about 30 minutes before liftoff. The mission is designed to take Starship to an altitude of about 275 km, complete roughly six orbits and last nearly 10 hours before a targeted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
India’s first port-based e-methanol plant to come up in Gujarat’s Kandla with investment of Rs 2,300 crore
India has taken a major step towards becoming a global supplier of green maritime fuel with the foundation stone laid for the country’s first port-based e-methanol production facility at Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) in Kandla, Gujarat.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma laid the foundation stone for the project on Saturday.
The facility will have a total production capacity of 150 tonnes of e-methanol per day and will use renewable power, water and biogenic CO₂ to produce the green fuel. The e-methanol is intended to be supplied to vessels operating on the Asia-Europe International Trade Corridor, one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
The project is expected to strengthen India’s position in the production and supply of green fuel for global shipping. The government said the plant is expected to produce green methanol at around US$750 per tonne, compared with a global rate of about US$1,300 per tonne.
Union Minister Amit Shah flags-off country’s first LNG-powered train from Sabarmati
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah flagged off the country’s first LNG-powered train from Sabarmati station in Gujarat today, marking railways’ shift towards cleaner energy.
The train uses a dual-fuel system powered by diesel and Liquefied Natural Gas. The initiative is being seen as a step towards greener rail transport and India’s net-zero carbon goals. Mr Shah also launched a series of railway development projects worth more than 1,500 crore rupees.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Mr Shah said, Indian Railways has undergone major transformation over the past 12 years.