India’s U20 women’s football team today booked their place at the AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup 2026 with a 1-0 win over hosts Myanmar in Yangon. Pooja’s first-half header proves decisive, ending a 20-year wait to book India’s place at the Asian Cup 2026 to be held in Thailand. Celebrations erupted on the pitch as the dream became reality.

For Women’s Asian Cup 2026, the hosts Thailand qualified automatically while the remaining 11 for the 12-team tournament will be decided through the qualifiers. For the qualifiers, 32 teams have been divided into eight groups of four.

‘Disha Abhiyan’, which shows the direction of uniform and quality education for students with intellectual disabilities, has been successfully implemented in Maharashtra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed that this innovative curriculum developed by Jai Vakil Foundation and approved by the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (NIEPID) has been implemented in 453 special schools in the state.

Mr. Fadnavis said that Maharashtra is the first state in the country to prioritize the needs of the disabled. He said that this initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of an inclusive and self-reliant society, ‘Developed India 2047’.

Established in 1944, Jai Vakil Foundation has developed a curriculum based on research and universal methods based on its 80 years of experience. This curriculum is certified by National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the state has access to the world’s best systems and technology to curb incidents like communal hatred through social media, leading to riots. He stated that ‘Garuda Drishti’ tools are playing a vital role in tracking down such individuals and ensuring immediate action against them.

He was speaking at the presentation of the ‘Garuda Drishti’ social media monitoring and cyber intelligence project and the ceremony for distribution of an amount of ₹10 crore recovered from the investigation of various cyber financial crimes to the victims, held at Police Bhavan on behalf of the Nagpur Police Department.

The recovered amounts were handed over to the fraud victims by the Chief Minister.

Maharashtra Labour Minister Akash Fundkar on Tuesday said 'gig workers' or those who work for online 'platforms' or companies such as Zomato need social security, and the state government will come up with a law for them.

Speaking in the legislative council, Fundkar said a new category of employees, 'platform workers', is emerging.

"It is necessary to frame an independent law for them. A draft is being worked out, so that platform workers get social security," Fundkar said.

The Lok Sabha passed the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 and the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025 amidst opposition protest over the Special Intensive Revision exercise conducted in Bihar.

The National Sports Governance Bill seeks to provide for recognition of national sports bodies and regulate their functioning. The Bill provides for the establishment of the National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee, and National and Regional Sports Federations for each designated sport. The national bodies will have affiliation with respective international bodies.

The bill provides that every national sports body will have a general body, consisting of equal number of representatives from each affiliate member and certain ex-officio members. It will have an executive committee consisting of up to 15 members, with at least two outstanding sportspersons and four women. The Bill empowers the central government to establish a National Sports Board which will grant recognition to the national sports bodies and register their affiliate units. The Bill also provides for constituting a National Sports Tribunal to adjudicate sports related disputes.

A self-help group (SHG) from a small village in Kundgol taluk of Dharwad district has bagged the ‘Equator Initiative Award’ given by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is also referred to as the Nobel Prize for Biodiversity Conservation.

The Bibi Fatima Women’s Self-Help Group from Teertha village in Kundgol taluk is one among the 10 winners of the Equator Prize 2025. The awards were announced on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and are presented annually to honour nature-based solutions led by indigenous people and local communities that promote sustainable development and ecological resilience.

As per UNDP official release on its portal, Bibi Fatima Women’s SHG is the sole group from India to win the award, other winners are from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Peru, and Tanzania. The award includes a cash prize of $10,000 (approximately ₹8.5 lakh). This year’s award selection was based on the theme Women and Youth Leadership for Nature-Based Climate Action”. Around 700 competitors from 103 countries competed for the prize.

Every year on August 10, World Biofuel Day is observed to underline the significance of biofuels as a sustainable source of energy. The day also commemorates the successful operation of an engine on peanut oil by German engineer Sir Rudolf Diesel on August 9, 1893.

In recent years, biofuels gained increased attention due to a number of factors such as the rising concerns about climate change and the increasing health issues caused by air pollution from burning fossil fuels, which are not only expensive but also limited in supply.

Hence, biofuel has been endorsed as a sustainable alternative to traditional fuel and energy sources both at the national and global levels.

IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD), in collaboration with the National Cancer Grid (NCG), has announced the launch of the Cancer AI & Technology Challenge (CATCH) Grant Program, the Ministry of Electronics & IT said in a release.

This initiative seeks to support the development and deployment of innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to strengthen cancer screening, diagnostics, treatment support, and healthcare operations across India.

The CATCH Grant Program will provide up to ₹50 lakh per project to selected teams comprising technology innovators and clinical institutions. The grants will be co-funded by IndiaAI and NCG.

International Youth Day is celebrated globally every year on August 12, recognising youth while highlighting their contributions, challenges, and potential.

The idea for International Youth Day was first proposed in 1991 by young people gathered in Vienna, Austria, during the initial session of the World Youth Forum.

The World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth adopted a resolution to declare August 12 as International Youth Day in 1999, and it was subsequently endorsed on December 17 by the United Nations General Assembly of the same year.

To check the supply of drugs from across the border, Punjab has launched a new Anti-Drone System (ADS) named ‘Baaj Akh’ from the border district of Tarn Taran, today. Three such ADS have been launched and six more will be launched soon to curb the smuggling of drugs through drones from across the border.

This system will immediately neutralize those drones that try to enter in the state from other side of the border. Launching the system, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the system will be deployed along the border from Pathankot to Fazilka as a second line of defense. He said this will be made functional in coordination with the BSF. He said that this will be a strong reply to the anti-national elements who use technology for anti-social activities in the state.