To mark the completion of 100 years of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) released a specially designed commemorative postage stamp and coin highlighting the Sangh’s contributions to the nation. Terming RSS as the embodiment of ‘timeless national consciousness’, he said in the mission of building a developed India by 2047, the contribution of the Sangh will be crucial.

The ₹100 coin, released by the PM at Delhi’s Ambedkar International Centre, features the national emblem on one side and an image of ‘Bharat Mata’ in ‘Varad Mudra’ (hand position representing giving or granting blessings), with a lion, being saluted by swayamsevaks, on the other. Speaking on the occasion, PM highlighted that this is possibly the first time in independent India’s history that Bharat Mata’s image has appeared on Indian currency. He added that the coin also bears the Sangh’s guiding motto: “Rashtraya Swaha, Idam Rashtraya, Idam Na Mama.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) became the first person in history to achieve a net worth of nearly $500 billion, propelled by a rebound in the EV company's shares and surging valuations of the tech entrepreneur's other startups.

Mr. Musk's net worth stood at $499.5 billion as of 3:55 p.m. E.T., according to Forbes' billionaires index.

Tesla stock has been driving the increase in Mr. Musk's net worth. The shares have risen more than 14% so far this year and climbed nearly 4% on Wednesday (October 1, 2025), adding more than $7 billion to his net worth.

The Centre plans to launch Model Youth Gram Sabha (MYGS), an initiative based on the Model UN – an educational simulation of the United Nations – in schools across the country, an official said.

As part of the initiative, a mock Gram Sabha will be conducted in identified schools, where students from classes 9-12 will play the roles of sarpanch, ward members, and village-level officials, including village secretary, Anganwadi worker, auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM), and junior engineers. They will hold mock meetings of the Gram Sabha, discuss various issues, and prepare the village budget and development plans. Gram Sabhas are the local assemblies comprising all adults in a rural area.

As per the official, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in collaboration with the ministries of Education and Tribal Affairs will launch this initiative in over 600 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) and 200 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) across the country in the first phase beginning from October 2025.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday constituted a six-member Payments Regulatory Board (PRB), comprising three nominees from the Central government, to oversee the functioning of payment systems in the country.

The Board is chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra. Alongside the Governor, the two other RBI representatives on the PRB are the Deputy Governor and the Executive Director in charge of Payment and Settlement Systems. The government nominees include the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services, the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Aruna Sundararajan, former Telecom Secretary.

The PRB replaces the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS), a committee of the RBI’s Central Board. The new board derives its authority from the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

NASA has successfully launched the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), a new spacecraft designed to study the vast protective bubble surrounding our solar system known as the heliosphere.

The mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, September 24, marking a significant step in understanding how the Sun shields Earth from dangerous cosmic radiation.

According to NASA, the heliosphere is formed by the Sun’s constant outflow of charged particles, known as the solar wind. These streams travel well past all the planets, extending nearly three times the distance of Pluto, before colliding with the interstellar medium. The result is a gigantic bubble that envelopes the Sun and its planets. Scientists say this natural shield plays a vital role in protecting life on Earth from high-energy particles that could otherwise strip away our atmosphere.

In Telangana, the celebrations of Bathukamma Festival, organised by the state Government, have set two new Guinness World Records last evening. The event has been held at the Saroornagar Stadium in Hyderabad. The two world records for its largest Bathukamma floral decoration consist of about seven tonnes of flowers and of 63.11 feet high, 11 feet wide. The second record for the highly synchronised performance by a large number of women, of 1354.

The representatives of the Guinness World Records declared the performance as a world record and presented certificates to State Tourism Minister Krishna Rao and Women Development Minister Anasuya Sitakka.
Miss World 2025 Opal Suchata Chuangsri and the Miss World team, and other finalists of the pageant were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, the State Tourism Minister congratulated everyone who made the record possible. Telangana Tourism Development Corporation (TGTDC) Managing Director Valluru Kranthi, the final count of women who participated was 1354, and it was accepted by Guinness. The Bathukamma was built by around 300 workers with metal, bamboo, and flowers, and the structure took 72 hours to complete.

The Maharashtra Cabinet has approved a comprehensive cancer care policy, ensuring access to quality treatment for cancer patients across the state. A three-tier cancer treatment service system will be established, offering specialized care through 18 hospitals. To support this initiative, the state government will establish a new entity  the Maharashtra Cancer Care, Research and Education Foundation (MAHACARE Foundation) with an initial corpus of 100 crore rupees for capital investment. In addition, the Cabinet approved the imposition of an additional electricity duty on industrial, commercial, and other consumer categories.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has introduced four new visa categories for visitors. On Monday, the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) also introduced some new regulations on the durations, conditions, and eligibility requirements of a number of existing visas.

Among the newly introduced four visa categories, the most notable is for those from the technology field, in particular, Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The AI specialists visa will be issued for single or multiple entries for a specific period. AI specialists can avail the visa, subject to a letter from a host or sponsoring technology company in the Emirates. The timing of the AI specialists’ visas is significant, as the Middle East is touted to gain the most from the H-1B visa restrictions in the US. In recent years, the UAE has also made significant investments in AI and has attracted talent and companies from around the world to cities including Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Lingering flooding from Typhoon Bualoi devastated homes, infrastructure and farmland across swaths of Vietnam on Tuesday, with the death toll rising to 26 and dozens more missing.

Rainfall from the storm inundated the capital Hanoi, bringing large parts of the city to a standstill and rerouting dozens of flights.

Bualoi made landfall in central Vietnam late Sunday, packing winds of 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour, and remained over land for almost 12 hours.

RITES Limited, India’s leading transport infrastructure consultancy and engineering firm, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Etihad Rail to strengthen business collaboration in the mobility sector across the UAE and international markets. The agreement was formalized at the Global Rail Transport Infrastructure Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi, running from September 30 to October 2, 2025.

The MoU was signed by Shadi Malak, CEO of Etihad Rail, and Rahul Mithal, Chairman and Managing Director of RITES Limited, in the presence of SheikhTheyab Bin Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Chairman of Etihad Rail and Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to the UAE. Under this partnership, RITES will collaborate with National Infrastructure Construction Company (NICC) LLC, a its subsidiary of Etihad Rail , to explore business opportunities in the region and beyond.

The collaboration aims to combine RITES’ five decades of expertise in consultancy, transport infrastructure, and engineering solutions with NICC’s execution capabilities, creating synergies for developing infrastructure projects across the region. This partnership strengthens RITES’ international presence under its strategic initiative ‘RITES Videsh’ and reinforces the company’s commitment to shaping infrastructure that transforms lives.