In a major setback for online gaming firms, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of the 28% goods and services tax (GST) levy on online gaming and rejected challenges against retrospective tax demands worth over ₹1.5 trillion.

The ruling is expected to have far-reaching implications for the sector, with lawyers representing gaming firms warning of widespread insolvencies, and raising questions over the constitutional validity of a central law banning online gaming, since the verdict treats it as betting and gambling, a state subject.

The verdict, delivered by a bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan, dismissed a batch of petitions filed by online gaming companies, casinos, turf clubs and industry bodies challenging GST notices and the legal framework governing taxation of online gaming.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs CCEA today approved continuation of the Scheme for Assistance in Ration Transport and Handling-Income with Automation in PDS, SARTHAK-PDS as an umbrella scheme, in the 16th Finance Commission cycle award period, with an outlay of 25 thousand 530 crore rupees as Central share. Briefing media in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the scheme will provide assistance to state agancies for intra-state movement of food grains,will support fair price shops and help in modernisation of public distribution system.

Mr Vaishnaw said, it will have three major AI enabled modules named NIRMAL, ASHA and SAKSHAM. He said, Nirmal is AI driven realtime PDS beneficiary registry, Asha is multilingual AI grievance and citizen engagement platform and Saksham is AI enabled supply chain platform with vehicle tracking.
The CCEA has also decided to revise the norms of Central assistance for meeting expenditure incurred by States and UTs intra-state movement and handling of foodgrains and Fair Price Shops dealers’ margin and continuation of the existing funding pattern of Central Assistance.

The Minister said, the Scheme will work towards fulfilling the Government’s commitment to 81.35 crore persons covered under National Food Security Act. He said, the scheme is not replacement of the existing PDS scheme.

Sikkim, a tiny state nestled in the Himalayas, has been declared a fully literate state under the ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society) initiative. The announcement was made in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu during the convocation ceremony of Sikkim University at Manan Kendra in Gangtok on Wednesday.

This marks a historic educational milestone for Sikkim and is being celebrated with immense pride.

Sikkim now joins the elite club of fully literate states, which includes Mizoram, Goa, Tripura, and Himachal Pradesh.

It is the third state in the northeast and the fifth state in the country to achieve this feat. Mizoram was the first state in the country to achieve full literacy.

The Sports Ministry on Tuesday notified the rules of operation for the soon-to-be-formed National Sports Tribunal (NST) and the National Sports Board (NSB), stating that a dedicated portal would be set up for submission of disputes and maintenance of legal records.

In separate notifications addressing the roles of the two bodies, which will be formed under the National Sports Governance Act passed last year, the Sports Ministry reiterated that a search-cum-selection committee is in the process of being formed under the cabinet secretary.

The National Sports Board, that will function as the central authority for granting recognition to National Sports Bodies and ensuring compliance with governance, financial and ethical standards, will comprise a Chairperson and two members. It will have a three-year term.

A major international astronomy study led by an Indian scientist has discovered a massive structure of young galaxies in the early universe, naming it after a famous lake in Manipur. The cosmic structure has been officially named the Loktak Protocluster. It is a primitive galaxy cluster, described by scientists as a "city of galaxies" that is still being built by the forces of gravity.

A Glimpse into the Ancient Universe

The discovery was led by Dr Ronaldo Laishram, an astrophysicist from Manipur who is currently a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the study offers a rare look back in time:

Age: The Loktak Protocluster is seen as it existed 12.6 billion years ago.
Cosmic Timeline: At that point, the universe was only about 1.2 billion years old, meaning these galaxies are some of the earliest to form.

Launching ‘Project Zero’, an anti-corruption initiative to make the state completely free of corruption through a phased and systematic process, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday said the government would adopt a zero-tolerance policy against corruption and ensure that public services are delivered without bribery.

The initiative was unveiled after a high-level meeting with officials of the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).

Addressing a press conference, Chennithala said the campaign would be implemented with the support of the public and media. He urged people to report corruption directly to the VACB and assured complete confidentiality for whistleblowers and complainants.

India and Australia will continue to work for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday (May 26, 2026) after he held discussions with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

Mr. Modi also met Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and reaffirmed the vital role of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership in advancing peace, stability and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific and beyond.

Earlier in the day, India hosted the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, which was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is making efforts to develop bond ETFs and derivatives on corporate bond indices to improve retail investor participation in the bond market.

“We are working towards further developing bond ETFs and derivatives on corporate bond indices. These can improve liquidity, allow retail investors to access debt markets with smaller ticket sizes, and help institutions hedge interest-rate risks,” said SEBI Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey while addressing a debt-market event here. He further said that the regulator was “exploring a distinct regulatory classification for debt brokers.”

“This can lower costs, reduce entry barriers and encourage dedicated debt-market intermediaries,” he continued.

Researchers have rediscovered 'Vaccinium piliferum', a rare and endangered wild relative of the blueberry, in the remote forests of Vijoynagar in Arunachal Pradesh's Changlang district, nearly 188 years after it was first recorded in 1836.

The rediscovery in the Eastern Himalayan region is being seen as a major botanical achievement and an important addition to India's biodiversity records.

Researchers said 'Vaccinium piliferum' belongs to the Ericaceae family, which includes blueberries and cranberries.

The species was rediscovered recently by researchers from the Society for Education and Environmental Development, CSIR-North East Institute of Science (NEIST) and Technology and collaborating institutions, a source in the institute said.

India is home to 191 species of cockroaches and 119 of these species (more than 60% of the species) are endemic to India, a recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) highlighted. Endemism is the ecological state where a species or taxonomic group is native to a single, highly defined geographic location.

The publication titled DNA barcodes and species delimitation reveal overlooked diversity in Indian cockroaches (Blattodea), reveals that India’s hidden cockroach diversity is far greater than previously recognized.

The paper points out that at present 191 extant species of cockroaches Blattodea have been documented in India, distributed across 74 genera, with 126 species having defined type localities within the country.