The Indian Coast Guard successfully conducted the coastal security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’ on October 16-17 across Gujarat and the Union Territory of Daman & Diu.

The exercise, coordinated by the Coast Guard Regional Headquarters in Gandhinagar, was the second edition of the year. It aimed to sharpen maritime and coastal security preparedness while validating existing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

A wide range of stakeholders, including the Indian Navy, State Police, Marine Police, Border Security Force (BSF), National Security Guard (NSG), Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and port authorities, actively participated. Key assets in the exercise included ships and boats from the Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, and Marine Police, with aerial surveillance provided by Coast Guard aircraft and drones.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras) is set to establish its first international flagship centre in Dubai, focused on research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, reports PTI. Scheduled to launch in early 2025, the IITM Global Dubai Centre will specialise in advanced fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), data science, robotics, and sustainable energy, creating a vital link to India's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This initiative is made possible through an agreement between IIT Madras and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). The agreement was signed by Hadi Badri, CEO of the Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC), and Prof. Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean of Global Engagement at IIT Madras, during GITEX Global 2024, one of the largest technology exhibitions worldwide.

The Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board (UMEB) is planning to introduce Sanskrit as a compulsory subject in 416 madrassas across the state, having drafted a formal proposal for this initiative.

To implement this change, the board intends to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state's Sanskrit department. In addition to Sanskrit, the inclusion of computer studies is also under consideration to enrich the academic curriculum for madrassa students.

The board introduced the NCERT syllabus in madrassas, resulting in over 95 percent success for students this year, UMEB chairperson Mufti Shamoon Qasmi told The Times of India.

North Korea has designated South Korea a “hostile state”, its state media said on Thursday, confirming that its national assembly had amended the constitution in line with their leader’s vow to drop unification as a national goal.

The North’s KCNA news agency reported that the military had blasted sections of road and rail links with South Korea on Tuesday as legitimate action against a hostile state as defined by the constitution.

Sixty-metre (66-yard) sections of the road and railway on the North’s side of the border were now completely blocked as part of a “phased complete separation of its territory” from the South, it said.

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, approved new industrial, food processing, and MSME policies on October 16.

To encourage investors to partner with Andhra Pradesh for investments, the Cabinet has approved six critical policies, namely, the 'AP Industrial Development Policy 4.0', 'AP MSME & Entrepreneur Development Policy 4.0', 'AP Food Processing Policy 4.0', 'AP Electronics Policy 4.0', 'AP Private Parks Policy 4.0', 'AP Integrated Clean Energy Policy 4.0'.

All the policies are designed to be forward-looking, aiming to boost industrial growth by focusing on job creation, fostering entrepreneurship, addressing climate change, and ultimately generating wealth for the state, the Andhra Pradesh government said.

In move towards strengthening relations between India and Turkiye, the constitution of the Indo-Turkiye Friendship Association (ITFA) was announced in Hyderabad on Wednesday (October 16, 2024). The initiative aims to foster cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, culture and tourism, science and technology, and education between the two countries.

At a media interaction, Consul General of Turkiye in Hyderabad, Orhan Yalman Okan, and ITFA Chairman Faiz Khan underscored measures the association would take up to strengthen ties between the countries.

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in a majority judgment of 4:1 ratio, on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which permits immigrants from Bangladesh residing in Assam to secure Indian citizenship, as a valid piece of legislation aligned to the Preambular value of fraternity.

The principle of fraternity cannot be selectively applied to one section living in Assam while another lot are labelled “illegal immigrants”, Justice Surya Kant, who authored the lead opinion for the five-judge Bench, observed.

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has recommended Justice Sanjiv Khanna to the government for appointment as the 51st Chief Justice of India.

Under the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of Chief Justice of India and Supreme Court Judges, the Law Ministry seeks the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice about the next appointment. The letter from the government kick-starts the appointment process for the next Chief Justice of India.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna is the next in line to be Chief Justice of India in accordance with the seniority norm.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, unveiled the country’s first self-powered indoor air quality monitor, Pavana Chitra, at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport today. Pavana Chitra embodies a powerful fusion of technology, tradition, and art, presenting an off-grid, self-powered indoor air quality monitor powered by indigenous indoor solar cells developed by CSIR-NIIST. It is crafted from locally available materials and designed to mimic the natural process of photosynthesis.

An upcoming artist from Karnal in Haryana, who recently graduated from a UK university, has been named winner in the Emerging Illustrator category at the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum's Illustration Awards in London.

Aditi Anand, 25, from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, England, received the award at a recent ceremony for her artwork ‘Marigolds’, which will be on display at the world-famous Victoria and Albert (V&A) Design Museum in London until September 2025.

Selected from over 2,000 entries that the V&A awards received, ‘Marigolds’, which bagged the GBP 3,000 prize, is set in India and addresses the theme of child labour and lost childhoods.